[rotuts]

Hello

quite some time ago I asked here and was told how to set up Word (X) so that when I opened word, it opened a format I set up, not the default

id I puc the font, size etc.

you had to make a template and put it in an obscure folder?

anyonw know how to do this for Word? Excel TOO!!!

very appreciative in advance

rotut

[gorickey]

A few options for Word:

1.) Edit the "Normal" template to your liking found in the following location:

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Normal

2.) Open a Word document and edit to your liking, then:

File > Save As > Format: Document Template > Save

By default, it'll want to save your template (.dot) in your "My Templates" folder found here:

Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Templates/My Templates

For Excel:

1.) Open an Excel worksheet and edit to your liking, then:

File > Save As > Format: Template > Save

Again, it will want by default to be placed into the "My Templates" folder as an (.xlt) file.

[MartiNZ]

It's easy enough in Word, just by turning on 'Prompt to save Normal template' in the preferences - then it will ask if you want to save any changes you make after opening a blank document.

In Excel, as far as I can tell there is no 'Normal' template - I don't know where it gets the default from and it annoys me because the default window size is a bit too big for my liking.

Okay I have made my own template that fixes that, but unlike in Word, I can't get Excel to open by default with that template ... so I have put the template file in my dock. This is not ideal really, and I think I might mention it the next time I submit Office 2004 feedback ... that would be about the 6th time .

[gorickey]

Originally posted by MartiNZ:
Okay I have made my own template that fixes that, but unlike in Word, I can't get Excel to open by default with that template ...

According to Excel's built-in "Help" section (I searched for "Create Template")...you can supposedly create a template and save it in the following location to have it start-up automatically in Excel:

Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Office/Startup/Excel/Place_Template_File_Here.xlt

However, I can't get it to work correctly...

[MartiNZ]

Cool, thanks. I just checked it - the first time I've actually used Office help. They still haven't worked out that we have a Help Viewer installed , but at least typing something and pressing return now searches for it rather than just moving down a line . Scrollbars in their help are still nasty though.

Anyway, to the point: I got it to work. The important thing is to save the template in that startup folder, as Workbook

It says to not give it an extension (if you want to make a default template), which is surely a very non-MS thing to do, but it works ... for me. That's cool! Now it's just Powerpoint that doesn't cooperate and will always have a huge left-hand navigation area (the same method didn't work) ... good thing I hardly use it, and should probably go Keynote anyway .

Oh well, now if they can just sort out the window size of Excel files coming from Windows....

[MartiNZ]

One other thing: with Office v.X, someone around here found that you could move the misplaced 'Microsoft User Data' to somewhere more appropriate than ~/Documents - from memory this was to ~/Library but if so, it doesn't work with Office 2004 , possibly because they now store the Normal template in there....

[gorickey]

MartiNZ:

Thanks, I was putting the ".xlt" extension on the template...I got rid of that and it works!

Cool.