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It sounds like you want Word to be Structured Frame Maker. My guess is that
computers will become obsolete before Word matures to that level. However,
you can set your template to automatically update styles and reattach the
template. This will only work if the template is in the template folder of
each editor of the document. I haven't done this kind of protection myself,
but for some reason the protection existed on one of the networks where I
worked.
I would painstakenly update a lengthy document, take out all of the garbage,
add useful and functional styles, and, why did I have to?, align the left
margin correctly. Somebody would think that they knew how to use Word and
write and "add just a little bit of text." BLAM! My document was back to
using Normal.dot and everything was wrong. So if you can figure out how Net
Admins get "Normal" back into my document, then maybe you can figure out how
to get "Functional" to stay in your document. Otherwise, you will need to
create a policy for using your documents and template.
Lauren
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of
Caitlin Gannon
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 9:44 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: "Strict" Word template for end-users
Hi everyone,
I need to create a bullet-proof Word template for other people to use. These
end-users are fond of using blank paragraphs for spacing, adding hard page
breaks between sections, using different heading styles so the TOC doesn't
work, etc. They generally don't use styles even if they are pre-built, and
even if I write a style guide, they aren't tech writers and may not
understand why it's important to follow it.
I'm not a big fan of Word, but it's what we have. Is there a way to create a
template that forces the use of styles? I'd love it if the template would
require the user to choose a style rather than allowing them to override my
lovely formatting.
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