Except through the use of macros, global templates other than normal.dot
have no effect on styles. Only attached document templates carry styles into
documents. (Normal.dot acts as both an attached template and a global in
many cases.)

I do use a global with macros to set styles, but normally it is just easier
to use document templates with the styles that I want.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
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from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"LarryranTX" wrote in message
...
Your best option is to create a Global Template to be used in the place of
"Normal.dot". That is the only way you can have full control of styles.

In the Global Template, set style names that do not match those in
"Normal.dot". This prevents "collisions" with Word's "built-in" styles.
You
can then set the font, size, spacing, leading, widow/orphan control, etc.
to
match your needs. My headers are all set "keep with next" to ensure that
they follow the following paragraph if it spills to a new page. The
paragraph spacing is automatic, as is the spacing of headers from
preceding
and following text.

The Global Template can (and should) also carry toolbars to permit "point
and click" application of styles. This GREATLY simplifies the ease of
application of Word styles - and makes it far easier to use the approved
styles than it is to create one's own.

(My Global Template is locked and password protected as read only.)

You would then create a "General Template" (for which I use the term "base
document" - as it is the document used to create other documents). In
that
document (a ".doc" file), you set the default style.

Distribute both to be placed in:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

All styles will now match, and "Normal.dot" never enters the picture. If
you want to change or add a style, simply distribute a new Global
Template!

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

To add to what Jean-Guy has said, you can accomplish the same thing in a
specific template that you can in Normal.dot: that is, you can format the
default empty paragraph as Body Text. But you'll still run into Normal in
some instances. For example, labels (created using the Tools | Envelopes
and
Labels command) and text boxes default to Normal style.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
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so
all may benefit.

"Jean-Guy Marcil" wrote in message
...
Thomas Campitelli was telling us:
Thomas Campitelli nous racontait que :

Thank you both for your responses. I should be more clear. I am less
interested in chaning the behavior of normal.dot and more interested
in changing the behavior of the document on which I am working. I

Do a Find/Replace to replace all text formatted with Normal to be
changed
to
Body Text.

would also like to apply the default style as body text to a template
that can be distributed throughout my office. If I have to change the
normal.dot on everyone's machine to get this to work, that does not
seem feasible. I'm not quite sure how to apply the advice in
addbalance.com to my current document.

So, within a given document or template, is it possible to default to
Body Text? Is normal.dot the only place that this can be
accomplished?
Thanks again.


It depends on the template content.

If you apply Body Text to every body text paragraph in the template,
you
will have defaulted it to the Body Text style. Also. if you create
AutoTexts, make sure they are based on Body Text when you create them
if
they contain paragraph marks (¶).

Of course, if someone copies/pastes text from another document, and
part
of
that pasted text was formatted with the Normal style, you will end up
with
Normal in your document as well.
Also, some functions default to Normal and I do not think you can
change
that (For example, if you delete a style, any paragraph that had been
formatted with the deleted style will be formatted with the Normal
style).
There is no real default style as there is a default font (The default
font
is just the font formatting of the Normal style). I maybe wrong but
this
has
been my experience...

--
Salut!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
ISTOO
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org