Creating Templates

To create a template, you just create a document with all the content you want, such as memo headers, footers, titles, company logo, etc., and all the styles you need. Then save the document as a template by clicking File and selecting Templates->Save. Every document that you create using the template is associated with the template; the template name is shown in the properties window (File->Properties->General) for the document. If you change a template style and then open a document that was created using the unchanged template, a dialog box informs you that the styles have changed, asking whether you want to change the document to match the current styles.

NOTE

If you save the template using File->Save As->Template, the documents created from the template aren't associated with it and aren't automatically updated when the template is changed.

To change a template, click File and select Templates->Edit.

Templates must be located in the template folders. To see where the templates are located, click Tools and select Options. Click the Paths tab to see a list of paths where files are located. Find the path to Templates. The path might look like the following:

 /opt/OpenOffice.org/share/templates/English;/home/janet/OpenOffice.org1.1/user/templates 

The template location above specifies two directories, separated by a semicolon. You can edit this path to store templates in a different or an additional location.

You can create a new folder by clicking File and selecting Templates->Organize to open the organizer. Highlight any folder in the left pane. Click Commands and select New. The new folder is named untitled. Type a new name and press <Enter>.

The default template is used when you create a new text document. You can edit the template file named Default or select a different template to be the default. To specify a template as the default, open the organizer and highlight the template that you want to be the default. (It must be located in the default template folder.) Click Commands. Select Set as Default Template.

A printer setting is included in a template. To define a printer, open the organizer, highlight the template, click Commands, and then click Printer Settings.

You can copy styles from one template to another. In the organizer, set both panes to Templates, using the drop-down menus below the panes. Double-click the template, and then click the Styles icon to see the styles. To move a style, drag a style from one template to a template in the other pane. Hold the <Ctrl> key while dragging to copy the style.