Template file locations

[Farrell]

Hello All

Can anyone give me the lowdown on template location mess in Word X?

In order to be sure My Templates get backed up, I put them into my Home area
(I learned that the folder must be called 'My Templates"), but using the
File Locations preferences I am unable to get them to come up in the Project
Gallery.

This whole template thing is so flaky that I know someone has the real scoop
on what is going on.

Thanks

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

Can anyone give me the lowdown on template location mess in Word X?

In order to be sure My Templates get backed up, I put them into my Home area
(I learned that the folder must be called 'My Templates"), but using the
File Locations preferences I am unable to get them to come up in the Project
Gallery.

This whole template thing is so flaky that I know someone has the real scoop
on what is going on.

Needn't be a mess nor flaky, certainly.

I put my My Templates folder in the Microsoft User Data (MUD) folder
in ~ocuments, and put an alias to it in the Applications:Microsoft
Office X:Templates folder.

Works like a charm - the templates pop up in Project Gallery just
fine.

FWIW, the MUD folder's also where I put my Global Template/Startup
files (moving the Microsoft Office X:Office:Startup folder and
putting the alias there instead) as well as my Custom dictionaries
(with an alias in the ~:Libraryreferences:Microsoft folder)

 

[Elliott Roper]

Needn't be a mess nor flaky, certainly.

I put my My Templates folder in the Microsoft User Data (MUD) folder
in ~ocuments, and put an alias to it in the Applications:Microsoft
Office X:Templates folder.

Works like a charm - the templates pop up in Project Gallery just
fine.

FWIW, the MUD folder's also where I put my Global Template/Startup
files (moving the Microsoft Office X:Office:Startup folder and
putting the alias there instead) as well as my Custom dictionaries
(with an alias in the ~:Libraryreferences:Microsoft folder)

That's OK. Now I have a related question. How do I keep the templates
apart with more than one Word user sharing the machine and requiring
different templates? My solution so far is to give up and have two sets
of templates with meaningful names in Applications/Micro.... etc.

I guess changing the aliases about would be a slight help, but MS
should have had the default template location in ~/Library/Application
Support/... like a well behaved applicatioin should.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Farrell,

I believe that if you make an alias of My Templates and leave it in the
default location, Word should be able to find it without any trouble.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

I guess changing the aliases about would be a slight help, but MS
should have had the default template location in ~/Library/Application
Support/... like a well behaved applicatioin should.

I tend to disagree, though I acknowledge your interpretation is
justifiable too. My reasoning:

While the Aqua HIGs ** recommend "document templates" be put in the
Library folder, TN2015 says:

Applications may need additional files, such as dictionaries,
plug-ins, scripts, etc., in order to run properly. Apple
recommends that such files are stored in special folders such as
the Application Support, Scripting Additions, Scripts, and
Internet Plug-Ins folders... but some developers prefer to store
those files in folders located adjacent to the related
application.

Word templates are certainly not files which are needed "in order
(for the application) to run properly".

Document templates, as used in the Aqua HIGs, to me mean those that
the application manages and maintains. Word templates are fluid
documents that the user has free rein to create, customize and
otherwise manage and manipulate. To me, a user should never directly
access a folder within the Library to create a document. If the only
interface were through the Project Gallery I might agree more, but
templates are at best a hybrid.

**
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/Aq
uaHIGuidelines/AHIGDirectories/chapter_15_section_3.html

 

[Elliott Roper]

I tend to disagree, though I acknowledge your interpretation is
justifiable too. My reasoning:

While the Aqua HIGs ** recommend "document templates" be put in the
Library folder, TN2015 says:


Word templates are certainly not files which are needed "in order
(for the application) to run properly".

Document templates, as used in the Aqua HIGs, to me mean those that
the application manages and maintains. Word templates are fluid
documents that the user has free rein to create, customize and
otherwise manage and manipulate. To me, a user should never directly
access a folder within the Library to create a document. If the only
interface were through the Project Gallery I might agree more, but
templates are at best a hybrid.

**
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/Aq
uaHIGuidelines/AHIGDirectories/chapter_15_section_3.html

Yep, that's fair. What I should have said is that "My Templates" should
be per user. Templates is OK where it is. The best analogy is the fonts
directories, which is done more or less right. ~/Library/.. should have
"My Templates" for each user. /Library/... for the common computer wide
templates and /System/Library.. for the ones without which Word would
not work, of which there should be zero.

The Project Gallery should manage that as you say. I'll file a
suggestion with Microsoft. You would never see the problem unless you
were sharing the machine with somebody else.
Since mine grew legs in the Brussels Metro I have been risking divorce
by sharing my wife's Pismo while the new Powerbook rumours matured.

Do you think altering one's missus' Normal.dot should be a cause of
irretrievable breakdown of a marriage?

Any day now, peace and harmony will be restored. A 12" w superdrive is
allegedly shipping next Thursday.

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

Do you think altering one's missus' Normal.dot should be a cause of
irretrievable breakdown of a marriage?

I'm not the best one to ask, but why would she care? If she was
using document templates and global templates properly to begin
with, Normal.dot should be able to be trashed with impunity...

Sounds to me like you may be incompatible types! <vbg>

 

[Elliott Roper]

I'm not the best one to ask, but why would she care? If she was
using document templates and global templates properly to begin
with, Normal.dot should be able to be trashed with impunity...

Sounds to me like you may be incompatible types! <vbg>

Yes, we shall survive with the help of Clive Huggan's guide to a
successful marriage, (Bend Women^h^h^h^hrd to your Will) but Word is
unhelpful in keeping our templates apart as I already pointed out.

You have given me an idea. We shall henceforth have two sets of his and
hers letterheads. One for printing with eps, and one for e-mail with
tiff.

Tiff? tiff? Who said we were having a tiff?

she just .pict a fight with me with no justification.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Yes, we shall survive with the help of Clive Huggan's guide to a
successful marriage, (Bend Women^h^h^h^hrd to your Will) but Word is
unhelpful in keeping our templates apart as I already pointed out.

ROFL!

 

[John McGhie [MVP]]

Well, it's like this. Any user who depends on Normal.dot to contain, or not
contain, any given thing is bound to live in interesting times. Normal is
Word's "per user" scratchpad, and you really have no idea what will be in I
at any instant.

Sorta like getting married really: you have some idea of what it will be
like, but you'll never get bored

Because of the convenience factor, I do have stuff in my Normal template.
But I have a clean backup that I simply overwrite the one in service with
whenever I blow it up.

I certainly wouldn't recommend that anyone in the office attempts to use my
Normal, they *would* live in very interesting times. Some of the macros in
it are quite destructive in the wrong hands

Cheers

Do you think altering one's missus' Normal.dot should be a cause of
irretrievable breakdown of a marriage?

Any day now, peace and harmony will be restored. A 12" w superdrive is
allegedly shipping next Thursday.

--
All Spam and attachments blocked by Microsoft Entourage for Mac OS X. Please
post replies to the newsgroup to maintain the thread.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP: Word for Macintosh and Word for Windows
Consultant Technical Writer <[email protected]>
+61 4 1209 1410; Sydney, Australia: GMT + 10 hrs