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Helps for Microsoft Word:
(Part Four)
This month we will take a look at the Format item on the Menu Bar. Knowing the use of some of these options will save a lot of frustration when writing documents. These instructions work with Microsoft Word 2000 and probably most of the other recent versions of Word. There may be some slight variations among versions. Remember that when you make a selection and an OK button is on the page. Click the OK button or the changes will not take effect.
Here you can set the font face, size and features, such as underline, bold and Italics (also available on the toolbar at the top of the Word window). But you can do more. Under the Font tab of the box that appears when you select this item, you can also choose among the options of Strikethrough, Double strikethrough, Superscript, Subscript, Shadow, Outline, Emboss, Engrave, Small caps, All caps, and Hidden. Just highlight the text you want to have one or more of the features above, select Font on the Format menu, check the items you wish, click on OK. You can also select a font color and the underline style under the same tab. Some of these features are helpful when editing, to show the differences between documents. If you do not select text, the changes take place beginning at the current insertion point (cursor). To switch back to the default settings you can click on the Default button of the Font box.
Under the Character Spacing tab you can scale, space and position text if you wish. Just use the down arrow at each field. Characters are spaced and positioned in terms of points.
Select the Text Effects tab and you will be able to get animated effects. Options include, a Blinking Background, Marching (red or black) Ants, and others.
This is an important one. Have you been preparing a document and Word wants to move all of the text of a paragraph when you only wanted to indent the first line? Or perhaps you wanted a hanging indent (lines indented under longer lines above) but Word would not let you. End the frustration. Select the Paragraph item on the Format menu. When dots show at the end of a menu item, it means that a box will appear with options. The first tab on this box is Indents and Spacing. Here you can align your text to the left or right margin or center or justify it (Also probably available on your toolbar). You can also set an Outline format with the number of levels in your outline (to automatically format with proper indentions with the numeral or letter automatically appearing at each level). The Special field allows you to select no indention, indention of the first line in the paragraph, or hanging indent. If you want to change the spacing between a line and the text above or below it use the Spacing field with its up and down arrows. The Line spacing field will allow you to set the text, or any selected portion, to single space, 1½ spaces, double space, at least a certain distance apart, exactly a given distance or multiple spacing. The At field will allow you to set the "at least," "exact," and "multiple" amounts. The Tabs button allows you to set the tabs (really?). You can align tabs from right, center or left and make other selections, including "Clear All tabs".
The Line and Page Breaks tab on the Paragraph box provides a number of options. Just check the ones you want. Widow/Orphan is checked by default. If you start a paragraph at the bottom of a page or column with only one line before going to the next page or column, that line will also go with the rest of the paragraph. To prevent this, if you want the line to stay where you put it, just put your cursor anywhere in that paragraph and uncheck the Widow/Orphan checkbox. The other options, such as "Don't hyphenate," are self-explanatory.
This item is especially helpful when doing lists. The Bulleted tab allows you to select from several types of bullets (or select None, so that Word will not place a default bullet if you don't want it). But there's more that meets the eye, at first. Click on the Picture button. You will be presented with a variety of images of various descriptions and colors. Just click on one of them and you will be give the option of inserting or previewing it, adding it to Favorites or elsewhere or finding similar ones. Now click on the Motion Clips tab. These will be in motion when the mouse is hovering or clicks on it. Some of this type may stay in motion (no, not on a sheet of paper). Of course they will need to be on your monitor, a website or video to get the effect. At the top of the Picture Bullet box are options for importing clips from other files or from the web (Clips Online). It takes you to a special clipart page and you can download as many of them as you want -- free.
The Numbered tab gives you the options of a variety of number and letter styles for lists, or to choose none.
The Outline Numbered tab page gives you the choice among several outline styles for a document.
With this item you add a border to any or all sides of each page in your document, to the first page only, to all but the first page or to pages in a section. There are many styles and colors from which to choose.
You can set apart paragraphs or selected text from the rest of the document by adding borders or highlighting it and applying shading.
