Workgroup templates - guidance needed

J

jonny

I have created a set of .dot templates for use by numerous users. I would
like to know where to install these and how to set up all users' machines to
access the templates. I would like to make their use of the templates as easy
as possible. By this I mean: is it possible to set up the user's computer so
that when he or she creates a new document, only these templates are
available for use?

Many thanks
 
S

Shauna Kelly

Hi jonny

First, the easy question: no, you can't restrict a user to a specific set of
templates, not least because a user could create their own template.

When you do File > New and, in Word 2003 click "on my computer", the
templates you see listed are an amalgamation of:
- all templates in the folder listed at Tools > Options > File Locations >
User templates
- all templates in the folder listed at Tools > Options > File Locations >
Workgroup templates
- so-called built-in templates (all those elegant faxes and contemporary
resumes).

You can get rid of the built-in templates only by uninstalling them using
the Control Panel and Add/Remove Programs. Follow the instructions
carefully, choose the advanced customization option, and then under Word
find the Wizards and Templates item. Uninstall what you don't need. Don't be
too hasty to remove the Wizards unless users really should not use them. The
Calendar Wizard, for example, is quite useful. But all those contemporary
faxes can go!

There are two (and a half) basic ways to make your templates available:

Option 1: create a folder on a shared drive that everyone can see. Point
everyone's Workgroup Templates folder to that location. Put the templates in
that location and make them read-only. Big advantage: only one copy of every
file. Big disadvantages: You can't edit a template if anyone has open a
document based on the template. And the templates won't be available if
users are off-line on their laptops at Starbucks or if the network goes
down.

Option 2: write a login script to download the templates to each user's
individual machine every time they log on to the network. Good for major
rollouts for hundreds of users. Big advantage: You can edit the templates
even when users have a document based on the template open on their machine.
Works for laptops and other off-line use.

Option 2A: give everyone a 'home' folder on the network. Create a folder
there and use a login script to copy the templates to that folder. Point the
user's Workgroup Templates (or even User Templates) folder to that location.
Big advantage: Allows for roaming on different machines within the office if
different groups of users have different groups of templates available to
them. Allows for editing templates while users are using them. Big
disadvantage: doesn't work for laptops unconnected to the network or if the
network goes down.

See more at
Distributing macros to other users
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/DistributeMacros.htm

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
 
J

Jay Freedman

You can put the templates in a folder on a server that all users can
access, and tell everyone to go to Tools > Options > File Locations
and point their Workgroup Templates location to that folder. That will
make the templates from that folder available in the File > Open
dialog.

You can remove all of the Microsoft-supplied templates (except
Normal.dot, which is used to create the "new blank document") by going
into the Office setup program from Add/Remove Programs, choosing
Custom setup, and deselecting the templates.

Please don't try to limit users to only the templates you supply,
though. No one likes a tinpot dictator. Just tell them that certain
kinds of documents are required to be based on the company templates,
and they're expected to comply.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
 
J

jonny

Thanks very much Shauna and Jay.

I have installed the templates into a shared folder and set up my file
locations to point to it. Some users will need to use these templates offline
- however, I have no knowledge of login scripts. I have therefore set up the
shared templates folder to be available offline on my computer and others
with this requirement. Is this a reasonable workaround?

Finally, is there any way of at least stopping ctrl+n reverting to the
default normal.dot and instead going to the templates dialogue? Otherwise I
am sure that some users will end up just doing that instead of searching out
the template they ought to use.

Thanks again.

jonny
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

You'd need to reassign the Ctrl+N shortcut to FileNewDialog instead of
FileNewDefault.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

file. Big disadvantages: You can't edit a template if anyone has open a
document based on the template. And the templates won't be available if
Click to expand...

Is this perhaps true only if the document is set to "Automatically update
document styles?" I am able to edit templates while documents based on them
are open. You wouldn't think this would be possible, since Word does create
a ~$ owner file for the template when a document based on it is open, but I
get no "in use" message when I open the template, and changes are saved. The
only thing I do notice is that the owner file isn't deleted when I close
both document and template.
 
S

Sharpe

Hi Jay
A lot of your advice on this has got me by over the last few months, Thanks
One more question please. I have managed to remove all the default Office
templates except those for Access. We run Office Pro 2003 but I cant find
Wizards & Templates under setup customise etc. Ive tried deleting out of 1033
without luck. My new office doc dialog box is as I want it except for the
databases tab. Any ideas how to get rid of these templates?
Thanks
Sharpe
 
J

Jay Freedman

I have a full installation here of Office 2003, including Access, and
I don't have any Databases tab in my File > New dialog. I don't think
that's one of the built-in ones.

Have you looked in the User Templates folder to see if there's a
Databases subfolder there? Maybe it was installed by some other
program?

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
 
S

Sharpe

Hi again
The files listed on the databases tab were located in C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\1033. I deleted them as per someone elses
reply in this forum but the dialog still has the database templates tab. The
only difference being that now if I select one of the templates from the
dialog tab it asks for the Microsoft Office Pro CD etc to re-install them. So
I assumed I had deleted them from the right place.
I have seen these files there for a few years now with different versions of
office etc. Some examples: Asset Tracker, Ledger, Time and Billing, there's
10 files all up. I did a search on C and our server for any of these files
and could not find copies anywhere. Also double checked the user and
workgroup template locations, nothing there. Uninstalled the sample databases
etc and that just got rid of Northwind. Its got me stumped and our IT boys
are giving me strange looks.
Ta
Sharpe
 
J

Jay Freedman

I did see those ten files in the Templates\1033 folder when I
installed the "Typical Wizards" feature group under Access in
Add/Remove Programs, and they were removed when I set that group to
"Run on first use".

But the files in question were Access wizards with extensions of .mdz,
not the Word wizard extension of .wiz. They didn't show up in Word's
dialog, which still didn't have a Database tab. So something strange
is going on in your installation...

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
 
S

Sharpe

Hi again
I went back and had a look at the add/remove options and I dont have the
choice of "Run on first" in the drop down. I only have "Install on first". I
tried doing the same again without any luck. Thanks for having a look but its
not really hindering me, its more bugging me becuase I cant figure it out. I
will get our IT guys to chase it up instead. You've probably got more
important things to tackle.

Thanks again for all the other help you have unknowingly given me. I have
managed to get more done through these forums with people like yourself and
others without having any idea what Im doing with VBA and without the
expensive costs from some of the so called experts we have employed in the
past. A little bit of trial and error, copy and paste does wonders.

Seeya
Sharpe
 
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