Microsoft Word Template Problem

Question

Hello,

I have a manuscript I am having difficulty saving. I believe it has something to do with the template. Here is what happens.

In some chapters the first paragraph is to be left justified and non-italic. In other chapters, the first paragraph is center justified and in italics.

The problem is if a chapter is left justified, the first paragraph of the next chapter will be left justified as well, even if it's formatted to start center justified. When I change it back, it moves the other chapter as well and vice versa. The same thing happens with italic/non italic. I am not asked to save a change in template when I close.  

Thank you in advance for your help!

Answer 1

Are you saying that Alt+F11 doesn't open the VBA Editor or that Ctrl+G doesn't open the Immediate window? Or that when you paste the macro and press Enter nothing appears to happen? What are you expecting to happen? You won't see anything happen except that the Normal style in your document will no longer update automatically.

All of the above assumes that the Normal style is the actual problem, but so far we have not established that it is, unless you're using Normal for all your paragraphs.

Answer 2

In the Modify Style dialog, there is a check box.

When you have modified a style (or created a new one), you can select the radio button for "New documents based on this template" to have the changes written back to the template.

I strongly encourage you to have a separate paragraph style for every different type of paragraph formatting. Managing a document is much easier if, instead of using Normal style with direct font/paragraph formatting for everything, you have a specific style for each purpose (using the built-in styles, modified to your preferences, insofar as possible).

If the Normal style has acquired the "Automatically update" property, you won't be able to correct this through the UI; it takes a macro, which you can find in http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/WholeDocumentReformatted.htm

Answer 3

It sounds as if you are using the same style for both types of paragraph, and the style is set to update automatically. Once you have settled on the formatting for a style, it is better for it not to update automatically, and you should use two different styles for the two types of paragraphs that require different formatting. This change can be made in the document and saved to the template.

Answer 4

Thank you. How do I turn off the automatic update? I've never created or saved to a new template.

Answer 5

If the problem is in the template, then you have to open the template as a document and make the changes there.

To open a template as a document, use File > Open and then navigate to the template file to open it. Make the corrections needed and then save the template.

If I am not understanding the problem correctly, please reply back.