Default to Firm.dot

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Guest

Is there a way to either change the blank document template with my changes
or to have it default to another template when Word opens.

Again, thank you for all your help.
 
Is there a way to either change the blank document template with my changes
or to have it default to another template when Word opens.

Again, thank you for all your help.
Click to expand...

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder where your template is
stored (probably C:\Documents and Settings\<your name>\Application
Data\Microsoft\Templates). Right-click the template's icon while you
drag it to the desktop. When you drop it on the desktop, click "Create
shortcut here" in the menu that pops up.

When you double-click that icon, Word will start with a new document
based on your template. The original Word icon will still start with a
blank document based on Normal.dot.
 
Jay,

Thank you and this will work, now how do I get the blank document icon to
default to this template. I want to open the firm.dot whenever they bring up
a blank document.

thank you for all your help.
 
Hi Dottie,

First, a little background:

The way Word works without any customization, new blank documents are based
on a template named Normal.dot. This is a very special template -- in
addition to providing the base for new documents, it's also a "global"
template that Word always loads, even when you start with a document based
on some other template. Besides the blank page you see, it contains the
default set of AutoText entries and formatted AutoCorrect entries. (More
reading: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm and
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=151.)

You should generally *not* make big changes in Normal.dot, as explained at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CustomizeNormalTemplate.htm.
Especially, you should never try to replace Normal.dot with some other
template, because it will be missing some important bits.

What you can do instead, to fake out Word, is to replace the New Document
button with one that looks the same but instead bases the document on your
template. To do this, first install this macro in Normal.dot (see
http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm):

Public Sub NewFirmDoc()
Documents.Add Template:="firm.dot"
End Sub

Now open the Tools > Customize dialog; the Commands tab should be selected
already. In the Categories list, click Macros. In the Commands list, find
the entry that mentions NewFirmDoc (probably "Normal.Module1.NewFirmDoc" or
something like that). Drag that entry from the dialog up to the toolbar,
next to the existing New button. Initially it will show the name of the
entry from the dialog.

Right-click the existing New button and select Copy Button Image. Next,
right-click your macro's button and select Paste Button Image. Right-click
it again and select Default Style. Right-click it a third time, click in the
Name box, and change it to New. Finally, grab the original New button and
drag it off the toolbar, drop it somewhere in the document area, and it'll
disappear. Close the Customize dialog. Hold the Shift key while you open the
File menu, and click Save All.

Now, when you click the New button (actually its look-alike replacement),
the document will be based on firm.dot. However, the original Normal.dot is
still available for when it's needed, and you can base a document on it by
pressing the shortcut Ctrl+N or using the Blank Document item in the File >
New dialog.
 
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