template functionality

C

cayce

I recently read MVP Shauna Kelly’s article on the relationship between Word
and templates. She states after the document is born, “….a template sits in
the background and provides four things to a document:
1. macros
2. AutoTexts
3. toolbars
4. keyboard shortcutsâ€

What if the template is located on some shared network directory (vs their
own PC) and the user is instructed to simply click on it to “birth†a new
document they then save as their working file? Are these 4 background items
Shauna speaks of still available? I struggle with how this is possible.

Thanks for clues to how this works.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

They should be available as long as you are connected to the network.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
G

Gordon Bentley-Mix on news.microsoft.com

And if you don't have access to the template for some reason - for example,
you've received the document as an email attachment from someone outside of
your organisation - then Word simply attaches the document to the Normal
template. (However, this "reattachment" probably won't be visible in Word; it
will still say that the attached template is the original.)

Look at the information provided (in Word 2003) on the 'Templates' tab of
the 'Templates and Add-ins' dialog box (click Tools | Templates and
Add-Ins...) for an understanding of why the information that Shauna provided
is true even when the source template isn't located on the user's local
machine.
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix
Word MVP

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup.

Read the original version of this post in the Office Discussion Groups - no
membership required!
 
C

cayce

hmmmm...Gordon I don't quite understand what you suggest.

I opened Word 2003 (which I still have on my machine) and looked at the
Templates and Add-Ins. It takes me to the same place I end up in W2007 when I
choose Developer>Document Template. Once there, what should I be looking for
to help me "get" the relationship to the parent template's influence?

Thanks once again for furthering my understanding.
 
G

Gordon Bentley-Mix on news.microsoft.com

Cayce,

When you open the 'Templates and Add-ins' dialog box in Word 2003, you will
see two tabs: 'Templates' (which is usually selected by default) and 'Linked
CSS'. There is a field on the 'Templates' tab under the section labelled
'Document template' that has an 'Attach...' button to the right of it. The
information displayed in this field indicates the template that the document
is based on (and attached to).

Now consider the following use case: I create a document from a template
that is stored on my computer here in New Zealand. I then email this document
to you. Clearly you would not have access to the template on my computer.
However, when you open the document and look at the "attached template", it
would still indicate that the document is attached to the template on my
local computer. But since you do not have access to this template, any
functionality contained within this template - macros, AutoText entries,
toolbars and keyboard shortcuts - would not be available to you. In reality,
because every document must be attached to _some_ template, Word has
"disconnected" the document from the template and has reattached it to your
Normal template, although the information displayed in Word does not show
this as being the case.

Now consider this use case: You create a document from a template on your
network. You send this document to a colleague who also has access to this
template on the network. When your colleague opens the document, it shows the
attached template as being the one on the network, and because your colleague
has access to this template through the network, any functionality in this
template is also available to your colleague.

Finally, consider this use case: You create a document from a template in
the location specified for the Word 'User templates' on your local machine.
You send this document to a colleague who also has a copy of the same
template in their Word 'User templates' location on their local machine.
Assuming both templates are identical, you might reasonably expect that any
functionality in the template would be available to your colleague as well.
However, you will find that this is not the case - especially if you use
profiles in Windows. This is because the path to the template on your
colleague's machine is not the same as the path to the template on your
machine, and the information displayed in the 'Templates and Add-Ins' dialog
box will show this. (It will probably include profile information.) Your
colleague would need to reattached the document to the template on their
local machine in order to use any functionality contained within the
template. (And again, Word would have automatically attached the document to
the Normal template without any indication.)

There are, of course, sublties to this subject that I may not have addressed
fully - e.g. Citrix environments, VPNs, network drive mapping, etc. - but
this should give you a general idea of how the relationship between a
document and its source template works.
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix
Word MVP

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup.

Read the original version of this post in the Office Discussion Groups - no
membership required!
 
C

cayce

Hello again Gordon:

Thanks for the in-depth response. This helps me get a better understanding.
As a follow-up, I now have a couple other questions. Here's the background:

Currently, I have the network permissions to place baseline files onto our
internal company website (since I manage the content). My coworkers then
access these baseline files, currently in .doc or .docm file formats, from
our website.

I am trying to get a handle on whether using a .dot or .dotm version offers
any benefits to the user's beyond the current scenario (.doc or .docm). We
already keep macros in the current files and, since we are using W2007,
custom toolbars are not in the picture. We've never used shortcuts. So to
circle back to the items Shauna's article mentions, it appears Word templates
ability to hold AutoText entries is the useful piece we might find useful.

In our scenario, are there any other advantages to using a Word templates?
Perhaps more importantly, are there any disadvantages?

Further guidance would be appreciated.
 
G

Gordon Bentley-Mix

Cayce,

I don't have much experience with working with Word through a web portal. My
only recommendation would be to "suck it and see". Load a .dot/.dotm onto
the website and see what happens.

BTW, using Word 2007 doesn't automatically preclude the use of custom
toolbars; they're just displayed on the Developer tab instead. In addition,
it is possible to customise the Ribbon. Greg Maxey shows how on his website:
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_Ribbon.htm
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix
Word MVP

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup.

Read the original version of this post in the Office Discussion Groups - no
membership required!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top