Creating a template

The computer I use to modify text for my VI student runs Windows 7 and Word 2003. I keep making the same changes for each of my modified documents, and this is magnified now that I am trying to use styles. In fact, trying to use styles which are not the default ones so far seems to be very difficult, as the styles need to be modified, and in Word 2003 this seems to means lots of different styles. Consequently the work I am currently modifying still does not routinely include styles and headings although I know how useful they are. The only option appears to be to bite the bullet and set up a template. I tried to do this a couple of years ago and found it (the way I did it!) very cumbersome and awkward. But the time seems to have come to try again.

So far, I have found a nice introduction to templates and styles on Word 2003.

The template

Since writing the above, I have now created a template. It is far from perfect,

• I appear to have to paste existing text in as unformatted text, which then takes on the Normal attribute and other styles can quickly be applied
• all files saved with this template are given the title ‘title’ rather than the first line of text
• I have not yet managed to set up the style for table entries correctly, but most of the other styles are set up properly,

so that is a great improvement, and a great aid to increasing my productivity.

I haven’t managed to upload the template here as a .dot file does not appear to be an acceptable format, so I have resorted to uploading a blank document created with the modified template.

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