Attaching/Creating a Template
A template has a predefined style for a specific document type such as for professional reports, business letters, and resumes. You can attach templates to documents you have already created in order to apply these styles. Word 2003 has a New Document Task Pane that opens when you click File on the menu bar and then click New as shown. You can choose to create a new document from a template by using this task pane. If the Task Pane does not appear, simply go to View>Task Pane. Notice the black triangle beside the type of task pane—it provides a drop-down list of different types of task panes such as Mail Merge and Styles and Formatting as well as New Document. Under the “Templates” heading click “On my computer” to open the Templates selection menu.
Click the tab for the type of document you need and click OK.
The template opens; it has placeholder text formatted with the different template styles available. Go to the Formatting toolbar and click the Style list arrow to see all of the styles included in the template. Rather than creating a new document by replacing the placeholder text with your own, you could attach this template to the existing document and select the option to apply the template styles automatically.
To attach a template to your current document, go to Tools on the menu and then click Templates and Add-ins.
Click the Attach button in the Templates and Add-ins dialog box.
Use the Look in list arrow to go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\1033. Select the template and click the Open button.
When you return to the Templates and Add-ins box, click the "Automatically update document styles" check box to select it and click OK.
The Templates and Add-Ins dialog box closes and you return to the document, which is formatted with the template styles. To apply additional template styles to your document, go to the style list.
Creating a New Template
You might want to save the styles in a document as a new template to use as a predefined format for future documents.
- First, SAVE the document, press Ctrl +A, and then press Delete. The text of the document is selected and then deleted. The styles are still available from the Style list box.
- Click File on the menu bar, click Save As, click the "Save as type" list arrow and then click Document Template. The Templates folder is displayed in the Save in list box. Save yours here so that it is readily available in the template selection when you create a new document (listed under templates on my computer in the New Document task pane).
The Style list contains the styles you created in your earlier document, which you saved as a template, styles available to use in formatting your new document. Go on to the next section on Using Outline View.
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