Workbook Templates

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Workbook Templates

In Word II, you learned how to create a template to allow you to create new documents based on the template's design. The same can be done in Excel. In fact, there are probably preformatted templates in the Excel you are currently using. To view them,

Go to the File menu and select New. Note, clicking on the New button on the toolbar will not give you the option to select a template.
On the General tab, you will see "Workbook." This is the plain template that you open every time you create a new blank workbook. Go to the Spreadsheet Solutions tab. On my version, there are two templates, "Invoice" and "Village Software." If you can see templates on your version, select one of them, then click OK to open a new document based on that template.
You may get a Macro warning. Macros are mini-programs in Excel that are used in more advanced spreadsheets. However, macro viruses are malicious mini-programs that were designed to harm your computer. If you trust the macro in the template is a safe one, click Enable Macros. If you would rather not activate the mini-programs, then click Disable Macros to open the document without the macros.
As you can see, a workbook template can be very useful. As a teacher, you could design a section of a report card or a class marks sheet that you can open for fresh entry of data.

For your assignment, you are asked to create a template. To do this,

Open a new blank workbook and enter some sample content. You could also open your Excel I assignment to serve as a demonstration.
Next, go to the File menu and select Save As
From the Save As Type drop-down menu select Template as shown below

You will notice that your window will skip to a Template folder. This is so the template will be viewable in the "File/New" window. In this folder, your template will appear under the General tab mentioned above. You could also open the Spreadsheet Solutions folder and store the new template in there, so it will appear under the Spreadsheet Solutions tab mentioned above.

Give your new template the name "XXXtemplate" with XXX being your initials. When viewing this file in your file management system, it will have the extension ".XLT" instead of ".XLS," which normal workbooks use. This is similar to Word templates being .dot as opposed to documents, which are .doc.
You will submit this template as part of your assignment. Be sure you know where to find the Template folder. It may be in Program Files/Microsoft Office/Templates.

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