UNHCE Information Technology & Distance Education Blog: Word Archives
October 25, 2006
With computer screens getting larger, video resolutions getting higher, and eyeballs getting older, the zoom feature is a great tool to learn to use. Unfortunately, Word doesn't provide a quick way to access the zoom feature strictly using the keyboard. You can remedy that shortcoming with the macros discussed in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1410
You can link objects from other Microsoft Office documents into your Word document. You can manage the status of those links by using the Links dialog box, discussed in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0766
When you install Word, it asks you to personalize your copy of the program with your name and contact information. This info can change over time, so it is helpful to know where you can change it within the program. Here's how to do it.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0686
Sometimes it could be helpful to have Word substitute two characters for the one that you type, for instance to replace a slash with a slash followed by a no-width optional space. (This could possibly help in the proper breaking of information between lines in Word.) This can be accomplished with AutoCorrect, but you may want to carefully think through the change before doing it, as discussed in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1793
October 11, 2006
Context menus appear when you right-click on different items in Word. These menus can be edited to add items, such as common fonts you routinely use. You can then apply a font to selected text by right-clicking and using your newly modified Context menu.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1329
There are any number of reasons that the freezing could be occurring, and this tip describes a few things to check out to clear things up.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1791
September 27, 2006
Some of the secondary menus used in Word can be made into floating toolbars, if you know the trick. It's not that hard; just click on the bar at the top of the menu and drag it to a new location, as described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0839
If you have two tables separated by a couple of blank lines, you can easily join the tables by simply removing those blank lines. When you do, you are still faced with the task of making the column widths of the two tables the same. How you perform the task depends on the version of Word you are using.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0825
For some types of documents, you may need to include more than one table of contents. For instance, you might have a document that includes multiple chapters, and each chapter needs its own TOC. This tip explains how easy it is to create multiple tables of contents in your own documents.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0772
September 5, 2006
The Find and Replace feature in Word allows you to easily search for lots of different items or characteristics in your document. One of the things you cannot natively do, however, is to search for borders on paragraphs. This tip introduces two macros that make short work of finding any bordered paragraphs in your documents.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1378
Word can either print your document in the foreground or in the background. If you want to stop a print job that is in progress, the way you do it depends on which way you are printing the document. This tip explains the differences.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0865
Word allows you to print return addresses on your envelopes. You may run across a scenario where the return address is being stubborn, and you need to track down how to fully get rid of it. This tip examines all the places where your return address could be cropping up and leads you through getting rid of it once and for all.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0726
Turn on Track Changes, and Word will automatically notate where you make edits in your document. Normally these change marks print when you commit your document to hard copy. If you don't want the marks to print, then you'll appreciate the information in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1782
The text within comments can be formatted using the same techniques used to format regular document text. In addition, you can modify the style on which comments are based in order to completely control how comments look. This tip explains how to get the formatting you want.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1784
When using Track Changes, Word normally notes the originator of a particular comment or change. This information can then be displayed so that other readers can know who did what. If you want comments and changes to be anonymous, then there are a couple of things you can do, as described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1783
When using pattern matching (wild cards) in searching, Word allows you to specify how many of a particular character should occur in order for a match to be made. This tip describes the parameter, surrounded by curly braces, and gives examples of how it can be effectively used.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1333
One of the units of measure understood by Word is the pica, which is equivalent to 1/6 of an inch. This tip explains how to enter picas into dialog boxes where measurements are required.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0696
August 15, 2006
When you are using Word, it normally saves temporary AutoRecover files that reflect the latest state of your document. If you want these AutoRecover files to be stored in a certain place, you can configure Word to make that specification.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0814
Once you've divided your document into columns, you may need to change the width of each column. Word allows you to change each column's width independent of the others. This tip explains how to perform this task.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0606
When you start to create a document, you need to "lay it out" so that it is inviting and helpful to readers. This tip discusses some of the things you'll want to consider as you determine how wide your text columns should be.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0605
It is often necessary to add hyphens (dashes) between the words in a phrase. If you need to perform this editing task often, you might appreciate the macro in this tip. Assign it to a shortcut key, and you can hyphenate phrases very quickly.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1779
July 26, 2006
Word has two typing modes: insert mode and overtype mode. You can tell when overtype mode is active because every character you type replaces an existing character. This tip explains this editing mode and how to control it.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0576
The AutoCorrect feature in Word is used quite extensively by some people. If you use it a lot, you may want to print out a list of AutoCorrect entries for reference purposes. This tip explains how you can use a macro to print the desired information.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1776
Many people create tables and store those tables in AutoText entries for later use. If the formatting of those tables doesn't appear quite right when you later insert them into a document, it could be related to table styles, as described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1775
July 10, 2006
Not only does Word allow you to maintain a custom dictionary of correctly spelled words, but it allows you to keep an "exclusion list" that identifies words that should not be spell-checked. Updating the exclusion list is not that easy of a task, unless you create your own command (like the one in this tip) that does the updating for you.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0817
Your printer may be able to print on many different sizes of paper, but if you don't format your document correctly it will never know which of those paper sizes to use. This tip explains just how easy it is to format your document for a particular paper size.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0786
Word uses two types of quotes in a document--regular quotes and smart quotes. There are a couple of ways you can switch between the two types of quotes, but you may be surprised if switching to smart quotes produces less than perfect results. This tip explains why the incorrect results may occur and what you can do to fix them.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1770
July 5, 2006
Word maintains quite a bit of information about your document, and makes that information available as "summary information." You can access that information and insert it in your document using fields, as described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0151
Abbreviations are very, very common in most documents. What are you to do if your spell-checker doesn't recognize your abbreviations, even the common ones? This tip examines some of the causes of this problem and what you can do to make the spell-checker recognize what it should.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1768
Adding footnotes to a document is easy as 1-2-3. Just use the menus to insert the reference mark, and then type the content of the footnote. Deleting a footnote is even easier, as outlined in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0685
Word supports all types of breaks in a document. Once they are in place, it can be confusing figuring out how to get rid of them. As described in tis tip, breaks are nothing but a special character that you can edit just like other characters.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0646
June 26, 2006
The grammar-checker in Word is configurable, which means that you can set it up to check (or not check) various elements of your document's structure. Of course, Word also makes it rather "non-intuitive" to figure out where to make these configuration changes. This tip explains how to find the grammar-checker settings and then make the
changes you desire.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0656
One of the lesser-used tools in Word is the Object Browser. This is a real shame, as the Object Browser is the hands-down fastest way to find different objects and elements of your document. This tip explains not only what the Object Browser is, but also how to use this cool tool.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0752
If you are a WordPerfect user, you may be very familiar with the block-protect feature, and wonder if there is a similar tool in Word. There isn't, but as this tip explains, there are ways you can work around what may appear to be a shortcoming in Word.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1767
June 12, 2006
The Go To dialog box allows you to quickly and easily jump from place
to place in your document. This tip explains how you can go from one
page number to another.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0027
Adding page numbers to a header or footer is a snap, and Word allows
you to control exactly how those page numbers appear. This tip
explains how you can choose different numbering systems (letters,
numbers, etc.) to accomplish the page numbering.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0091
If you have a document with lots of existing highlighting, you might
want to change it all to a different color. Word makes this easy by
using a rather arcane portion of the Find and Replace dialog box.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1764
If you display your document in full-screen mode, there are a couple
of ways you can get back to normal mode. One method relies on a
special toolbar, but what are you to do if that toolbar doesn't
display as you expect? This tip provides a couple of things you can do
to get operations back to normal.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1763
June 8, 2006
After a few weeks, months, or years of editing Word's menus, you may forget what the original menus looked like. Don't despair; there is a quick and easy way to return individual menus to their default state.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0677
By default, Word uses what you type to replace anything you had selected when you started typing. If you don't like that approach to editing, you can change Word's behavior by making just one little change in the Options dialog box.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0789
Editing AutoText entries, and particularly deleting them, can be cumbersome if you have a lot of changes to make. There are a couple of easier ways you can get rid of lots of unwanted AutoText entries, as described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1761
If you merge information into a Word document from Excel, you know that it can sometimes be challenging to get the information imported in just the way you expect. Case in point: leading zeroes in ZIP Codes. What do you do if the zeroes don't appear in the merged data?
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1760
Word allows you to easily adjust the amount of white space before and after a paragraph. Rather than continually displaying the Paragraph dialog box, you may want to use the macros in this tip to make short work of adding the desired space.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1341
When you first create a new document, Word keeps track of the date on which the event occurs. You can then, at any time, insert that special date into a document. This tip shows exactly how easy it is to do so.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0585
May 23, 2006
When you select some text and then press the Del key, the text should immediately be removed from your document. If you see a message on the status bar asking if you are sure you want to make the deletion, this
is an artifact of the WordPerfect support built into Word. This tip explains how to get rid of this prompt so you can get on with deleting.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0593
When editing a document, it is important to understand that there is a difference between deleting, clearing, and cutting text. This tip explains the differences, and in the process explains how you can accomplish each task in Word.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0005
Footnotes are normally formatted using the same number of columns as what you use in the body of your document. If you want them in a differing number of columns, there are only a few things you can try out.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1758
Got a problem where you can't view any of the graphics you insert in your document? The solution could be simple, or you could be seeing a symptom of a more complex problem. This tip explains some of the things you can check out.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1759
Do you need to rotate a text box by ninety degrees? Unfortunately you cannot do this in Word, but you can change the apparent orientation of a text box by modifying its size. This tip explains the easiest way to make the change.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0588
April 24, 2006
Toolbar buttons can have a different appearance depending on their
state--whether they have been clicked or not. This tip explains how
you can create the two necessary versions of a toolbar button for your
customizations.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0748
Got tab stops in a paragraph? Change them quickly and easily be
dragging them around on the ruler. This tip explains how.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0103
April 19, 2006
You can add a comment in Word using the Insert\comment option. This will open up a window on the bottom of the screen in which you can write a comment. Comments are listed by user and date and time they were added. Documents can be viewed or printed with or without comments.
April 18, 2006
If your work involves a lot of typing, each keystroke you save helps you work more efficiently. Here's a tip that can help you virtually eliminate the need to perform the simple act of pressing the [Shift] key to capitalize the first letter of a sentence, depending on the kind of text you type.
Here's how it works:
1. Go to Tools AutoCorrect and click the AutoCorrect tab.
2. Click the check boxes for the options Capitalize First Letter Of Sentences and Capitalize Names Of Days.
With these options activated, you don't have to press [Shift] to capitalize the first letter of a sentence. After you type a period or a question mark to finish one sentence and type the first word of the next sentence, Word will automatically capitalize the first letter of that word. In addition, with the Capitalize First Letter Of Sentences option enabled, you can type the singular or plural form of any day of the week (e.g., Friday or Fridays) and Word will automatically initial cap each instance.
