Style Templates [was: Master Sub Documents (Thesis writing with Word)]

[Nick H.]

Hi,

This is a follow-up to my post to this NG of last week with some specific
questions on creating templates.

All right, here is the what the thesis should be composed of:

- title page (1)

- signature page (2)
- abstract (2)
- table of contents (2)
- list of figures/tables (2)

- body of thesis (3)
- references/bibliography (3)

(1) ... special layout, to be numbered with i (not appearing)
(2) ... to be numbered continuously with ii... (appearing), similar layout,
special case TOC, List of Figured
(3) ... to be numbered continuously with 1 ..., same layout (special case:
references)

I think that I will make a template only for (3). But the "body" will
actually be composed of several chapters (= several files), and I plan to
put them together at the final stage, incl. references.

Would you suggest I write all these things in separate files and put them
together at the very end in one large file or in a Master Document?

A regular .doc file isn't a template. Only a .dot file is a template. Well,
actually Word is smarter than that. It recognizes the file structure, not
the extension. If you take a document and re-name it as a .dot, it's still a
document. You can create a new, clean template at File > New and choose to
create a template. Or save an existing document as a template.

I know that. If I create a proper template with the method described by
you, how do I base my new document on that template? Whenever I start Word,
all my documents are based on the Normal.dot file.

Since I want to write up the body of the thesis in different files, should
I include page numbering in the template? Will that create a problem when I
merge the chapter-files in one large "body" file?

That's OK. But I would recommend that you plan early for everything related
to headings (not "headlines", by the way), and that includes: page
numbering, caption numbering for tables and figures, cross-references to
tables and figures, the table of contents, table of figures, appendix
numbering, and numbering pages figures tables etc within appendixes etc.

I just created a template (.dot-file) and realized that I would like to
change something. Can I open the .dot-file, make changes, and save it?

A final question: Where can I define a special format for footnotes and
captions?

BTW, I just made a test.
Document 1 based on template
Document 2 based on template

New document based on template into which I copied Doc 1 & Doc 2 (chapter
headlines are already formatted with numbering) and add a header with page
numbers. Worked like a charm. Yippie!!

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

Good website. Lots of useful information. *thumbs-up*

well, one brute-force method is to double-click on the .dot file...

O.K., meanwhile I found out how I can easily re-edit the template
(.dot-file).

For each of the files, make sure that your own template is attached to
the file as the Document Template,
not as a "global template /add-in.

Use each style consistently in each of your documents.
Save changes in styles back to template.

I will three templates. When I merge the various files, based on either of
the templates, on what template-basis do I do this?

 

[Jezebel]

yes, do that.

Hi,

This is a follow-up to my post to this NG of last week with some specific
questions on creating templates.

All right, here is the what the thesis should be composed of:

- title page (1)

- signature page (2)
- abstract (2)
- table of contents (2)
- list of figures/tables (2)

- body of thesis (3)
- references/bibliography (3)

(1) ... special layout, to be numbered with i (not appearing)
(2) ... to be numbered continuously with ii... (appearing), similar
layout,
special case TOC, List of Figured
(3) ... to be numbered continuously with 1 ..., same layout (special case:
references)

I think that I will make a template only for (3). But the "body" will
actually be composed of several chapters (= several files), and I plan to
put them together at the final stage, incl. references.

Would you suggest I write all these things in separate files and put them
together at the very end in one large file or in a Master Document?



I know that. If I create a proper template with the method described by
you, how do I base my new document on that template? Whenever I start
Word,
all my documents are based on the Normal.dot file.

Since I want to write up the body of the thesis in different files, should
I include page numbering in the template? Will that create a problem when
I
merge the chapter-files in one large "body" file?


I just created a template (.dot-file) and realized that I would like to
change something. Can I open the .dot-file, make changes, and save it?

A final question: Where can I define a special format for footnotes and
captions?

BTW, I just made a test.
Document 1 based on template
Document 2 based on template

New document based on template into which I copied Doc 1 & Doc 2 (chapter
headlines are already formatted with numbering) and add a header with page
numbers. Worked like a charm. Yippie!!


Good website. Lots of useful information. *thumbs-up*



O.K., meanwhile I found out how I can easily re-edit the template
(.dot-file).


I will three templates. When I merge the various files, based on either of
the templates, on what template-basis do I do this?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You might want to look at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/NumberingFrontMatter.htm, and for
general tips on working with any long document, see
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookword.htm.

