Microsoft is serious about responding to customer feedback. That's why we're delighted to introduce our new, revised, free templates for Access 2003. We've heard you say that our Access 2003 templates had room for improvement, so we've modernized them to provide a better and more streamlined overall experience.

What influenced the new design?

The new template design was influenced by work being performed by the Access product team on the next version of Access. One of the big goals for the next release is to improve the out-of-the-box experience by including a number of immediately useful sample databases. As part of pursuing that goal, members of the product team worked with Office designers to zero in on those user interface improvements that would be most beneficial to customers. We were able to borrow some time from the Access lead designer to incorporate some of his thinking in a revised template design for Access 2003. We think you'll like the result.

New Issues template

In addition, we've added a new template in response to customer demand. The Issues template is a new database that lets you easily track issues such as those you might encounter at an IT help desk or in a support organization. You can report issues by status, category, or assigned-to or see only the open or closed issues. You can easily send an e-mail message to the person to whom you've assigned an issue, or use the built-in Smart Tag support to schedule a meeting.

We've received hundreds of enthusiastic comments from customers who have already downloaded and employed the Issues template.

Where to download the new and revised templates

Downloading a new or revised Access 2003 template is easy. You can download the templates by using the hyperlinks listed here.

Step-by-step: How to download the new, revised Access templates  

1. Click a link in the following list.

   The Office Online page for that template opens in your browser.

2. Click the Download Now button.

   The template is downloaded and automatically opens in Access 2003. The template is also automatically saved in your My Documents folder.

   • Issues database

     Track issues in multiple ways and print reports and charts.

   • Expense report database

     Keep track of expense reports for all your employees.

   • Accounts ledger database

     Monitor all of your financial accounts in one place by using this offsetting debit and credit ledger.

   • Classroom management database

     Spend more time preparing and less time tracking using this handy database.

   • Asset tracking database

     Make sure you know where your assets are, how much they're worth, and when they need service.

   • Time and billing database

     Track your time and stay on top of your projects.

   • Service call management database

     Create invoices and work orders and keep track of payments.

   • Orders management database

     Manage orders and ship on time.

   • Personal address book database

     Track names, addresses, and birthdays.

   • Event management database

     Track attendees to multiple events, including invoicing and payment details.

   • Contact management database

     Like the personal address book, but for business.

   • Inventory management database

     Monitor inventory and know when to reorder and how much.

For more information about all of our time saving templates, see Microsoft Office Online Templates.

What's new?

In addition to using an appealing combination of fonts, pastel colors, and shades chosen by Office design experts, the new templates make liberal use of tabbed windows, as well as a standard task pane area where you can find common tasks and setup procedures. For example, the revised Inventory Management template, shown here, demonstrates the new look:

 Tabbed windows

 Task pane

The decision to take a new approach stems, in part, from your feedback. You said that the templates needed an improved presentation. You also said the user interface needed to be easier to use, without a lot of branching. As a result, we've come up with a design that puts everything you need to get going on the first screen you see.

How we get your feedback

At Microsoft, customer connection is our passion. We request your feedback often on Office Online. For example, when you click on one of the template links listed above, you see a page that includes a Feedback section that looks like this:

When you use the five star rating system, that information is recorded anonymously and ultimately helps us determine how to improve the products and content we deliver. With Access 2003 and an Internet connection, you can rate the articles, templates and content that you use. You can also send us comments that explain why you chose the rating you did or that inform us of missing features or capabilities you'd like to see.

New feature: submit feedback direct from the template

When you download a template, your ability to provide feedback depends on your having the chance to become familiar with the template you downloaded. Put another way, until you have a chance to try it out, it's hard to provide a good rating or useful comments. In the past, you had to download the template, try it out, and then return to the template page on Office Online to submit a rating or comment.

To make this easier, we've made submitting feedback a built-in feature of these new, revised Access templates. You'll find a Provide Feedback button available in each template's task pane:

You can send us feedback at any time after downloading the template by following these quick and easy steps.

To provide feedback directly from a new Access template  

1. In the template, click the Provide Feedback button.

   The Provide Feedback dialog box appears.

2. Click on a star to rate the template, or choose a rating from the combo box.

   The higher the stars, the better the rating. The highest rating is 5 stars.

3. Click the Post Feedback button.

   Your rating is posted, and a page for entering comments appears in your browser.

4. Enter comments or suggestions. Your comments and suggestions are very helpful to us. The more specific you can be in your comments, the better we can address your feedback.
5. Click the Submit button.

Send us your thoughts!

Your feedback is important and makes a big difference. If you haven't had a chance to rate a template or article or submit a comment, why not give it a try?