Normal.dot versus online dot files

[Guest]

Can someone please explain the difference between Normal.dot and online
templates - each with the exact same styles. Or point me to a Web site that
can explain the difference. Please see my concern below.

I work in an office where we have Normal.dot set up with the styles we use
in our engineering documents. We also have online Word templates set up with
the same styles so the engineers can enter their information and the
formatting would be applied.

If the online templates contain the styles needed to format the engineering
documents, why do we need Normal.dot to have the same styles. Why do we need
Normal.dot at all???

Any explanation you can offer would ge greatly appreciated.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Can someone please explain the difference between Normal.dot and online
templates - each with the exact same styles. Or point me to a Web site that
can explain the difference. Please see my concern below.

I work in an office where we have Normal.dot set up with the styles we use
in our engineering documents. We also have online Word templates set up with
the same styles so the engineers can enter their information and the
formatting would be applied.

If the online templates contain the styles needed to format the engineering
documents, why do we need Normal.dot to have the same styles. Why do we need
Normal.dot at all???

Any explanation you can offer would ge greatly appreciated.

What you're calling "online templates" supply the formatting for
specific types of documents. (They don't have to be online; they could
be stored locally on each computer.)

Normal.dot supplies the formatting for the "blank document" that Word
creates by default if you don't choose another template. It also loads
like an add-in for all other documents. Word can't operate without
Normal.dot; if you delete the file, Word will automatically create a
new one.

For more explanation of this, see
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm,
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/templaterelations/index.html, and
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=151.

The main reason to keep the styles the same in both types of templates
is to prevent problems that occur when you copy/paste material from
one document to another, in which styles have the same name but
different definitions. See
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sharing/WillMyFormatChange.html for a
description of this problem.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Also, although the styles may have the same names, they don't necessarily
have the same formatting. But the main purpose of Normal.dot in this case is
to store your customizations of *your* copy of Word: any AutoText entries
you may add or customizations you may make to toolbars or menus, the default
view or Zoom, the way the program looks when you open 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.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Normal.dot is an individual user file that stores (some) personalisations.
You cannot work without it and it must never be shared. Documents templates
provide the formatting for individual document types. The two work together
with the document template having priority.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[Charles Kenyon]

Normal.dot is a part of the Word program. It should never be shared. You
should be using document templates to transmit your styles. These can be
shared in a workgroup 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


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[Guest]

Thank you everyone for the excellent information. I fully understand the
differences and the uses for each. Now, I'm explaining to my coworkers the
differences and uses.

Thank you once again.