The word template causes more confusion than most desktop publishers would like to admit. To add to the confusion, Microsoft has chosen to use template files to hold macros, scripting, and other utilities that cannot be contained in a document.
Definition
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a template is:
A preset format for a document or file, used so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is used:
a memo template
What a template is
The OED definition comes pretty close to explaining the basic purpose of a template—both within the MS Word universe and in the real world. But in Microsoft Word the template has a broader meaning—and it is much more technical in nature compared to the simple document skeleton most people think of when they hear the word template.
Typically Word’s templates are stored in a completely different location from the documents. The template file is used to create new documents and it provides a variety of time-saving devices to speed the document creation process. The Word template may or may not include added specialized functionality—depending primarily on how much attention to detail and usability the template designer applied when setting up the template.
What does Microsoft mean when they say “template”?
Microsoft templates often contain content, but that is truly not the purpose of a template. Templates provide structure, formatting, and layout to the documents they will create. Page size, margins, orientation, number and width of columns, font types and colors, etc., are determined by the template file. The template may also contain features that speed efficiency and consistency through the application of styles and use of various galleries and toolbars. A template may contain boilerplate text, such as legal statements, disclaimers, and copyrights. The boilerplate may be intended for use “as-is,” or it may be a launching pad providing ideas to the document writer—ideas that will be re-written as necessary. Other than a few paragraphs of boilerplate text, however, most of the text in a typical document is provided by the writer of that document.
Word templates leverage use of macros, auto-text, Building Blocks, customized toolbars, keyboard shortcuts, and scripts to increase the efficiency and capabilities of the desktop publisher. And these are the features of the Word template that a) require that the document be attached to the template, and b) make Word template far more powerful than most people realize.
This post is intended to just barely scratch the surface of template definition. I will post further articles soon that dig a little deeper into the functionality and capabilities of Microsoft Word templates.
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