How to use templates!

[TheWheel]

I followed the answer in a similarly titled suggestion, and it did not work
at all.

My suggestion is to provide instructions that really work. Cheif component
of that is make sure the menus exist (they don't most of the time) and make
sure that putting this where you say to actually makes them available to use
(it didn't.)

Suggestion: Create a top level link "How to use templates" that REALLY
answers the question. Give an example that actually works. If there is set up
required, provide links that correctly instruct with respect to set up.

That's all. Projects is EMPTY, templates do not include the downloaded one
that I "Modified according to instructions elsewhere by "changing" where it
is stored.

Two STRIKES and it doesn't work at all.

Suggestion, just so you don't mis it: Make the instructions ACTUALLY work.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...332b54&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Well, before you start ordering us around, please try to remember that WE do
not work for Microsoft. We're just fellow users, and we'll help you if you
make that a pleasant experience for us. If you become the sort of person we
would rather not talk with, then we won't.

Secondly, we cannot make sure that menus exist unless you tell us which
version of Word you are using, and on which operating system. We support
more than 15 versions of Word on more than six different operating systems.
You tell us what you've got, we'll tell you where to find things.

Your Projects folder may be empty because you have not yet created a
template.

Look here:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

And here

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Now, *I* know that the information you are looking for is already in the
Microsoft Word Help. I know it is, because I use it all the time. So part
of our problem is that you are not finding it.

Would you like to choose to spend some time looking in the Word Help for a
topic labelled "About getting help" or "Use Word Help"? I suggest that you
read everything it sends you to. And spend at least an hour thinking about,
and trying, the things it suggests.

You have a choice of course: you can spend an hour of your life now learning
to use one of the largest and most useful help systems on the planet; or you
can waste years of your life in future wondering why you are achieving very
little in your career. Could part of the reason be because you cannot use
Microsoft Office as capably as the people at the next desk?

Your choice, entirely. It's a personal preference. Some people actually
seem to take pride in being unable to use computers, or Word, skilfully.
They keep telling me "I don't have time for that stuff, just do it for me."

Yeah, well they're not saying that to *me* any longer. Because they don't
work here any longer. But I do. And these days, I make sure the managers
reporting to me do not hire people who think they do not have time to learn
to use the tools the company provides

Cheers

I followed the answer in a similarly titled suggestion, and it did not work
at all.

My suggestion is to provide instructions that really work. Cheif component
of that is make sure the menus exist (they don't most of the time) and make
sure that putting this where you say to actually makes them available to use
(it didn't.)

Suggestion: Create a top level link "How to use templates" that REALLY
answers the question. Give an example that actually works. If there is set up
required, provide links that correctly instruct with respect to set up.

That's all. Projects is EMPTY, templates do not include the downloaded one
that I "Modified according to instructions elsewhere by "changing" where it
is stored.

Two STRIKES and it doesn't work at all.

Suggestion, just so you don't mis it: Make the instructions ACTUALLY work.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?mid=da7309d6-10bc
-406b-8b2e-02a08e332b54&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[TheWheel]

Dear John,

I'm sorry they put you in the position to receive posts for a section called
"Suggestions for Microsoft" without being a microsoft employee.

Not really my fault "Microsoft" isn't the recipient the way Microsoft set
this up.

Second, it seems to me to be some attitude to call me down for not knowing
that "Suggestions for Microsoft" would not be read by... Microsoft.

Next, Word is full of unhelpful help. If you would like to point out search
terms that will generate the "help you use all the time" that addresses this
issue, I will of course be glad to do so.

However, you, like the generators of the Word help have truly missed the
expressed need:

I don't need to know how to create a template... I downloaded some from a
Microsoft web site. In fact, i did not ask how to create a template which is
the question one of your links answered. Thank you for your effort.

The other link nowhere addresses "how to use" a template with fields in it,
provided by the Microsoft Web site.

How does one get the fields in a Microsoft Word Template populated?

Indeed, the location the web agent dropped the templates, nor the location
suggested in some online help, resulted in "working" behavior from the
templates.

The application help instructs the use of menus and menu items that simply
do not exist in the product as stated. I think Microsoft should fix that, and
though I understand you may have no control over that, I was addressing
Microsoft, not you. Please don't be hurt where no injury was offered.

Finally, I didn't say that the template list or the template directory were
empty, and they are not empty. Not "working" is related to not seeing any
instruction concerning use of fields in templates. Adding fields yes. Using
fields... no.

Thank you for your interest and concern. -- David

Well, before you start ordering us around, please try to remember that WE do
not work for Microsoft. We're just fellow users, and we'll help you if you
make that a pleasant experience for us. If you become the sort of person we
would rather not talk with, then we won't.

