A Hidden Gem—Workgroup Templates

By Gail Van Landingham

Did you know that Microsoft® Word includes a feature called "Workgroup templates"? This is a simple but powerful feature that provides access to a single source for templates. By setting up Workgroup templates, you can help make access to templates easier and more efficient—and control the content of your templates.

Note: The following instructions apply to Word 2003. If you're using an earlier version, the instructions will vary.

What are the benefits of Workgroup templates?

You can update the templates in one location on your network, and everyone will have instant access.

Reduce work. Templates keep employees happy because they don't have to invent a document format over and over again. They don't need to take time to create a title page, table of contents, headers and footers, and other standard document elements.
Provide access to a small or large group. Depending on how many templates have been created and how far you want to reach, you can set up Workgroup templates for just two staff members-or for all employees at your company.

Examples of template use

Here are some sample templates:

General: Memo, Letterhead, Fax Cover
Forms: Review Tracker, Change Order, Training Record
Service/Support: Site Visit Report, Site Upgrade Report
Engineering: Project Plan, Requirements Specification, Test Verification

Getting started

Create a set of templates. For details, see your favorite Microsoft Word book.
Copy the templates to a network location where your target users have access.

Tip: An ideal location is on a network drive that is automatically mapped for your target users.

Setting up Workgroup templates

When you set up Workgroup templates, you tell Word where the templates are located. You need to do this for every employee who needs access.

Note: This is a one-time setup for each employee. At our company, the IT department automatically sets this up for new employees.

Click Tools > Options > File Locations tab.
Double-click Workgroup templates.
Navigate to the location where you've saved the templates.
Click OK.
In the Options dialog box, confirm that the correct location is listed next to Workgroup templates. Click OK again.

Using the Word templates

Click File > New.
In the New Document panel in the Templates group, click On my computer.
Double-click a template from the General tab, or from any other tab.

In this example:

All the tabs that start with "DR" are in the workgroup folder.
All the other tabs are from the user's personal template folder.

FAQs

What about my personal templates?

Word allows you to specify one directory for personal templates and one directory for Workgroup templates. They are both specified on the File Locations tab when you select Options from the Tools menu.

Where do personal templates appear?

Both personal templates and Workgroup templates display when you select New from the File menu. If the templates are in the main directory selected, they will be under the General tab. If the templates are in subdirectories, Word creates additional tabs corresponding to each subdirectory.

How do the tabs correspond to file folders?

Each time you create a subfolder in the Workgroup templates location, Word creates a tab by the same name in the Templates dialog box. If the subfolder doesn't contain a Word document or Word template, Word doesn't display a tab.