You are able to add borders to a table or an individual cell and use shading to fill the background of a table. If you wish, you can use the AutoFormat command to quickly give a table a polished look with a variety of borders, fonts and shading.
Borders can be added to drawing objects, including textboxes and autoshapes, or to pictures. You can also enhance your drawing objects by adding a gradient (shaded), patterned, texture or picture fill. But these are for another lesson. They use the Drawing Toolbar instead of the Borders and Shading option on the Format menu.
To add a border to a table, click anywhere in the table, then click Borders and Shading on the Format menu. Select toe Borders tab. Your table will have a black ½-point solid single line border by default. Use the Style, Color and Width options to customize the border. For help, click on the "?" and then click on the option. If you want the border only on certain sides, click Custom under Setting. Under Preview, click the diagram's sides, or use the buttons to add or remove borders. To specify the exact position of the border relative to the text, click Paragraph under Apply to, click Options and select those you want.
Of course you can quickly set equally spaces columns by using the columns icon on the toolbar. The Columns item on the Format menu gives you all kinds of options. There are a number of Presets from which you can choose. Or, you can state the number of columns and how you want them spaced. They don't have to be the same widths. As on many of these boxes, a preview window, illustrates the effects of each choice. You can apply the changes to the whole document or from the insertion point forward. Be sure to click OK for the changes to take effect. Wow! That one was quick.
To change the spacing between default tab stops, select the Tabs item on the Format menu. In the Default tab stops box, enter the amount of spacing you want between tab stops. You can clear all tabs with the Clear button. You can set tabs for a number of special situations here also.
This option will make the first letter of the paragraph you select very large, covering the vertical space of about three lines. You can choose to have the lines, following those covered by the first letter, to come back under the letter, flush with the margin. Or, you can choose to have all the other lines to be flush with the second letter of the first line.
To change the orientation of text in a cell of a table, a drawing object, or callout, first click the table cell, text box, or AutoShape in which you want the text changed. Then select Text Direction on the Format menu. Click the orientation you want.
To make title out of ordinary text, you don't have to re-type. To provide ordinary sentence text out of a document, or any portion of text, that is not set up that way is just as easy. Have you typed with the Caps Lock key depressed and didn't notice it until you had done a whole sentence or more (Caps should be lower case and lower case should be caps)? That is easily and quickly corrected. You can also quickly change any portion of text to all capitals or all lower case. All five of these choices are yours when you choose Change Case on the Format menu. Just select the portion of text you want to change (highlight it), click on Change Text, then choose the option you wish.
The Background feature is for use with web pages and is available in the Web Layout view only. If Background is selected, the display changes to Web Layout. You can check this by going to the View menu. If you are designing a website, you can go to Background on the Format menu and find colors, as well as fill effects including gradients, textures, patterns and the opportunity to insert a picture. I do not use Word for website development. I just use HTML in Notepad or WordPad, giving the path to any graphics I use. This Background option is not for printed material.
Here is part of Microsoft's definition and usage explanation for themes:
"A theme is a set of unified design elements and color schemes for background images, bullets, fonts, horizontal lines, and other document elements. A theme helps you easily create professional and well-designed documents for viewing in Word, in e-mail, or on the Web.
"Unlike a template, a theme does not provide AutoText entries, custom toolbars, macros, menu settings, or shortcut keys. A theme provides a look for your document by using color, fonts, and graphics.
"When you apply a theme to a document, Word customizes the following elements for that document: background color or graphic, body and heading styles, bullets, horizontal lines, hyperlink colors, and table border color."
To choose a default theme, open the document or web page or create a new one. On the Format menu, select Theme. Choose the theme you want from the list and click the Set Default button. The theme you choose can be applied to the entire website, using the Web Page Wizard (It is found on the File Menu/New/Web Pages tab).
To apply a theme to an existing document, open the document and click on Theme on the Format menu. Select the theme you want (click on it). Select your options. If you need help, click on the "?" and then click on the option with which you need help. To insert a picture bullet after you have applied a theme, select the paragraphs you want bulleted, then click Bullets.