Secondly, we cannot make sure that menus exist unless you tell us which
version of Word you are using, and on which operating system. We support
more than 15 versions of Word on more than six different operating systems.
You tell us what you've got, we'll tell you where to find things.

Your Projects folder may be empty because you have not yet created a
template.

Look here:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

And here

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Now, *I* know that the information you are looking for is already in the
Microsoft Word Help. I know it is, because I use it all the time. So part
of our problem is that you are not finding it.

Would you like to choose to spend some time looking in the Word Help for a
topic labelled "About getting help" or "Use Word Help"? I suggest that you
read everything it sends you to. And spend at least an hour thinking about,
and trying, the things it suggests.

You have a choice of course: you can spend an hour of your life now learning
to use one of the largest and most useful help systems on the planet; or you
can waste years of your life in future wondering why you are achieving very
little in your career. Could part of the reason be because you cannot use
Microsoft Office as capably as the people at the next desk?

Your choice, entirely. It's a personal preference. Some people actually
seem to take pride in being unable to use computers, or Word, skilfully.
They keep telling me "I don't have time for that stuff, just do it for me."

Yeah, well they're not saying that to *me* any longer. Because they don't
work here any longer. But I do. And these days, I make sure the managers
reporting to me do not hire people who think they do not have time to learn
to use the tools the company provides

Cheers

I followed the answer in a similarly titled suggestion, and it did not work
at all.

My suggestion is to provide instructions that really work. Cheif component
of that is make sure the menus exist (they don't most of the time) and make
sure that putting this where you say to actually makes them available to use
(it didn't.)

Suggestion: Create a top level link "How to use templates" that REALLY
answers the question. Give an example that actually works. If there is set up
required, provide links that correctly instruct with respect to set up.

That's all. Projects is EMPTY, templates do not include the downloaded one
that I "Modified according to instructions elsewhere by "changing" where it
is stored.

Two STRIKES and it doesn't work at all.

Suggestion, just so you don't mis it: Make the instructions ACTUALLY work.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?mid=da7309d6-10bc
-406b-8b2e-02a08e332b54&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

We support a number of different versions of Word, and the Template Gallery
provides templates for an number of different versions. Unfortunately, menus
aren't always the same in every version (and this will be even more
drastically altered by Word 2007), so the instructions provided with your
template may have been intended for a different version. Some of the
templates, I gather, offer a Template Help task pane; I don't know how much
use it is, but apparently it isn't very helpful (all the questions we've
seen here concern how to get rid of it).

Dear John,

I'm sorry they put you in the position to receive posts for a section called
"Suggestions for Microsoft" without being a microsoft employee.

Not really my fault "Microsoft" isn't the recipient the way Microsoft set
this up.

Second, it seems to me to be some attitude to call me down for not knowing
that "Suggestions for Microsoft" would not be read by... Microsoft.

Next, Word is full of unhelpful help. If you would like to point out search
terms that will generate the "help you use all the time" that addresses this
issue, I will of course be glad to do so.

However, you, like the generators of the Word help have truly missed the
expressed need:

I don't need to know how to create a template... I downloaded some from a
Microsoft web site. In fact, i did not ask how to create a template which is
the question one of your links answered. Thank you for your effort.

The other link nowhere addresses "how to use" a template with fields in it,
provided by the Microsoft Web site.

How does one get the fields in a Microsoft Word Template populated?

Indeed, the location the web agent dropped the templates, nor the location
suggested in some online help, resulted in "working" behavior from the
templates.

The application help instructs the use of menus and menu items that simply
do not exist in the product as stated. I think Microsoft should fix that, and
though I understand you may have no control over that, I was addressing
Microsoft, not you. Please don't be hurt where no injury was offered.

Finally, I didn't say that the template list or the template directory were
empty, and they are not empty. Not "working" is related to not seeing any
instruction concerning use of fields in templates. Adding fields yes. Using
fields... no.

Thank you for your interest and concern. -- David

Well, before you start ordering us around, please try to remember that WE do
not work for Microsoft. We're just fellow users, and we'll help you if you
make that a pleasant experience for us. If you become the sort of person we
would rather not talk with, then we won't.

Secondly, we cannot make sure that menus exist unless you tell us which
version of Word you are using, and on which operating system. We support
more than 15 versions of Word on more than six different operating systems.
You tell us what you've got, we'll tell you where to find things.

Your Projects folder may be empty because you have not yet created a
template.

Look here:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

And here

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Now, *I* know that the information you are looking for is already in the
Microsoft Word Help. I know it is, because I use it all the time. So part
of our problem is that you are not finding it.

