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Word documents with network template sent outside the company

We use a Word template that has some macros to pull in other word documents based on user form selection.  This works great except when we try to send one of these documents to someone outside the company.  It takes several minutes for them to open the file as Word attempts to try and find the template file that is on our system but is obviously unavailable on the clients computer/network.  Is there a way around this?  All solutions I've seen are centered around the premise that you had a central server that held templates, you decommissioned that server and now all your old word documents are pointing to a dead location.  The solution was to manually (or through script) remove the bad template references from each file.  That's not really a solution for this issue.  Are we just trying to use Word in a fashion it wasn't intended?

Thanks,
Todd

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Hi, Todd1561,


Word processor documents cannot be directly opened when sent as attachment.


Open document in Works Word processor >

Click on file 

Click on save as

Select ‘word 97-2003 document’ under save as type

Click on Save.

Now send the File saved in the word (.doc) format and the recipient should be able to open the attachment.

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Hello,

Open the document b before you send it.

On the Developer Tab click on the Document Template button (right end of tab).



Then click the Attach button on the Templates and Add-Ins dialog that pops up.



Then attach the Normal template to your document.

OK your way out of the dialog box, save your document, and attach it to an email.
Volunteering to "pay forward" the help I've received in the Microsoft user community.

Charles Kenyon
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
wordfaq[at]addbalance[dot]com

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How are the original documents being created - by using File>New and then selecting the template or by some other means.

 

When a document that is created by the use of File>New is opened on another computer, if the original template is not available on that computer, there is a virtually instantaneous substitution of the Normal template.

 

Are you sure that there are not some other references to external files in the documents or the template from which they are created.

 

Such references can be a bit tricky to find, especially if they are contained in a header or footer that is not displayed in the document for some reason, such as a Primary Header or Footer in a document that consists of one page and has a Different First Page Header\Footer.

Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - MVP Office Apps & Services (Word)
dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com
It's time to replace ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’ with ‘Excellence, Opportunity & Civility’ - V Ramaswamy

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Thanks everyone for the replies.  Unfortunately, I don't think these workaround are a viable option, if it's anything more than clicking the save button my guys aren't going to do it.  And frankly, it shouldn't be this difficult to save a Word document.

This Word template works as such...
1. User opens the .dotm template directly, which has macros and VBA forms in it.
2. The main form I created opens and has a list of documents the user can choose from (fax cover letter, memorandum, etc.)
3. User selects a form which in VBA uses a "selection.insertfile" call to pull in another word document into the original template.  So the original template is just letterhead and the content is pulled in from a hidden set of word docs.

This all works fine, but either the reference to the original dotm template or the doc file I inserted is causing it to hang.  When I call the insertfile method I'm not telling it to link the file, but rather pull its content in, so my understanding is that shouldn't retain a reference to the original file.

Any thoughts?

Todd

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Your problem is that the users are opening the .dotm template directly!  That is NOT the way that templates should be used.  Your users should be using FILE>NEW and then select the .dotm file as the template to be used as the basis for the documents that they are creating.
Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - MVP Office Apps & Services (Word)
dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com
It's time to replace ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’ with ‘Excellence, Opportunity & Civility’ - V Ramaswamy

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I agree with Doug. If your users used File New (or double-clicked on a shortcut to your template) a new, fresh, document would be create which could then be transmitted.

Volunteering to "pay forward" the help I've received in the Microsoft user community.

Charles Kenyon
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
wordfaq[at]addbalance[dot]com

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Yes, that's exactly how my users are using this template.  They have a shortcut to the dotm file.  I tried the way you suggested (file > new) and selecting the dotm file and I have the same problem.  I think the problem is more with the way I'm inserting the content via the VBA code.  Because one of the options I have in my user form is just a blank document which doesn't insert any file.  That one seems to not have this issue, all the ones that pull other content in have the problem.

Can anyone explain why using the selection.insertfile method would cause this problem?

Todd

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Is any of it being inserted as a link?
Volunteering to "pay forward" the help I've received in the Microsoft user community.

Charles Kenyon
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
wordfaq[at]addbalance[dot]com

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No I specifically set that property to False when I called the method.  Here's the exact code:

Selection.InsertFile fileName:=templatePath, Range:="", ConfirmConversions:=False, Link:=False, Attachment:=False

Todd

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I would look very closely at the files that are being inserted to see if they contain any links to external content, INCLUDING in ALL of the possible headers and footers in those files, whether they are visible or not.
Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - MVP Office Apps & Services (Word)
dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com
It's time to replace ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’ with ‘Excellence, Opportunity & Civility’ - V Ramaswamy

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Last updated February 1, 2025 Views 1,709 Applies to: