Trouble saving Templates as Templates

[Guest]

I use Word 2003, and my trouble is
When I have opened an existing template, and use the File->Save as, Word allways suggest: "Save as type: Word Document". Why do I have to change this to "Document Template" every time?? And when I do that, the location where it will be saved changes to where my normal.dot is saved. I know I can use the save-button, but sometimes I have to change the name

Under Tools->Options->Save I have set the Default format for saving to ".dot". That only works when I start with a blank sheet. What do I do wrong

I hope someone knows more about this then me. Thanks in advance!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Are you opening the template itself or creating a new document based on it?
Note that if you double-click on a template in Windows Explorer, the default
action is New, not Open.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

I use Word 2003, and my trouble is:
When I have opened an existing template, and use the File->Save as, Word

allways suggest: "Save as type: Word Document". Why do I have to change this
to "Document Template" every time?? And when I do that, the location where
it will be saved changes to where my normal.dot is saved. I know I can use
the save-button, but sometimes I have to change the name.

Under Tools->Options->Save I have set the Default format for saving to

".dot". That only works when I start with a blank sheet. What do I do wrong?

 

[Bruce]

I will assume here that what you want to do is open a
template to work on it, then save it with the changes, but
leave the original template intact. A few things here.
If you want to work on a template as a template, right
click the file name, and choose Open. Double clicking on
a template will cause a Word document to open. It is
designed that way. If you want to change a template, you
could copy it, then open the copy as described above.
Save As will only save a template opened this way as a
template, so all you would need to do is change the name.
If you want to save templates to a different location,
Tools > Options > File Locations. Click User Templates,
then Modify. If for some reason you want to save every
document as a template, Tools > Options > Save, and make
your choice there. A caveat here: If you do this, you
had better have a very good reason. You could have a
hideous mess on your hands inside of a day.
I suggest modifying the default save location for
templates, then choosing template as the Save As option
when needed. Unless you are in the business of writing
templates, this is probably your best approach.

-----Original Message-----
I use Word 2003, and my trouble is:
When I have opened an existing template, and use the File-
Save as, Word allways suggest: "Save as type: Word

Document". Why do I have to change this to "Document
Template" every time?? And when I do that, the location
where it will be saved changes to where my normal.dot is
saved. I know I can use the save-button, but sometimes I
have to change the name.

Under Tools->Options->Save I have set the Default format

for saving to ".dot". That only works when I start with a
blank sheet. What do I do wrong?

 

[Guest]

Yes. Making new and correcting old templates is what I do at work. I'm in charge of about 500, and now I have to make changes in text an vba-code in every one of them. I have tried making a copy, open it (the right way) and then save as, but I still get .doc as standard. And that is very frustrating.

 

[Bruce]

You can set the default file type for saving Word
documents to document template (Tools > Options > Save).
You can only save templates as templates, as far as I
know. When you set the default file type for Word
documents, whatever you save will default to the location
for Documents as set in Tools > Options > File Locations.
I would suggest setting this location (click to highlight,
click Modify) to wherever you need the templates to be
saved. If you double click one of your existing
templates, it will start as Document 1, 2, etc. However,
now when you click Save it will automatically save it as a
template in your default location for documents. You can
also put shortcuts to other folders in this default
location. I don't fully understand your situation, but
perhaps what I have suggested will point you to options.
By the way, that is a lot of templates. If it is a common
situation that all or most have to be modified, it might
be time to reconsider the approach to document
management. If you provide some details, I am sure that
the knowledgeable people in this newsgroup can suggest
steps that could save you some drudgery.

-----Original Message-----
Yes. Making new and correcting old templates is what I do

at work. I'm in charge of about 500, and now I have to
make changes in text an vba-code in every one of them. I
have tried making a copy, open it (the right way) and then
save as, but I still get .doc as standard. And that is
very frustrating.