AutoText entries will be lost

[Guest]

Dear MSWord Savants: Today after creating and saving a new template in Word
2003, when I click to save a document in that new template, I get a message
box saying, "After saving this document in Word Document format all AutoText
entries will be lost and the document can no longer be used as an Add-In. Do
you want to save in this format anyway?" What does this lengthy message mean
and what, if anything, can or should I do about it? This message is not
obtained when saving a document in the Normal template, only in my new one.
Much thanks in advance for your help. --Chuck

 

[Jezebel]

Your wording 'save a document in that new template' and 'saving in the
Normal template' is disconcerting. Documents aren't saved in templates. What
are you actually doing?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This suggests that (a) you have saved the template in Word's Startup folder
instead of the user templates folder (see Tools | Options | File Locations
for the respective paths) and (b) you are opening the template and saving it
as a document instead of creating a new document based on the template,
which is the correct way to use it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

When I said "sav[ing] in the new (or Normal) template," I meant that I was
saving a document (*.doc), using the referenced template (*.dot). All of my
files and templates are in their correct locations, and no document has been
saved as a template, or vice-versa.

The issue with the warning message I received appears to have to do with
AutoText entries and/or Add-Ins. I understand AutoText a bit, and have used
it rarely. On the other hand, I don't have any experience with Add-Ins.

--Chuck

 

[Jezebel]

That's still not clear. Are you opening a DOT then using SaveAs to create a
DOC, or are you using File > New and selecting the template?

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Chuck

You're getting this message because a template can hold AutoText entries,
and a document can't. So if you are working on a template (that is, Word
thinks it's a template, regardless of what you and I might think or see),
and it holds AutoText entires, and you try to save it as a Document, then
Word will warn you that doing so will lose all your AutoText entries.

So let's go back to the beginning and see what's happening here.

Today after creating and saving a new template in Word 2003

I guess there are two ways to create a template. One would be File > New. In
the task pane, choose "On My Computer", and then in the bottom right of the
Templates dialog, choose Template. The other would be to open an existing
template and do File > Save As, and in the "Save as Type" box, choose to
save as a Template (a .dot file). So I'm assuming that you did one of those.
The more important question for now is: where is the template saved?

when I click to save a document in that new template

There are two main ways to create a document from a template. One is to do
File > New > "On my computer" and choose your newly-created template. The
other is to use Windows Explorer, and double-click on the name of your
newly-created template? Is that how the document was created?

I get a message box saying, "After saving this document in Word
Document format all AutoText entries will be lost and the document
can no longer be used as an Add-In....

So Word thinks that this thing that's open is an Add-In. That means that one
of the following is true. Either the .dot file is saved in Word's startup
folder (any .dot in Word's startup folder becomes an Add-in when Word opens,
and that's not the place for templates on which you want to base a
document). Or, it means that at Tools > Templates and Add-ins the file that
is open is listed and ticked in the 'Global templates and add-ins' list (and
that's only needed if you're wanting to create an add-in).

So here's the solution:

1. In Word, use Tools > Options > File Locations. Write down the full path
of the User Templates folder and the Startup folder. If by some chance these
are the same folder, then you'll need to fix that.

By default, the User Templates path is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.

By default, the Startup folder is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup.

2. Exit from Word, and use Windows Explorer. Locate your template, and move
it to the folder you identified as the Word User Templates folder.

3. To create a new document, start Word, do File > New and in the task pane
click "On my computer". Choose your template, and make sure that the "Create
New" box says "Document". You now have a new document based on your new
template. When you do File > Save, check that the "Save as Type" box says
"Word document".

That should sort it out.

If you're after more info about how documents and templates work together,
the following might be useful:
What is the relationship between a Word document and its template?
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/templaterelations\index.html

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

When I said "sav[ing] in the new (or Normal) template," I meant that I was
saving a document (*.doc), using the referenced template (*.dot). All of
my
files and templates are in their correct locations, and no document has
been
saved as a template, or vice-versa.

The issue with the warning message I received appears to have to do with
AutoText entries and/or Add-Ins. I understand AutoText a bit, and have
used
it rarely. On the other hand, I don't have any experience with Add-Ins.