The Theme command, discussed above, will allow you to apply a new theme, change themes, or remove a theme. You can apply a style to your document by clicking on the Style Gallery button and selecting a style.
The Frames option is used in the design of web pages. Not all browsers recognize frames, so if you use this method, you will want to test your results in several browsers. For those using browsers that recognize frames, it does make the information easy to access. You divide the web page into sections that can be displayed as web pages. Each section is a frame. The page that contains the group of frames is called a frames page. You must open your frames page in order to open the frames in Word or a web browser. One arrangement is to have a frame across the top of the display stays the same as other frames are moved. Below that frame, on the left side could be a Table of Contents made up of hyperlinks. The main frame, below the top frame, displays the major content. When a hyperlink in the Table of Contents is clicked, that web page appears in this frame. The frames page may be invisable to the user, but it has the file name for the collection of frames.
To create simple frames and frame pages in Word, use the Web Page Wizard. (File menu/New/We Pages tab), Or you can go to Format menu/Frames/New Frames Page. For a more complex frames page, start with a web page. Then go to Format/Frames and use the frames buttons. The Table of Contents in a Frame command can be used for a simple table of contents for a long document with headings. If you click this command, it will quickly take the headings of your document and create a table of contents with hyperlinks in the left frame. This will get you started. Explore the options and helps. The subject would be too long to follow through here.
This item on the Format menu will automatically format your document for you. In the Document Type field of the dialog box that appears, click on the down arrow to select the type of document to be formatted (General document, Letter or e-mail). Then click the Options button. The AutoCorrect box will appear to allow you to select many options to determine the way AutoFormat handles your text. On the AutoCorrect tab there is also an Exceptions button that will let you state exceptions to the options you have just selected. When you have finished, click OK on Exceptions and AutoCorrect boxes. Select the "AutoFormat" or "AutoFormat and review each change" radio button, according to your wishes and press OK. Your document will be formatted as you have instructed.
To apply a paragraph style, click anywhere in the paragraph or select a group of paragraphs. On the Format menu, click on Styles. In the Styles box, select the style you want applied (Normal is probably already selected). A paragraph mark (¶) is to the left of each paragraph style. If you do not see a style you want, click another group of styles in the Style box. If they are not visible, drop down to the List field and click on the down arrow. Select "All styles." Now from the list click on a style and see the results in the preview window. When finished, click on the Apply button.
To apply a character style, select the word or group of words you wish to change. Now go through the same process as for paragraph style. A bold underlined "a" is to the left of character styles.
If you have inserted an object (last month's Microsoft Word, part 3), the Object option will be activated as the last item on the Format menu, but only in Print Preview (File menu). Click on the object before going to Print Preview. The object will not be seen in Normal view, but the object will print. The Object option will allow you to make changes to it. You can crop, change the size, change the color, work with the layout and make other changes.
The object can be seen in the web page view but you will not have the Format menu.
If you have put an AutoShape image in your document, when you click on that image the AutoShape option will be available as the last item on the Format menu in place of the Object item. It will allow you to do the same types of editing as you could with the object. This is also available in the normal view of your display.
If you have both an object and an AutoShape in your document, the option that will be available on the Format menu (Object or AutoShape) will be determined by which one you have selected before going to Print Preview.
That concludes our focus on the Format menu. Next month we will take a look at the Tools menu. The Tools menu has important stuff of it. Because of the length of this month's page, I have skipped the general tips and shortcuts. But there are plenty of them in the Archives.
Go to church somewhere Sunday.
-- Don
Helps for Microsoft Word:
(Part Five)
(Archived 12-18-01)
The following instructions will work with Microsoft Word 2000 and probably with most of the other versions of Word. Some features may work differently on older versions. The new Word in OfficeXP may work differently in some instances. The Tools menu, like the Format menu discussed last time, has a lot of stuff you need to know. So, let's get started.
