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#1
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Syncing docs and their template
I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync various Word docs
with normal.dot. Currently, if I modify a paragraph style and save it to template, that change is not reflected in existing docs. I'm looking to affect all docs, even retroactively. AIUI, the Styles/Automatic Update feature works in the other direction - from the docs to the template. Is there any way to have the template inform the docs on a continuing basis? Or does one have to use Organizer periodically? Thanks, p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#2
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Syncing docs and their template
Start he
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/temp...ons/index.html Dan Paul_B wrote: I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync various Word docs with normal.dot. Currently, if I modify a paragraph style and save it to template, that change is not reflected in existing docs. I'm looking to affect all docs, even retroactively. AIUI, the Styles/Automatic Update feature works in the other direction - from the docs to the template. Is there any way to have the template inform the docs on a continuing basis? Or does one have to use Organizer periodically? Thanks, p. |
#3
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Syncing docs and their template
On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:44:58 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote:
Start he http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/temp...ons/index.html Dan Paul_B wrote: I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync various Word docs with normal.dot. Currently, if I modify a paragraph style and save it to template, that change is not reflected in existing docs. I'm looking to affect all docs, even retroactively. AIUI, the Styles/Automatic Update feature works in the other direction - from the docs to the template. Is there any way to have the template inform the docs on a continuing basis? Or does one have to use Organizer periodically? Thanks, p. "You can update the document with its template's styles. To do that, Tools Templates and Add€‘Ins. Tick the Automatically Update Document Styles box. Then, immediately go back and un-tick that box. Don't leave the box ticked. " That seems just about perfect for what I want. Thanks very much for this information. Any idea why this option shouldn't be left on? p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#4
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Syncing docs and their template
Paul_B wrote:
On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:44:58 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote: Start he http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/temp...ons/index.html Dan Paul_B wrote: I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync various Word docs with normal.dot. Currently, if I modify a paragraph style and save it to template, that change is not reflected in existing docs. I'm looking to affect all docs, even retroactively. AIUI, the Styles/Automatic Update feature works in the other direction - from the docs to the template. Is there any way to have the template inform the docs on a continuing basis? Or does one have to use Organizer periodically? Thanks, p. "You can update the document with its template's styles. To do that, Tools Templates and Add-Ins. Tick the Automatically Update Document Styles box. Then, immediately go back and un-tick that box. Don't leave the box ticked. " That seems just about perfect for what I want. Thanks very much for this information. Any idea why this option shouldn't be left on? Don't thank me. Thank Shauna! As for why, I rarely ask that. If Shauna (or Suzanne, or Jay, or Doug, etc.) ever says "turn that off!" I do. If I put a little thought into what might get kerfuffled, I can usually see the reasoning, but I'll generally defer to the more experienced. I have *enough* gray hair all on my own. g Dan |
#5
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Syncing docs and their template
On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:11:09 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote:
Paul_B wrote: On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:44:58 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote: Start he http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/temp...ons/index.html Dan Paul_B wrote: I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync various Word docs with normal.dot. Currently, if I modify a paragraph style and save it to template, that change is not reflected in existing docs. I'm looking to affect all docs, even retroactively. AIUI, the Styles/Automatic Update feature works in the other direction - from the docs to the template. Is there any way to have the template inform the docs on a continuing basis? Or does one have to use Organizer periodically? Thanks, p. "You can update the document with its template's styles. To do that, Tools Templates and Add-Ins. Tick the Automatically Update Document Styles box. Then, immediately go back and un-tick that box. Don't leave the box ticked. " That seems just about perfect for what I want. Thanks very much for this information. Any idea why this option shouldn't be left on? Don't thank me. Thank Shauna! Thank you, Shauna! As for why, I rarely ask that. If Shauna (or Suzanne, or Jay, or Doug, etc.) ever says "turn that off!" I do. If I put a little thought into what might get kerfuffled, I can usually see the reasoning, but I'll generally defer to the more experienced. I have *enough* gray hair all on my own. g I can see how the setting could cause some very vivid unintended formatting changes in docs, with that risk increasing exponentially when a normat.dot is accessed by more than one person. But for a one person office, and especially when that person appreciates the power of the setting, I think it could do a lot of good and the reward would outweigh the risk. BW, p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#6
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Syncing docs and their template
Consider this scenario:
