Using templates

[Peter Bernhardt]

I have a very basic question about process. Can someone give me a brief
explanation of the benefits of distributing shared documents as templates
(.dot) rather than documents (.doc).

I want to lobby one of my clients to go this route and I want to make sure I
can put forth a good argument. One of the main problems I'm find, for
example, is that styles keep getting changed in documents using a .doc file
as the source. Also, there's the problem of the attached template on the
..doc template not being available. I'd welcome other things to point out
from the experts here.

TIA.

--
Peter Bernhardt
SharpSense Software LLC
(e-mail address removed)

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[Margaret Aldis]

Hi Peter

Well here are my thoughts -

It depends what you mean by 'shared documents'. If you mean that these are
model (boilerplate) documents, then generally it would be best to use .dot
files, because the default 'double click' action will then create a fresh
copy, rather than opening the original. If by 'shared' you mean literally
that a number of people use *the same* document, then of course exactly the
reverse applies, and .doc format would be better. (If users do open a .dot,
then if they attempt to Save As the file dialog will default to the
templates directory, which can be very annoying.)

The two problems you mention suggest that perhaps you have 'Automatically
update document styles' checked in the Templates and Add-ins dialog. The
'attached' template of a .doc shouldn't be a problem (and could be an
advantage), except that I believe on recent versions of Word a network
location can cause a long search (on earlier versions too, with some virus
checkers). The remedy here though is just to unattach (attach to Normal)
before distribution.

There isn't a great deal of difference between .doc and .dot formats now,
but AutoTexts can still only be saved in a template (which of course is a
good way to share a set of AutoTexts across a number of documents).

 

[Peter Bernhardt]

Thanks, Margaret, your thoughts are very helpful. And yes, I meant
boilerplate documents.

Cheers,
--
Peter Bernhardt
SharpSense Software LLC
(e-mail address removed)

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