Storing/Inserting Preset Text into normal.dot

[RoofTech]

Hi,



When I started working at my current job (11 years ago), we had set paragraphs saved in normal.dot that meant you could just type the number of the paragraph into a Word document, press 'insert' on the keyboard and the whole paragraph text would appear. It stopped working for some reason about 5 years ago but I managed to save all the paragraphs first. Since then we have had new servers/computers etc. and I have now been asked to see if I can set it up again but no-one here can remember who set it up previously or how.

If anyone has set this up or knows how to, please let me know.

[gmayor]

This sounds like autotext, which works similarly in Word 2010, but I would be inclined to set it up using autocorrect instead.

You could create the entries manually, but it is easier if you download the autocorrect backup utility from fellow MVP Jay Freedman's web site - http://jay-freedman.info/. Open the template and run the autocorrect backup. This will create a three column table.

The first column is the trigger key, I would recommend using #1, #2, #3 etc as triggers for your paragraphs as these commands are not frequently used in normal typing.

In the second column enter/copy and paste your paragraphs, and in the last column enter True or False depending whether the entries are formatted or not (I suspect False is most appropriate here).

Add the entries to new rows at the bottom of the table then use the utility to restore the entries from the table.

Type #1 to enter the first paragraph etc.

[Charles Kenyon]

Following up on Graham's advice, here is a resource:
Automated Boilerplate Using Microsoft Word

See also:

• How to Add Pop-Up Lists to Any Word Document So You Can Click Your Way Through Changes in Seconds (or how to use the AutoTextList field)
• Building Blocks & Autotext by Greg Maxey

The autocomplete triggers have to be longer than two characters (four required), and I do tend to use #1, #2, etc. for listing options in text, although they are seldom followed by the Enter key. I would not recommend them for the item names/triggers.
I would suggest, instead something like Ctr01, Ctr02 for contract clauses and Wil01, Wil02 for will clauses. Note the capital letters. Insertion of AutoText is case-sensitive. If you have automatic capitalization of the first word in a sentence turned on that feature will defeat use of lower case triggers that start a new sentence or paragraph.

In Word 2010 to have autocomplete tooltips (prompts) show, these have to be stored in the normal template or the document's template. A drawback is that the normal template cannot be a shared template. Autotext can also be stored in other templates including the building blocks template but the Autocomplete prompts will not show up. (This is worse than Word 2003 and 2013 but better than Word 2007.) If you know the name (trigger) for a paragraph, you can type it and press the F3 key to insert the language.

The trigger #1 will NOT give you an autocomplete tip; #0001 will give an autocomplete tip. Either can be used with the F3 key to insert paragraphs.

You can use the Organizer to copy AutoText entries from one template to another. The article by Greg Maxey includes a tool that you can use to backup and restore AutoText. This could also be used to distribute AutoText to other users' normal templates.

If you can put your entries in a Global Template that makes them easy to distribute, but you lose the Autocomplete. If you have a lot of these, I would recommend using the separate global template along with a guide or list for your users.

[RoofTech]

Thanks guys,

Is there a way I can share my 'normal' template with the rest of our employees once I have it set up properly?

[Charles Kenyon]

In my previous post I said the normal template cannot be shared, but that was not a prominent statement. I went back and made it bold in case someone else might miss it.

I reiterate. The normal.dotm template should not be shared. Period. That is Microsoft's opinion; based on painful personal experience, I happen to share that opinion.

That is why I talked about the use of other global templates. Those can be shared easily. If you are on a network, you can designate the Word Startup Folder for everyone a shared network folder and store the template there.

My personal preference is to set a local location for everyone on their own computer and have the network login script copy from the network location to the local location upon login. That is the only way to make them work when people are off-line.

Otherwise, you could use the Organizer or Greg Maxey's utility to copy entries from on template to another and share the entries that way. That is the best way to have them all in everyone's normal template. Maintenance would be a pain, though.

[RoofTech]

Thanks for clarifying that point Charles. I have tried reading through all the information links etc. (from yourself and Graham) and being a fairly basic user, I feel a bit confused as to what I should do next. Am I right that if I open Word and 'save as' and change type to template and give it a new name on a shared network folder, does it then become a global template or have I just saved a version of my normal template? I did that and then put it as an add in on another user's machine and it did not work so I think I might have misunderstood what I read. Sorry if I am being thick but all of us here only use Office on a very basic level.

[Charles Kenyon]

Opening Word creates a new document based on the normal template. It does not recreate that template in the document. Saving that new document as a template will leave your AutoText in the normal template (assuming that is where it is stored).

If you go to the location where your normal.dot template is stored and copy it (with Word closed) to a new name, you can then put that template in your Word Startup Folder. If you do that, you would want to use the Building Blocks Organizer or Greg Maxey's utility to clear those entries from your normal template (so you don't have duplicates).

If you have not yet saved your AutoText in your normal template, the simple thing to do is to create a new blank template and save it in the Startup folder. Then, when you are in the dialog to save AutoText (building blocks) you can save them directly in that template. Once you have a library of AutoText, you can put it on your network and share it with others. It will need to go into their Word Startup folder.

Normal Template in Microsoft Word - How to Find or Open the Normal Template.

Again, you can use Greg Maxey's utility to backup the AutoText in one template and restore (copy) it into another template.