Chapter 22 -- Formatting Documents Using Templates, Wizards, and Add-Ins

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Chapter 22

Computers are powerful, but they still need to be told what to do at times—no matter how "automated" a task might seem. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that whenever you create a new document in Word, your document is based on a template that provides default document creation settings. Templates serve as patterns for documents; they define styles, AutoText entries, toolbars, standard (or boilerplate) text, placeholder text, and so forth. You can control how documents and templates interact in a number of ways. For example, you can base documents on existing templates, create custom templates for new and existing documents, attach templates to documents, load global templates, and edit templates.

In addition to controlling documents using templates, you can use interactive wizards to create particularly styled documents. Word provides a set of wizards, and each wizard presents a series of dialog boxes that walks you through the construction of a particular type of document. For instance, you can use wizards to create memos, Web pages, résumés, letters, and other common documents.

You can also control your Word environment by adding custom commands and features with add-ins. Add-ins are supplemental programs that add specific capabilities to Word. For example, some add-ins install Microsoft Office updates, proofreading tools, troubleshooter tools, sound files, graphic filters, and additional templates and wizards. In this chapter, you'll learn how to use and control templates, wizards, and add-ins to enhance and automate document creation, editing, and formatting.