I have created an author template in Word 2003 for distribution to our
authors, but in testing it seems that they cannot be opened without the
password on some machines, this may allow them to compromise the template.

Anyone got any idea whether it is a compatibility issue and if so is there a
work around?

Yes, it's a compatibility issue -- Word 2003 is the first version to
offer that feature, and the earlier versions treat the document as if
it were locked for forms. No, there is no workaround.

I'd suggest writing an explanation to accompany the template, with a
request to authors not to "compromise" the template (give examples).
Explain also that it's in their best interest -- make an economic
argument, if possible ("If we have to spend time fixing your mistakes,
it will cost you $x per hour").

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 02:08:02 -0700, Mark K
wrote:

I have created an author template in Word 2003 for distribution to our
authors, but in testing it seems that they cannot be opened without the
password on some machines, this may allow them to compromise the template.

Anyone got any idea whether it is a compatibility issue and if so is there a
work around?