--Chuck

 

[Guest]

Dear Ms Kelly:

After painstakingly following your excellent instructions, as well as
referring to your stylish and brilliant website, which I will certainly
return to for other advice, I never found exactly the answer to my problem.
Nevertheless, here is what I did learn:

1. I believe I understand the assertion of your first paragraph, which is in
essence, "If one tries to convert (save) a template as a document, AutoText
entries will not be saved."
2. The template in question was created according to your first guess (from
file>new to template). This template was then saved using the "save as type"
selection, and was saved in the proper directory, i.e.,
(C:\...Microsoft\Office\Templates\...).
3. Actually the way I created the new doc was different than your 2
suggestions. I went to Start>New Office Document, then selected the new
template.
4. There are no *.dot files in my Word startup folder. Indeed, nothing
appears to be in there.
5. At Tools>Templates and Add-Ins, the only file listed (and checked) is
rhd.dot (remove hidden data). It is part of my Normal template as well. Yet,
is this a culprit? The document I was working on is not found there.
6. My user templates and Word startup folders are separate, and they are
listed in the directories you stated. As well, the template in question is
located in the user templates folder. The document that caused the problem
is in the default documents folder.
7. However, I cannot access the templates and word startup folders through
Windows Explorer, even when I tell Windows to display system and hidden files
and folders--they remain hidden. This is a newly discovered snag.
Nevertheless, these folders can be located by typing their paths directly
into the Run menu.
8. Following all the instructions 1-3 in your "Solution" paragraphs shows
that everything is working exactly as you said it should.
9. Here's the rub even greater than finding out everything is in its proper
location: I tried to recreate the problem I originally wrote about, and I
cannot, not even by opening and messing with the original document that spit
out that lengthy warning message. Although you have provided terrific
instructions, Shauna, I don't know why the glitch occurred. Neither do I
know why MSWord suddenly decided there was no longer an issue. I've been
creating templates since at least 1994 and this is the first big problem I've
had.

Really, I thank you all--Mss Barnhill, Kelly and Jezebel--for your helpful
replies and wish you all the best. At this time, if you like, we can retire
this topic.
--Chuck

Hi Chuck

You're getting this message because a template can hold AutoText entries,
and a document can't. So if you are working on a template (that is, Word
thinks it's a template, regardless of what you and I might think or see),
and it holds AutoText entires, and you try to save it as a Document, then
Word will warn you that doing so will lose all your AutoText entries.

So let's go back to the beginning and see what's happening here.

Today after creating and saving a new template in Word 2003

I guess there are two ways to create a template. One would be File > New. In
the task pane, choose "On My Computer", and then in the bottom right of the
Templates dialog, choose Template. The other would be to open an existing
template and do File > Save As, and in the "Save as Type" box, choose to
save as a Template (a .dot file). So I'm assuming that you did one of those.
The more important question for now is: where is the template saved?

when I click to save a document in that new template

There are two main ways to create a document from a template. One is to do
File > New > "On my computer" and choose your newly-created template. The
other is to use Windows Explorer, and double-click on the name of your
newly-created template? Is that how the document was created?

I get a message box saying, "After saving this document in Word
Document format all AutoText entries will be lost and the document
can no longer be used as an Add-In....

So Word thinks that this thing that's open is an Add-In. That means that one
of the following is true. Either the .dot file is saved in Word's startup
folder (any .dot in Word's startup folder becomes an Add-in when Word opens,
and that's not the place for templates on which you want to base a
document). Or, it means that at Tools > Templates and Add-ins the file that
is open is listed and ticked in the 'Global templates and add-ins' list (and
that's only needed if you're wanting to create an add-in).

So here's the solution:

1. In Word, use Tools > Options > File Locations. Write down the full path
of the User Templates folder and the Startup folder. If by some chance these
are the same folder, then you'll need to fix that.

By default, the User Templates path is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.

By default, the Startup folder is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup.

2. Exit from Word, and use Windows Explorer. Locate your template, and move
it to the folder you identified as the Word User Templates folder.

3. To create a new document, start Word, do File > New and in the task pane
click "On my computer". Choose your template, and make sure that the "Create
New" box says "Document". You now have a new document based on your new
template. When you do File > Save, check that the "Save as Type" box says
"Word document".

That should sort it out.

If you're after more info about how documents and templates work together,
the following might be useful:
What is the relationship between a Word document and its template?
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/templaterelations\index.html

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

When I said "sav[ing] in the new (or Normal) template," I meant that I was
saving a document (*.doc), using the referenced template (*.dot). All of
my
files and templates are in their correct locations, and no document has
been
saved as a template, or vice-versa.

The issue with the warning message I received appears to have to do with
AutoText entries and/or Add-Ins. I understand AutoText a bit, and have
used
it rarely. On the other hand, I don't have any experience with Add-Ins.

--Chuck

 

[Charles Kenyon]

You are attempting to save a template as a document. This is not a good
idea. If you want to create a document based on a template, you do not open
the template, you use File > New and create a new document. Your template
should be saved in a templates folder.

For more on the different kinds of templates, tabs on the file new dialog,
and locations of templates folders see
http://addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm.
--

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


--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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.

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Chuck

I'm glad it's working now, even if we may never know what caused the problem
error message.

