Using styles

[Jeff]

I've read about styles and templates but am confused.

I have several very long and complex Word 2002 documents and I wish to
use a new customized "template" to modify their elements (font,
paragraph settings, headings, etc.). I have never done this so this is
all new to me. I have the impression that I could change a document's
settings by simply telling Word 2002 to apply the different new style,
and all the font, headings, paragraph settings will be reset. Is that true?

If the answer is yes, I have 2 questions:

1. Creating the template (.dot).
I've created a new template by simply saving an existing document as a
template. I've got the correct fonts and paragraph settings. I assume
that if I change the headings styles they will automatically be saved to
the new template. Correct?

Can I also delete from this new template "old" settings for headings
from the default style that I no longer need? How?

2. How do I apply the new template to a document created using the
default Word template?

Thank you and sorry for the basic questions.

 

[Stefan Blom]

1. When you Save As to create a new template, you'll see the name you
specified on the title bar, which indicates that the template file is open.
As long as the document is open, you can change its styles directly. Just
remember to save the template file before closing it.

After you have created a document based on any template, you can use the
"Add to template" option in the Modify Style dialog box to transfer the
style definition to the attached template.

2. Create a new document based on your template. Bring in existing content
via the Insert File dialog box (Insert | File). This assumes that style
names in the template are identical to those of the existing document.

 

[Stefan Blom]

As long as the document is open, you can change its styles directly.

Correction: As long as the *file* is open...

 

[Jeff]

Correction: As long as the *file* is open...

Thank you very much. Will experiment.
Appreciate the help.