Hi folks.

I just want to establish if Word 2003's "Compatibility Options" are document-specific or whether they require a VBA routine to keep them in place when sharing between users.

For reference, my template automatically triggers a handful of settings when a new document is created (see below) so that I get my paragraph spacing as I want it but, ultimately, the document will be shared without the template attached.



Will the Compatability Options stay as I've set them when sharing with an end user (with 2003 or later versions of Word) or will they revert to default settings and mess up the paragraph spacing?

Thanks.

Matt

They are set in the document.

However, see:

• What happens when I send my document to someone else? Will Word mess up my formatting?
• Why has my page layout changed when I open my document on a different machine? by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP

Thanks, Charles.

So - if I understand those links correctly - if I want to share a document and keep the layout as close as possible to my own, it's better if I use custom styles rather than any built-in styles (e.g. Body Text) that I've modified as they might look different on the other user's Word?

Which leads me onto:

If I have modified the "Normal" style in my template - which is nothing more than a font change - will that modification stick with the shared "template-less" document or revert to the end-user's "Normal" style settings? Should I create an alternative custom "Normal", in other words?

(On my own system, the "Normal" style maintains the custom settings when I detach the template.)

Thanks, M

Nope.


Make sure the option to update styles from the template is not checked. Then your modified styles should survive.
I never modify the Normal style, nor do I use it for anything. It is a base style for many built-in styles including some that can be automatically applied. Instead I use and modify the Body Text style.
Other formatting and pagination may still change on a different computer.