Understanding the Normal Template in Word 2002

A template is a pattern you follow to create something. In Word 2002, templates are special documents that contain various styles, plus maybe some text or graphics — enough to get you started. You can also take advantage of those predefined templates to quickly create common documents.

Unless you choose otherwise, Word uses the Normal document template, also known as NORMAL.DOT.

The Normal template is a special beast. Referred to by its old MS-DOS filename, NORMAL.DOT is where Word contains all the settings made for any new document you create with the Ctrl+N shortcut or by clicking the New button on the toolbar.

Knowing about NORMAL.DOT is important because you can change the Normal template if you want. For example, if you want to change the standard font and size (and whatever other formatting) Word uses when it opens a new document, simply make those changes to NORMAL.DOT. Change the font and margins for the Normal style. Then save NORMAL.DOT back to disk. That's it.

Using a document template

To use a document template, follow these steps:

1. Summon the New Document task pane.

Word's templates are accessed through the task pane. You can summon the task pane by choosing File‡New from the menu and then choosing the New Document item from the task pane's menu.

2. Click the General Templates item.

The Templates dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 1. This dialog box contains many panels full of templates, wizards, and whatnot. The General tab is shown in Figure 1 (which is where any templates you may create appear) with the Blank Document template highlighted.

The General tab's Blank Document template is the NORMAL.DOT template, which is the template that Word uses whenever you start a new document.

Figure 1: The Blank Document template is Normal in the Templates dialog box.

3. Select a template.

Templates are organized into categories, represented by the tabs in the dialog box. For example, click the Letters & Faxes tab. You see various templates and wizards displayed.

The wizards are programs that step you through the process of creating a new document.

4. Click OK.

Word starts up a new document, complete with that template's information, fonts, styles, and whatnot, all ready for use. You can take advantage of any styles stuffed into the template and view, use, or edit any text saved in the template.

Opening a document with a template does not change the template; your new document is merely using the template's styles and any text it already has.

Modifying a template

Changing or editing a document template is identical to changing or editing any document. The difference is that you open a template rather than a document. It's a minor difference, but a big deal because templates, after all, are not really documents:

1. Open the template by choosing File-->Open.

Yes, this is the normal Open command, and it displays Word's famous Open dialog box. Nothing new yet.

2. In the Open dialog box, choose Document Templates from the Files of type drop-down list.

You would assume that Word would be smart enough to automatically zoom to the Templates folder, just as it did when you first saved the template. But, no. Word is stupid here. You must manually venture out to the Templates folder — or whichever folder you've saved the template to.

3. Find the Templates folder.

Unless you've put the template somewhere else, you need to go to the Templates folder. Here's how:

a. Choose drive C from the Look in drop-down list.

b. Open the WINDOWS folder.

c. Open the Application Data folder.

d. Open the Microsoft folder.

e. Open the Templates folder.

f. Open a beer.

4. Open the template you want to edit.

Double-click its filename.

When you open the template, it appears in Word just like any other document — though it's really a template. (Sneaky.)

5. Make your changes.

You edit the template just as you would any other document. Bear in mind that it's a template you're editing and not a real document. Any style changes or text editing affect the template and are saved to disk as a template again.

6. Save the modified template by choosing
File-->Save.

Or, choose File-->Save As to assign the modified template a new name and maintain the original template.

7. Close the template document by choosing
File-->Close.

Any changes you make to a document template do not affect any documents already created with that template. The changes do, however, affect any new documents you create.

Attaching a template to a Document

Mostly, documents are born with their templates. You either choose the template from the Templates dialog box (refer to Figure 1) or just create a new document, in which case the NORMAL.DOT template is used. But what if you want to change templates?

You can't really change templates as much as you can reassign or attach a new template to a document. Here's how:

1. Choose Tools-->Templates and Add-Ins.

The Templates and Add-ins dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The Templates and Add-ins dialog box.

2. Click the Attach button.

Word displays the Attach Template dialog box, which looks much like the Open dialog box. Normally, this dialog box opens in the Templates folder, where you've probably stored a host of templates available for the plucking.

3. Select the template you want to attach.

If the template isn't visible in the Attach Template dialog box, use the dialog box to browse to the folder containing the template.

4. Click the Open button.

5. Click OK.

The styles (and toolbars and macros) stored in that template are now available to your document.

Attaching a template does not merge any text or graphics stored in that template. Only the styles (and toolbar and macros) are merged into your document.