1. You create a document based on Normal.dot. In that document, you modify the formatting of some of the styles to suit your current needs. If this were a document type you were going to be using a lot, you might save the document (with modified styles) as a template, or if you wanted the changes to apply to *all* new documents, you would check "Add to template" so that the changes were applied to Normal.dot, but if the document is a one-off, your style modifications are needed for only that document. 2. Later you open that document with "Automatically update document styles" enabled for Normal.dot. All the modifications you made for that specific document are lost. -- 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. "Paul_B" wrote in message ... On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:11:09 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote: Paul_B wrote: On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:44:58 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote: Start he http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/temp...ons/index.html Dan Paul_B wrote: I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync various Word docs with normal.dot. Currently, if I modify a paragraph style and save it to template, that change is not reflected in existing docs. I'm looking to affect all docs, even retroactively. AIUI, the Styles/Automatic Update feature works in the other direction - from the docs to the template. Is there any way to have the template inform the docs on a continuing basis? Or does one have to use Organizer periodically? Thanks, p. "You can update the document with its template's styles. To do that, Tools Templates and Add-Ins. Tick the Automatically Update Document Styles box. Then, immediately go back and un-tick that box. Don't leave the box ticked. " That seems just about perfect for what I want. Thanks very much for this information. Any idea why this option shouldn't be left on? Don't thank me. Thank Shauna! Thank you, Shauna! As for why, I rarely ask that. If Shauna (or Suzanne, or Jay, or Doug, etc.) ever says "turn that off!" I do. If I put a little thought into what might get kerfuffled, I can usually see the reasoning, but I'll generally defer to the more experienced. I have *enough* gray hair all on my own. g I can see how the setting could cause some very vivid unintended formatting changes in docs, with that risk increasing exponentially when a normat.dot is accessed by more than one person. But for a one person office, and especially when that person appreciates the power of the setting, I think it could do a lot of good and the reward would outweigh the risk. BW, p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#7
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Syncing docs and their template
On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:05:25 -0600, Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
Consider this scenario: 1. You create a document based on Normal.dot. In that document, you modify the formatting of some of the styles to suit your current needs. If this were a document type you were going to be using a lot, you might save the document (with modified styles) as a template, or if you wanted the changes to apply to *all* new documents, you would check "Add to template" so that the changes were applied to Normal.dot, but if the document is a one-off, your style modifications are needed for only that document. 2. Later you open that document with "Automatically update document styles" enabled for Normal.dot. All the modifications you made for that specific document are lost. So if I want to establish something different than what I have in normal.dot, I could simply turn off the update doc styles function for that one document, while retaining it for most others, correct? Or for a more independent solution, I could save the modified doc as a different template. If I understand that correctly, for my situation those solutions would be very workable, and keeping Update Document Styles checked would remain very advantageous overall. But I can see how it might create more problems than it solves for others, especially multi-user offices. p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#8
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Syncing docs and their template
Yes, I believe that would be true, and if that system works well for you,
then certainly feel free to try it. FWIW, I never modify the formatting of Normal.dot or its styles at all, preferring to keep it in default condition for reference; I create document templates for even the most generic docs (Letter Portrait, Letter Legal, Letter Landscape, etc.). -- 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. "Paul_B" wrote in message ... On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:05:25 -0600, Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote: Consider this scenario: 1. You create a document based on Normal.dot. In that document, you modify the formatting of some of the styles to suit your current needs. If this were a document type you were going to be using a lot, you might save the document (with modified styles) as a template, or if you wanted the changes to apply to *all* new documents, you would check "Add to template" so that the changes were applied to Normal.dot, but if the document is a one-off, your style modifications are needed for only that document. 2. Later you open that document with "Automatically update document styles" enabled for Normal.dot. All the modifications you made for that specific document are lost. So if I want to establish something different than what I have in normal.dot, I could simply turn off the update doc styles function for that one document, while retaining it for most others, correct? Or for a more independent solution, I could save the modified doc as a different template. If I understand that correctly, for my situation those solutions would be very workable, and keeping Update Document Styles checked would remain very advantageous overall. But I can see how it might create more problems than it solves for others, especially multi-user offices. p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#9
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Syncing docs and their template
He's mentioned multi-user scenarios a couple of times so can I ask a stoopid
