Changing the default style in Word 2007

[PRR]

I have read a lot of threads about making particular changes to styles, but
I'm still not sure how I would do this:

I want to change the default style (that Word automatically uses whenever I
open up a new document) from Normal to Body Text. I have done the drill down
with the ribbon and with Body Text selected, clicked on Change Styles and
then selected "Set as Default," but as soon as Word closes out and I open up
a new document, its still Normal.

 

[grammatim]

Open your normal.dotx (or normal.dotm, if you have any macros)
template, type something in the empty paragraph, assign the Body Text
style to it, delete what you typed, and close the template.

 

[PRR]

That did it. Thanks.

Open your normal.dotx (or normal.dotm, if you have any macros)
template, type something in the empty paragraph, assign the Body Text
style to it, delete what you typed, and close the template.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Actually, it suffices to change the style in the empty paragraph (without
typing anything) and then save.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Open your normal.dotx (or normal.dotm, if you have any macros)
template, type something in the empty paragraph, assign the Body Text
style to it, delete what you typed, and close the template.

 

[grammatim]

How is the user to know what "dirties" the template (as someone put it
recently) and what doesn't?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can glance at the Undo button. If it's enabled, the template is dirtied.
This question comes up when users just open and print a document and then
get a save prompt on closing. The Undo button will be enabled, and the Undo
list will show "Update Fields."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

How is the user to know what "dirties" the template (as someone put it
recently) and what doesn't?

 

[Bod]

Hi! I have set up a Normal.dotm (not sure why it's a dotm rather than a dotx
- I keep my macros in a dot in the STARTUP folder... though when I try to
look at the macros it says "the project is unviewable").
I had set it up with certain margins, etc. When I _open_ it (as a template)
the margins are correct. When I just double click it, or hit ctrl+n in Word,
it makes a new docx but that doc doesn't have the right margins. I went into
the page setup and said to do this as default for the template. That didn't
work, so I opened the template _as a template_ again and did the same, which
now seems to be working.
Now I see that new documents are still opening ready to use Calibri instead
of arial and the Body Text style is not in use and doesn't appear in the
quick list.
This template is supposed to be rolled out by IT to all new machines - and
it has the correct set up but when users hit ctrl+n I'm afraid that they
won't get the desired results - as I didn't.
How do I make my machine use the template to make new documents that reflect
the changes to the template?
How do I replicate this on all machines?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can't "set up" a Normal.dotm. Only Word can create that file (but you
can open it and edit it). The template that you have created in your Startup
folder can supply macros and AutoText, but not styles or document-level
formatting (such as margins). Those come from the attached template, either
Normal.dotm or some other template on which you have based the document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Bod]

Ah thanks.
So what prompts Word to create a Normal.dotm? and do I want this rather than
a dotx? I thought it could be done by renaming the Normal.whatever is in
C:\Documents and Settings\[bod]\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

There was also a Normal11.dot
I've renamed these files so I can start from scratch
I was actually hoping that I could set up a Normal.dot_ - by taking the one
created by Word and modifying it or by using the one I've created and given
to IT to distribute to all new installs as we go to Office 2007.

Even though I've renamed them all, when I open Word and pres ctrl+n I get a
blank doc with margins that are not the MS standard, but the styles, etc
don't seem to be changed. So I'm confused as to which doc components are
dictated by what.

You said that the Normal.dotm doesn't dictate the styles and page layout,
but Word is doing something to the page layout, if not the styles, but
there's no Normal.dot_ and it doesn't now seem to have recreated one. So it
seems the Normal.dotm was not dictating the ctrl+n new documents. So what
does dictate those?

I might need to start from the top.
....?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The Normal.dotm that Word creates serves two purposes: it is both a global
template, providing macros and AutoText, and the attached template for new
documents based on it (created using Ctrl+N). In the latter capacity it does
also determine the styles and layout of the document. But a template
(regardless of its name) placed in the Startup folder is going to be just an
add-in. It can serve as a global template but not as the attached template.
The Normal.dotm that is used as the global/attached template will be in the
Templates folder, not in the Startup folder.

The Normal template that Word creates will always be .dotm (macro-enabled).
You can create document templates that are .dotm or .dotx.

Normal11.dot holds the settings from Word 2003. I would imagine perhaps it
is used if you create a new document in Word 97-2003 format.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Ah thanks.
So what prompts Word to create a Normal.dotm? and do I want this rather
than
a dotx? I thought it could be done by renaming the Normal.whatever is in
C:\Documents and Settings\[bod]\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

There was also a Normal11.dot
I've renamed these files so I can start from scratch
I was actually hoping that I could set up a Normal.dot_ - by taking the
one
created by Word and modifying it or by using the one I've created and
given
to IT to distribute to all new installs as we go to Office 2007.

Even though I've renamed them all, when I open Word and pres ctrl+n I get
a
blank doc with margins that are not the MS standard, but the styles, etc
don't seem to be changed. So I'm confused as to which doc components are
dictated by what.

You said that the Normal.dotm doesn't dictate the styles and page layout,
but Word is doing something to the page layout, if not the styles, but
there's no Normal.dot_ and it doesn't now seem to have recreated one. So
it
seems the Normal.dotm was not dictating the ctrl+n new documents. So what
does dictate those?

I might need to start from the top.
...?

You can't "set up" a Normal.dotm. Only Word can create that file (but you
can open it and edit it). The template that you have created in your
Startup
folder can supply macros and AutoText, but not styles or document-level
formatting (such as margins). Those come from the attached template,
either
Normal.dotm or some other template on which you have based the document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org



.