While you're in the AutoCorrect menu, go ahead and create your own AutoCorrect entries for the months of the year. For example, in the Replace field, type january, then type January in the With field. Click Add to include this change in the list. Click OK to save and close. How does Word know when the period you've typed is used in an abbreviation and not at the end of a sentence? Also under AutoCorrect, click the Exceptions button to display a list of common abbreviations that require periods. Word won't automatically change the capitalization of a word that follows any abbreviation in this list. You'll want to make sure that common abbreviations like Dr., Mr., Ms., and Mrs. aren't included in the Exceptions list so that Word will initial cap the names that follow them.
Here are some shortcuts to dialog boxes and functionality you can invoke by double-clicking your mouse:
1. Open the Page Setup dialog box, which provides access to margin, paper size and orientation (portrait and landscape), and layout (section start, header/footer control) options by double-clicking on the ruler bar. (If the ruler isn't shown, use the View/Ruler command.) Note: If you do not have a printer installed, the Page Setup dialog box may not appear. (Alternative: Use the File/Page Setup command.)
2. Double-click "TRK" in the status bar at the bottom of the work area to turn Track Changes on. This feature triggers Word to use a different color when displaying your changes, so the document's author can easily spot your work. (Alternative: use the Tools/Track Changes command.)
3. Double-click in the location information in the status bar (any spot within the area that shows the page number, section number, vertical position, line number, and column number of the blinking insertion bar) to open the Go To menu. By default, the dialog box is ready with "Go to Page" (you enter the page number). The tabbed dialog box also provides access to Find as well as Find and Replace commands. (Alternative: Press F5, Ctrl+G, or use the Edit/Go To command.)
4. Double-click in any empty area surrounding the top toolbar to open the Customize dialog box to tailor the toolbar to your liking. (Alternative: Right-click in the same area and choose Customize.)
5. Double-click on the speller icon in the status bar to begin the spelling checker. (Alternative: Tools/Spelling and Grammar menu command, or press F7.)
6. Double-click on the splitter bar (just above the up- pointing arrow in the vertical scrollbar) to open two equal- sized panes for the same document. This allows you to edit two different areas of the same document. (Tip: Double- click on the border between the two panes to return to a single-pane view.) (Alternative: Window/Split menu command.) 7. Select a word by double-clicking it. (Triple-click to select the current paragraph.)
April 13, 2006
Word 2002's Find dialog box allows you to find particular words and select those words for easy editing.
Read on to see the steps for that process.
Finding multiple instances of a word at once
You can use the Find command to count and highlight the occurrences of a particular word in MS Word.
1. Open the "Find" dialog box, by pressing [Ctrl]F or going to Edit | Find.
2. Type the word or words you want to locate in the "Find What" text box.
3. Select the "Highlight All Items Found In:" check box.
4. Press [Enter] or click the Find All button
5. Word will display the number of instances of that word occurring in your document. It will also select them so that they're easy to spot and edit.
April 12, 2006
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1748
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's Word Tips
April 7, 2006
Do you frequently insert the current date and/or time into your documents? If so, Word offers a number of timesaving shortcuts for this.
To insert a date field, press [Alt][Shift]D. Doing so enters a date field, the appearance of which is determined by the current default date/ time format. Should you decide to update that field to reflect a future date, select the field and press [F9], or right-click on the field and choose Update Field from the context menu. To change the default date/time format, go to Insert | Date And Time, select a format, and then click the Default button. When you do, Word will ask you to confirm that you want to set a new default format. Click OK, and then click OK to close the Date And Time dialog box. Now, when you press [Alt][Shift]D, Word will display the date field using the new format. To enter a field that displays the time as well as the date, press [Alt][Shift]T.
In addition to changing the default date/time format, you can enter the system date or time by going to Insert | Date And Time and choosing a format. This approach inserts, by default, a literal date or time string instead of a date field. To enter a date field using the Date And Time dialog box, activate the Update Automatically option before you click OK.
April 3, 2006
Here are some shortcuts to dialog boxes and functionality you can invoke by double-clicking your mouse:
1. Open the Page Setup dialog box, which provides access to margin, paper size and orientation (portrait and landscape), and layout (section start, header/footer control) options by double-clicking on the ruler bar. (If the ruler isn't shown, use the View/Ruler command.) Note: If you do not have a printer installed, the Page Setup dialog box may not appear. (Alternative: Use the File/Page Setup command.)
2. Double-click "TRK" in the status bar at the bottom of the work area to turn Track Changes on. This feature triggers Word to use a different color when displaying your changes, so the document's author can easily spot your work. (Alternative: use the Tools/Track Changes command.)
3. Double-click in the location information in the status bar (any spot within the area that shows the page number, section number, vertical position, line number, and column number of the blinking insertion bar) to open the Go To menu. By default, the dialog box is ready with "Go to Page" (you enter the page number). The tabbed dialog box also provides access to Find as well as Find and Replace commands. (Alternative: Press F5, Ctrl+G, or use the Edit/Go To command.)
4. Double-click in any empty area surrounding the top toolbar to open the Customize dialog box to tailor the toolbar to your liking. (Alternative: Right-click in the same area and choose Customize.)
5. Double-click on the speller icon in the status bar to begin the spelling checker. (Alternative: Tools/Spelling and Grammar menu command, or press F7.)
