Getting Started With AuthorIT - instructional media + magic

52 Getting Started With AuthorIT
What are Object Templates?
An object template is just a normal AuthorIT object (like a Topic or Hypertext Link)
that you use to control the properties of other objects ‐ like a rubber stamp. It can not
be used directly in a document.
Choosing an Object Template
AuthorIT comes with ʺtemplatesʺ for each type of object, such as topics or pictures
(note that this is not the same as Word document templates, which AuthorIT only
uses to publish your printed document). These object templates contain the settings
most appropriate for each situation youʹll encounter. This means you can be instantly
productive, even before you learn enough about the various settings to customize the
templates yourself.
The AuthorIT Userʹs Guide will help you choose the right template for the job, and
most of the time you can make an educated guess from the templateʹs name.
Basing Objects on a Template
After you have created an object template, you can base other objects of the same type
on that template, and they will inherit its settings.
When you set a property in an object template it will have any setting available in a
normal object, plus a ʺdonʹt inheritʺ setting. This setting tells the template to allow that
particular property to be changeable in the objects that are based on it. Otherwise, the
property in the object inherits its setting from the template.
Any properties in an object that are inherited from a template are locked and you can
not change them. However, if you change a property in the template, all objects based
on it are updated with the new value. You can tell when the value of a property is
inherited, because that property or its descriptive label will be colored blue.