Sharing Normal.dot on network

[Rita King]

We have several users (Word 2002) so I have placed Normal.dot in a shared
folder and marked it 'read only'.

Is this recommended?

If not, why not?

Thanks

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Hi Rita,

NO, it is NOT a good idea. If your users are at all proficient in the use
of Word, you are likely to get yourself lynched. Good enough reason?

To get an idea of what templates do, see the article “What do Templates and
Add-ins store?” at:

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm

You should also look at the article “Creating a Template - The Basics (Part
I)” at:

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

and “Creating a Template (Part II)” at:

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Please post any further questions or followup to the newsgroups for the
benefit of others who may be interested. Unsolicited questions forwarded
directly to me will only be answered on a paid consulting basis.


Hope this helps
Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Rita King]

I have pointed each users file location for user templates to
"y:\word2002\templates". Do my users simply share the unlocked normal.dot
in that directory or should they each have a location on their hard drive
where they each have their own normal.dot?

Thanks

 

[Charles Kenyon]

They should have their own individual user templates folder with an
individual normal.dot file in it. These should not be "read-only."

This folder can be on their own computers (almost must be if the computer is
a laptop) or can be a personal network folder. Again it should not be
shared. The user templates are sometimes kept on the network server to make
backup easier.

You can set up a separate folder to hold shared templates, designated as the
workgroup templates folder. The network folder permissions for this folder
for ordinary users should probably be read only.
--
For more on the different kinds of templates and locations of templates
folders see <URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm>.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Graham Mayor]

No! no! no! This is even worse. The first time someone crashes the shared
normal.dot everybody stops working.

Normal.dot is an individual scratch file and should not be shared. Each user
should have their own copy preferably located locally at the workstation, or
at least in the user's own area on the network server.

Macros, autotexts and toolbars should be provided either by document
templates or by global templates. The document templates to be shared are
located in the Workgroup templates folder (to which each user is pointed)
and global templates are located in a startup folder, again to which users
are pointed. See http://www.gmayor.dsl.pipex.com/Template_Locations.htm

Company standards with relation to styles and layout are imposed by setting
up *document* templates for the required tasks and insisting that users
employ them.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
E-mail (e-mail address removed)
Web site www.gmayor.dsl.pipex.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>

 

[Rita King]

I got your drift after the first No! <g>. We have been sharing the default
template in WordPerfect among 15-20 users for years and the template has
never "crashed". I didn't know Word's normal.dot was so unreliable.

Thanks for the info. It's hard to get the thought processes away from
WordPerfect (after 10 years!).

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Hi Rita,

I'm not sure that it is "so unreliable" if used properly. Proper use does
not include sharing. Assuming that things will (or should) work in Word the
same way they do in WP is a major mistake. What follows is a portion of a
longer post on converting from WP to Word that might help you and your
users.

--
Word and Word Perfect work very differently from one another. Each program's
methods have strengths and weaknesses; but, if you try to use one of these
programs as if it were the other, it is like pushing on a string! You can
easily make a lot of extra work for yourself. If you are unwilling to take
the time to learn to use Word's methods, you should stick to using Word Pad.
You'll have a lot less grief, although you'll miss out on a lot of raw
power.

See <URL: http://www.addbalance.com/word/wordperfect.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WordVsWordPerfect.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/TipsAndGotchas.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RevealCodes.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WordPerfectConverters.htm>
<URL:
http://businesssoft.about.com/compute/businesssoft/library/blconvert.htm>
for information on Word for Word Perfect users.

For more:
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm>
<URL: http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm>
<URL: http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm>
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm>

In Word 2000 (or later) You can get the function keys to display in a
special toolbar at the bottom of the screen if you want (something like
pressing F3 twice in WP). The following macro will do this.
Sub ShowMeFunctionKeys()
Commandbars("Function Key Display").Visible = True
End Sub

Learn about Styles - really learn! <URL:
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm> I resisted for years and
now regret every day of those years because although that string was still
very hard to push, it kept getting longer and longer, and had some very
important projects tied to it!


--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.