6. Double-click on the splitter bar (just above the up- pointing arrow in the vertical scrollbar) to open two equal- sized panes for the same document. This allows you to edit two different areas of the same document. (Tip: Double- click on the border between the two panes to return to a single-pane view.) (Alternative: Window/Split menu command.) 7. Select a word by double-clicking it. (Triple-click to select the current paragraph.)
For information on how to create PDF Files from Word with Acrobat 5.0, see:
http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/325969.html
UNHCE has published a 12-page document with links and directions for several of the most popular features in Microsoft Word XP. TO access this document, go to:
http://extension.unh.edu/Intranet/ITDE/WordTips.pdf
UNHCE has developed some tutorials for commonly used tasks. These two enable you to repeat table headers in WP documents.
Repeating table headers across multiple pages
To repeat table headers across multiple pages in Word, see: Repeating Table Headers (Microsoft Word XP)
To repeat table headers across multiple pages in Word, see: Repeating Table Headers (WordPerfect 10)
March 30, 2006
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0788
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Sometimes an automatic number isn't the only thing you need at the
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0644
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
March 29, 2006
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
March 20, 2006
As you type a document, Word automatically converts your quote marks
and apostrophes to "curly" versions that look more professional. When
working with a document from a different source that doesn't include
these smart quotes, you may want to convert them all so they look the
same. This is easy to do simply by using Word's Find and Replace
function. This tip explains how.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0586 Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
February 22, 2006
Some printers allow you to print on paper from different sources. For
instance, a printer may have multiple paper trays, each bearing a
different type of paper. If your printer driver is up to date, you can
instruct Word to print to exactly the paper source you want used.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0180
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
February 20, 2006
A point is a typographical measurement. Points are used for many types
of measurements in Word, PageMaker and related applications. This tip explains how you can enter them directly into dialog boxes in Word.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0075
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
February 13, 2006
You can increase the flexibility of tables by creatively merging cells
to get just the look and layout that you need. This tip describes a
couple of different ways you can perform the merging tasks. It covers
using menus and the more flexible toolbar approach.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0768
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Paragraph marks (created by pressing Enter) and line breaks (created
by pressing Shift+Enter) are two of the most common special characters
in a document. Word allows you to easily search for these characters,
using the method described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0007
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Cover pages, which often need to be formatted different than the main
body of a document, can easily be created in Word. The trick is to add
a section break between the cover page and the body. You can then
format each section independently of the other. This tip explains this
concept and how to add the necessary section break.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0182
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Graphics placed in a document can be "cropped" so that parts of the
graphic are hidden from display. This tip explains how to crop
graphics and also discusses why making such croppings doesn't result
in a smaller document.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0158
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
MVP ( http://word.mvps.org/ ) offers free articles and tutorials on a variety of Word topics.
The tutorial section is available at: http://word.mvps.org/Tutorials/index.htm
January 19, 2006
Word allows you to sort not only information in tables, but also
regular selections of text. This tip explains the easiest way to do
this using the Sort Text dialog box.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0724
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
(a.k.a.: Turning on Picture Placeholders)
Documents with lots of graphics can slow down the editing of a
document, or they can be distracting. One way to deal with lots of
graphics is to turn on picture placeholders. This feature, described
in this tip, shows positioning information for a graphic, but does not
display the graphic itself.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0160
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Gridlines allow you to see the boundaries of a table, even if you have
table borders turned off. Word allows you to specify whether you want
the gridlines turned on or off, by default. This tip explains how that
works, in addition to how gridlines relate to borders.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1729
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
January 4, 2006
Allen Wyatt's Word Tips is a web page which offers information in a searchable format to answer common questions as well as "gotcha's" people encounter when using Word.
To access this site, go to: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com
January 3, 2006
Copy a paragraph from one document to another, and the results may be
different than what you expect. The reason for this may not be clear,
but is understandable if you know how Word treats styles. This tip
explains the underlying principles that affect such
document-to-document paragraph copies.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0097
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
You can easily convert regular text into a table using a couple of
different methods. This tip explains how to make the conversion as
problem-free as possible.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0756
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
You are not limited to only using Arabic numerals in your numbered
lists. Word allows you to select from a wide range of numbering
schemes. You only need to use the Customize Numbered List dialog box
to make the changes, as outlined in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0704
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Word makes it easy to align information within a table cell, both
horizontally and vertically. The results of formatting vertically can
be affected by the formatting used in a paragraph, as described in
this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1166
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
December 22, 2005
Word 2002 crashes at times, depending on how you open
files. This seems to be a problem that Microsoft knows about, and
there is a fix. If the problem is not caused by what Microsoft thinks
it is, then guidance is provided on how to start tracking down the
problem.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1724
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
November 17, 2005
Word provides four different types of breaks that you can place within
your text. These breaks allow you to start new pages or new sections
in your document, as you require. This tip explains the differences
between each of the breaks supported by Word, along with how to insert
them in the document.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0096
Sometimes it is handy to know what style has been applied to
paragraphs. This is where the style area comes in really handy.
Turning on the style area is easy, provided you are viewing your
document in the proper way. This tip explains how to use the style
area.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0189
You can use the Equation Editor to add complex equations to your
document. If the characters in the equation don't print out correctly
(but they display correctly), then there are only a few possible
causes. This tip explains a couple of things you can look for and
provides a resource you can use to track down additional information.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1713
October 11, 2005
Need to print out all the documents you have open? Word doesn't
provide a way to do this, but the macro in this tip will make short
work of the task.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0166
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
If you want to conserve paper and print documents very fast, then you
may want to use draft printing mode. You can invoke this printing
format by making one small change to the Options dialog box, as
described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0613
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
October 4, 2005
Word allows you to format your text so it is justified, with each line
of a paragraph extending from the left margin all the way to the
right. At times this can cause your text to appear "choppy," with too
much space between some characters on the line. This tip explains how
you can minimize or reduce that choppiness completely.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1703
September 13, 2005
The AutoComplete feature shows you suggestions based on the first few
characters you type in a word. The suggestion may be full dates, or it
could be AutoText entries, or any number of other helpful suggestions.