To check the spelling and grammar of your document, just the "Spelling and Grammar" item in the Tools menu. The checker will stop at each misspelled word. The misspelled word will appear in red type in the upper pane of the correction box. In the lower pane will be suggested words, correctly spelled. You can click the "Ignore" button if the word is spelled as you intended it. You may select one of the suggested choices and click the "Change" button. Or you can change the word yourself. If you want the spell checker to ignore every instance of this spelling in the current document, just click the "Ignore All" button. If you want to change every word spelled that way in the current document, click the "Change All" button. If this is a correctly spelled word that is not recognized (because it isn't in Spell Checker's dictionary), click on the "Add" button to add it to the Custom Dictionary. To check a single word, just select it (highlight it by dragging you mouse across it while holding down the left button) and open the spell checker. It will check the highlighted word and ask if you want it to check the rest of the document.
The Grammar Checker will present you with a similar format when it detects what it deems to be a grammatical error. The error will appear in the top pane (in green type) and any suggestions will appear in the lower pane. The options will be "Ignore," "Ignore Rule," "Next Sentence" (in case not ready to make a decision on that sentence right now), and "Change." Be careful about accepting the suggestions offered in the Grammar Checker. Sometimes they can be weird. It may call for a singular or plural verb when the opposite is needed. Some words and structures will fool grammar checker. I still use it just to draw my attention to possible errors.
You can set up the Spelling and Grammar Checker to work the way you want it to. It can check for spelling as you type, underlining in red each word that it determines to be misspelled. When you correct the word, the red underline (that does not print) disappears. To access the options for customizing this tool, be sure that you have a misspelled word, then open the checker. The dialog box that appears will have an Options button that will present you with another dialog box and a host of options. You can add other custom dictionaries and name them (ex.: technical, foreign words you use, etc.). You can also change the dictionary that Word uses to another language. Several languages may be available. Just explore the options, then the options of the options. Any button with dots after it (...) brings up additional options. Wow! I didn't realize I could find so much to talk about with the Spelling & Grammar Checker. This could be another long lesson.
The "Set Language" item on the Tools menu determines the language of the dictionary that the Spelling Checker and other proofing tools use.
The Thesaurus item (still under Language) is a big help when you are trying to think of particular words to express certain ideas. Sometimes you just don't want to keep using the same word. You may want more choices - or you might want a word that means the opposite of another word. The Thesaurus can be used by your entering the word with which you wish to start, or you can highlight a word and this tool will pick it up to start. Open Thesaurus and you will see the many choices available.
Hyphenation (still under the "Language" item) lets you determine how hyphens are to be used in your document.
At any point in developing a document, you can select the Word Count item on the Tools menu. It will show you the number of pages, words, characters (no spaces), characters (including spaces), paragraphs, and lines. A checkbox will allow you to include footnotes and endnotes in the count.
This feature may not have been installed when you installed the Word application. If not, when you select it, Word will ask you if you wish to install it. If so, you will be asked to insert your Word 2000 (or whatever version) CD. After inserting the CD, wait until you hear the CD-ROM drive star up, then click "OK." If this feature is not available in your version of Word, the option will not be listed on the Tools menu.
When you select the AutoSummarize item, a dialog box will appear with a message something like this: "Word has examined the document and picked the sentences most relevant to the main theme." You will be given four main options, with pictured illustrations of each. They are (1) Highlight key points, (2) Create a new document and put the summary there, (3) Insert an executive summary or abstract at the top of the document, and (4) Hide everything but the summary without leaving the original document. Option (4) does not delete the document. It merely lets you see the summary sentences together without creating another document or adding to the present document.
You will also be able to select the percent of the original document that the summary is to be. Below that selection box you will be shown the number of words and sentences in the original document as well as the number of words and sentences the summary would have at the selected percentage.
A checkbox lets you tell AutoSummarize to update the document statistics as you continue to develop the document. You can look at Properties under the File menu to see these. Click on the Statistics tab.