Would you like to choose to spend some time looking in the Word Help for a
topic labelled "About getting help" or "Use Word Help"? I suggest that you
read everything it sends you to. And spend at least an hour thinking about,
and trying, the things it suggests.

You have a choice of course: you can spend an hour of your life now learning
to use one of the largest and most useful help systems on the planet; or you
can waste years of your life in future wondering why you are achieving very
little in your career. Could part of the reason be because you cannot use
Microsoft Office as capably as the people at the next desk?

Your choice, entirely. It's a personal preference. Some people actually
seem to take pride in being unable to use computers, or Word, skilfully.
They keep telling me "I don't have time for that stuff, just do it for me."

Yeah, well they're not saying that to *me* any longer. Because they don't
work here any longer. But I do. And these days, I make sure the managers
reporting to me do not hire people who think they do not have time to learn
to use the tools the company provides

Cheers

I followed the answer in a similarly titled suggestion, and it did not work
at all.

My suggestion is to provide instructions that really work. Cheif component
of that is make sure the menus exist (they don't most of the time) and make
sure that putting this where you say to actually makes them available to use
(it didn't.)

Suggestion: Create a top level link "How to use templates" that REALLY
answers the question. Give an example that actually works. If there is set up
required, provide links that correctly instruct with respect to set up.

That's all. Projects is EMPTY, templates do not include the downloaded one
that I "Modified according to instructions elsewhere by "changing" where it
is stored.

Two STRIKES and it doesn't work at all.

Suggestion, just so you don't mis it: Make the instructions ACTUALLY work.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?mid=da7309d6-10bc
-406b-8b2e-02a08e332b54&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[TheWheel]

Suzanne, I think you have the idea here too. I have become convinced that
Microsoft deliberately changes workflow paths, keystroke sequences, and the
like, and not because of derivative results of product improvement.
Maintaining prior functionality and adding new features is not so hard. I've
personally navigated that in significant software designs. To succeed it has
to be one of the goals, which I don't think it is for Microsoft.

Hiding an item behind one of a half dozen new links may be nothing to the
familiar user, but it trashes the value of the existing help if the help
isn't updated with the product versions.

This mismatch between help and product version is my critism. As long as the
help doesn't match the product shipped, I'm going to feel ripped off. And
Word 2003 is by that standard, still a rip-off. I'm also not going to be able
to get things done, especially from studying INCORRECT instructions for an
hour. I don't like jumping randomly to discover donkey kong bonuses, and I
don't want to make wild guesses to find where common fetures ahve been hidden.

Thanks for you time and effort. I wish it was less perishable. David

We support a number of different versions of Word, and the Template Gallery
provides templates for an number of different versions. Unfortunately, menus
aren't always the same in every version (and this will be even more
drastically altered by Word 2007), so the instructions provided with your
template may have been intended for a different version. Some of the
templates, I gather, offer a Template Help task pane; I don't know how much
use it is, but apparently it isn't very helpful (all the questions we've
seen here concern how to get rid of it).

Dear John,

I'm sorry they put you in the position to receive posts for a section called
"Suggestions for Microsoft" without being a microsoft employee.

Not really my fault "Microsoft" isn't the recipient the way Microsoft set
this up.

Second, it seems to me to be some attitude to call me down for not knowing
that "Suggestions for Microsoft" would not be read by... Microsoft.

Next, Word is full of unhelpful help. If you would like to point out search
terms that will generate the "help you use all the time" that addresses this
issue, I will of course be glad to do so.

However, you, like the generators of the Word help have truly missed the
expressed need:

I don't need to know how to create a template... I downloaded some from a
Microsoft web site. In fact, i did not ask how to create a template which is
the question one of your links answered. Thank you for your effort.

The other link nowhere addresses "how to use" a template with fields in it,
provided by the Microsoft Web site.

How does one get the fields in a Microsoft Word Template populated?

Indeed, the location the web agent dropped the templates, nor the location
suggested in some online help, resulted in "working" behavior from the
templates.

The application help instructs the use of menus and menu items that simply
do not exist in the product as stated. I think Microsoft should fix that, and
though I understand you may have no control over that, I was addressing
Microsoft, not you. Please don't be hurt where no injury was offered.

Finally, I didn't say that the template list or the template directory were
empty, and they are not empty. Not "working" is related to not seeing any
instruction concerning use of fields in templates. Adding fields yes. Using
fields... no.

Thank you for your interest and concern. -- David

Well, before you start ordering us around, please try to remember that WE do
not work for Microsoft. We're just fellow users, and we'll help you if you
make that a pleasant experience for us. If you become the sort of person we
would rather not talk with, then we won't.

