Problem Applying Template to Existing Document in Word 2003

[MD]

Hi there,
We are working on a book in Word 2003 Pro in which a number of chapters are
sent to us by different authors. Several authors are using their own styles
for text, captions, etc. (We had asked them to use a template we provided,
but most are still not doing so!) Thus, we need to apply our own custom
template to each submission.

We applied our template to one of the chapters using the Toos>Templates and
Add ins>Attach{custom template.dot} (making sure that the template is also
listed and checked in the "Checked items are currently loaded" box. This did
the trick the first time, and the styles we had defined in our custom
template appeared in the Styles and Formatting bar. We then went through
section by section and applied those styles to the various text and headings.

However, that was the only time it worked. Now, every time I try to attach
our template to any of the documents, it does not seem to "stick" and the
styles are not visible at all in the styles box (I tried viewing it in
Custom/All Styles/Available Styles, etc., to no avail).

The only way that I can get it to show is to check off the box
"Automatically update document styles", but doing this creates such a mess of
the document that it's more work to clean than is worth it.

Can anyone advise as to what I may be doing wrong and how I can get my
custom template styles to apply and show in the styles and formatting bar?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Marta

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hello Marta

We are working on a book in Word 2003 Pro in which a number of chapters are
sent to us by different authors. Several authors are using their own styles
for text, captions, etc. (We had asked them to use a template we provided,
but most are still not doing so!) Thus, we need to apply our own custom
template to each submission.

[..]

what I would do is the following: create a new document based on your
template, and copy the content of the received files into it. Make sure
you don't bring any section formatting with you (don't copy any section
breaks nor the very last paragraph mark of the document).

Better yet, use Edit | Paste Special to make sure you only paste the
text (or use the SmartTag after copying to give the target formatting
preference). That way, you have a bit more to do when styling, but it's
the only way (through the UI) to make sure that the formatting is
governed by your template only. Be wary of any kind of numbering (make
sure your style is applied there).

HTH
Robert

 

[MD]

Thank you Robert!

Hello Marta

We are working on a book in Word 2003 Pro in which a number of chapters are
sent to us by different authors. Several authors are using their own styles
for text, captions, etc. (We had asked them to use a template we provided,
but most are still not doing so!) Thus, we need to apply our own custom
template to each submission.

[..]

what I would do is the following: create a new document based on your
template, and copy the content of the received files into it. Make sure
you don't bring any section formatting with you (don't copy any section
breaks nor the very last paragraph mark of the document).

Better yet, use Edit | Paste Special to make sure you only paste the
text (or use the SmartTag after copying to give the target formatting
preference). That way, you have a bit more to do when styling, but it's
the only way (through the UI) to make sure that the formatting is
governed by your template only. Be wary of any kind of numbering (make
sure your style is applied there).

HTH
Robert
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