Creating templates, and documents based on templates

This is a "classic" post but important and useful. See also info on styles .

Let's say you have the following:

• A bunch of styles you need to have when you create a document.
• Some canned text, like your signature or a graphic logo, that you use in a lot of documents
• Or you just have to make sure that all your white papers or customer contracts or brochures follow certain formatting standards
  

You are an excellent candidate for using templates. Templates are documents that store styles, text, graphics, general formatting—whatever you want. You create a document, save it as a template in the Template Place, then point to that template when you want to create a new document using what it's got.

Making a Template

Open a new document.

Put in it what you want in the template. Styles, graphics, text of every kind and variety. Whatever.

Then choose File > Templates > Save.

Specify My Templates unless you have another idea for a category.

(To create a new category, click the Organizer button, select a category in the button that appears, right-click on it and choose New. An untitled category will appear. IMMEDIATELY start typing the name of your new category. Click somewhere else in the category list when you're done typing. Click Close.)

Type the name of your template like Meeting Minutes.

Click OK.

Now you've got a template.

Using a Template

You need to create a new document using that template.

Choose File > New > Templates and Documents.

Select the Template icon on the left.

Open the category you chose like My Templates. You'll see your template.

Click Open and you'll have a new untitled document based on that template.

The Coolest Part—Making That Template Come Up When You Create Any New Document

Choosing File > New > Templates and Documents is fine but what if that's your template you use all the time? You can make it come up when you just choose File > New > [type of document] by setting it as the default template.

Choose File > Templates > Organize.

Open the category your template is in, in the left side.

Right-click on the template and choose Set as Default Template.

Click Close. You're done! Choose File > New > [type of document] and you'll see the effect.

To switch back to the normal original boring blank document, repeat the steps but this time choose Reset Default Template > [type of document]

Pointing to an Existing Directory of Templates

If you have a bunch of templates, Microsoft or OpenOffice.org, set up OpenOffice.org to know where they are. Then you can get to them as above by choosing File > New > Templates and Documents.

Converting, If You Want to Point to Microsoft Format Templates
First, if they're in Microsoft format, you need to convert them to OpenOffice format. Choose File > Wizards > Document Converter. Follow the wizard through to create a converted set of copies of the templates.

Step 1.

Step 2, then just follow the wizard as prompted.

Pointing to Templates to Use
Now, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths. Select the Templates line.

Click Edit, then click Add, and add the path to the templates you want to point to. (Click this image to see a larger version if you like.)

Click OK, and OK, and OK  again.

Now you'll see the templates when you choose File > New > Templates and Documents.

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Comments

[FD]

Where should I store OOo templates for use by multiple Vista accounts?

I keep client data in separate Vista accounts (formerly caller users--Microsoft is so great about consistency) and want to be see and use my wonderful new OOo templates in ALL of the client accounts. I especially want to use the invoice template!

A. Is there a default location for global templates (and for that matter, clip art and macros) in the OOo file structure or
B. Is there a recommended share location for global templates (and clip art, macros etc.) under Vista's torturous and obtuse structure?

Many thanks in advance.

[Chris Puttick]

Has anyone noticed that the template name becomes the document title? Surely (a) this not the desired behaviour and (b) was not the behaviour in 2.3 and before (seems to be the case in 2.4 and 3).

This means where you have a template that makes use of the document title it is pre-populated with a the template name instead of being either blank or in our case an instruction to the user to change it to the appropriate title.

[Solveig]

Yeah, I was surprised at the filename/name/title functionality. I think the template becoming the title might have something to do with tracking the template a doc was based on but I could be wrong. I have a vague memory of it working that way for a while.

[Reinald Gfüllner]

GLOBAL TEMPLATES :

path : /opt/openoffice.org/basis3.0/share/template/de (Ooffice3.0, de=german)
BUT: ooffice needs addtitional groupuinames.xml because it apparentely uses some fancy virtual directorys structure (probably due to missunderstood internationalisation; yes, I may say this, I'm not english user ;-)

Anyway, the solution seems to be to create aditional templates in the userdirectory and copy them to the global directory afterwards:

$ soffice
File->Template->Administration -> New : "Our corporate Templates";
import Templates there

cp -R ~/.openoffice.org/3/user/template/Unnamed /opt/openoffice.org/basis3.0/share/template/de

cp -R ~/.openoffice.org/3/user/template/groupuinames.xml /opt/openoffice.org/basis3.0/share/template/de

rename Unnamed to "Our corporate Template" and edit groupuinames.xml