Template link switched to Normal.Dot

[Ann Scharpf]

We are working on Word 2003 under Windows XP. I have created a series of
templates for users on my network. I mapped their workgroup templates so
that they could all access the shared templates. Last week I created a
toolbar and copied it over to all the shared templates.

I am now discovering that SOME of the people's documents are no longer
linked to the correct templates. Therefore, the new toolbar is not available
to the documents.

My templates were definitely used to create the documents. They have all
the styles I created and they look unlike anything that existed on our
network before. If I look at File > Properties, all the summary information
(with the exception of the template name) is exactly what I typed in the
summary for the template.

This has happened for a bunch of documents, but another large percentage of
them still have the correct template attached. At first I thought this might
have happened because the systems people incorrectly had our default document
type set to Word 97-2003 & 6.0/95 - RTF (*.doc). But I found a few .rtf
files and they do have the correct template link.

Does anyone have any idea how a document can be created based on one
template and then have that link severed and end up tied to Normal.Dot?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Ann

 

[Jezebel]

The attached template reverts to normal.dot if Word can't find or can't
access the original template.

 

[Ann Scharpf]

The only thing I can think that would cause Word to be unable to find the
template would be for our network to be down ... but then the users couldn't
access the DOCUMENTS either because they are also on the network.

 

[Tony Jollans]

I don't know what might have gone wrong but it may help to know how template
attachment works.

Unless you explicitly change it, a document will remain linked to the
original template (file and path) on which it was based. However that is not
necessarily the template that is actually used (and temporarily attached)
when the document is opened. If Word cannot find a template with the same
name as the original in any of the places it looks, it will use the user's
Normal template.

If your links to templates are actually being severed then you have some
code (or user) which (or who) is explicitly doing it. If, however,
normal.dot is being used while the original template remains linked then it
means Word cannot find the original template. If this is the case, make sure
that the affected users are set up properly to access the shared templates
folder.

 

[Jezebel]

Well keep thinking. Either there's a cause, or it's magic.

 

[Ann Scharpf]

Tony:

I tried to reproduce the situation you described. I went to two users'
machines on which I'd never mapped the workgroup templates. I opened an
"IPT.DOT" linked document on both of these machines and saved it. Neither
document changed the IPT.DOT link to a NORMAL.DOT.

I am just thoroughly stumped. I've tried looking in the help to see how to
explicitly change the template linked to a document and I can't find
anything. If I knew how to do this, at least I could instruct the users on
how to correct the link. Do you know if this is possible?

Thanks for taking the time to help me.

 

[Ann Scharpf]

Please ignore my question about manually changing the template linked to the
document. Sleep deprivation, I guess. I know how to do this.