Word doesn't allow you to turn off just some of the many AutoComplete
suggestions you may see, but this tip discusses how you can still
access AutoText if you do decide to turn off AutoCorrect.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1699
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
The AutoCorrect feature of Word normally doesn't pay attention to
character case when kicking into action--if an entry is triggered by
"tww," it will also be triggered by "Tww" or "TWW." In most instances
this is not a problem, unless the uppercase version is really an
acronym that you don't want corrected to something else. This tip
discusses the workarounds you can use to get around this limitation.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1698
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
August 10, 2005
To change the font and font size in Corel WordPerfect 10
* Select File on the top menu bar
* Select document from the file dropdown menu
* Select Default font in the dialog box.
* Choose a font from the Face list.
* Choose a font size from the Size list box.
If you want to change the default font and font size for all new documents, click Settings, and click Set as default for all documents.
To change all text in an individual document, press CTRL + A to select all, prior to changing the font.
To change selected text, select the text prior to changing the font attirbutes.
Note: You must install a printer before you can change the default font.
August 9, 2005
To change the default font in Word:
Select the Format drop-down menu on the top of your Word application window
Select Font on the Format menu
Select the desired:
* Font
* Style and
* Size
Note that as you change your selections, the preview window within the dialog box allows you to see how the currently-selected font will appear.
Once you are happy with the selection, click on the Default Button on the lower left of the dialog box.
You will be prompted to confirm you want to change the default font for the active template. Click on Yes to complete the selection process.
Any new document you open will use the font settings you selected. It is not necessary to reboot.
Note: The default font applies to new documents based on the active template. Different templates might use different default font settings.
July 19, 2005
In a recent tip, we showed you how to split your Word document
window by selecting Window | Split from the menu bar or by
double-clicking on the rectangle above Word's vertical scrollbar.
An astute Word Tips subscriber, Wendy Geddes, pointed out that
there is a way to split the document window without leaving the
comfort of your keyboard! Here's the new method. Press
[Alt][Ctrl]S ([command][option]S in v. X) to create a movable
horizontal line. Use the up and down arrow keys to move the line,
and press [Enter] when you've got it in the right place (not
available in v. X). The screen splits, and you can continue
editing your document. To remove the split, press [Alt][Shift]C
([command][option]S in v. X). Thanks, Wendy!
Courtesy of: Element K tips
You can use outline numbering in a table, the same as you would
outside of a table. The only difference is the keystrokes you use to
change different outline levels. This tip discusses these differences.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1678
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
July 12, 2005
Granite State College (formerly College for Lifelong Learning) has announced the following computer classes for Fall 2005:
Word I & II - Littleton Campus
Excel I & II - Portsmouth & Littleton
Intro to PowerPoint - Portsmouth & Littleton
Access I & II - Portsmouth & Littleton
Access Level III - Portsmouth
The cost of these classes is $120. Discounts are available for UNH staff. See: http://ceinfo.unh.edu/Intranet/ITDE/trg/unh_disc.htm for discount information.
For further information on these classes, or to see other listings offered through Granite State College, go to: http://www.cll.edu/
June 15, 2005
Are you tired of pressing Tab at the beginning of a line, only to have
your whole paragraph indented? Change Word's behavior so that the Tab
key works like you expect it to.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1147
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
If you need to print a number of Word documents that reside in
the same folder, you can send them all to the printer in record
time. In fact, you don't even need to open the documents. Simply
press and hold the [Ctrl] key (press and hold [command][control]
in v. X) while selecting each file. (If your files are
consecutive, you can press and hold [Shift] while selecting the
first and last file.) Once you've selected all the files you want
to print, right-click one of the files and select Print from the
shortcut menu.
Courtesy of: Element K tips
Word allows you to add borders around paragraphs. For most people, the
distance between the border and the text in the paragraph is too
little. Here's how to control that distance very precisely.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1669
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Word has had the ability to place tables within tables since the
release of Word 2000. This tip describes how you can best place tables
into a table cell and the best way to format the tables.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1667
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
One of the grammar tools provided in Word is a method to add
hyphenation to words appearing at the end of a line. This tip explains
how to perform both automatic and manual hyphenations of an entire
document.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0616
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Do you need some information to appear left-aligned and right-aligned
on the same line? This tip describes how you can use tabs to
accomplish this formatting task.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0623
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Word includes the ability to display toolbar icons in two sizes:
regular and large. You can turn on the large icons by using the
Customize dialog box, as described in this tip.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0254
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Macros can be used to format portions of your document. In order to
format the right indent of a paragraph, you use the RightIndent
property. This tip explains how to use this property to get just the
indent you need.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1144
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Do you need to save individualized copies of documents for a series of
individuals? This tip describes how to do just that, without using
mail merge. Individual names are pulled from a text file and placed in
the header of each document just before the document is saved.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T0464
Courtesy of: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
June 9, 2005
The State of New Hampshire offers training courses for a nominal fee to UNH and state employees.
