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ETD Technical Support
Introduction to the MS Word Formatting Template (Version 8.0)

This tutorial is a concise introduction to using Version 8.4 of CIRCA's MS Word ETD Formatting Templates.

Template documentation
Downloading the Template
Listing of files in the Template
What is the Master Document?
Working with the Template
Applying Styles
Transporting the Template
Expanding the Template in preparation for printing
Updating the Table of Contents, List of Tables & List of Figures
Final Printing

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Documentation on how the Template works

There are multiple ways of getting information on how to use the formatting templates. Each one is in a different medium with a unique level of detail:

  1. This tutorial
  2. The template's readMe.doc file for MS Word 2003
  3. A CIRCA ETD hosted workshop

Please make sure you read at least one of these documents thoroughly, or attend an ETD Workshop. There are several things you should be aware of before you include your text in the template, and understanding how the template works will make your thesis/dissertation formatting experience much less stressful.

If at any time you run into difficulties in using the formatting templates, feel free to view one of our online tutorials or contact us via e-mail at etd@grove.ufl.edu. If necessary, we can make an appointment to consult with you regarding any technical challenges you may be having.

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Downloading the Template

The older template is made of numerous files bundled together as a self-extracting archive. Each file within the archive represents a major portion of your thesis/dissertation. We will discuss each of these files in more detail later in this tutorial.

To obtain a copy of the template, visit our download page, and click on the appropriate executable file.

You can copy this file to your Desktop and unlike the multiple file template no expansion is needed. If you have downloaded the multi-file version you will need to expand it once you're ready. All you have to do is double click on the icon for the .EXE file and you'll see the following message:

Your screen and directory structure will differ, however it will expand the folder into the same directory as the .EXE file. You will now have a folder entitled Template85.

WARNING: If you ever need to generate a fresh copy of the template, simply click on the .EXE file again, but make sure you give the original folder a DIFFERENT name. Failing to do so may result in the archive overwriting documents you've already modified. If the archive detects a duplicate folder/file name it will prompt you with YES or NO to overwrite the old files. Be VERY careful that you choose the correct option. In most cases, the option to overwrite should be NO.

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Listing of Files in the Template85 Folder

Below is a table containing a list of all the files found in the Template Folder and a description of their purpose.

File name The file contains
Title Title page
Copy Copyright page
Dedicate Dedication page
Acknowledgment Acknowledgment page
Contents Table of Contents page
Tables List of Tables page
Figures List of Figures page
Objects List of Objects page
Abstract Abstract page (academic)
Abstract-General The sample document for the General Audience Abstract
Chapter1 Chapter 1
Chapter2 Chapter 2
Chapter3 Chapter 3
Chapter4 Chapter 4
Chapter5 Chapter 5
Chapter6 Chapter 6
Chapter7 Chapter 7
Chapter8 Chapter 8 (additional chapter)
Chapter9 Chapter 9 (additional chapter)
Appendix-a Appendix A
Appendix-b Appendix B
Appendix-c Appendix C (Landscape page template)
Appendix-d Appendix D (additional appendix)
Appendix-e Appendix E (additional appendix)
Appendix-f Appendix F (additional appendix)
Master The master document (used for final printing)
Master-backup A backup of the master.doc file (in case you see "Error hyperlink reference invalid" in the original master.doc file)
Master-backup2 A backup of the master.doc file (in case you see "Error hyperlink reference invalid" in the original master.doc file)
Master-with-list-of-objects A version of the master.doc file that includes the List of Objects
ReadMe The read me file containing instructions and helpful hints
Ref Reference pages
Bio Biographical sketch
famguy17.wav sample multimedia file (externally linked to WRD-TEMPLATEv80.pdf )
readme.pdf PDF version of the readme.pdf file
WRD-TEMPLATEv80.pdf
This file serves as a formatting example of what the document would look like as submission-ready PDF.

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What is the Master Document?

The master document is a file that sequentially organizes and prints the subdocuments contained in the Template85 folder. It doesn't contain written content, but it does store margin and page numbering information, as well as links to all the necessary subdocuments.

We used the master-subdocument relationship in MS Word for the following reasons:

  1. Theses and dissertations tend to be very large documents (often over 100 pages), and after a while, a single document would become difficult to manage.

  2. The page numbering and table of contents can be pre-programmed to flow sequentially from one subdocument to the next when printing.

  3. If anything happens to the master.doc file, it can be easily replaced without losing any of the thesis/dissertation contents.

  4. You can work with individual chapters/appendices, without having to open the entire document.

  5. With all the chapters and appendices as subdocuments, it's easier to transport (should you need to only edit one of them).

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Working with the Template

Once you have the .EXE file expanded and the Template85 folder is available to you, you can begin working with the template. It is best to type directly into the template from the beginning (replacing our text with yours). If you have previously written content in another MS Word document, you may cut and paste your text into the template.

