Word Styles Changing

[Susan L]

We have a document that is used as a template (but not a .dot). Recently, we
opened a document about to be delivered to our customer, only to find that 5
or 6 tables formatted with custom-made styles (e.g., "Table Text") had
changed themselves to, for example, 12 point all caps, centered, space above
12, space below 6. The rest of the tables in the document were OK, and
following the style specifications we had set.

None of our custom styles are defined as automatically update. However,
characteristic of Word 2003, if a user makes a change in a style, then a new
style is created (e.g., Table Text + All caps, etc.). In the affected tables,
the styles were like this.

We tried reapplying the original styles, but that did not change the
formatting. We tried converting the tables to text; we tried copying and
pasting as unformatted text and then reapplying the styles. That (finally)
worked.

We also tried doing a Save and Repair on the document before doing the paste
unformatted text action, which produced no results.

Can anyone explain what is going on? I know there are some problems with
using Reading View. It is possible that Reading View might be the source of
this problem?

 

[dkline2002]

Susan,
How many people are updating this document? It sounds to me that although
you are using a template (not a .dot) file, normal.dot could be causing your
problem. If more than one person is updating this file, each one has a
normal.dot file, that's the system default, however, chances of everyone's
normal.dot file being the same is suspect. When people open the file, their
normal.dot styles could be sneaking into the document unnoticed... you need
to create a template (a .dot file) from a "good" copy of your template (which
is not a .dot file) and then have everyone attach that template when they are
updating your document. I hope this helps... If you need more help with
this, let me know.
Best Wishes,
Dkline

 

[Beth Melton]

The only way what you are describing can happen is if under Tools/Templates
and Add-ins the "Automatically update document styles" option is checked.
Otherwise, any changes in someone's Normal.dot (or another other template if
they have a copies in the same location as the original and same name), will
not affect document styles.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Susan L]

Thank you both, DKli ne and Beth. A lot of people worked on parts of this
document. As a start, I have created a true template (.dot), which is the
preferred way to go.

My colleague and I will investigate the Automatically update document styles
issue. I always keep this turned off, so I forgot what havoc it can wreak!

Thank you so much for responding.

 

[dkline2002 via OfficeKB.com]

Susan,
I have another bit of thought for you, do you look at your document with
the "style area width" turned on? This can only be used when in "normal"
view, but it shows a pane on the left side of your document that shows the
styles used in your document. If you don't know how to get there, you go to
Tools>Options>View tab and toward the bottom, look for Style Area Width. Set
that to something like 0.7". As far as tables go, this will only show up at
the top of the table, but it might give you a clue if your table style has
changed.
Another thing to watch - when you cut and paste changes from another person,
you may want to reapply your style to that change, just to give an extra
layer of contol. Also, when you save this file, Word may ask you if you want
to save the changes to the template as well, if you KNOW that you haven't
changed anything in the template, say NO.

Dkline

Thank you both, DKli ne and Beth. A lot of people worked on parts of this
document. As a start, I have created a true template (.dot), which is the
preferred way to go.

My colleague and I will investigate the Automatically update document styles
issue. I always keep this turned off, so I forgot what havoc it can wreak!

Thank you so much for responding.

The only way what you are describing can happen is if under Tools/Templates
and Add-ins the "Automatically update document styles" option is checked.

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