By Bill Coan, Microsoft MVP Site. Bill Coan is a solutions provider specializing in templates, macros, add-ins, and XML solutions for Microsoft Word. He is the developer of the DataPrompter add-in for Word. He has been a Microsoft Word MVP since 1999. You can find him on the Web at Wordsite.com.

Summary  Power users produce better documents in less time. With the help of a custom template or add-in, anyone can become a Word power user almost instantly.

The most powerful feature of Word is its programmability, and taking advantage of this feature isn't as hard as you might think. In fact, all you have to do is install an add-in or a custom template designed for the kind of work you do.

To see whether any Word add-ins are installed, on the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins.

To see whether any Word add-ins are installed, on the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins. Many add-ins and custom templates can be downloaded from the Internet at no cost. Others must be purchased. Installation techniques vary, but typically all you have to do is place a single *.dot file into a special folder on your hard drive or network. (For more information, look up templates and add-ins under Help.)

If your needs are unique, you might have to hire a consultant to develop an add-in or custom template tailored explicitly to your needs. Before you dismiss this approach out of hand, consider what it would be worth to reduce hours and hours of work to a single click of your mouse. That's exactly the kind of gain in power that can be achieved through add-ins and custom templates.

When you use a well-designed add-in or custom template, you gain access to menu commands and toolbar buttons and special keystrokes that dramatically simplify your work and let you focus on your job. Instead of relying on built-in commands in Word, such as Paragraph (Format menu), Formula (Table menu), or Page Setup, (File menu), you'll be able to use commands that reflect exactly what you need to do, such as Insert Letterhead, Toggle Letterhead On/Off, Eliminate Duplicate Names, or Translate Sentence.

Here's another advantage: Well-designed add-ins and custom templates require little or no training. Why? Because the commands on the menus and toolbars are named for the tasks that you do every day. If your daily work involves creating reports, you could install an add-in that offers a command called Create Report. When you choose the command, a wizard pops up and guides you through all the steps of creating your report. You can't get much more intuitive than that.

And here's the best part: Documents produced in Word with the help of an add-in or a custom template can be shared with all users of Word, including users who don't have access to the same add-in or custom template.

Gain more power. Waste less time on training. And still create Word documents that can be easily shared with other users. That's like losing weight without diet or exercise!

Seeing is believing

One of my professors used to say, "When you've seen one Martian, you know a lot more about Martians in general than someone who has never seen a Martian at all."

The same is true of Word add-ins and custom templates. Once you've seen one or had a chance to work with one, you'll quickly grasp what a dramatic impact they can have on the quality and productivity of your work. And, until then, there's a good chance that you won't fully appreciate what all the excitement is about.

To help you visualize how these powerful tools can transform the way you work, I've described several add-ins and custom templates below.

Note  As you read the descriptions and look at the accompanying screen shots, keep in mind that these are examples from other users. Don't judge these add-ins and custom templates on the basis of your own needs, because they weren't developed for your particular needs. Instead, judge them according to the type of work they were designed to do. Then ask yourself whether your own work could be simplified or fully automated in a similar way.

Example 1:   Here's a screen shot from a custom template for preventive maintenance procedures. As you can see, the template provides a special menu for entering specific maintenance tasks into the procedures. Instead of manually typing tasks, users simply choose tasks from nine predefined categories on the special menu. The menu also provides commands for color-coding the tasks and for changing the order of tasks. Thanks to the special menu, maintenance technicians can focus on getting their procedures completed, instead of focusing on typing and spelling and other Word activities.

Example 2:  This screen shot shows a special dialog box from an add-in that counts how many times various words and phrases are used in a long document. The dialog box also lets the user mark all instances of a word or phrase and view the marked items in context. This add-in was developed for a prominent best-selling author who wanted to detect phrases of varying length that were used too many times or used too frequently within 250, 500, or 1,000 words of each other.

Example 3:  Many corporate legal departments produce thousands of legal and financial documents every month. While working on such documents, they need instant access to all the legal entities involved. The screen shot above comes from an add-in that lets users review and manage their legal entities without leaving Word.

Example 4:  If you work for a multinational organization, you might have to work with documents written in a variety of languages. Translating those documents accurately and consistently across a department or a division can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there's a Word add-in that can help.

Example 5:  If your job requires you to produce reports, you probably spend an awful lot of time in Word, so why not let Word help you with your work? That was the thinking behind the wizard shown above, which allows consultants in 12 countries and regions to produce highly structured reports that conform to a single worldwide standard.

Work smarter, not harder

Want to take a quick test to see if you've grasped the essential point of this article? Okay, here goes.

Which of the following persons qualifies as a power user of Word?

1. A person who has explored the 100+ toolbars hidden under the Word "hood"
2. A person who has recorded some macros for personal use
3. A person who uses a Word add-in or a custom template that improves their efficiency and boosts the quality of their work
4. A person who has implemented complex page-numbering schemes (with or without resorting to the Help menu)
5. All of the above

The answer, as you might have guessed, is e. But if you're truly interested in working smarter instead of harder, the best answer might be c, because Word add-ins and custom templates can boost your quality and productivity by simplifying your work and eliminating training requirements.

For more information

Microsoft offers a number of add-ins and custom templates on the Templates on Microsoft Office Online Web site.

Third-party add-ins and custom templates can be found on the Microsoft Office Marketplace Web site.

Some free add-ins are listed on my own Web site.

You can find a number of free utility templates through MouseTrax.com.