Select the AutoCorrect item on the Tools menu and you will see a dialog box with four tabs. The first tab is also named "AutoCorrect." There you have options to have Word automatically correct or replace certain character combinations with other named characters. An example is "Capitalize names of days." Be careful about checking some of the checkboxes. For instance, "Correct TWo INitial CApitals." This might render acronyms and some capitalized abbreviations in a way that you do not intend. Take a look. You can also have (c) or (R) automatically changed to the copyright or registered symbols. There are other key combinations, including several for emoticons that you can select. Emoticons are the little faces that are used in e-mail and elsewhere to show the feeling you are trying to convey with what you say. Some key combinations can be turned into arrows. You can even add your own or delete ones you don't want.
AutoFormat As You Type tab. I like to have fractions printed with the fraction character instead of a key combination (1/2 as ½) and 1st printed with the st in superscript. You can have Word to automatically do this. After you type the fraction, you may have to type a space and the first letter of the next word, then you will see the fraction character appear. There are other options of this nature. Also, you can have Word to automatically format Headings, tables and borders. Automatically formatting bulleted and numbered lists can be a time saver and convenience.
AutoText tab. AutoText allows you to store text that you commonly use, such as the salutation or closing of a letter, then quickly insert it at the desired place. You can also quickly insert commonly used tables, bookmarks and other items. You can create your own AutoText items or use those already supplied.
To create your own, it is easier to use the Insert menu instead of the Tools menu. Just select the text or graphic that you wish to store for AutoText to use. To store paragraph formatting with the selected text or graphic, include the paragraph mark (¶) in your selection. Now, on the Insert menu, select AutoText and click on "New." Either accept the name Microsoft gives it or rename it. If you plan to insert the entry using AutoComplete, be sure the name contains at least four characters.
A checkbox lets you tell Word to show the AutoComplete tip for AutoText and dates. To accept the AutoComplete tip, press Enter. AutoComplete inserts the text after the fourth letter is typed. If it is not what you want, just keep typing and the tip will disappear.
AutoFormat tab. This has the same type of options as the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab. The difference is that the AutoFormat As You Type does just that, but the AutoFormat lets you finish the document before formatting, then it will examine your document for lists and other elements that you have marked for formatting, and will format them. This is also available under the Format menu.
Highlight Changes option "Track Changes item under the Tools menu" Track the changes to a document while you edit, or locate them after you have completed editing, depending on whether or not the box is checked. You can have Word to highlight the changes on the monitor screen and/or in the printed document, again depending on which boxes you check. Click the Options button to select different ways of marking inserted text, "deleted text," "changed formatting" and "changed lines." You can use any combination of colors and available markings. For inserted text and changed formatting you can select from Bold, Italic, Underline, Double-Underline or none. Deletions have the options of Hidden, Strikethrough, ^ and #. A preview window shows the effect of each of the selected options.
Accept or Reject Changes. Still at the Track Changes item on the Tools menu, you can accept or reject changes, as marked by Word. The choices are obvious, so I won't use a lot of space on this. You also can have Word to find text with or without changes, or view the original.
Compare Documents. With this option at the Track Changes item, you can have Word to compare two documents and point out their differences. This is especially useful when you have documents that are similar, perhaps edited or updated, and you need to determine which one you want to view.
With this item on the Tools menu, you can merge edited documents. The deletions, additions and other changes will be located and the edited document can be merged with the master document. Perhaps more than one person has edited portions of the document. These sub-documents can be merged with the master document. Put the master document on the monitor screen and select this item. An open file window will allow you to select the file to merge. Follow the instructions given by Word. Practice this with renamed copies of the documents before impacting the documents you plan to use.
This item on the Tools menu allows you to protect documents from unauthorized changes. You can do so with a password if you wish. Be sure to store a password in a safe place, in case you forget it.
