Submit an Access template to Office.com

Today we would like to talk about Access community templates. You probably have noticed them when you create a new database using "File...New" in Access 2010.

Templates are a great way for users to get started more quickly and get to the solution they need a lot faster, and they are a terrific vehicle for Access developers to make themselves known across the world by virtue of their community contributions, and as we have frequently seen, to generate leads and opportunities for new business and consulting engagements. More importantly, templates are a good vehicle to help many users who are not as fortunate as we are to have the technical skills we have as Access professionals.

We receive a lot of emails from developers interested in creating templates. Many of the questions are process related, and we thought that we could answer many of them by describing the flow a developer will need to follow to create and share a community template. Obviously this assumes you already have a solution to share.

Again, we will be using Access 2010. We will use a template called "Submitting an Access Template" that contains only one table and one form. The table is the list of the steps required to submit a template, with pictures and descriptions.

Here we go:

1. The first step involves converting your existing application into a template. Open the application in Access and click File on the top left part of the screen:
   
   
2. From here, select the option Save & Publish and under File Types, select Save Database As (it should be the default option already selected). On the right side, click on Template (*.accdt) and then click Save As.
   
   
3. The next dialog box is called "Create New Template from This Database."
   
   
   
   Here, enter a name, and a description. You are also asked to enter both an icon and a preview images. If you have an instantiation form you can select it there, and also select the option of "Include data in template" ONLY if you would like your template to include the existing data. In this sample application, we will select that checkbox. You should make that decision carefully based on what type of information you have currently in your application. If there is any private information that belongs only to you, then you should remove it and replace it with sample data. (We want you to share your creation to the world, not your private information!)
4. Note that by default your template will be saved to the templates folder of Access. Make sure to take note of that folder before you close this dialog box.
   
   
5. Once you have created the template, you need to browse to http://www.microsoft.com/office. Once there, point to templates and then click All Templates.
   
   
6. Click Submit a template on the right side of the screen, towards the middle.
   
   
7. If you are not signed in already, you will be asked to sign in to Windows Live. Enter your user id and your password.
   
   
8. On the next page you will be asked for some registration information. Enter at least a display name that will be associated with your template.
   
   
9. We are almost there. In the template submission form, browse to the folder where you saved your template (see above), enter a title and a description. Here, Office.com will also provide some suggestions for the category to use for your template. You can also click choose manually (advanced) to provide a better category from those available. Finally, it is not a bad idea to read the "terms of use" to the left of the Submit button. The lawyers are happier that way.
   
   
10. Click Submit. You should see the following:
    
    
    

And just like that, people all over the world will be able to download your template from Office.com and from Access 2010 directly! We need to do perform a small check to make sure your template does not contain material that is offensive or otherwise negative, but most templates are published the same day or the next. Here is our Submitting an Access Template template already published.

 Good luck with your templates!