Switching to Normal template fails...

[Stephen Miller]

I have been writing numerous Word docs using my own user-defined templates.

Now comes the times when I have to submit certain articles to journals so I need to deliver "standard" layout ie out-of-the-box, no fancy fonts, no fancy footnote layouts, nothing fancy at all.

So, atttach the Normal template and all will be well... No, I find, all is the same layout. Create document using Normal template and cut-and-paste and all is the same layout. Remove My Templates folder so it cannot pick up the templates and all is the same layout.

Sure, using Paste Special knocks the formatting on the head but I, er, thought the idea of Templates was that you can switch formats/layouts/whatever.

But not in this case, Head 2 remains Adobe Garamond Small Caps (a relaid font by myself) and not Helvetica 14pt Bold Italic as defined in the Normal template.

Just what is not happening here?!

It is Mac OS X / Word X that I am using.

Thanks

 

[Chad DeMeyer]

Stephen,

The idea of templates is that you can have a common starting point for
similar documents, and that you can in a networked situation extend
customization to all the documents created from that template. Attaching to
a template gives access to that template's toolbar, keyboard, autotext, and
macro customizations. You can also update styles from the template.
However, layout is hard-wired and can't be "applied" from the template.

regards,
cjd

I have been writing numerous Word docs using my own user-defined templates.

Now comes the times when I have to submit certain articles to journals so

I need to deliver "standard" layout ie out-of-the-box, no fancy fonts, no
fancy footnote layouts, nothing fancy at all.

So, atttach the Normal template and all will be well... No, I find, all is

the same layout. Create document using Normal template and cut-and-paste and
all is the same layout. Remove My Templates folder so it cannot pick up the
templates and all is the same layout.

Sure, using Paste Special knocks the formatting on the head but I, er,

thought the idea of Templates was that you can switch
formats/layouts/whatever.

But not in this case, Head 2 remains Adobe Garamond Small Caps (a relaid

font by myself) and not Helvetica 14pt Bold Italic as defined in the Normal
template.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

Once you have your document set the way you want, you do want to make sure
that this box is _not_ checked since when you send the document elsewhere
you do not want your styles being changed to match those in the user's
normal.dot.

http://addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm

Thanks Chad for the swift reply: I guess I am going to have to rethink my

way of writing. I had assumed that the template was rather like a stylesheet
in descriptive markup terms.

I had known about the layout issue when attending an A5-sized template but

I had not realised that styled text travels in legacy format.

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

Returning to this issue (my email computer is not my home computer) I have examined my templates and they are all derived from the Normal template and define the Normal styles to my own preferred usage of fonts and line spacing and so on.

As a test I created a doc using Normal setting a single line in Heading 2, switched to my own template, and so Helvetica Bold Italic 14pt becomes Adobe Garamond Expert 10pt centred. So far, so good. But attaching the Normal template again, it simply remains in the style. I know the Normal template is being attached because customised toolbars do not appear. And the box is ticked to update the styles.

This is with a fresh install of Word just in case there is something corrupted somewhere along the line.

I find this situation simply bizarre.

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Stephen Miller]

Your assumption about styles is correct IF...

(1) You consistently use styles and only styles for your formatting, and
(2) You have the same style names in both templates, and
(3) Upon attaching the new template you check the box to update styles from
the template. (This last option should normally be unchecked, because
usually this is not desired.)

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2, attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

I have checked and the answer is Yes to all 3: the templates are Normal saved
and fonts/line spacing etc redefined for the Normal style names.

What does a template being "Normal saved" mean? Not clear on how the second
half of that sentence relates either.

Running a test, I typed one line in a doc using Normal, set it as Heading 2,
attached my own template, the style updated, attached Normal again, ticked the
box to update styles, zilch. (And this with a fresh install of Word just in
case there was an issue of corruption somewhere along the line.)

This is a mystery to me now...

So it works when you attach a different template, but not when you attach
Normal? Perhaps your Normal is corrupted. Fresh install will not have fixed
it unless you uninstalled first. Quit Word, find Normal, rename it, restart
Word, and try the test again. What version are you using?

Also see if it works when you Insert File into a new doc based on Normal
instead of attaching the template.

And ignore the error message you seem to be getting from the website, don't
repost unless you have given it some time and you are sure your message
isn't there. This one showed up 8 times.

DM

 

[Stephen Miller]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

So it works when you attach a different template, but not when you attach
Normal? Perhaps your Normal is corrupted. Fresh install will not have fixed
it unless you uninstalled first. Quit Word, find Normal, rename it, restart
Word, and try the test again. What version are you using?

I am using word X Service Release 1 running under Mac OS X 10.2.3

I have used the Microsoft utility to remove Office and I have emptied the Trash and reinstalled.

The same behaviour as before!

Also see if it works when you Insert File into a new doc based on Normal
instead of attaching the template.

This I had not tried befoer but still the same behaviour.

And ignore the error message you seem to be getting from the website, don't
repost unless you have given it some time and you are sure your message
isn't there. This one showed up 8 times.

Apologies for that, a sense of frustration (foolish in retrospect) had crept in...

Stephen Miller

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

We've been assured that the erroneous error message will be corrected in the
next revision of the Communities interface, which is scheduled for August, I
believe.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Hi Stephen,

I don't think your MacOffice X is fully updated--check here to confirm:
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/vxversions.html

Maybe that will help--your Normal seems to be off, but a fresh copy isn't
fixing anything, which seems very strange. Removing and reinstalling would
create a fresh copy, although just reinstalling would not.

Dayo

 

[jabroni]

Basically, the formatting and style names leave in the document. Attaching
the document to a different template will not change anythig even if all the
styles in both templates are the same name and have different
attributes.....unless you have the option "Automatically Update Document
Styles" selected.