I've designed a letter template with automatic date in it, but if you open a
document saved previously with this template, it sets the date to the current
date, instead of the original date. What field switch should I use so that
it retains the date it was created in. I thought that in an earlier version
of word it was Ctrl+F9, but that doesn't seem to work in Word 2003 (and my
memory may be at fault...)

You are using a DATE or TIME field rather than a CREATEDATE field. This
field should be put in the original template if possible (instead of
inserting using the keyboard shortcut or header/footer toolbar button).

In the document in question, press Alt-F9 to display field codes. Then
change the field to a CREATEDATE field, press F9 and then Alt-F9.

See http://addbalance.com/word/datefields1.htm for information on the
different kinds of datefields and how to format them.

The switch I use to unlink fields is Ctrl-6, but Ctrl-Shift-F9 does the same
thing. (Ctrl-F9 inserts field codes)
--

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://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"IreneHen" wrote in message
...
I've designed a letter template with automatic date in it, but if you open
a
document saved previously with this template, it sets the date to the
current
date, instead of the original date. What field switch should I use so
that
it retains the date it was created in. I thought that in an earlier
version
of word it was Ctrl+F9, but that doesn't seem to work in Word 2003 (and my
memory may be at fault...)

Charles, thank you very much - your reply is so helpful and clearly
explained. Wish I'd found out about these community newsgroups a long time
ago!

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

You are using a DATE or TIME field rather than a CREATEDATE field. This
field should be put in the original template if possible (instead of
inserting using the keyboard shortcut or header/footer toolbar button).

In the document in question, press Alt-F9 to display field codes. Then
change the field to a CREATEDATE field, press F9 and then Alt-F9.

See http://addbalance.com/word/datefields1.htm for information on the
different kinds of datefields and how to format them.

The switch I use to unlink fields is Ctrl-6, but Ctrl-Shift-F9 does the same
thing. (Ctrl-F9 inserts field codes)
--

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://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"IreneHen" wrote in message
...
I've designed a letter template with automatic date in it, but if you open
a
document saved previously with this template, it sets the date to the
current
date, instead of the original date. What field switch should I use so
that
it retains the date it was created in. I thought that in an earlier
version
of word it was Ctrl+F9, but that doesn't seem to work in Word 2003 (and my
memory may be at fault...)

You are welcome. These groups have helped me a great deal over the years.
--
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://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"IreneHen" wrote in message
...
Charles, thank you very much - your reply is so helpful and clearly
explained. Wish I'd found out about these community newsgroups a long
time
ago!

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

You are using a DATE or TIME field rather than a CREATEDATE field. This
field should be put in the original template if possible (instead of
inserting using the keyboard shortcut or header/footer toolbar button).

In the document in question, press Alt-F9 to display field codes. Then
change the field to a CREATEDATE field, press F9 and then Alt-F9.

See http://addbalance.com/word/datefields1.htm for information on the
different kinds of datefields and how to format them.

The switch I use to unlink fields is Ctrl-6, but Ctrl-Shift-F9 does the
same
thing. (Ctrl-F9 inserts field codes)
--

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://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"IreneHen" wrote in message
...
I've designed a letter template with automatic date in it, but if you
open
a
document saved previously with this template, it sets the date to the
current
date, instead of the original date. What field switch should I use so
that
it retains the date it was created in. I thought that in an earlier
version
of word it was Ctrl+F9, but that doesn't seem to work in Word 2003 (and
my
memory may be at fault...)