| Microsoft Office 2000/Visual Basic Programmer's Guide | |
The Normal template (Normal.dot) is loaded automatically when you start Word. By default, new documents are based on the Normal template. Even if you attach another template to a document, any styles, text, AutoText entries, command bars, recorded macros, or code included in the Normal template are available to any document open in Word. If you look at the Project Explorer in the Visual Basic Editor, you'll see that the Normal template always appears.
Although you can customize the Normal template, it's not necessarily the best way to distribute a solution to users, because replacing their own Normal template may inconvenience them. They'll lose any custom settings or macros they may have created. Moreover, many users and system administrators restrict access to the Normal template, so you may not be able to replace or modify it anyway.
A better way to distribute solutions is to create either a custom document template or an add-in (global template) that can be loaded in addition to the Normal template. Which one should you use? If you want to build a solution that allows users to create new documents based on an existing document, and that can include text and custom styles, use a custom document template. If you want to add toolbars, menu commands, or macros that are available to every document the user opens, create an add-in. Once an add-in is loaded, it is available to every document that the user opens until the add-in is unloaded.