About Templates and Styles

In addition to Word's built-in styles and those you create, there are several styles created by Doc-To-Help that you will use because they let you create features not otherwise available in Word. You can easily identify these special styles because they all begin with the prefix C1 or C1H (e.g., C1 Section Collapsed, C1H Link Tag, C1H Popup).

Word uses template files (DOTX) whenever you create a new Word document. Depending on the template you use, various styles are already available for you. Doc-To-Help provides predefined templates to determine how your content will look and work. The name of these templates all begin with a D2H prefix (e.g., D2H_NOMARGIN.dotx) and contain both Word styles and Doc-To-Help's special styles, which you apply to content in your Word source documents. Most templates are designed for print-based outputs, while a couple are available for online outputs. In Doc-To-Help projects, there are two kinds of Word templates that you will use: source and target. See About Templates and Styles.

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Doc-To-Help's custom templates are stored in the same location as your regular Microsoft templates:

C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

The path may be slightly different depending on your operating system.

Note If you uninstall Doc-To-Help and reinstall a newer version, the templates will remain in that folder. However, if one of your customized templates uses the same name as one of Doc-To-Help’s default templates, and there is a newer version of that template in the installation, Doc-To-Help will save your version of the template to the following folder:

\\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Backup

The Application Data or App Data folder is a hidden folder. To show hidden folders, open the Folder Options dialog in your operating system (Control Panel > Folder Options). Click the View tab, under Advanced Settings > Files and folders > Hidden files and folders, select the Show hidden files and folders radio button. Click OK.

In Doc-To-Help projects, there are two kinds of Word templates that you will use: source and target.

Why two kinds of templates? It has to do with function; each has a unique purpose and is associated with different parts of the user interface.

A source template is used when you create a new Word source document (see Adding, Renaming, and Removing Documents) and author in it (see About Source Documents). You should always create your documents with the source templates provided by Doc-To-Help and edit the source document as desired; this will guarantee full Doc-To-Help functionality.

Example  

If you select D2H_NOMARGIN.dotx as your source template, that is the template that will be used when you create a new source document in the project.

When you open a source document that is part of a Doc-To-Help project, you will notice that there are more options available in Word's Doc-To-Help ribbon. Many of these options are only available in source documents; you will not see them in final output or templates. See Ribbons and About Source Documents.

Important If you want to create new styles, you can do so in both your source and target template. (By creating a new style in the source template, it becomes available in your source document so that you can apply it to content.) However, it is not necessary to edit the formatting in a source template; it is best to leave the formatting in a source template as it is. The source template is for your eyes only, and it would be a wasted effort to make a lot of formatting changes in it since your end users will not see it. You should make formatting changes on styles in your target template.

The exception to this rule is if you are creating a custom template, because any text you add in the source template is used to create new projects. You may want to add some formatting in the template to provide structure in new projects (e.g., adding headings). However, you should not extensively format the template, because formatting is added when you build your output. See Editing a Template.

Important You can create your own custom source templates. If you do this, it is recommended that you make copies of an existing Doc-To-Help template to edit rather than creating a template from scratch. This is because Doc-To-Help templates use several proprietary styles and bookmarks to ensure that your output builds correctly. See Editing a Template.

A target template is used when you build the selected target. See Building Targets.

Example  

If you select D2H_PRNOMARGIN.dotx as your target template, that is the template that will be used when you generate output for the selected target.

Also, when you select a particular target in the Home ribbon (from the Select Target drop-down), Doc-To-Help automatically changes the Target Template drop-down to select the default template associated with that target.

When you open Word output generated from a target template, you will notice that there are fewer options available in Word's Doc-To-Help ribbon than if you had opened a source document. A couple of options (i.e., Generate PDF and Master Print) are only available in the ribbon when you view output because they are necessary for output but not for the source document. See Ribbons.

Note When you open a source or target template in Word, you will not see the Doc-To-Help ribbon. This is because you do not need Doc-To-Help functionality to edit a template, so the Doc-To-Help Word add-in opens in No Features mode. However, you can still use Doc-To-Help's styles and variables to edit the template. See Ribbons.

The following table lists the various Word template files that can be used in Doc-To-Help projects when creating print-based output.

Notice that each source template has a complementary target template that has a similar page layout. Therefore, if you select a particular source template, it is a best practice to also select its complementary target template.

Example  

Let's say you add and select D2H_SIDE.dotx as your source template.

Therefore, according to the following table, it's best to add and select D2H_PRSIDE.dotx as the target template.

Print-based templates often contain front matter and back matter content (e.g., title page, table of contents, index). You can make changes to this content (e.g., title, cover image, byline, contents heading) in the Help Targets dialog. See Editing Target Settings.

Source Templates

Complementary Target Templates

D2H_FANCY.DOTX This source template has a page layout similar to D2H_NOMARGIN.DOTX, but it has a fancier styles that use color and a different font. When used with the complimentary target template, it will have a fancy design.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Fancy 8.5" x 11" Template.

D2H_PRFANCY.DOTX This is the target template that is intended to accompany the D2H_FANCY.DOTX source template. It includes a page layout similar to D2H_PRNOMARGIN.DOTX, but it has a fancier design. This includes color, an image placed behind the text on the title page, an image placed behind the text in the headers, and a decorative image in the footers.

D2H_FANCY_A4.DOTX This is the source template for A4-sized paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Fancy A4 Template.

D2H_PRFANCY_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target (A4-sized paper).

