Shared template in Word Startup

[Tonya Marshall]

Is there any reason why I shouldn't put a template on a shared drive and
put a shortcut to it in Word Startup on the hard drive? We have a shared
drive where I have our templates stored and there are shortcuts to them
on the hard drive so that the User Templates can be pointed to the hard
drive. Was just wondering if there were any caveats to doing the same
with the Word Startup folder.

I've tried it here at home ... putting a shortcut to a template that's
in the templates folder into Word Startup and it seems to be working
fine but don't know if there is any inherent danger in that.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Say more about what you are afraid of?

Hope this is useful to you. Let us know.

rms

 

[Charles Kenyon]

My preference is to copy files from a shared folder (startup and/or
workgroup templates) to a personal folder (local or network) for each user
upon login. (Actually, simply update the personal files from the network
rather than recopy everything.) The reason for this is that shared files
will be locked for editing when in use. For workgroup templates this is a
minor inconvenience. For shared global templates this means that everyone
has to turn Word off before you can edit the global template.

See http://addbalance.com/word/movetotemplate.htm for step-by-step
instructions on moving / sharing / copying customizations including
AutoText, AutoCorrect, keyboard assignments, macros, etc.


--

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!
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[Tonya Marshall]

I guess I was wondering if any harm would come to the template. It seems
a bit unusual to do that.

Tonya Marshall

 

[Tonya Marshall]

That's something for me to think about, Charles. We have 5 workstations
in our Workgroup and in fairly close proximity to one another. I'm there
very early and the chances that someone would have Word open at that
time would be very slim. They're all within hailing distance. It just
saves a lot of time if I have only 1 template to edit rather than 5. I
do not have rights on someone else's signin and would have to call IS to
have them open -ha ha- someone else's private space which would never
happen.
..
Tonya Marshall

 

[Charles Kenyon]

It won't hurt the template. I would recommend putting the template into a
folder to which users have read-only privileges. You don't want them saving
AutoText to your global templates.
--

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.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

No, you only edit one template, the one on your network space. Other users'
logins would copy your edited template to their private startup folders.

It may be that giving them read-only privileges to the folder will have the
same result. If they can't create a Word locking file when they start Word
it will probably not be a problem. (I like the copying on login because it
works for people with laptops that are disconnected at some times from the
network as well.)
--

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.

 

[Beth Melton]

One issue you may encounter is if you are using Word 2002/2003.
Shortcuts in the Startup folder are not considered trusted and unless
they are digitally signed you will encounter the prompt to enable
macros.

Now, pointing the Workgroup Templates and Startup folder to shared
folders on the network is a common scenario in the corporate
environment.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Tonya Marshall]

Unfortunately, the workgroup templates are for the whole hospital, our
shared templates are only shared by our office so I can't point to it
with the workgroup location.
Tonya Marshall

 

[Tonya Marshall]

it would be very nice to have one more file location for local shared
groups as well as the more global workgroup location
Tonya Marshall

 

[Graham Mayor]

If it helps you can have sub-directories from the workgroup folder and they
will configure as tabs on the file open dialog. You could set up tabs for
each 'workgroup'.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Tonya Marshall]

That sounds like a very good idea but I don't have write privileges to
the workgroup templates.
Tonya Marshall

 

[Guest]

Why not send your template to IS and ask them to put it in a subfolder on the
workgroup templates server? If you can provide them with a business case for
doing this, I fail to see how they could refuse. IS is not there to make your
life difficult, it's a support department and should try and assist in making
your work easier.