I have a server at the office with a shared folder for users to save client quotes to.

I have another hidden share on the server with the document templates in, and when you click NEW, you can select "our templates" and open the templates from there.

If a user copies a quote and takes it home, or off site, word tries to open the document template which is un-accessible.

I also have a similar setup at home with the network shared templates folder locally to me at home, allowing me to produce quotes at home. If I then save these quotes over the VPN to my works server share, if anyone tries to open these quotes, word tries to open my home copy of the templates (which works if it's me logged in at the office as the VPN between home and office authenticates my user account at my home share too), but obviously this is not ideal should the VPN be down, my home connection be down etc.

Is there a way around this?

Trying to open documents whose attached templates are on an unavailable server can result in considerable delays. See: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=830561. A simple workaround is to use a local copy of the template. When anyone opens the file, even if the template is unavailable, Word won't waste time trying to communicate with the server.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks. Altering the attached template is great, and it then opens locally with ease, but then obviously wont open at the other location so easy.

I guess I could use a mapped drive with the same folder structure to attach the template, and then which ever site it is opened on, the template would be local. I just am not a fan of mapped drives on XP as they seem a little flakey at times.

Thanks.

No, as I said:
The only real downside is that the user won't have access to any macros etc. stored in the template.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Ah, so I should be attaching an extra one, not replacing it, under Word Options>Add Ins>Templates?

If the first is unavailable, it will use the next add in? How long does it wait? As because there is a VPN, it can access the other templates, just slowly.

Thanks.

No, you're not attaching an extra one; you're replacing the network template with the local one. When the local one isn't available, Word defaults to the 'Normal' template, which is always available. The process is normally fast enough that you wouldn't notice any delay.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks.

I am getting confused I think.

I open the template at the office, from the network, alter the document template to the normal.doc(x) one under add-ins. I then re-save the template to the network share? If I do this, the next time I open the template to use, the document template under add-ins has changed back to the network one?

I think I am miss-understanding.

Thanks.

No, you're not doing anything to the template; you're telling the document to use a different one - the local copy of the template instead of the network copy.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Also, you are looking for the [local] normal.dotm template to attach.

BTW, normal.dotm should never be a shared template.

I generally copy Workgroup Templates to a user's local workgroup templates folder as a part of the login or through another process. They are used from that location rather than directly from the network. This allows laptops full access to the templates even when off-site. It also allows modification of the templates even when people have a document based on the template open. [If a user's open document is attached directly to the template on the network, that template is locked.]