This is for use on a network. The Network administrator can help with this. The "Meet Now" option provides a form on which to enter your name, address, e-mail name and server. This information is to allow others on the network to find you or to "see" you while in a meeting with you. The "Schedule meeting" has the same form on which to input the same information, for the same purpose. The "Web Discussion" item is for you to enter the discussion server that the network administrator has provided and to enter a name to identify you in the discussions. This can be any name you choose. I wont spend more space on this, as you will have to work with your network administrator to set it up.
This can be a real time saver if you have lists of people to mail (Christmas card list, Sunday School class, organization members, customers, etc.). Select this item and the Mail Merge Helper will guide you through the process.
Let's create a form letter and merge it with the data source containing the names and addresses to whom we want to send it.
Step One. In the Mail Merge Helper, click on "Create" (under "Main document"). In the drop down list, select "Form Letters," then click on "New Main Document." A window will open. It will look like any other blank Word window, except it will have a Mail Merge tool bar with buttons to facilitate writing the document.
Step Two. On this letter, enter the date where you wish to place it and then go down a few spaces. Click the "Insert Merge Field" button on the tool bar. If it is grayed out, go on to Step Three and complete part or all of the data source file, then come back to this point. The button will now be active. Put your cursor at the beginning of what is to be the first line of the Inside Address. Click on "Insert Merge field" (button on tool bar above the window) and select Title. The Title field will be inserted. Press the space bar once. Click on "Insert Merge Field" and select First Name. Press the space bar once. Click on the "Insert Merge Field" button again and select Last Name. Press the ENTER key to start the next line. Use the same process for Street address. Press ENTER to start the next line. Use the same process to add fields for City, State and Postal Code, providing commas and spaces as needed. Hit the ENTER key four times. Type Dear then click the "Insert Merge Field" button and select Title. Add one space. In the same way, add the Last Name field, then a colon. Hit the ENTER key twice and begin the body of the letter.
Step Three. On the Mail Merge Helper, click the "Get Data" button. From the drop down list, select "Create data Source". In the Create Data Source dialog box, the right pane lists field names that are already in the header. You can add others of your own or remove ones you don't want. The name of a field can be whatever you wish but it should be descriptive. Double click on one of the field names, such as Title. A window will appear for you to enter the record for the first person on your list. Complete the items that apply for the document you will send, plus any others you may need some other time. The list can be used for many types of documents, including forms. You can make separate lists for other groups. The completed form may look something like this:
Title: Mr.
First Name: Scott
Last Name: Doe
Job Title: President
Company: Acme Widgets
Address1: 1234 Hidden Avenue
Address2: (blank unless you may need his other address in a bulk mailing or to place the field code in the body of a document sent to a group)
City: Whatever
State: Texas
Postal Code: 20220-000
Country: USA
Home Phone: 021-321-5432
Work Phone: 021-123-2345
When you have completed one record on the list, select the "New" button to enter the record for the second person. Continue until your list is completed. If you later need to add additional records or edit the list, open the main document and click the "Edit Data Source" button on the tool bar. Don't know which button it is? Just rest your mouse arrow on a button and the little box will appear with the button name in it. This button looks like a calendar with a pencil writing on it. Also, the Mail Merge Helper can now be accessed from a button on the tool bar. Any main document can access any of your data sources, but you will need to go through Step Two to convert its window to a mail merge window. This will simplify the process.
Step Four. Now, we are ready to merge the documents. See the word "Merge" on the tool bar? That is the button you need. Just press it. You will be given some options, including just merging part of the list, if you wish. Now, click "Merge" on the Merge dialog box and you will see the merge take place, a copy for each person on the list. Each letter will be personalized for its recipient. You also have the option of merging to the printer.
Use the same process for mailing labels or envelopes. The labels or envelopes are the main document. On the Mail Merge Helper, select create Mailing Labels or Envelopes.
You may just want to print a single label or address an envelope, with or without the bar code. Select the Envelopes and Labels item on the tools menu. This will make will make the process quick and simple for you. The Envelopes and Labels dialog box has two tabs.
