I had it all figured out for years. Normal.dot contained all my form letters, styles, standard images and defined-acronym shortcuts. I used macros, autotext and autocorrect. I regularly distributed the updated normal.dot file to other technical writers, so we all had standardized wording, styles and commands, at all times. Normal.dot also carried over to Outlook, so we could do (command)+F3 and just send someone a form letter by e-mail that quickly.



Then they broke it. Building Blocks disconnects from a document every time you close it. You have to reattach Building Blocks EVERY TIME you reopen that document. It doesn't work in Outlook. The styles are inconsistent from document to document, so there is no point in distributing it to other writers - it doesn't even work for me from one document to the next, no matter how many times I reset the styles to the proper attributes. The numbering system, which was always quirky, appears to be totally broken now. I have never successfully restarted numbering on any numbered list. And yes, I know how to do that and all the jerry rigging tricks as well.

Have they fixed any of this in 2010? Are there any patches for 2007? Or should I downgrade to 2003?