Kessler Associates blog: Flat Word templates

The old days of Word Templates packed full of macros and custom toolbars are dead.

Macros and toolbars needed relatively 'soft' system security settings to be able to operate effectively, but the need to close down vulnerabilities in the age of the internet meant template functionality also being strangled. Now this is the age of the 'flat' template.

So-called 'flat' templates contain absolutely no functionality. Instead the user is prompted to enter the required information which will go towards forming a complete document. The prompts are formed by descriptive typeover fields - such as [Enter body text here] or [Enter main title here] - see below.

Modern 'flat' Word templates contain typeover fields which, when a user creates a document based on that template, are simply selected and replaced with the body text, maintaining the required text styling

The user selects these typeover fields with keyboard or mouse and simply starts typing their own content. The field is instantly deleted, leaving only the new text in its place. Each typeover field is pre-formatted in the style (typeface, font size, line spacing, etc) which is appropriate for that piece of text.

All of the custom styles are contained in Word's style ribbon. No other text styles are available. No user training is required for anything but the most complicated of templates, and even then the supplied sample document should provide enough guidance for users to be able to work out which styling they need for specific areas of text so that they can achieved the required results (and if they can't then Kessler Associates can handle document styling for them - just get in touch).

The tendency with flat templates is to provide a fully working document template for just one of the client's required layout options. Once this has been built, it can be checked and approved by you, or sent back for minor amendments.

Following this stage, the completed template will be used as a base for creating all of the template variations, so that each of the variations covers the other template requirements. The cost of the variations is small because the main template construction work has already been done and only the layout needs to be adjusted to meet the needs of each variation.

This means that you end up with a set of templates which meet all of your requirements and which are dedicated to each of them. The layout is exactly the same in each, aside from the specific requirements of that template, so you remove the current problem of inconsistency between different documents.

'Flat' templates really are the way to go. They are easy to use, light on system requirements, and document creation is simplicity itself. Get in touch today to discus your template needs, and get a set of Word templates which does what you want it to.

Whatever you need, we have the solution.

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