I would definitely start with a *manuscript* in a single file. In this
manuscript you do not worry about pagination or page layout. You do use
styles rigorously and create your references punctiliously, setting
everything up so that it will be possible to generate your TOC, TOF, etc.,
when you are done, but you don't do any of this as you are going along; you
concentrate on the content.

When editing is complete--and by this I mean, when the content of your
manuscript is satisfactory to you and your thesis committee--then you start
worrying about page layout. This is when you add section breaks, running
heads, TOC, TOF, etc.

It is necessary for your sanity that you concentrate on content while you
are in the writing phase, but it is equally vital that you pay moderate
attention to form (of the text itself) to spare yourself hair pulling when
you come down to the wire. This means that you apply the appropriate heading
styles, get any required numbering set up properly (see
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html), and so on.
Note that the actual formatting of styles is irrelevant. At this point,
every single style in your document can be 12-pt TNR, left-aligned,
double-spaced, etc. The beauty of styles is that you can modify them as
desired *after* editing is complete and you can start thinking about
appearance.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi Nick,

Honestly, I started a reply to your previous post, but your post was too
long, my reply was too complicated and I got confused, so didn't finish
it. Also, it was not entirely clear that your questions continued beyond
Shauna's previous reply. Sorry. Also, a lot of this advice is already
sorta shared here, which I compiled based on the links that were most
helpful when I was writing my thesis:
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookword.htm

Anyhow, an attempt:

Layout and page numbering for (1) and (2) is not relevant until you
combine all the chapters, so worry about that later. To prepare to allow
the TOC and TOFigures/Tables to be created, be sure to use proper
headings styles and the Insert | Caption feature in the body of the
thesis. Also set up whatever other styles you may use--block
quotations, for instance.

If you are using Word's endnote feature, you may need some tricks, post
back about that. Perhaps try to make each post a single question? But
keep it all under the same thread.

I think that I will make a template only for (3). But the "body" will
actually be composed of several chapters (= several files), and I plan to
put them together at the final stage, incl. references.

Would you suggest I write all these things in separate files and put them
together at the very end in one large file or in a Master Document?

DO NOT USE A MASTER DOCUMENT. IT MAY CORRUPT YOUR FILES. IT IS NOT WORTH
THE RISK.

Whether you write each chapter in different files or in the same file is
up to you. You will need to combine it at some point to autogenerate
the TOC, list of figures, and to insert cross-references. As long as
all the chapter files are based on the same template, this will not be
so difficult.

I will three templates. When I merge the various files, based on either of
the templates, on what template-basis do I do this?

Huh? I don't understand the question. You should only have one
template, for the chapters in the body of the thesis. That's your main
template. Write your chapters. Use Insert | File into a new clean doc to
get the chapters combined, then generate the TOC and TOF, etc. Then
type the title page, abstract, and signature page. Then mess with
putting in section breaks in the necessary places, and setting where
page numbers show and don't show, etc.

Since the final printed version might be a little different from the
composing version, it might be useful to duplicate your main template
under a different name, combine the chapters into a doc based on that
duplicate, and do some tweaks. Not a big deal.

Sounded like you figured out the template-editing problem, so I deleted
all that bit. However, a note:
Making changes to the template will sorta update your existing
documents--you can force the styles to show the new changes, but Layout
or Text changes like adding a page number will not propagate to the
documents based on the template. When writing my dissertation, I
usually just changed the template, created a new blank doc based on the
updated template, and used Insert | File to get the chapter docs into
the new format, creating a new chapter file rather than trying to update
the old one. This required less thinking and created a backup of my
chapter documents.

Daiya

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

A very strong DITTO! to Suzanne's post about process. I tried to say
this but could not articulate it so well.

 

[Nick H.]

Hello,

Let's see if I can pack in another question in here. I discovered an issue
with footnote text. As soon as I create a foot-/endnote, Word suggests to
use footnote text formatting (10-point). However, it is not defined as a
special style, like Heading 1, etc.

In order to save time, I created a file with the properly formatted
references so I just have to copy&paste that author's info. But as I paste
the lines from the "reference-file" into my footnote in the text, that
footnote text assumes the format of that in the reference file (i.e., 12
pt). If I were to paste my reference as unformatted text, I would lose the
formatting, i.e., underlining, etc.

Any suggestions/ideas?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

By default, footnotes use the Footnote Text paragraph style (which you can
modify to suit yourself). The footnote references (both in the text and in
the footnote) use the Footnote Reference character style, which can also be
customized.