Setting up a template

[Guy Worthington]

I've got Word 97.

I've read McGhie's "CreateATemplate.doc" tutorial.

I've made a pig's breakfast in setting up a template.

This template is for a two sided A4 page for use with
'Bookman Old Style 12 pt'. It differs radically from
McGhie's sample template because Bookman runs wide and
therefore needs a wide text area (16.5 cm). For this
reason I built the template using 'normal.dot'.

The problem with building the template from 'normal.dot'
is that its unearthed stuff I'd like to keep hidden.
For example, I use three levels of headings (Heading 1,
Heading 2, and Heading 3), and yet the template insists
I've all nine predefined headings in use. I don't want
Heading 4 to Heading 9 but I can't seem to purge them.

I'd like to purge them because they're cluttering up
my style drop down list. Is there a procedure for
cleaning up a template of unwanted styles?

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

I've got Word 97.
I've read McGhie's "CreateATemplate.doc" tutorial.
I've made a pig's breakfast in setting up a template.

This template is for a two sided A4 page for use with
'Bookman Old Style 12 pt'. It differs radically from
McGhie's sample template because Bookman runs wide and
therefore needs a wide text area (16.5 cm). For this
reason I built the template using 'normal.dot'.

Okay, that's not a good reason to use Normal for your template. What you
do is, go to File | New (or Project Gallery), and tell the dialog you are
creating a template. It will give you a blank template. Customize from
there. I don't think the create a template tutorial says to actually *use*
the downloaded sample, I thought that was just for example. Even if it did,
you would still customize it, not use it straight.

DM

 

[Guy Worthington]

[I'm making a template which differs] radically from
McGhie's sample template because Bookman runs wide and
therefore needs a wide text area (16.5 cm). For this
reason I built the template using 'normal.dot'.

Okay, that's not a good reason to use Normal for your template. What you
do is, go to File | New (or Project Gallery), and tell the dialog you are
creating a template. It will give you a blank template. Customize from
there. I don't think the create a template tutorial says to actually *use*
the downloaded sample, I thought that was just for example. Even if it did,
you would still customize it, not use it straight.

Hello Dayo,

I just reread what I wrote and your interpretation is a valid
way of reading it. I'm sorry I've wasted your time in asking
a question that's so poorly phrased. I hope you'll give me
another chance.

I've a template '2sideA4Bookman12pt.dot' that has been customized
from a blank template. In my template I've only use for three
types of heading (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) but I've all
nine headings (Heading 1, ..., Heading 9) showing up in the
styles dropdown list (accessed from the formatting toolbar).
As I've no using for the headings Heading 4 through to Heading 9
I'd like to hide them.

Could you please tell me how I purge the items
Heading 4, ..., Heading 9 from my styles dropdown list.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You don't say what version of Word you are using. If it's earlier than Word
2002, I'm afraid you're stuck. Word's style dropdown displays "Styles in
use," which by default include Headings 1-3. But if any of the other heading
levels have ever been used or somehow appear in the style list, there is no
way to get rid of them. Any other style (except Normal and Default Paragraph
Font) can be excised by deleting it from the "Styles in use" list in Format
| Style (they aren't really deleted, just reset to their factory defaults
and banished from the styles dropdown), but these styles cannot be deleted.

If you have Word 2002 or 2003, then you are in luck. The Custom option in
the Styles and Formatting task pane allows you to specify exactly which
styles you want displayed by default.

--
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.

[I'm making a template which differs] radically from
McGhie's sample template because Bookman runs wide and
therefore needs a wide text area (16.5 cm). For this
reason I built the template using 'normal.dot'.

Okay, that's not a good reason to use Normal for your template. What you
do is, go to File | New (or Project Gallery), and tell the dialog you are
creating a template. It will give you a blank template. Customize from
there. I don't think the create a template tutorial says to actually *use*
the downloaded sample, I thought that was just for example. Even if it did,
you would still customize it, not use it straight.

Hello Dayo,

I just reread what I wrote and your interpretation is a valid
way of reading it. I'm sorry I've wasted your time in asking
a question that's so poorly phrased. I hope you'll give me
another chance.

I've a template '2sideA4Bookman12pt.dot' that has been customized
from a blank template. In my template I've only use for three
types of heading (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) but I've all
nine headings (Heading 1, ..., Heading 9) showing up in the
styles dropdown list (accessed from the formatting toolbar).
As I've no using for the headings Heading 4 through to Heading 9
I'd like to hide them.

Could you please tell me how I purge the items
Heading 4, ..., Heading 9 from my styles dropdown list.

 

[Guy Worthington]

Guy Worthington wrote:

You don't say what version of Word you are using.

Word 97

If it's earlier than Word 2002, I'm afraid you're stuck.

Humph!

 

[Bob S]

Word 97


Humph!

Well, if you really want to do it, there are a couple things that you
could try. I don't have Word 97 any more, so these are untested
ideas...