Offerings this summer include:
Microsoft Access - 2 levels
Microsoft Excel - 2 levels
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word - 2 levels
In addition, they offer short courses in topics such as PC Fundamentals, and Special topics using Office.
To see this summer's listings, go to: http://www.nh.gov/hr/docs/training_courses_spring_2005.pdf Page 7 of this guide lists the summer class calendar.
CLL will be offering computer workshops on the following applications during July and August.
Microsoft Access - 3 levels
Microsoft Excel - 3 levels
Microsoft Word
All of the above offerings are located at their Portsmouth Center
In addition, they offer a credit course in Software Tools. That is offered both as a traditional class located in Rochester, and as an Interactive (on line) course.
For further information, please consult their summer listings at: http://www.cll.edu/news/assets/locationlist_summer05.pdf
June 6, 2005
CIS (Computing & Information Services) has announced their training list for June & July. There are several FREE sessions in addition to their vendor-based training. Some August offerings have also been posted.
Sign up early for CIS classes. Not only are the most popular classes oversubscribed early; CIS has begun to cancel classes which are under-enrolled two weeks prior to the class date.
As of this posting, CIS has announced they will be offering training in the following topics this summer:
* Adobe Acrobat
* Blackboard - 13 FREE courses in 5 different topics
* Dreamweaver (3 levels)
* Excel - 2 levels
* Photoshop - 2 levels & special topics
* PowerPoint - 2 levels
In addition, CIS offers a FREE training series, entitled Computing @ UNH. Offerings include:
Using Photoshop to Enhance Digital Images - July 27th
Computing @ UNH: Using Dreamweaver MX 2004 to Create Webpages - August 24th
Scanning Demonstration (offered three times)
* June 23rd
* July 28th
* August 25th
To see current offerings and their descriptions, or sign up for a session, use their website at: http://training.unh.edu They keep adding to their offerings, so check back for updated information.
May 3, 2005
Source: Allen Wyatt's WordTips
Text is linearly spaced according to the specifications set up by the
makers of the font you are using. Word allows you to override the
spacing so that letters appear closer together.
Read the full tip: http://wordtips.VitalNews.com/T1137
March 14, 2005
When you need to illustrate a point that words alone can't convey, pictures and tables can be a perfect complement to your document. However, pictures and tables can't always speak on their own; sometimes you'll need to discuss and refer to them within your document's text as well. When you use graphic objects to support your document text, it's a good idea to number them so they're easier to refer to as you write. You can easily number your document's graphic objects using Word's Captions feature. To apply a caption to a graphic object, first select the object to which you'd like to add the caption. Next, choose Insert | Reference | Caption from the menu bar to open the Caption dialog box. Choose an appropriate label option from the Label dropdown list. (Note: As an alternative, you can click New Label to create a new label option. You can also modify your caption's numbering scheme by clicking Numbering and modifying the settings in the Caption Numbering dialog box.) Click OK when you're ready to apply the caption.
As an alternative, you can automatically add numbered captions to each graphic object you insert in your document. To do so, choose Insert | Reference | Caption from the menu bar to open the Caption dialog box. Click the AutoCaption button and, in the AutoCaption dialog box, select the check boxes for the object types to which you'd like to add captions. Using the settings in the Options panel, specify the label, position, and numbering you'd like to use, as applicable, and then click OK to close the AutoCaption dialog box. The next time you insert an object that you've configured to use captions, Word automatically adds one according to your specifications. This feature remains as you set it until you make changes.
Purdue has a web site with Free tips for various applications we use. Topics include:
The Office Suite (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word), along with Acrobat, clip art, Browsers (Both Explorer and Netscape), and information on palm pilots.
To access this site, go to: http://sharepoint.agriculture.purdue.edu/agit/instructional_tools.aspx
March 10, 2005
Due to funding issues, the Land Grant Training Alliance website will no longer be available after May 1, 2005.
This site contains links to a variety of University and Extension-sponsored training opportunities. In addition, it contains tutorials on a variety of topics. Some of these tutorials might be helpful in assisting you to make technology work better for you. Although many tutorials are not in the most-current version of the software, most of the information is applicable.
Of particular interest are:
March 9, 2005
Source: WordTips by DCI
If you want to insert a curved line in your Word document, you can do
so by following these steps:
1. Make sure the Drawing toolbar is displayed.
2. Click on AutoShapes. Word displays a menu of different shape
categories.
3. Click on the Lines option. Word displays a palette of different
types of lines you can insert.
4. Click on the Curve option. (It is the one at the bottom left
corner of the palette.)
5. Click at the point in your document where you want the curve to
begin.
6. Click at each point where you want the line to curve.
7. When you reach the place where you want the curve to end,
double-click.
To get exactly the curve you want may take a bit of practice on your
part. Once a curve is placed in your document, it is treated the same
as any other graphic image.
Source: WordTips by DCI
If you place an object--such as a text box--at the left side of a
page, and then wrap text around that object, you can create some
interesting layouts. You can also be faced with a great deal of
frustration because normal text wraps very nicely around the object,
but some text doesn't behave like you would expect.
For instance, if you have paragraphs formatted with hanging indents,
those paragraphs won't display properly to the right of the object.
The reason for this is quite simple, really. When you place the object
in the document, Word doesn't change the margins for the page. Thus,
if you have an object that is one inch wide, and the hanging indent is
only one-half inch, then the half-inch point actually is in the middle
of the object. Word, seeing that the hang distance is to the left of
where the text wraps, ignores it completely; it does not treat the
text as if the left margin were to the right of the object.
