Creating Page Headers and Footers

Key Concepts

• Header and footer entries are defined as named autotext entries in a Word template.
• You can define headers and footers for first, odd, and even pages.
• Definitions can include Word fields that correspond to Author-it book properties.
• Author-it media objects refer to named autotext entries for headers and footers.
• Author-it objects can refer to a media object to use the page layout, headers, and footers specified in the media object.
• Add headers and footers for each of the media objects that control page layouts for parts of a book (such as Title Page, TOC, Chapter, Section, Glossary, and Index).

To create custom headers and footers, you first create AutoText entries in MS Word, then add those entries to a media object in Author-it. Depending on your requirements, you can create headers or footers for the first page in a topic or for odd or even pages. You need to customize headers and footers for each type of media object that is referred to by an object template used for topics in your document.

To create an AutoText entry in Word 2000:

1. Open your Word template file. (It is best if you do not modify the original AuthorIT_Fancy.dot and AuthorIT.dot template files; save one of those templates under a new name to create a new Word template for your documents.)
2. Make sure that the template is empty (Select All and then Delete). If there is any content in your template, it can cause formatting problems.
3. Choose View>Header and Footer.
4. Enter the text you want for your header or footer.

   You can insert Word field values for book properties as part of the header or footer text. The following list shows the Word field names that correspond to Author-it book properties:

   • Title (Author-it property) = Title (Word field)
   • Super title (Author-it property) = Subject (Word field)
   • Version (Author-it property) = Keywords (Word field)
   • By line (Author-it property) = Author (Word field)

     Note: When adding fields to autotext definitions for headers or footers, deselect the Preserve formatting during updates checkbox.

5. After entering the text, choose Select All to select the text you've entered, then select Copy.
6. Choose Insert>AutoText>AutoText.
7. On the resulting dialog, make sure that your custom Word template name is selected in the Look in: field at the bottom of the dialog.
8. Click on OK to close this dialog, then choose Insert>AutoText>AutoText again (this ensures that the right template is selected).

   Important: It is crucial to make sure that you are creating the autotext entry in your custom Word template. For that reason, we recommend saving the template name setting in the Autotext dialog and closing the dialog before accessing the dialog and adding the autotext entry. If you don't perform this extra step, you may find that your autotext entry has also been added to your system's Normal.dot file.

9. Enter the name for the header or footer in the Enter AutoText entries here: field. Make a note of the name.
10. Click on Add.
11. Delete the header or footer text, save your Word template, and close the template.

After you have created the header or footer in Word, add it to your Author-it media object (located in the Standards\Media folder):

1. Open the Author-it media object for which you want to add the header or footer. (It is better to create a new media object rather than modifying the default Author-it media object.)
2. Go to the Print tab and select the Headers or Footers subtab.
3. Choose whether you want different footers for the first page and for odd and even pages.
4. Click Modify Headers or Modify Footers.
5. Click on Import from Word Template, navigate to your template file, and click on Open.

   The name of the header or footer AutoText entry should appear in the Autotext name field. If not, type the name exactly as it appears in your autotext entry definition.

6. Make sure that "Header" or "Footer" is selected (depending on the type of entry you are creating), then click on OK. Verify that the entry was defined correctly (especially if it was a footer).
7. Back on the Headers or Footers subtab, select the header or footer entry for the First, Odd, or Even field, then click on OK.

When you publish your document, the header or footer text you created will appear on pages that use an object template that refers to the media object you created.