question? Can normal.dot even *be* shared? It just strikes me as conflict city even if it's allowed. Dan Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote: Yes, I believe that would be true, and if that system works well for you, then certainly feel free to try it. FWIW, I never modify the formatting of Normal.dot or its styles at all, preferring to keep it in default condition for reference; I create document templates for even the most generic docs (Letter Portrait, Letter Legal, Letter Landscape, etc.). "Paul_B" wrote in message ... On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:05:25 -0600, Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote: Consider this scenario: 1. You create a document based on Normal.dot. In that document, you modify the formatting of some of the styles to suit your current needs. If this were a document type you were going to be using a lot, you might save the document (with modified styles) as a template, or if you wanted the changes to apply to *all* new documents, you would check "Add to template" so that the changes were applied to Normal.dot, but if the document is a one-off, your style modifications are needed for only that document. 2. Later you open that document with "Automatically update document styles" enabled for Normal.dot. All the modifications you made for that specific document are lost. So if I want to establish something different than what I have in normal.dot, I could simply turn off the update doc styles function for that one document, while retaining it for most others, correct? Or for a more independent solution, I could save the modified doc as a different template. If I understand that correctly, for my situation those solutions would be very workable, and keeping Update Document Styles checked would remain very advantageous overall. But I can see how it might create more problems than it solves for others, especially multi-user offices. p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#10
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Syncing docs and their template
See “You cannot share the Normal.dot file among multiple users in Word”
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811468 Then try to get some network admins to believe it. -- 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. "Dan Freeman" wrote in message ... He's mentioned multi-user scenarios a couple of times so can I ask a stoopid question? Can normal.dot even *be* shared? It just strikes me as conflict city even if it's allowed. Dan Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote: Yes, I believe that would be true, and if that system works well for you, then certainly feel free to try it. FWIW, I never modify the formatting of Normal.dot or its styles at all, preferring to keep it in default condition for reference; I create document templates for even the most generic docs (Letter Portrait, Letter Legal, Letter Landscape, etc.). "Paul_B" wrote in message ... On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:05:25 -0600, Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote: Consider this scenario: 1. You create a document based on Normal.dot. In that document, you modify the formatting of some of the styles to suit your current needs. If this were a document type you were going to be using a lot, you might save the document (with modified styles) as a template, or if you wanted the changes to apply to *all* new documents, you would check "Add to template" so that the changes were applied to Normal.dot, but if the document is a one-off, your style modifications are needed for only that document. 2. Later you open that document with "Automatically update document styles" enabled for Normal.dot. All the modifications you made for that specific document are lost. So if I want to establish something different than what I have in normal.dot, I could simply turn off the update doc styles function for that one document, while retaining it for most others, correct? Or for a more independent solution, I could save the modified doc as a different template. If I understand that correctly, for my situation those solutions would be very workable, and keeping Update Document Styles checked would remain very advantageous overall. But I can see how it might create more problems than it solves for others, especially multi-user offices. p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#11
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Syncing docs and their template
Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
See “You cannot share the Normal.dot file among multiple users in Word” http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811468 Then try to get some network admins to believe it. The story of my life! (But it's what I suspected.) Thanks! Dan |
#12
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Syncing docs and their template
On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:24:17 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote:
He's mentioned multi-user scenarios a couple of times so can I ask a stoopid question? Can normal.dot even *be* shared? It just strikes me as conflict city even if it's allowed. I wrote it on the supposition that many people could access a ..doc over a network, and thereby could possibly change that doc's template, and that every doc which was based on that template would then be subject to change if its Update Doc Styles function were enabled. I've no experience in this regard, though, maybe document rights come into play. So I have no idea how practically important the MS statement is that Suzanne refers to nearby. Seems to me to be wishful thinking on Ms's part, but I could well be wrong. IAC, I appreciate that MS has made this setting flexible. They've come under criticism for making their templates too vulnerable to change, and OpenOffice has been lauded for its "bulletproof" templates. But I found OO's templates to be not bulletproof, but indeed practically inaccessible, and therefore unworkable. p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |
#13
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Syncing docs and their template
The major point is that Normal.dot *should not* be shared. It is intended to
be each individual user's personal scratchpad (for styles and formats to some extent but primarily for menu and toolbar customizations, AutoText, macros, etc.); when a corporation wants to enforce a specific format for specific documents, it should create specific document templates and put them in the Workgroup Templates folder. -- 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. "Paul_B" wrote in message ... On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:24:17 -0800, Dan Freeman wrote: He's mentioned multi-user scenarios a couple of times so can I ask a stoopid question? Can normal.dot even *be* shared? It just strikes me as conflict city even if it's allowed. I wrote it on the supposition that many people could access a .doc over a network, and thereby could possibly change that doc's template, and that every doc which was based on that template would then be subject to change if its Update Doc Styles function were enabled. I've no experience in this regard, though, maybe document rights come into play. So I have no idea how practically important the MS statement is that Suzanne refers to nearby. Seems to me to be wishful thinking on Ms's part, but I could well be wrong. IAC, I appreciate that MS has made this setting flexible. They've come under criticism for making their templates too vulnerable to change, and OpenOffice has been lauded for its "bulletproof" templates. But I found OO's templates to be not bulletproof, but indeed practically inaccessible, and therefore unworkable. p. -- MS Office '03 on Win XP |