Mary

I don't disagree that wizards and templates are useful, but there is an
expectation that a wizard and/or template for absolutely any occasion or
event should be supplied in as many different layouts such that all who sit
on the Church committee will agree on at least one of them.. at some point,
the 'editor' is going to have to make some changes, and this requires time
spent negotiating the learning curve..

I look at all of the templates supplied with Publisher 2003, and think that
one of them must be kinda close with a little tinkering thrown in.. if users
of Publisher can't see that, then they are not the person for the job, and
should advise the committee accordingly..

More than a few coming here need more than a nudge, especially those who
essentially want somebody here to create the whole document and forward it
to them, or they will say a whole bunch of spiteful things to the effect
that MS are lying on the subject of Publisher being easy to use..

If somebody was to ask you "Is there a template I can use to produce a
booklet titled 'On Safari in Ohio', I would be interested to see just how
many nudges it would take to get a finished product..

Joking aside, I need to produce a booklet titled 'On Safari in Ontario'.. I
am a very busy person and have only one hour and fifteen minutes left to
produce something meaningful and with a professional look.. please 'nudge'
me (softly).. :-)


--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Mary Sauer" wrote in message
...
The templates and wizards are an enormous help for the unimaginative. The
church secretary that has to put together a bulletin, order of service,
prayer lists, newsletters and so on, Publisher is the right application. A
lot of organizations I have had anything to do with have Publisher, but
the folks who do the actual creation work are not hired for their design
skills, the job description only asks for experience in using the product.
Folks come to this forum for help and a nudge in the right direction, to
denigrate the poster serves no purpose.

--
Mary Sauer MSFT MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/
http://msauer.mvps.org/
news://msnews.microsoft.com

"Mike Hall (MS-MVP)" wrote in message
...
Ron

Wizards for labels, envelopes etc are a good thing.. if I want a
calendar, I go out and buy one.. but printed envelopes. labels etc are
not available from my local stationery store..

I do agree that earlier Publishers were a mass of wizards, and it was
difficult to 'freehand' a job.. this is why I used PagePlus up to version
6.. while wizards were available latterly, they could be turned off..
having said that, a wizard was useful for starting a document sometimes..
one could then tinker around with the results..

These days, people expect to start Publisher and find a wizard that will
instantly produce a Church social newsletter that includes details a
chess tournament against Boris Spassky to be held next Saturday.. 'easy
to use' flashes on the packaging get translated into 'requires no
effort'..

Publisher will eventually be seen as the decent DTP that it truly is, but
only after the generations that remembered Pub 95/97 are long gone..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"drc023" wrote in message
...
You've just hit on my main hot button about Publisher. Even back in the
olden days when I was one of the MVP's (along with Mike B. and Brian K.)
I was fussing at MS over the emphasis they put on leading new users to
think the only way to create a document was to use a template or
wizard - a.k.a. Paint-by-Numbers DTP. IMNSHO, the only wizard of any
value is for making calendars and even the ones in the newer versions
are inferior to what was in Pub97.
Warning - Rant On:
Example of what is so ridiculous about some of the questions posed
here - "How can I print only one label on a sheet?" Good grief - How
much trouble is it to make a small text frame for the data and position
it where desired on an 8.5 x 11 page? Answer - None at all if you don't
use a wizard or template. Same goes for envelopes, business cards, any
other kinds of fold over cards and anything else needing to be created.
Wizards and the obsession over not having templates to do even the most
elementary of tasks is one of the main reasons Publisher suffers from an
incorrect perception of being an amateur, entry level program. If people
would take a few minutes and actually put a little effort into creating
something on their own, they would be surprised how easy it is to do.
Rant Off:
--
Ron

"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote in message
.. .
That's an excellent question. If Help doesn't help, then I Google. I
post after I've expended all of the tricks up my sleeve.

Why is creating something from scratch only considered after finding
out that the available templates are seen all over the place? I am
getting ready to create a national seminar handbook. I have the
handbooks for the last six year. One of them was DEFINITELY created
with Publisher. She used the Blends theme. There are some positive
features to this handbook but the first thing I saw was the distinctive
look.

For the record, I'm going to use Publisher (of course!) but I am NOT
using a template. I'm starting with blank pages. :-)

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"Chuck Davis" newsgroup at anthemwebs dot com wrote in message
...
I usually try to find an answer using help. When I do, I reply: "Help
returned the following: paste here" Never a response, but you know they
got the message. Why is "help" such an ignored 4-letter word?
"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote in message
...
1. With a template.
2. With a template.
3. With a template.
4. With a template and flowers.
5. With a template and a flashlight.


--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]