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Creating your own templates in Word can be an excellent way to save time, especially if you write short stories or articles and want to use the same format each time. In fact, you probably already have a template of some sort if you use your old query letters to create new ones.
The danger with opening an old letter and changing the date, address, and other details, is the dreaded click of the Save button. Before you realise it, you may have lost your old letter and replaced it with the new
version.
All is not lost
If you realise (before closing the document) that you’ve accidentally saved over a document you wanted to keep, simply click the down-arrow next to your Undo button and highlight the entire Undo list. Save the document without closing it. Now click the down-arrow next to the Redo button and highlight the entire Redo list. Click File, Save As, and change the filename to reflect your new document. You’ve now rescued both documents in a few clicks of the mouse.
A better option is to create a Word template out of the document you want to use. A template also allows you to set up a document with your preferred formatting, and include any text that remains constant from document to document, like your name and copyright information. Any document that you’ve created can be saved as a template.
Create a template
1. Open
the document you wish to use
2. Click
File, Save As…
3. Select
“Document Template” under the “Save as Type” drop down menu
4. Give
your template a fairly descriptive name such as “Query letter
template” or “XYZ Short Story Competition template”, so that it will
still make sense to you if you don’t use it for a few months.
5. Click
Save
You can now make changes to your template so that it is easy to use when you next need it. For example, in a letter template, remove the addressee’s details and leave a gap or other marker that you can highlight and type over. If you used a short story for the font style and layout, delete all the text except for a few example lines that you can highlight and overtype when you next use it.
Using your template
To start working on a new document based on your template, click on File, New…(If you use Word 2002/03, click “On my computer” in the New Document Task Pane). Click on your template in the New Document Menu and click OK.
Editing your
template
If you need to update your template at a later stage, you will need to open it from its actual location and not the New Document Menu. This will allow you to save your edited template over your original template. The New Document Menu doesn’t allow you to change the actual template, but opens a document based on the specifications of your template. However, you will need to use the New Document
Menu to find out where the template is stored.
1. First access your template under File, New… (for Word 2002/03, click “On my computer” in the New Document Task Pane)
2. Without opening your template, right-click on its icon and select Properties.
3. Copy the template’s location, eg “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates”, by highlighting it, then right-clicking on the highlighted text and selecting “Copy” (or using Ctrl-c on your keyboard).
4. Close the New Document Menu without choosing a template
5. Click File, Open… and paste (use Ctrl-v as right-clicking is not available) your template’s location into the File Name box in the Open dialog box. Click Open.
6. Select your template and click Open.
Don't forget to save and close your template when you've completed the changes to it. It's very easy to start typing a new letter in an open template instead of a new document, and you'll wonder where you saved that letter.
copyright © Elsa Neal 2005 (Please contact the
for permission to reprint this article.)
This
article also appears in the June 2005 edition of the WordWeb
Newsletter.
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