In working with the template, we recommend that you follow this advice:

  • Edit the subdocuments individually, by clicking on File - Open - filename.doc.

  • Only open the master.doc file when you're ready to print, or Add/Delete Subdocuments.

  • When inserting your own text, turn on the Show/Hide option by clicking on the icon labeled below. This will show you where the Section Breaks that control page numbering/margins are located. There is a Section Break (Next Page) at the end of each subdocument. The blank page at the end of each subdocument is normal. They will disappear when the master.doc is open and expanded.

  • Note: Deleting a section break will dramatically affect your page numbering.

  • If you decide to cut and paste from another MS Word document, make sure you apply our styles to ALL of the text you include. This ensures that your formatting is in compliance with the Editorial Office rules. You chapter headings and subheadings will also appear in the table of contents.

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Applying Styles

The formatting styles used by MS Word are what control text alignment, text spacing and paragraph indentions.

We have created 16 styles for the template. We worked closely with the Editorial Office of the Graduate School in programming the formatting so that it is in compliance with the Editorial Office's Thesis/Dissertation Formatting Requirements.

It is therefore highly recommended that you apply our styles to ALL the text you include in the subdocuments. Doing this will ensure that your text has the proper formatting, and your chapter and subheading text will appear in the Table of Contents upon demand, with the appropriate page number association.

To apply a style, highlight the entire paragraph that you want to modify (by double clicking in the left margin near the paragraph), and from the formatting tool bar you can choose the appropriate style. A graphic of what this looks like appears below:

Below is a listing of the styles contained in Version 8.5 of the formatting temlate.

Styles Apply to What you must do after the style is applied
01 CHAPTER TITLE Chapter and section titles Capitalize all letters
02 First-Level Subheading (BOLD) First-level subheadings Capitalize first letters of all principal words
03 Second-Level Subheading (BOLD) Second-level subheadings Capitalize first letters of all principal words
04 Third-Level Subheading (BOLD) Third-level subheadings Capitalize the first letter of first word and all proper nouns
05 Body Text Paragraphs Nothing
06 Body Text - No Indent Paragraphs where indenting is not permitted Nothing
07 Block Text-Block Quote Quotes Nothing
08 Bulleted List - Short Used for bulleted lists where none of the lines wrap Insert a single blank line after the last list entry
09 Bulleted List - Long Used for bulleted lists where one or more of the lines wrap Nothing
10 Caption Figure Figure captions Nothing
11 Caption Table Table captions Nothing
12 Caption Object Object captions (used for multimedia and support file links, provides link to the List of Objects) Create a hyperlink to the object itself using Adobe Acrobat
13 Reference Listing 1 - no numbers Can be used for reference lists that are not numbered Nothing
14 Reference Author Can be used by Anthropology students for reference lists (Author's name) Nothing
14a Reference Listing Can be used by Anthropology students for reference lists (Year and Title of Work) Nothing

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Transporting the Template, and making Backup Copies

When you've completed your days work with the template, it always advisable to make a backup copy of your folder. When you do this, there are several things you should keep in mind:

  • Make sure Microsoft Word is completely closed before making a copy of your Template folder. If MS Word is open when you make copies, the master.doc file will remember the last place it was opened and it will continue to look in that location for its subdocuments. This will result in the "Error reference not valid" error.

  • Have 3 backup locations.

    • 1 on your computer's hard drive

    • 1 on a CD-ROM, USB Flash/Jump Drive or other electronic storage device

    • 1 on a departmental server

This way, if anything should happen to your primary computer's hard drive, you will still have something you can work with.

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Expanding the Master Document in preparation for printing

To print your thesis/dissertation in its entirety, you will need to open the master.doc file and expand its subdocuments.

To expand the subdocuments, press CTRL \ or switch to View - Outline and you will then see a screen similar to the image below. Click on the Expand Subdocuments icon in the Outlining toolbar.

You can then switch to View - Print Layout to see the document as it will appear printed.

A shortcut key to expand the master.doc file (no matter which view you're in) is CTRL \

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Updating the Table of Contents (TOC), List of Tables (LOT) & List of Figures (LOF)

Once the master.doc file is expanded in Print Layout, you can update your table of contents. You can only update the TOC, LOT and LOF when the master.doc file is open and expanded. If you attempt to update them from the subdocuments themselves, they cannot see the chapter titles and subheadings of the other subdocuments.

For detailed instructions on this process, please review the following tutorials:

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Final Printing

Lastly, is the task of printing your document. If all your subdocuments and so forth are in order, just open and expand the master.doc file following the instructions above. The switch to View - Print Layout and your document is ready to print.

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If you still have challenges with your document, please feel free to contact us at etd@grove.ufl.edu, visit the ETD Consulting Lab in The Hub, Room 224 or call 392-HELP (4357) and choose option 5.