You might want to look at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...rontMatter.htm, and for
general tips on working with any long document, see
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookword.htm.
I would definitely start with a *manuscript* in a single file. In this
manuscript you do not worry about pagination or page layout. You do use
styles rigorously and create your references punctiliously, setting
everything up so that it will be possible to generate your TOC, TOF, etc.,
when you are done, but you don't do any of this as you are going along; you
concentrate on the content.
When editing is complete--and by this I mean, when the content of your
manuscript is satisfactory to you and your thesis committee--then you start
worrying about page layout. This is when you add section breaks, running
heads, TOC, TOF, etc.
It is necessary for your sanity that you concentrate on content while you
are in the writing phase, but it is equally vital that you pay moderate
attention to form (of the text itself) to spare yourself hair pulling when
you come down to the wire. This means that you apply the appropriate heading
styles, get any required numbering set up properly (see
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numb...umbering.html), and so on.
Note that the actual formatting of styles is irrelevant. At this point,
every single style in your document can be 12-pt TNR, left-aligned,
double-spaced, etc. The beauty of styles is that you can modify them as
desired *after* editing is complete and you can start thinking about
appearance.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site:
http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
"Nick H." niko25at@NOSPAM (at) yahoo.de wrote in message
...
Hi,
This is a follow-up to my post to this NG of last week with some specific
questions on creating templates.
All right, here is the what the thesis should be composed of:
- title page (1)
- signature page (2)
- abstract (2)
- table of contents (2)
- list of figures/tables (2)
- body of thesis (3)
- references/bibliography (3)
(1) ... special layout, to be numbered with i (not appearing)
(2) ... to be numbered continuously with ii... (appearing), similar
layout,
special case TOC, List of Figured
(3) ... to be numbered continuously with 1 ..., same layout (special case:
references)
I think that I will make a template only for (3). But the "body" will
actually be composed of several chapters (= several files), and I plan to
put them together at the final stage, incl. references.
Would you suggest I write all these things in separate files and put them
together at the very end in one large file or in a Master Document?
On Wed, 7 Feb 2007 22:43:23 +1100, Shauna Kelly wrote:
A regular .doc file isn't a template. Only a .dot file is a template.
Well,
actually Word is smarter than that. It recognizes the file structure,
not
the extension. If you take a document and re-name it as a .dot, it's
still a
document. You can create a new, clean template at File New and choose
to
create a template. Or save an existing document as a template.
I know that. If I create a proper template with the method described by
you, how do I base my new document on that template? Whenever I start
Word,
all my documents are based on the Normal.dot file.
Since I want to write up the body of the thesis in different files, should
I include page numbering in the template? Will that create a problem when
I
merge the chapter-files in one large "body" file?
Also, I think it would be better to leave the numbering of the
headlines
for the end.
That's OK. But I would recommend that you plan early for everything
related
to headings (not "headlines", by the way), and that includes: page
numbering, caption numbering for tables and figures, cross-references to
tables and figures, the table of contents, table of figures, appendix
numbering, and numbering pages figures tables etc within appendixes etc.
I just created a template (.dot-file) and realized that I would like to
change something. Can I open the .dot-file, make changes, and save it?
A final question: Where can I define a special format for footnotes and
captions?
BTW, I just made a test.
Document 1 based on template
Document 2 based on template
New document based on template into which I copied Doc 1 & Doc 2 (chapter
headlines are already formatted with numbering) and add a header with page
numbers. Worked like a charm. Yippie!!
Hope this helps.
Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Good website. Lots of useful information. *thumbs-up*
On 13 Feb 2007 09:24:01 -0800, jay m wrote:
On Feb 8, 11:09 am, "Nick H." niko25at@NOSPAM (at) yahoo.de wrote:
I just created a template (.dot-file) and realized that I would like to
change something. Can I open the .dot-file, make changes, and save it?
well, one brute-force method is to double-click on the .dot file...
O.K., meanwhile I found out how I can easily re-edit the template
(.dot-file).
For each of the files, make sure that your own template is attached to
the file as the Document Template,
not as a "global template /add-in.
Use each style consistently in each of your documents.
Save changes in styles back to template.
I will three templates. When I merge the various files, based on either of
the templates, on what template-basis do I do this?
--
Nick H.
niko25at "at" yahoo "dot" de