Secondly, we cannot make sure that menus exist unless you tell us which
version of Word you are using, and on which operating system. We support
more than 15 versions of Word on more than six different operating systems.
You tell us what you've got, we'll tell you where to find things.

Your Projects folder may be empty because you have not yet created a
template.

Look here:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

And here

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Now, *I* know that the information you are looking for is already in the
Microsoft Word Help. I know it is, because I use it all the time. So part
of our problem is that you are not finding it.

Would you like to choose to spend some time looking in the Word Help for a
topic labelled "About getting help" or "Use Word Help"? I suggest that you
read everything it sends you to. And spend at least an hour thinking about,
and trying, the things it suggests.

You have a choice of course: you can spend an hour of your life now learning
to use one of the largest and most useful help systems on the planet; or you
can waste years of your life in future wondering why you are achieving very
little in your career. Could part of the reason be because you cannot use
Microsoft Office as capably as the people at the next desk?

Your choice, entirely. It's a personal preference. Some people actually
seem to take pride in being unable to use computers, or Word, skilfully.
They keep telling me "I don't have time for that stuff, just do it for me."

Yeah, well they're not saying that to *me* any longer. Because they don't
work here any longer. But I do. And these days, I make sure the managers
reporting to me do not hire people who think they do not have time to learn
to use the tools the company provides

Cheers

On 6/8/06 7:24 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "TheWheel"

I followed the answer in a similarly titled suggestion, and it did not work
at all.

My suggestion is to provide instructions that really work. Cheif component
of that is make sure the menus exist (they don't most of the time) and make
sure that putting this where you say to actually makes them available to use
(it didn't.)

Suggestion: Create a top level link "How to use templates" that REALLY
answers the question. Give an example that actually works. If there is set up
required, provide links that correctly instruct with respect to set up.

That's all. Projects is EMPTY, templates do not include the downloaded one
that I "Modified according to instructions elsewhere by "changing" where it
is stored.

Two STRIKES and it doesn't work at all.

Suggestion, just so you don't mis it: Make the instructions ACTUALLY work.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?mid=da7309d6-10bc
-406b-8b2e-02a08e332b54&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I'm not aware of very many mismatches between the Word 2003 offline
(built-in) Help and actual conditions. Where there are errors, they should
be corrected in online Help. But what I was really curious about was the
Help for the specific template you downloaded.

 

[TheWheel]

I'm sorry that you are not aware of very many mis-matches in the Word 2003
built-in help and the product. It only maters to me that EVERY issue I look
up has incorrect help. I think your pst experience and expertise with past
product is blinding you to the recognition of discrepancies.

If there was help with the Template down loaded, I certainly have not been
aware of it, which has become one of my issues. If the term "template" means
next o nothing, instructions should accompany every template.

Where do you suggest such help might be found?

As I have stated, perhaps in a separate thread, the template in question was
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx
And is called "Modern_Resume.dot"
It downloaded to the desktop, which is not where it belongs, but where it
belongs is not specifed here. Where else should where it belongs be
specified? Where does it belong?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The URL you cite has downloads for Macs, and I don't see any links on the
page you cited that look like links to templates. In any case, I have no
experience with Mac versions at all, or their templates. The Office Template
Gallery at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx has
links to these articles:

Turn on template help
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP010811591033.aspx

Downloading Office Online templates
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011352971033.aspx

Four ways to get help with templates
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011592451033.aspx

 

[TheWheel]

Suzanne

Thank you. To further make the point of how HOPELESSLY FLAWED Microsoft
"Help" is I followed your link. It says:

# In either Microsoft Office Word 2003 or Microsoft Office Excel 2003, click
Options on the Tools menu.

Well, in Microsoft Office Word 2004 for Mac, "Options" does not exist on the
TOOLS menu.

Pointlessly wrong.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, I'm hopelessly confused. In one of your posts you mentioned using Word
2003, which is a PC version, not Mac. I'm not sure why you think that
instructions given specifically for Word 2003 should be expected to apply to
Word 2004. If you have questions about MacWord, you would be better advised
to post through
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/community/community.aspx?pid=newsgroups

 

[TheWheel]

I have two machines. Word on both.

One PC XP PRo, one Mac OS X 10.4.7

The built in help is not helpful. The online resorces are overly specific...

It still comes down to trying to get instructions that actually MATCH the
software I have paid for.

 

[TheWheel]

Foolish me. I thouhgt having the newest version for each platform would
equate to cross platform compatibility.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

AFAIK, in *every* version of MacWord, Preferences is the equivalent of
Options in PC versions. As a user of both versions, you should have become
aware of this.