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 193538 describes how to remove
built-in styles for Word 97. In your case it apparently involves
creating a blank document from your template, saving the file as RTF,
opening it as plain text (e.g. Notepad), deleting the unwanted style
definitions, saving the file, opening it in Word as RTF, and saving it
as DOT again (but with a different name unless you are REALLY brave).
To find the style definitions in the raw RTF code, first find
"stylesheet". Each item in curly brackets after that is a style
definition, with the style name last in the brackets. To delete a
style, delete an entire definition including the brackets.

You MIGHT be able to do it by creating a blank document from your
template, adding at least one blank paragraph to it so it is not an
empty document, selecting and copying everything except the final
paragraph mark of the source document, and pasting into a new blank
document created from the NORMAL template. (If the template has
anything even slightly fancy, this whole scheme may not work.) Check
to see whether the right stuff has come across, and save as DOT (but
with a different name unless you are REALLY brave).

Or... create a blank document from the template, send it to a friend
who has Word 2002, have him delete the unwanted styles and save it as
a document, get the document back and save it as a template...

If you decide to try a scheme, let us know whether it works...

Bob S

 

[Guy Worthington]

Guy Worthington wrote:

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 193538 describes how to remove
built-in styles for Word 97. In your case it apparently involves
creating a blank document from your template, saving the file as RTF,
opening it as plain text (e.g. Notepad), deleting the unwanted style
definitions, saving the file, opening it in Word as RTF, and saving it
as DOT again (but with a different name unless you are REALLY brave).
To find the style definitions in the raw RTF code, first find
"stylesheet". Each item in curly brackets after that is a style
definition, with the style name last in the brackets. To delete a
style, delete an entire definition including the brackets.

That's clever -- you've got my vote for this month's "thinking
outside the box" award. (You would've got my vote for just
being able to navigate around Microsoft's knowledge base.)

If you decide to try a scheme, let us know whether it works...

After using method 2 of Microsoft Knowledge Base article 193538,
the unused styles are no longer in the styles dropdown list.

MS's thesaurus fails in describing my glib satisfaction in beating
MS Word. Maybe the word used by Suzanne Barnhill, excise, sums it up
the best. Yes that'll do; it has an understated menance that
MS Word better heed, now that I know how to bypass one design feature.

 

[Guy Worthington]

I worked with Word for 25 hours and reached the
conclusion that it's a toy. I'm not asking for
much just a simple document with a basic structure.
And Word is just not up to the job.

After excising my unwanted headings from my template,
I now find that I want numbered headings (leastways
I want references like "see Chapter 3"). So armed
with the hints available at:

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

I modify my Heading 1, to have outline numbering.
And (yes you guessed it) my unwanted headings have
reappeared in my styles dropdown list.

I can't think that word is simply for boobs? Or have
I simply missed the tutorial on how to write a book
with word.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Why are you so bent on removing them from the list. You don't have to use
them. There's hundreds of fonts in the list of fonts, but that doesn't mean
that you have to use them all.

--
Please post any further questions or followup to the newsgroups for the
benefit of others who may be interested. Unsolicited questions forwarded
directly to me will only be answered on a paid consulting basis.

Hope this helps
Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Bill Foley]

If you are creating a template using certain Styles, you might want to
consider creating a new Toolbar for your template (right-click Toolbar area,
select "Customize", click the "Toolbars" TAB and click "New").

Click the "Commands" TAB, scroll down until you see "Styles" and select it.
Click the desired Styles and drag them to the toolbar. You can click the
"Modify" button and change the actual Style name on the toolbar if that will
help. This way you don't even have to look at the Style Dropdown! HA!

 

[Guy Worthington]

Why are you so bent on removing [unused styles] from the list.
You don't have to use them. There's hundreds of fonts in the
list of fonts, but that doesn't mean that you have to use them all.

Hello Doug,

The list of fonts is for direct formatting: I seldom have any
need to use it. It can have as much clutter as it wants.

The styles list, on the other hand, I frequently use and I
would've liked it to directly mirror the document's structure.
(Perhaps I'm using the wrong interface to reflect my structure.
I keep coming across references to "Document Map" whenever
outline headings are mentioned.)

 

[Guy Worthington]

If you are creating a template using certain Styles, you might want to
consider creating a new Toolbar for your template (right-click Toolbar area,
select "Customize", click the "Toolbars" TAB and click "New").

Click the "Commands" TAB, scroll down until you see "Styles" and select it.
Click the desired Styles and drag them to the toolbar. You can click the
"Modify" button and change the actual Style name on the toolbar if that will
help. This way you don't even have to look at the Style Dropdown! HA!

Yes, yes this is the type of feedback I was hoping for. You wouldn't
happen have any links to articles on how to set up word for writing
long structured documents?

 

[Bill Foley]

All I have is a training handout on Styles. I would be more than happy to
send you a PDF of it off-line if you wish. Send me a response to:

pttinc at itexas dot net

and I will send it this evening.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Yes, yes this is the type of feedback I was hoping for. You wouldn't
happen have any links to articles on how to set up word for writing
long structured documents?