To Print an Envelope. If you plan to address an envelope, select the "Envelope" tab (Really!). The "Feed" button or the "Options" button will allow you to select the size of the envelope and how you want it to feed through the printer. The top pane is for the address of the recipient. Put the return address in the lower pane. This may already be filled in. Change it as needed. There is also a box that you can check if you do not want the return address to print. The "Add to Document" button will put the recipient's name and address at the top of your letter where the inside address appears. So you don't have to type this twice. When you are finished, put the envelope in the printer and press the "Print" button.
To Print Labels. On the Labels tab, put the recipient's address in the pane provided for it. Select the checkbox if you want the return address printed also. Click on the picture of a label, or the "Options" button, to open a dialog box for you to tell Word the brand and product number of the labels you are using. If your labels are not listed, click the "New Label" button. There you can give the measurements requested. That custom label will be added to the available list. The radio buttons allow you to print a full page of the same label, or to print just one label. If you select "Single Label," the row and column options will become available so you can print various single labels at different times from the same sheet of labels. You may be using a sheet with several labels missing. Just select the row and column to print on the label you wish to use. Rows go horizontally across the sheet and columns are vertical.
The Letter Wizard item on the Tools menu make it easy to set up and write any type of letter. The options are fairly self-explanatory, so you probably will need no help with it.
The Macro item on the Tools can help facilitate the creation and running of macros, but this is too large a subject to cover in this space. The Subject of macros will need to be dealt with separately at another time.
As a background, here is what Microsoft says about templates: "Every Microsoft Word document is based on a template. A template determines the basic structure for a document and contains document settings such as AutoText entries, fonts, key assignments, macros, menus, page layout, special formatting, and styles. The two basic types of templates are global templates and document templates. Global templates, including the Normal template, contain settings that are available to all documents. Document templates, such as the memo or fax templates, contain settings that are available only to documents based on that template. . . . Word provides a variety of document templates, and you can create your own document templates."
To attach a different template to an open document, do the following: 1. Click the Templates and Add-Ins item on the Tools menu. 2. Click the Attach button and select the template you want. 3. Click "Open." Word gives this tip: To use styles from the newly attached template, select the "Automatically update document styles" check box in the Templates and Add-Ins dialog box. Word adds the styles from the template to the document. If styles in the document and template have the same names, Word updates the document styles to match the template styles.
To delete multiple styles, AutoText entries, toolbars or macros, here is a paraphrase of what Microsoft says: On the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins. Now, (1) Click "Organizer," and then click the tab for the items you want to delete. (2) To delete items from a different template or file, click "Close File" to close the active document and its attached template or to close the Normal template. Then click "Open File," and open the template or file you want. (3) Click the items to delete, and then click "Delete." Tip: To select a range of items, hold down SHIFT and click the first and last items in the range. To select nonadjacent items, hold down CTRL as you click each item.
In Microsoft Part I - Templates, I give a simple way to make templates.
The Customize item on the Tools menu lets you customize Word by determining which toolbars will be available and how the menus will be appear. The "Toolbars" and "Options" tabs are fairly self-explanatory. The "Commands" tab shows two panes. The left pane lists the menus that are on your menu bar. The right pane lists the commands (or items) for each menu. If you need an explanation of a command, click on it then click on the "Description" button. You can click on the "Keyboard" button and, in the dialog box, designate a keyboard key combination as a shortcut for the command you select. If a keyboard shortcut is already designated for that command, it will appear in the small pane labeled "Current keys."
This is a biggie. You control much of the way Word works through the options accessed here. Select the Options item on the Tools menu and the Options dialog box will pop up. It has ten tabs. We will take them one at a time.
