Changes to the global Normal.dot template | Word forum

Hi Liz, another option would be to;
Create your Normal.dot as a global template to be shared over your network, as I said before it should be placed in a folder on the network server to which all users have file read access. Each user's network login file should be set to copy the file to the user's personal startup folder when the user logs onto the network if the network version is newer than the user's version. That way you can update the template without everyone having to be off from Word when you do it. (The personal startup folder can be on a network drive or a local drive; my preference is to use a local drive.)

If you can't work with the login scripts or aren't worried about updating the template you will probably want to use shortcuts to it in each user's Word Startup folder. That way, any changes will automatically update everyone's Word. If it is your own and not shared you can either put it in your Startup folder or keep it elsewhere and use the shortcut to load it into Word.

Note that since Word 2000, Word has recognised two startup folders to hold global templates. The first is the folder designated as the Word startup folder under

Tools>Options>File Locations (tab).

The second is the Office Startup folder. Its location will vary depending on both the Operating System and the version of Word (Office) being used. I know the Word Startup folder can be different for each user but the Office startup folder will always be in the Programs folder rather than in the user profile, so for ease of use you could discard this option.

So in some sort of re-cap, create your global template, place it in a folder that everyone can see, and then on each of your your user's computers use the Tool>Options>File Locations options to create a file to open when looking for New.
I hope that works a bit better, regards Pete