Template-specific menu items not appearing (Word 2003 (11, Build 5604))

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So here’s the thing… I have got some macros that exist only in one specific template (not global); the macros work fine, thanks.

I have also created a main menu item in this template that contains individual items to run each of these macros.

The problem is this: when I create a document based on this template, the aforementioned menu does not appear *initially*. To make it appear, I have to go to “Tools… Customize”, then change the “Save in” template value from the default Normal to my own template. When I click Close – without having made any other changes – the menu item magically appears & works perfectly, as do the macros.

I thought that this must be a glitch that was specific to the way Word handles menus, so I went to Plan B & created toolbar buttons for each of the macros within my template – and the same problem occurred with the buttons. When I created a document based on the template, none of these new toolbar buttons appeared until I did the same “Tools…Customize” trick, at which time they would magically appear and work perfectly.

I even tried recording an AutoNew macro for this template that would do the “Tools… Customize” thing for me – but because it doesn’t actually do anything, the macro itself records nothing. I suppose I could get it to do something pointless, but there’s gotta be a better way, right?

I used to have exactly the same thing set up with Word 2000 and it worked perfectly – when I created a document based upon the template, the custom menu was right where it was supposed to be from the outset.

I hope I’ve managed to explain this problem well enough so that one of you kind and wise people can point me in the right direction. In case it’s of any interest, I’m a single non-networked user, and aside from customising the stuffing out of Normal.dot, the only other thing that may be relevant is that I have specified a non-default location for my user templates – not that this should matter.

Any suggestions would be very greatly appreciated, as this is getting pretty annoying.

Thanks all

Neil

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I’m not trying Word 2003 until it’s fully debugged (well, until the first service release shakes out), so this is news to me. Seems the commandbars of the attached template always should be available automatically; why would MS change this?? My first instinct was a security settings problem, but if you can restore them using Tools>Customize that doesn’t really make sense. Hmmm…

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I’m not trying Word 2003 until it’s fully debugged (well, until the first service release shakes out), so this is news to me. Seems the commandbars of the attached template always should be available automatically; why would MS change this?? My first instinct was a security settings problem, but if you can restore them using Tools>Customize that doesn’t really make sense. Hmmm…

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I have quit a few templates with specific commandbars attached, developed in Word 97. These all work as expected in Word 2003. In one template there are 2 items added to the Insert menu and these only show when a document based on that particular template is loaded. So I don’t have the problem you described.

> To make it appear, I have to go to “Tools… Customize”

It’s not clear to me if you do that in the document or in the template. It should be done in the template which is then saved again.

Regards,
Jan

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Jan hi

Thanks for your reply. I’ve tried changing the “Save To” setting within the template and it makes no difference at all – I have to do it within each document based on the template each time I want to run the macros.

But your comment about having your menu items appear within *existing* menus made me think that maybe my custom items should be within a standard Word main menu, rather than one of my own (not that this makes any sense)… but I tried that too, and it made no difference.

Anyway – I think we are in agreement that this problem doesn’t make any sense. The only other thing I have not tried is uninstalling the various other Word add-ins (Acrobat & WOPR) and see if that fixes it – but this is a bit of time-waster, so I might hold off on that and see if anyone else in the Lounge has any suggestions I can try.

Best regards – and thanks again

Neil

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You can try the various steps outlined in Phil Rabichow’s Systematic Approach to Behavioral Problems in Word (97/2000).

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You can try the various steps outlined in Phil Rabichow’s Systematic Approach to Behavioral Problems in Word (97/2000).

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Neil,
Out of curiosity, is PDFMaker one of your ad-ins? I’ve had a similar problem with Word 2002 templates that are run in Word 2000.
Though I don’t know why it happens I have been able to get my Toolbars to act responsibly.

I use AutoOpen() to force my Toolbars visible
AutoOpen was again called as the last item by the templates AutoNew().

I also found that deleting an application using Word Add-ins rather than uninstalling them properly could also cause Word Toolbars to mis- behave.
Cleaning up the registry also helped. If anyone could shed some light on what causes this I’d be very happy to hear from them.

The gist of it is that if you can’t find the cause then force the toolbars visible right at the end of the documents creation.

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Frank

Thanks for your insight. Yes, PDFMaker is one of the add-ins – & WOPR 2003 is another. But I have never uninstalled them incorrectly, so I doubt that’s the problem.

I have no objection to running a short AutoNew or AutoOpen macro – I know this is a less elegant approach than fixing the problem, but I just want to get it working. So inspired by your suggestion, I moved the menu item & macros to a toolbar – because at least I know how to turn these on with another macro (I have no idea how to do that with a menu item). I then created a simple AutoNew macro to display the new toolbar & – – b i n g o – – problem solved.

This is actually an outstanding solution, because I sometimes supply these templates to clients, and for all I know, they may also be experiencing the same problem from add-ins that they have. This nice, low-tech approach makes it easy to completely side-step the problem.

Thanks heaps for the inspiration Frank – it’s much appreciated (and to all the rest of you who contributed ideas).

Best regards

Neil

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Frank

Thanks for your insight. Yes, PDFMaker is one of the add-ins – & WOPR 2003 is another. But I have never uninstalled them incorrectly, so I doubt that’s the problem.

I have no objection to running a short AutoNew or AutoOpen macro – I know this is a less elegant approach than fixing the problem, but I just want to get it working. So inspired by your suggestion, I moved the menu item & macros to a toolbar – because at least I know how to turn these on with another macro (I have no idea how to do that with a menu item). I then created a simple AutoNew macro to display the new toolbar & – – b i n g o – – problem solved.

