The Templates Screen |
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The Templates Screen |
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The Templates Screen
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The Templates Screen |
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The Templates Screen |
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As explained in the previous section, a classic Pathagoras template is not a complete (i.e., "overbuilt") document from which you pare away clauses not needed for the particular customer or client. A template is essentially a blank document that provides the shape for the clauses that will be poured into it. The templates screen gives you quick access to the various 'shape' providing devices. (We are talking not just about memo forms and letter formats that Word makes available to when you click "New|Document." Rather, they would include your unique templates designed for your major document production projects.
Activate the 'Templates’ screen by dropping down the Pathagoras features menu. Click “Templates.” This is what you will see:
The Templates Screen ('Apply' is pre-selected by default)
From the list at the top of the window, choose the template you wish to apply to the currently visible document. The templates screen allows you quick access to any of 3 folders of templates.
Then, select an action you want performed with the selected template.
Useful Information about templates and the template screen:
| • | If the document name of the template is not descriptive enough for you, you can add a description that provides more information as to its use. Just click the ‘Add/Modify Description’ and then type/modify the description of the template in the ‘Description' block. Press <Save> when done. |
| • | As indicated at the beginning, Pathagoras does not define templates in the same way that other programs do. Templates provide shape. Everything else provides the content. The consequence (all positive) is that what you may have considered a 'requirement’ (that all ‘source documents’ be built as and in “.dot” files) is simply incorrect. Indeed we strongly recommend that all source documents be designed and saved as standard Word '.doc' (document) files. ‘.doc’ files are easier to work with, easier to save and easier to retrieve. (Have you ever tried to save a new .dot files? Word always jumps you to the default templates path, and you have to re-navigate to the folder in which you really want the file.) |
| • | Pathagoras allows you to go 'round-robin' with the templates that display in Pathagoras’ Template’s screen. That is, it will apply each template against the current document to see how your text looks inside of the template’s settings. (This is similar to what Word2007/2010 now does with its styles feature on its Home page.) As you might imagine, this round-robin technique only works well if the template otherwise has no ‘main story’ text within it. |
| ► | The template ‘round-robin’ is particularly helpful in the following situation: Let us say you draft a letter that you anticipate printing onto your quality letterhead. In that situation, you only want the body of the letter to appear on screen. Now you decide that after you print on the letterhead, you now wish to e-mail or fax it. Of course, you could scan the letterhead version (that takes time). The better technique would be to ‘apply’ your letterhead template (using the Templates screen) and then e-mail or fax the letter directly from your computer. |