View tab. The "Show" section of checkboxes allows you to indicate the items you wish to be visible when a Word window is open. The "Formatting marks" section is provided for you to indicate what non-printing characters you want to be visible in your document as you type. You can select "All" instead of checking all the boxes, if that is what you want. Here are some examples of what you will see. If you put a check in the Spaces box, there will be a dot between every word and any other time you hit the spacebar. The "Paragraph marks" selection makes the paragraph symbol (¶) visible at the end of eack paragraph. I like to see these symbols because I have a better feel of my document. If I accidentally put two spaces where I intended just one, I immediately see it. I have the "All" box checked, but these symbols are a distraction for many people. The "Print and Web Layout options" provide for aids showing print boundaries, etc. "Outline and Normal options." I check "Wrap to window," because I do not want my lines of text going beyond the edge of the window in which I am typing. I want it to wrap back to the next line. This does not affect how it prints.
General tab. Here you have more options to customize Word. For instance, would you rather have a blue background on which to type and your characters appear in white (only on the screen, not when printed)? Then check that option and click OK. Personally, I see my work better with black text on a white background.
Edit tab. These are editing aids. "Typing replaces selection" means that if you select (highlight) a section of text and start typing, as soon as you begin typing, the highlighted text is gone and your new text takes its place. This saves the extra step of deleting the unwanted text first. With "Drag-and-drop text editing," you can highlight a text portion, move your mouse arrow to it, hold down the left mouse button and drag that block of text to another location in the document. "Smart cut and paste" is similar. You can highlight (select) a block of text, right click on it, and choose "cut." Then you can left-click at the spot to which you wish to move the text, right-click and select "paste." The text is moved. Other options are fairly self-explanatory.
Print tab. Some of these options will be available on your Print dialog box when you choose Print from the File menu. Unless you want them as default settings, you may want to leave them unchecked. Others are not available elsewhere. For instance, if you want the hidden characters we talked about under the View tab and/or Field codes and/or Properties to printed with the document, you can check those boxes. Did I hear you say, "What are properties?" OK, click on Properties under the File menu. There you will see the information in the Properties box for your current document, the one on your screen. If you have a document open in Word, there may be about five tabs on the Properties box. You can complete the Summary tab as you wish and make changes on the Custom tab of the Properties box. This information about your document is called "properties."
Save tab. The only three items I have checked on my computer on the Save tab are "Allow fast saves," "Allow background saves," and "Save AutoRecovery info" every 10 minutes. AutoRecovery info makes it easier to recover a file lost due to electrical power failure or other reasons. If you do not want your Word documents saved in the "My Documents" folder, you can choose another location on this tab. In the event that someone else is to have access to your current document, but only the person or persons to whom you give the password, you can also password protect it on this tab. You can indicate whether or not the other person will be able to alter he document, or just read it. In addition, you can mark the document as "Read only." This means that the document can be read but not edited.
Spelling & Grammar tab. The items on this tab allow you to determine how the Spelling & Grammar checker are to work. If you have more than one custom dictionary, you can select here which one the Spell-checker is to use. This can be changed to agree with the type of document you are creating or editing. You can also add dictionaries or change languages for Spell-checker by clicking on the Dictionaries button. You can set a writing style for the Spell & Grammar checker to use (such as casual, formal, technical, etc.) and customize the settings for that style (the things you want Spell & Grammar checker to check or not check and how it is to treat various entities).
Track Changes tab. These options are described above under the Track Changes item on the Tools menu. Most features in Word can be reached more than one way.
User information tab. This will probably have your name, initials and mailing address. Mail merge, Properties and some other features draw from this, the source being the data entered when either Word or Windows was installed.
Compatibility tab. By default, none of these items are checked when your version is selected, but you can change the way Word works by checking various items. But if you click the down arrow and select another version of Word, you will see that some items are checked to for better compatibility when working with files from those other versions.
Some of you may have Office in Color installed. If so, the last item on the Tools menu will be Office in Color. Click this and that program in loaded as a plug-in to Word. You will see the Office in Color toolbar, making its features easily accessible.
This has been the longest of the Word Menus discussed. So I will skip general tips again, but many are available in the Archives of Computer Stuff. Next month we will take a look at the Table menu.
Be sure to go to church somewhere Sunday.
-- Don
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