So how do you get the text to actually indent properly when wrapping
at the right of an object? There is no easy or completely satisfactory
way to do it. One approach is to adjust the margins for the page so
that they go to the right of the text box. When you push the margins
over, Word handles hanging indents properly for the page. Of course,
changing the margins isn't terribly helpful for the parts of your
document below the text box, where you would want the margins to again
revert farther to the left.
Another approach is to place another text box on the page, this one to
the right of the object around which you were wrapping. You can then
place your text in the text box, and the hanging indents work fine.
The drawback here, of course, is that if your text runs longer than
what will fit in the text box, you need to somehow transition back to
"regular" text that isn't in the text box--not the easiest of
transitions to make.
Another solution, if you use styles, is to create special styles that
you use the hanging indent paragraphs that are beside wrapped objects.
For instance, if the wrapped object is a "placeholder" for a
letterhead, it is two inches wide, and it runs down the full left side
of the first page, then you could create hanging indent styles that
add two inches to the left indent of the paragraph. Apply the style to
the paragraphs, and the hanging will appear to be proper in relation
to the object being wrapped.
Source: WordTips by DCI
Fields are a great boon for developing interactive documents. One
common use of fields is to create cross-references to other parts of a
document. When inserting a cross-reference field, you may have some
type of special identifying text that you need to always follow the
field. To keep the field and the identifying text together, you
separate the two by a non-breaking space.
Non-breaking spaces are used to control how Word automatically wraps
text at the end of a line. The non-breaking space ensures that the
text before the space and the text after the space are always on the
same line. In the case of fields, however, this doesn't seem to work.
Instead, Word blithely wraps text right at the non-breaking space.
This is frustrating, but it appears to be the way that Word is
designed. For some reason, the field before the non-breaking space is
not viewed as "text," so Word ignores the non-breaking space. The only
way around this is to create your document as you normally would (with
the cross-references), and then look through the document to find any
instances where the cross-reference is on one line and the identifying
text on the next. You can then insert a line break character just
before the field so that it is forced to the next line.
The drawback to this, obviously, is that if you edit your document or
if the cross-references change, you'll need to go through and remove
the line breaks to make sure that the text wrapping still makes sense.
Source: WordTips by DCI
Special fields have a great number of uses in Word. You already know
that you can use fields to insert everything from the date and time to
summary information for a document. There may be times, however, when
you don't want to use a field for information.
As an example, let's say that you have a template that includes a
field for today's date in it. When you create a document based on the
template, today's date appears in the document. You make changes to
the document, and then save it to disk. When you later open the
document, instead of the original date, it contains the date of when
you opened the file.
To get around this, you need to change the field contents to plain
text before you save the file. In this instance, you would follow
these steps:
1. Create your new document based on the template. Today's date
should appear, as normal.
2. Select the date in the document.
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+F9. This converts the field to actual text.
Thus, the date is switched from a field to real text for the
date.
4. Make any other changes necessary in the document.
5. Save the document as normal.
That's it. The next time you open the document, the date remains
unchanged. You can also use this technique with any other field to
convert it to text.
Source: WordTips by DCI
There are certain paragraphs that naturally belong with another
paragraph. For instance, section headings belong with the paragraphs
that follow them; a signature line belongs with the explanation line
that may be after it; a figure belongs with the caption that may
follow it. Word makes it easy to keep certain paragraph pairings
together. To format paragraphs so they stay together, use the
following steps:
1. Position the insertion point in the first paragraph of the pair
you want to keep together.
2. Select the Paragraph option from the Format menu. You will see
the Paragraph dialog box.
3. Click on the Line and Page Breaks tab.
4. Make sure the Keep with Next check box is selected.
5. Click on OK.
Source: WordTips by DCI
For some types of documents you may not want your paragraphs to
smoothly flow from one page to the next. Instead, you may want to make
sure that any given paragraph appears all on one page or another. I
require this type of formatting quite often in letters, legal
documents, and proposals.
Word includes a formatting feature that allows you to ensure that
paragraphs stay together without a page break in the middle of them.
You apply this format characteristic by following these steps:
1. Select the paragraph or paragraphs you want affected by the
formatting change. (If you want the change to a single paragraph
only, you can simply make sure the insertion point is within
that paragraph.)
2. Choose Paragraph from the Format menu. Word displays the
Paragraph dialog box.
3. Make sure the Line and Page Breaks tab is selected.
4. Make sure the Keep Lines Together check box is selected.
5. Click on OK.
When you turn on page numbering in Word, by default it inserts page numbers on all pages of a document.
If you prefer to have your default set to starting page numbers after page one, go here for instructions on how to make that change:
http://wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T1641_Turning_Off_Default_First_Page_Numbering.html
You can include text boxes shaped like text bubbles in your Word
documents. To do so, click the Drawing button on the Standard
toolbar to display the Drawing toolbar (if it isn't displayed
already) at the bottom of the application window. On the Drawing
toolbar, click the AutoShapes button, and then choose Callouts
from the resulting pop-up menu. The Callouts submenu contains a
collection of callouts, including text bubbles. Choose one you
like, and then click in the document area to insert it (or click
and drag to size it yourself). When you do, Word places the
insertion point inside your text bubble. You can type and format
its text just as you would in a regular text box.
If you create a text bubble and decide later that you'd like to
change it to a different AutoShape, select the AutoShape and
click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar. Choose Change
AutoShape from the resulting submenu, then simply choose a new
AutoShape from one of the resulting submenus.