This is actually an outstanding solution, because I sometimes supply these templates to clients, and for all I know, they may also be experiencing the same problem from add-ins that they have. This nice, low-tech approach makes it easy to completely side-step the problem.

Thanks heaps for the inspiration Frank – it’s much appreciated (and to all the rest of you who contributed ideas).

Best regards

Neil

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Neil,
Out of curiosity, is PDFMaker one of your ad-ins? I’ve had a similar problem with Word 2002 templates that are run in Word 2000.
Though I don’t know why it happens I have been able to get my Toolbars to act responsibly.

I use AutoOpen() to force my Toolbars visible
AutoOpen was again called as the last item by the templates AutoNew().

I also found that deleting an application using Word Add-ins rather than uninstalling them properly could also cause Word Toolbars to mis- behave.
Cleaning up the registry also helped. If anyone could shed some light on what causes this I’d be very happy to hear from them.

The gist of it is that if you can’t find the cause then force the toolbars visible right at the end of the documents creation.

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Hi Neil:
I’ve noticed the menus & toolbars acting strangely in Word 2000, too. And at least one person indicated a problem in Word 2002 in the thread starting with post 350974. Not that this is any consolation….

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Hey Phil

I’m getting the impression from some of the other responses that I’m not alone. But if you see my response to FrankPazstor’s reply, you’ll see that I found a workaround that is satisfactory, if not elegant (using toolbars instead of menus).

Cheers

Neil

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I have had problems with custom menus in my time as well. I have several start-up templates/add-ins, including PDFMaker, Reference Manager, Doc2Help, and three of my own utility suites. What I found was that some templates “recreate” menus whenever they load, and this can negate or override your own customizations.

What I’ve done is to create a folder within the Startup folder (C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice10Startup) called Disable, and then I moved all of the Startup templates there. Then I start Word and reset all menu options in the Normal.dot. (Personally, I don’t believe in ever changing the Normal template, but rather in making the changes to the add-ins themselves. That also helps maintain your customizations in case someone has to nuke a bad Normal.dot.) Then I re-introduce the templates, starting with the one that’s having the problem and then moving on to the others, one at a time, until the menu problem reappears.

Tedious, but it can greatly help identify other problems. (In my case, it helped me identify a bad corporate-developed template that was messing with changes from other, more reputable add-ins.) Since I couldn’t modify that template, and since it hijacked the menus for its own customizations, I had to resort either to one of two approaches: create a custom toolbar rather than customizing the standard menubar (the easier solution), or an AutoExec that customizes a menu on the fly. (This method is arguably harder, because it involves changing the “IsDirty” property of the template and also, in theory, your custom menu option may appear in a different location on the user’s menu, depending on what add-ins they have loaded.)

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I have had problems with custom menus in my time as well. I have several start-up templates/add-ins, including PDFMaker, Reference Manager, Doc2Help, and three of my own utility suites. What I found was that some templates “recreate” menus whenever they load, and this can negate or override your own customizations.

What I’ve done is to create a folder within the Startup folder (C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice10Startup) called Disable, and then I moved all of the Startup templates there. Then I start Word and reset all menu options in the Normal.dot. (Personally, I don’t believe in ever changing the Normal template, but rather in making the changes to the add-ins themselves. That also helps maintain your customizations in case someone has to nuke a bad Normal.dot.) Then I re-introduce the templates, starting with the one that’s having the problem and then moving on to the others, one at a time, until the menu problem reappears.

Tedious, but it can greatly help identify other problems. (In my case, it helped me identify a bad corporate-developed template that was messing with changes from other, more reputable add-ins.) Since I couldn’t modify that template, and since it hijacked the menus for its own customizations, I had to resort either to one of two approaches: create a custom toolbar rather than customizing the standard menubar (the easier solution), or an AutoExec that customizes a menu on the fly. (This method is arguably harder, because it involves changing the “IsDirty” property of the template and also, in theory, your custom menu option may appear in a different location on the user’s menu, depending on what add-ins they have loaded.)

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Hey Phil

I’m getting the impression from some of the other responses that I’m not alone. But if you see my response to FrankPazstor’s reply, you’ll see that I found a workaround that is satisfactory, if not elegant (using toolbars instead of menus).

Cheers

Neil

Reply | Quote

Hi Neil:
I’ve noticed the menus & toolbars acting strangely in Word 2000, too. And at least one person indicated a problem in Word 2002 in the thread starting with post 350974. Not that this is any consolation….

Reply | Quote

Jan hi

Thanks for your reply. I’ve tried changing the “Save To” setting within the template and it makes no difference at all – I have to do it within each document based on the template each time I want to run the macros.

But your comment about having your menu items appear within *existing* menus made me think that maybe my custom items should be within a standard Word main menu, rather than one of my own (not that this makes any sense)… but I tried that too, and it made no difference.

Anyway – I think we are in agreement that this problem doesn’t make any sense. The only other thing I have not tried is uninstalling the various other Word add-ins (Acrobat & WOPR) and see if that fixes it – but this is a bit of time-waster, so I might hold off on that and see if anyone else in the Lounge has any suggestions I can try.

Best regards – and thanks again

Neil

Reply | Quote

I have quit a few templates with specific commandbars attached, developed in Word 97. These all work as expected in Word 2003. In one template there are 2 items added to the Insert menu and these only show when a document based on that particular template is loaded. So I don’t have the problem you described.

> To make it appear, I have to go to “Tools… Customize”

It’s not clear to me if you do that in the document or in the template. It should be done in the template which is then saved again.

Regards,
Jan

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