At the basic level, a template means a document that is used as a starting point for another document. The term refers to the fact that just the framework of the document is being used, not the specific content (thought part of the framework may include portions of content such as headings). So when you open last month's report and edit just the information that's changed in the last thirty days, you've used that old report as the template for your new report.

Using a document as a template

Word offers easy ways to use an existing document as the starting point for a new one. When you start a new document using the New command (rather than the Ctrl+N shortcut), you can select New from Existing in the set of choices in the upper left corner. That gives you a dialog box for browsing to the file you want to use as your starting point. Or you can use the Open command, select the file you want to use as your starting point, and then select Open as Copy from the dropdown menu associated with the Open button.

Of course, there's also the tried and true way of opening the original document, making the changes, and hoping that you remember to use Save As to create a new copy rather than saving over the original. If you're going to go that route, you might want to consider making the original file read-only so that Word won't let you save over it.

Creating a template file

All of those methods work OK but they require you to remember that you want to open that particular file and use it as a template. And that can be too much thinking to do on a Monday morning. Word also offers a way to identify the original document so that your operating system knows that you always want to create a copy. The secret is to tell Word to treat the document as a template by either placing it in a special location or giving it a special file extension, or both.

That means that when you open these documents by double-clicking on them, a new copy is created rather than opening the original. To convert a document into a template with the DOTX extension, follow these steps:

1. Open the document you want to use as the basis of your template
2. Make any changes
3. Select the Word Template option on the Save As flyout
4. Save the template wherever you wish.

Each of the template extensions provides information about the type of template:

• DOT = Word 97-2003 Templates
• DOTX = Word Templates
• DOTM = Word Macro-Enabled Templates

In general, I recommend using the DOTX format for your templates because it doesn't include macros and is fully compatible with Word 2007. There are, as with most rules, a few exceptions. If you want the document to open in Compatibility Mode (that is, restricted to Word 2003 features), then use a DOT format. If the template will contain UI customizations or macros, then use DOTM. Note that while it is possible to store DOC or DOCX files in the Trusted Templates folder and have them appear via File New, there is no advantage in doing so.

Adding templates to the New dialog

You can also store your template so that is available when you create a new document. If you use the Open command to access a DOT, DOTX, or DOTM file, the file will open just like any other document. That means you're opening the original for editing rather than a copy.

But you can store a file so that it is available when you use the New command and then select My Templates from the choices in the upper left corner. The resulting dialog contains all of the files that Word recognizes from your template folder. In my example, I only have one group of templates but any folders within that folder are represented as tabs along the top of the dialog.

For files to appear in this dialog, it doesn't matter whether the file is saved as a template (DOTX, DOTM, or DOT) or a document (DOCX or DOC); what's important is the location. To make it easy to navigate to the right folder when saving your file, the templates location is represented by a choice in the left navigation bar (called Trusted Templates in Windows XP and Templates in Vista).

Because template files can contain macros and customizations to the Ribbon (or toolbars and menus in previous versions) in addition to their formatting information, be careful about saving files to the Trusted Templates or Templates folders because they are trusted. This is very powerful and useful, but it's is important that you only run macros from sources that you know and trust. Normally, when you try to open a file that contains code, Word will warn you before running the code. However, for files that you have saved in a trusted location, Word will automatically run that code-- without any warning --when you open the file.

By carefully designing your template with content controls and organizing the Quick Style gallery, you can design a template to serve as a standard starting point for documents so that the documents you create have a consistent look and format. I'll describe how I go about creating a template in a later post.

- Stuart J Stuple