From Element K Journals Newsletter
In MS Word, you can split the document window without leaving the
comfort of your keyboard! Here's the new method. Press
[Alt][Ctrl]S ([command][option]S in v. X) to create a movable
horizontal line. Use the up and down arrow keys to move the line,
and press [Enter] when you've got it in the right place (not
available in v. X). The screen splits, and you can continue
editing your document. To remove the split, press [Alt][Shift]C
([command][option]S in v. X).
Adapted from Element K Journals Newsletter
March 7, 2005
In addition to training listings for the next 2 months, and links to sources of that training, this update contains information on:
- The NewlyRevised Training Resources Guide
- A FREEBY for March
- Free Videoconferencing in-service – Advanced techniques
Read on!
March 2005 ITDE Training News
Updated Training Resources Guide!
The UNHCE Computer Training Resources Guide has been revised. There are new sections, including information on discounts and more sources of free or reduced-price training for UNHCE employees.
To view this newly-updated guide, please go to: http://ceinfo.unh.edu/Intranet/ITDE/trg/indextrg.htm
March Freebie
Element K offers free weekly tips in a variety of subjects, including: Corel WordPerfect, Windows, Photoshop, PageMaker, and the entire Office suite (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.)
For a complete listing of their offerings, or to subscribe to one of these weekly newsletters, go to:
http://www.elementkjournals.com/tips.asp
A NEW training offering on Videoconferencing is available to UNHCE staff
Dave Foote will be offering an in-service entitled Videoconferencing 201: Enhancing Your Videoconference with Tools and Teaching Techniques. It is open to UNHCE staff.
This training will be offered on March 17, with an April 20 repeat of the session.
To sign up for one of these sessions, please access our in-service signup calendar.
The following training opportunities are available in the next two months.
I. UNH CIS
Sign up early for CIS classes. Not only are the most popular classes oversubscribed early; CIS has begun to cancel classes which are under enrolled two weeks prior to the class date.
Vendor-based Training - CIS has arranged with outside vendors to offer classes on a variety of topics for a nominal fee. The cost is typically $99 for a full day or two half-day sessions, or $198 for 2 days or 4 half-day sessions. That is less than half the cost of the training offered to the public.
Classes in the following topics will be offered in the next two months.
- The class in Access on March 17 th has been canceled. They will be offering Access training – level one in June.
- Adobe Acrobat
- Dreamweaver - Level one, with Level two to follow in May
- Excel – Two levels
- PhotoShop – Levels One and Two.
Note: In May they will be adding a class entitled PhotoShop CS: Photoprinting & Color.
All Microsoft Office applications are taught using Office 2003. Dreamweaver is version MX 2004.
For further information, an outline of each course, or to register, please consult their web site at: http://www.cistrainingcenter.unh.edu/
II. UNH Division of ContinuingEducation (DCE) is offering in-service training opportunities in the following topics in the next two months.
- Adobe PageMaker
- Adobe PhotoShop
- Dreamweaver
- PowerPoint
Note that all UNH status employees are eligible for a tuition waiver on credit classes, and to a reduction (50% discount) on non-credit classes offered through the university system, which includes DCE. See the Human Resources website at: http://www.usnhhr.unh.edu/benefits/tuition-waiver.html for more information.
For further information on DCE classes, consult their web site at: http://www.learn.unh.edu/pcw/index.php
III. TheState of New Hampshire offers classes “at cost” to all UNH employees. This is at considerable savings from what one would pay with an outside vendor.
The state is offering classes in the following topics during the next 2 months.
- Access* - various levels & special topics
- Adobe Acrobat
- Dreamweaver – Two levels
- Excel* - various levels & special topics
- PageMaker - Two levels
- PowerPoint*
- Intro to Windows
- Word
* Note: In addition to general training in these areas, special topics are also offered using these applications.
Please consult their website for further information on the above listings.
To consult their website, go to: http://www.nh.gov/hr/docs/ Then scroll down to the section on training and select the term for which you’d like information. (Note – The URL for the specific calendar changes each semester. If you bookmarked their site, you may want to replace it with the new URL listed above. Then follow the directions for scrolling to the appropriate term’s document.)
Note – The state also offers a multitude of courses in other areas such as Effective management, strategic planning, supervisory techniques (certificate program), communication and writing skills, conflict resolution, grant writing, learning styles, and Myers-Briggs, to name a few.
IV. College for Lifelong Learning will be offering the following classes during the next two months.
Seacoast Region – In-services in the following topics are being offered in the Seacoast region in the next two months.
- Access (multiple levels)
- Excel (multiple levels)
In addition, they offer formal credit courses in computer topics which begin in January.
North Country Region
No current listings.
They offer formal credit courses in computer topics, such as Software tools. This semester began in January, but check out their listings for future semesters.
Merrimack Valley Region
No current listings.
They offer formal credit courses in computer topics, such as Software tools. This semester began in January, but check out their listings for future semesters.
The Connecticut Valley Region offersformal credit courses which began in January. Topics include Software Tools and Introduction to Computers. Check out their listings for future semesters.
For further information and to register, consult their website at: http://www.cll. edu / .
CBT and Training Resources Guide
Training Resource Listings
- Training Resources Guide. The UNHCE Training Resources Guide just underwent a major revision. Several new listings are already available. New sections include online tutorials and discounts available to UNH employees.
This guide contains information on training resources available in applications utilized by employees of UNHCE, including M