D2H_NOMARGIN.DOTX This is the Doc-To-Help default source template. It will be used unless you use your own or choose an alternate from this list.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Normal 8.5" x 11" Template (no left indent).

D2H_PRNOMARGIN.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target. It differs from D2H_PRNORM.DOTX in that it does not have the wide 2-inch left margin.

D2H_NOMARGIN_A4.DOTX This is the source template for A4-sized paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Normal A4 Template (no left indent)

D2H_PRNOMARGIN_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target (A4-sized paper).

D2H_NORM.DOTX This is Doc-To-Help’s default source template for versions prior to Doc-To-Help 2007. This matches D2H_NOMARGIN.DOTX, but it has a 2-inch left margin.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Normal 8.5" x 11" Template.

D2H_PRNORM.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target. It differs from D2H_PRNOMARGIN.DOTX in that it has a 2-inch left margin.

D2H_NORM_A4.DOTX This is the source template for A4-sized paper with a 2-inch left margin.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Normal A4 Template.

D2H_PRNORM_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target (A4-sized paper).

D2H_FANCY_POLICIES.DOTX This source template is used to create policies & procedures documents. It has sample text and headings that you can use as a starting point for these manuals. It is based on D2H_FANCY.DOTX and uses the same styles and page layout as in that template.

By default, the headers in this template are numbered.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Policies & Procedures 8.5" x 11" Fancy Template.

D2H_PRFANCY_POLICIES.DOTX This is the target template that is intended to accompany the D2H_FANCY_POLICIES.DOTX source template. Like the PR_FANCY.DOTX target template, this template includes color, an image placed behind the text on the title page, an image placed behind the text in the headers, and a decorative image in the footers.

D2H_FANCY_POLICIES_A4.DOTX This is the source template for A4-sized paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Policies & Procedures A4 Fancy Template.

D2H_PRFANCY_POLICIES_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target (A4-sized paper).

D2H_NOMARGIN_POLICIES.DOTX This source template is used to create policies & procedures documents. It has sample text and headings that you can use as a starting point for these manuals. It is based on D2H_NOMARGIN.DOTX and uses the same styles and page layout as in that template.

By default, the headers in this template are numbered.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Policies & Procedures 8.5" x 11" Plain Template.

D2H_PRNOMARGIN_POLICIES.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target for a policies & procedures manual.

D2H_NOMARGIN_POLICIES_A4.DOTX This is the source template for A4-sized paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Policies & Procedures A4 Plain Template.

D2H_PRNOMARGIN_POLICIES_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the printed manual target (A4-sized paper).

D2H_SIDE.DOTX This is the source template for sidehead source documents.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Sidehead 8.5" x 11" Template.

D2H_PRSIDE.DOTX This is the target template used to format the standard sidehead printed manual.

D2H_SIDE_A4.DOTX This is the source template for sidehead source documents on A4-sized paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Sidehead A4 Template.

D2H_PRSIDE_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the standard sidehead printed manual (A4-sized paper).

D2H_SMAL.DOTX This is the source template used to format small-sized manuals on 8.5" x 11" paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Small 8.5" x 11" Crop-Marked Template.

D2H_PRSMAL.DOTX This is the target template used to format the standard small printed manual.

D2H_SMAL_A4.DOTX This is the source template used to format small-sized manuals on A4-sized paper.

In the New Project Wizard, this template is called Small A4 Crop-Marked Template.

D2H_PRSMAL_A4.DOTX This is the target template used to format the standard small printed manual (A4-sized paper).

If you are generating online output from Doc-To-Help, you will normally use the primary online template: D2H_HTML.dotx.

When selecting source and target templates, you also have the option of selecting (none). If you do this, Doc-To-Help will use the same template that is used if you were to create a new blank document in Word.

Following are the primary tasks you will perform with templates and styles in them:

  • Edit Templates If necessary, you can edit templates to meet your needs. You can do this by creating new styles in both your source and target templates or by creating custom templates. Any text in the source template is used when you create new documents from the template, so creating custom templates is a good way to provide structure to new projects.

    However, if you need to make modifications to the formatting of styles (e.g., change the font color for a style from black to red), you should do so in your target template instead of the source template or document. Keep in mind that style changes in the source template affect only the look of the source documents, which are for your eyes only. Editing the target template changes the look of your final output. See Editing a Template.

  • Select Templates Doc-To-Help automatically assigns the default source template (D2H_NOMARGIN.DOTX) and its complementary target template (D2H_PRNOMARGIN.DOTX) after you create a new project. However, you can select different templates if you want. See Selecting Templates.
  • Copying Custom Styles to a New Template If you have existing Word documents that have a lot of custom styles, you can copy all of those styles from your templates over to Doc-To-Help’s custom templates using Word’s Organizer. This is also very useful if you are creating new templates to use with Doc-To-Help and want to copy over styles from existing templates. See Copying Custom Styles to a New Template.

Note If you have existing Word documents that use custom styles, you can copy all of those styles from your templates over to Doc-To-Help’s custom templates using Word’s Organizer. And you can use the Project Styles dialog in Doc-To-Help to map your existing styles to Doc-To-Help styles. See Copying Custom Styles to a New Template and About Project Styles and Topic Types.

Note If you have old projects from previous versions of Doc-To-Help, you should upgrade those projects to the new version. Upgrading your old project is necessary if you want to use the new version of Doc-To-Help because doing so makes changes to removed target settings. Keep in mind that there is also a change in templates from previous versions, which used the C1H prefix instead of the current D2H prefix, and the DOT or DOTM extension instead of the DOTX extension. See Upgrading Old Projects.