WD98: How to Create and Use Templates

MORE INFORMATION

Templates are a very powerful feature of Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition. The primary purpose of templates is to store formatting and layout information as well as boilerplate text, custom toolbars, macros, shortcut keys, styles, and AutoText entries. This allows you to easily store this information so that specific types of documents can be created rapidly and uniformly. Once a template is created, you can open new documents that "inherit" all of the special formatting for that type of document.

There are two basic methods to create a new template. One uses an existing document as a starting point; the other uses an existing template.

Method 1: Using an Existing Document

If a document already exists that has the appropriate formatting in it, follow these steps to create a template that contains the same formatting:

1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. If necessary, navigate to the folder where the document is stored.
3. Select the document containing the formatting, and then click Open.
4. Delete any text in the document that you do not want to have in all new documents based on the new template. Add any text or graphics that should be in all new documents based on the new template. Make any formatting changes, such as those to margins and paper size.
   
   TIP: If special formatting is applied to text in certain locations, leave a place holder in that location that will retain the proper format. For example, leave <Title> in a location where a title should be located, with the correct alignment, font, and font size already applied to the place holder. The user can then select the place holder and type new text to replace the place holder. Form fields and bookmarks are also designed to be used as place holders, but are not discussed in this article.
5. On the File menu, click Save As.
6. In the "Save Current Document as:" box, type a new name for the template.
   
   TIP: This name should be descriptive so it will be easier to select the correct template when creating new documents.
7. In the "Save File as type:" list, click Document Template.
8. Navigate to the correct folder.
   
   NOTE: When Document Template is selected in the previous step, Word changes the folder that the file is to be saved in to the default template folder. This folder is typically a folder named Templates in the Microsoft Office 98 folder. When you save a template in the Templates folder, the template appears on the General tab when you click New on the File menu. If you save the template in a subfolder of the Templates folder, such as Memos or Letters & Faxes, the template appears on the corresponding tab when you click New on the File menu.
9. Click Save. On the File menu, click close

Method 2: Using an Existing Template

To create a new template based on Normal or another template, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click New.
2. Under Create New, click Template.
3. Select the template containing the formatting you want to start with, and then click OK.
   
   NOTE: Blank Document is the Normal template.
4. Delete any text in the new template that you do not want to have in all new documents based on this new template. Add any text or graphics that should be in all new documents based on the new template. Make any formatting changes, such as those to margins and paper size.
   
   TIP: If special formatting is applied to text in certain locations, leave a place holder in the location that will retain the proper format. For example, leave <Title> in a location where a title should go with the correct alignment, font, and font size already applied to the place holder. The user can then select the place holder and type new text to replace the place holder. Form fields and bookmarks are also designed to be used as place holders, but are not discussed in this article.
5. On the File menu, click Save As.
6. In the "Save Current Document as:" box, type a new name for the template.
   
   TIP: This name should be descriptive so it will be easier to select the correct template when creating new documents.
7. In the "Save File as type:" list, click Document Template.
8. Navigate to the correct folder.
   
   NOTE: When Document Template is selected as the file type, Word changes the folder that the file is to be saved in to the default template folder. This folder is normally a folder named Templates in the Microsoft Office 98 folder. When you save a template in the Templates folder, the template appears on the General tab when you click New on the File menu. If you save the template in a subfolder of the Templates folder, such as Memos or Letters & Faxes, the template appears on the corresponding tab when you click New on the File menu.
9. Click Save. On the File menu, click Close.

Creating a New Document Based on a Template

To create a new document based on a template, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click New.
2. Under Create New, click Document.
3. Select the template containing the formatting you want to start with, and then click OK.
   
   This opens a new untitled document containing any text or formatting in the selected template.
   
   NOTE: There are normally several tabs containing templates available in this dialog box. The General tab is usually selected when you open the dialog box; however, it may be necessary to select another tab to locate the desired template.