Shauna

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

Dear Ms Kelly:

After painstakingly following your excellent instructions, as well as
referring to your stylish and brilliant website, which I will certainly
return to for other advice, I never found exactly the answer to my
problem.
Nevertheless, here is what I did learn:

1. I believe I understand the assertion of your first paragraph, which is
in
essence, "If one tries to convert (save) a template as a document,
AutoText
entries will not be saved."
2. The template in question was created according to your first guess
(from
file>new to template). This template was then saved using the "save as
type"
selection, and was saved in the proper directory, i.e.,
(C:\...Microsoft\Office\Templates\...).
3. Actually the way I created the new doc was different than your 2
suggestions. I went to Start>New Office Document, then selected the new
template.
4. There are no *.dot files in my Word startup folder. Indeed, nothing
appears to be in there.
5. At Tools>Templates and Add-Ins, the only file listed (and checked) is
rhd.dot (remove hidden data). It is part of my Normal template as well.
Yet,
is this a culprit? The document I was working on is not found there.
6. My user templates and Word startup folders are separate, and they are
listed in the directories you stated. As well, the template in question
is
located in the user templates folder. The document that caused the
problem
is in the default documents folder.
7. However, I cannot access the templates and word startup folders through
Windows Explorer, even when I tell Windows to display system and hidden
files
and folders--they remain hidden. This is a newly discovered snag.
Nevertheless, these folders can be located by typing their paths directly
into the Run menu.
8. Following all the instructions 1-3 in your "Solution" paragraphs shows
that everything is working exactly as you said it should.
9. Here's the rub even greater than finding out everything is in its
proper
location: I tried to recreate the problem I originally wrote about, and I
cannot, not even by opening and messing with the original document that
spit
out that lengthy warning message. Although you have provided terrific
instructions, Shauna, I don't know why the glitch occurred. Neither do I
know why MSWord suddenly decided there was no longer an issue. I've been
creating templates since at least 1994 and this is the first big problem
I've
had.

Really, I thank you all--Mss Barnhill, Kelly and Jezebel--for your helpful
replies and wish you all the best. At this time, if you like, we can
retire
this topic.
--Chuck

Hi Chuck

You're getting this message because a template can hold AutoText entries,
and a document can't. So if you are working on a template (that is, Word
thinks it's a template, regardless of what you and I might think or see),
and it holds AutoText entires, and you try to save it as a Document, then
Word will warn you that doing so will lose all your AutoText entries.

So let's go back to the beginning and see what's happening here.

Today after creating and saving a new template in Word 2003

I guess there are two ways to create a template. One would be File > New.
In
the task pane, choose "On My Computer", and then in the bottom right of
the
Templates dialog, choose Template. The other would be to open an existing
template and do File > Save As, and in the "Save as Type" box, choose to
save as a Template (a .dot file). So I'm assuming that you did one of
those.
The more important question for now is: where is the template saved?

when I click to save a document in that new template

There are two main ways to create a document from a template. One is to
do
File > New > "On my computer" and choose your newly-created template. The
other is to use Windows Explorer, and double-click on the name of your
newly-created template? Is that how the document was created?

I get a message box saying, "After saving this document in Word
Document format all AutoText entries will be lost and the document
can no longer be used as an Add-In....

So Word thinks that this thing that's open is an Add-In. That means that
one
of the following is true. Either the .dot file is saved in Word's startup
folder (any .dot in Word's startup folder becomes an Add-in when Word
opens,
and that's not the place for templates on which you want to base a
document). Or, it means that at Tools > Templates and Add-ins the file
that
is open is listed and ticked in the 'Global templates and add-ins' list
(and
that's only needed if you're wanting to create an add-in).

So here's the solution:

1. In Word, use Tools > Options > File Locations. Write down the full
path
of the User Templates folder and the Startup folder. If by some chance
these
are the same folder, then you'll need to fix that.

By default, the User Templates path is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.

By default, the Startup folder is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup.

2. Exit from Word, and use Windows Explorer. Locate your template, and
move
it to the folder you identified as the Word User Templates folder.

3. To create a new document, start Word, do File > New and in the task
pane
click "On my computer". Choose your template, and make sure that the
"Create
New" box says "Document". You now have a new document based on your new
template. When you do File > Save, check that the "Save as Type" box says
"Word document".

That should sort it out.

If you're after more info about how documents and templates work
together,
the following might be useful:
What is the relationship between a Word document and its template?
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/templaterelations\index.html

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

When I said "sav[ing] in the new (or Normal) template," I meant that I
was
saving a document (*.doc), using the referenced template (*.dot). All
of
my
files and templates are in their correct locations, and no document has
been
saved as a template, or vice-versa.

The issue with the warning message I received appears to have to do
with
AutoText entries and/or Add-Ins. I understand AutoText a bit, and have
used
it rarely. On the other hand, I don't have any experience with
Add-Ins.

--Chuck