Word template will not save as a .doc

[Guest]

We have a .dot on a network drive. When I open it by navigating thru Explorer
it opens as a .doc, but if I go into Word and go to File>>Open and navigate
to the file it opens as read-only .dot. I looked in tools>>options but I
can't seem to pinpoint what is causing it.

 

[Bill Foley]

That is the way it is supposed to work! If you open Word and click "File",
"Open" and select a template, it will open allowing you to modify the actual
template. The fact it is read only has to do with folder permissions, the
fact it is open by someone else, etc.

The normal way to use a template correctly is to put this file in the
templates folder that Word uses and click "File", "New", then when you
select the template it creates a new document based on the template.

When you open Windows Explorer and double-click on a template, the exact
same thing happens (creates a new document based on the template).