File New/My Templates Configuration

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Hi. I have a question about the way Word (2007) displays the available folders/tabs in the dialog box presented after I select the My Templates option when creating a new document.

Rather than try to explain it myself, I’m attaching a partial screen-cap. Note the obvious: what I assume should be an alpha-numerically sorted list of folders/tabs displays in some other unhelpful way. The tabs correspond to folders located on a file-share that I have defined as being the location of my “Workgroup Templates.”

Is there a setting or a preference or something that controls the way these are listed? I should mention that they didn’t always appear in this “order,” but in fact started doing it after I refreshed the 5 sub-folders with new copies (which I extracted froma ZIP file so as not to change the date-stamp on each one.)

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Hi. I have a question about the way Word (2007) displays the available folders/tabs in the dialog box presented after I select the My Templates option when creating a new document.

Rather than try to explain it myself, I’m attaching a partial screen-cap. Note the obvious: what I assume should be an alpha-numerically sorted list of folders/tabs displays in some other unhelpful way. The tabs correspond to folders located on a file-share that I have defined as being the location of my “Workgroup Templates.”

Is there a setting or a preference or something that controls the way these are listed? I should mention that they didn’t always appear in this “order,” but in fact started doing it after I refreshed the 5 sub-folders with new copies (which I extracted froma ZIP file so as not to change the date-stamp on each one.)

You could try clicking the icon for Details view (the last one on the right in your screen capture) and see what order things are listed in. For instance, the could be listed in date order if you click the top of the Modified column, or name order if you click the top of the Template column, or even size order. Click the template column to make sure they are listed in ascending name order (repeated clicks will toggle betweeen ascending and descending) then go back to the left hand icon for Large Icons and see whether it has made a difference. The tabs appear in alpha order on my installation, and I wonder whether something like that could affect it.

In addition, you could find the templates folder using Windows Explorer and check how the folders are listed there.

Ian

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I tried that, but no luck. In fact, I should mention that other users are seeing the same phenomenon.

Very wierd!

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I tried that, but no luck. In fact, I should mention that other users are seeing the same phenomenon.

Very wierd!

Peering at your screen capture, I’m not sure, but is it possible that there is a space between Module and 1 on the rightmost tab, but no space before the numbers on the others? That would affect the alpha order.

Ian

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That was a good thing to check on, but it’s produced an even weirder sort. Specifically, I renamed them ALL to include a space before the number, and they STILL didn’t sort right. Changing them BACK so that there were no spaces in the filename, I now have THIS!

I give up…

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That was a good thing to check on, but it’s produced an even weirder sort. Specifically, I renamed them ALL to include a space before the number, and they STILL didn’t sort right. Changing them BACK so that there were no spaces in the filename, I now have THIS!

I give up…

And what order do they now sort in if you look at the actual templates folder?

Ian

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Are you sure you inserted a space in the headings for the other four modules? To me, it looks as if the only one that has a space between the text and the number is Module 1. (Could be just my eyesight, though…)

Jan

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No, sorry; let me be clearer. The latest screen cap shows how it looks at present.

After the first screen cap, I renamed them ALL (without spaces), which had no effect. Then I INSERTED a space in each one, which had the odd effect of pushing “Module 5” to the beginning of the list, with the rest alphanumerically sorted. Then I removed the space from each of the file names. The current appearance is what is shown in the latest screen cap.

I actually discovered that OTHER people see the same thing, i.e. it’s not sorting according to any pattern that I can discern.

The list of folders is currently displayed in Windows Explorer sorted by Type (which, in Windows, sorts first by extension and then alphanumerically within type.) However, it didn’t matter at all how I was viewing them; the way they are sorted (e.g. date, reverse date, name) has no effect whatsoever on how they are listed in the dialog box.

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The list of folders is currently displayed in Windows Explorer sorted by Type (which, in Windows, sorts first by extension and then alphanumerically within type.) However, it didn’t matter at all how I was viewing them; the way they are sorted (e.g. date, reverse date, name) has no effect whatsoever on how they are listed in the dialog box.

Yes but I wondered if you list the subfolders in name order in Windows Explorer whether they sort in the Alpha order you expect.

Ian

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Ah, I see… sorry. Yes, they do.

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Ah, I see… sorry. Yes, they do.

Then I am out of ideas!

Ian

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Could it possibly be related to the date or name order of the templates within each of those folders? If each folder holds exactly the same templates does the tab order become correct?

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