Hi Guy,

I think you can also set the Styles and Formatting pane (word 2002 and
after) to show a Custom list of styles which you set yourself. But not
sure, cause I don't use it. See:
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sfpane/StylesAndFormattingPane.html

I've pasted a bunch of links below, but they might not be the sort of thing
you want, if you are looking for customizing Word actions for long
documents. But basically you should assume that anything you find yourself
doing repeatedly, there's a way to get it down to one click or one keyboard
shortcut. First scour the Tools | Customize dialog, and if you don't find
the command there, record it into a macro and assign the macro a toolbar
button or keystroke. There is never any real need to go through the same
series of menu actions multiple times.

DM

--

See these links for more information about macros:

Creating a macro with no programming experience using the recorder
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/macrosvba/UsingRecorder.htm

How to assign a Word command or macro to a toolbar or menu
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/AsgnCmdOrMacroToToolbar.htm


***Styles & Templates***

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styles/TipsOnStyles.html

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/UsingOLView.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/WorkWithSections.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/UseBuiltInHeadingStyles.html

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/NumberingFrontMatter.htm

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/toc/CreateATOC.html

http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm

If you are using Numbering Headings and Sections, start here:
How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
document
<URL: http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html>


***Other Useful Links***

http://home.zebra.net/~sbarnhill/AutoCorrect.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/NonPrintChars.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/CreateIndex.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/FootnoteOnDiffPage.htm

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/NumberingFrontMatter.htm

http://home.zebra.net/~sbarnhill/index.htm

Creating a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=148

 

[Charles Kenyon]

See http://addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm.

There is a link there to How to Create a Template, Part II by John McGhie
and it is the reference you are looking for.
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.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

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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.

 

[Guy Worthington]

Bill Foley wrote:

Hello Bill,

All I have is a training handout on Styles. I would be more than happy to
send you a PDF of it off-line if you wish. Send me a response to:

pttinc at itexas dot net

(I tried the address above but got bounced.)

and I will send it this evening.

I'd like to take you up on your generous offer, my only
untainted address at present is

genesis27_11 at hotmail dot com

 

[Guy Worthington]

I've pasted a bunch of links below, but they might not be the sort of thing
you want, if you are looking for customizing Word actions for long
documents.

I've stuck all the links in my favorites[sic]. And if it
wasn't so rude I'd recursively slurp "word.mvps.org."

 

[Bill Foley]

I'll send it to you this evening.

 

[Guy Worthington]

[a useful link for heading styles is the] Intermediate User's Guide
to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
http://addbalance.com/usersguide

Charles your site is the most detailed I've read on outline-
numbering with headings. And yet after reading it I still can't
do what I want.

---------------------------------------
Chapter 1|
My Chapter Title|
|
|
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx|
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx|
xxxxx |
---------------------------------------

I want 'heading 1' to be a two line heading, with the
first line "Chapter 1" being generated automatically,
and the second line to be the chapter title that
I type in. The title is to be right justified on
the outside margin of the document.

I've yet to see an example of this type of formatting,
is it possible?

 

[Charles Kenyon]

The best site for outline numbering is Shauna Kelly's.

See: How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
document
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html.

This is based on ...

Word's Numbering Explained
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm

Additional information you may find useful or need is at:

How to Create a Template, Part II
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Legal Numbering
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/numbering.htm

Seven Laws of Outline Numbering
http://www.microsystems.com/fra_sevenlawsofoutlinenumbering.htm

The following are some discussions on the Microsoft newsgroups on numbering:
Nightmare on ListNumbering Street <URL:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&th=9e790fa7ed2886b3,18&ic=1>
The Joy of Lists <URL:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&th=811287ebce8fc203,15&ic=1>
Relinking ListTemplates <URL:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&th=2350746054c838e,12&ic=1>
Outline numbering: restart doesn't restart <URL:
http://groups.google.com/[email protected]#p>
Format Doesn't "Hold" <URL:
http://groups.google.com/[email protected]#p>
(above list compiled by Dave Rado, Word MVP)

ListNumbering Street Revisited <URL:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&th=57df77857e4993ce>

See the latest numbering discussion I've seen, especially post #4 which
contains Dave Rado's concise instructions for setting up heading numbering.
<URL:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=bce07d7714769f5c>

--

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

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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.

[a useful link for heading styles is the] Intermediate User's Guide
to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
http://addbalance.com/usersguide

Charles your site is the most detailed I've read on outline-
numbering with headings. And yet after reading it I still can't
do what I want.

---------------------------------------
Chapter 1|
My Chapter Title|
|
|
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx|
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx|
xxxxx |
---------------------------------------

I want 'heading 1' to be a two line heading, with the
first line "Chapter 1" being generated automatically,
and the second line to be the chapter title that
I type in. The title is to be right justified on
the outside margin of the document.

I've yet to see an example of this type of formatting,
is it possible?