Friday, March 13, 2009

REVIEW #76 FOR MARCH 09


REVIEW for MARCH 09
CKCS Word Processing Review #76
Jerry Heaton, MS Word SIG Leader


Contents
REVIEW for MARCH 09
TWO SESSIONS.
USING TASK PANES.
MAIL MERGE TIPS.
READ ONLY FILE.
DESKTOP ICONS DON’T STAY PUT.
VISIT THE CKCS WEB SITE REGULARLY.
PASTE OPTION TAGS.
WANT A LAUGH, GOOGLE THESE TWO ITEMS.
WORDS SHOW HIDE FEATURE.
USE WINGDINGS FOR CHECK BOXES.
SEVERAL Vista QUESTIONS.
MS WORD MAY BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY.
THE SIMPLEST WAY TO BURN A FILE TO A DISK.
FOUR SHORTCUT KEYS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER.
THE PREVIEW PANE IN MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS (Win XP)
..........OR WINDOWS MAIL (Win Vista)
ALPHABETIZING LISTS IN WORD.
AUTO CORRECT FEATURE.


TWO SESSIONS

We had an fantastic turnout for our first afternoon’s session in over two years. I truly appreciate our dedicated and interested members in participating in these sessions. The first session was at 1:30 PM on March 3 and the second session was 7:30 PM that same day.

My classmates pretty much control the direction these classes with all their good questions and I think we all learned something from each other.

I look forward to doing two sessions again in April.

USING TASK PANES

When you start Microsoft Word, a blank document page appears and generally the task pane will open to the right of that blank document page. You may turn that task pane on an off by going to VIEW and select TASK PANE or use the shortcut: CONTROL + F1. The task pane provides easy access to recently used documents, clip art, the clipboard, and it serves other purposes.

MAIL MERGE TIPS

Mail merge is used in Word to take information from a word table or a database and enter it into letters, envelopes, labels or to provide you a printed list (called a directory) of selected information from your table or database. If you choose the LETTERS, ENVELOPES or LABELS option, you obtain information from one file on one page or one label or one envelope. If you want selected information from your table or database listed one under the other, you need to select the option of DIRECTORY. Directory does provide you a continuous list, one after the other of selected information from your table or database.

READ ONLY FILES

If you have a file in your computer that you are unable to edit and save over the top of the original document, that likely will be because it has been given an attribute of a READ ONLY file, which means you cannot change the original file. For example let’s say you have a Master Packing Checklist which has every item you might take when you travel. One would open the master list and create an abbreviated list of those items that you want to pack just for a particular upcoming trip, If you save your master packing list as a read only file, word will allow you to modify that list on the display, but word will require you to save the modified list under a new name. This keeps the original intact and prevents your accidental lost of the original file. To make a document a read only file, go to DOCUMENTS, find the file, right click on it, and at the bottom under ATTRIBUTES checkmark read only.

Another attribute you may use is a HIDDEN file. Although you usually can't see a hidden file, it's an ordinary file in all other respects. You can choose whether a file is hidden or visible by changing its properties to designate it as hidden. You can hide rarely used files to reduce clutter, but keep in mind that hidden files still take up space on your hard disk.

DESKTOP ICONS DON’T STAY PUT

Microsoft word comes with a feature turned on to automatically arrange your icons on your desktop. In the Default setting, they are set to align upon a grid so that all icons are aligned one with the other according to type. You can generally place icons at different locations on your desktop, but when you shut down and restart your computer, they will be rearrange according to their type and the grid. Should you desire that your icon stay where you put them even after you shut down your computer, you should right click on your desktop, select VIEW, and remove the check mark from in front of AUTO ARRANGE.

VISIT THE CKCS WEB SITE REGULARLY

In March 2007, CKCS discontinued its monthly newsletter which was mailed to each member’s home. As a computer society, it is appropriate that we use our online web site as the primary means of communications with members. For this reason, you are encouraged to regularly check the web site for its many features, many of which change every week. On the web site you will find:

The calendar under MEETING SCHEDULE
The Mac Corner, Joe Does Windows, Joe’s Top 50 Tips, Jerry’s MS Word Reviews have their individual links.
The upcoming classes are listed there
You may check the online newsletter by clicking on the NEWSLETTER link.

There is much good information found on our website. Some of the information is only available to you for a limited period; therefore if you find an article of interest, that you might like to save, feel free to copy and paste it into a word document on your computer. That way you will have it the next time you need that information.
The newsletter itself may be easily be printed so you may maintain a record copy of it for your files.

Be sure to check our web site every few days.

PASTE OPTION TAGS

When you wish to move or copy text from a web site or from another word document, when you press control + V to paste it there at the end of the pasted item will be a paste option tag which is shown below.

If you click on the paste option tag (icon of a clipboard with text in front of it) you have the option of
Keeping the source formatting or
Matching the destination formatting or
Paste text only.
If you choose number one, the font and font size used in the copied document will be kept. Choice number two allows what you have copied text to look just like the formatting of the document in into which you are pasting that text. When copying something from a webpage you may not want the images and other art to be included therefore choice three is the one you would choose.

WANT A LAUGH, GOOGLE THESE TWO ITEMS





WORDS SHOW HIDE FEATURE

I use the show hide feature virtually all the time. I like it because it clearly indicates how many spaces I have between words and after the end of a sentence. I can tell right off if I pressed the space bar the correct number of times of if I have inserted a tab somewhere. When I am highlighting text in order to copy it I can decide how many of the paragraph marks (which occurs each time I press the enter key) I might want to include in my highlighting.

USE WINGDINGS FOR CHECK BOXES

Word offers you hundreds of symbols you may use for specialize purposes in any word document..

If you are developing a questionnaire and wished place boxes like this
YES £ NO £
for persons to check mark their selections. These are available to you from Wingdings. There are hundreds of items to choose from in Wingdings, Wingdings 2, Wingdings 3 and Webdings
Go to the INSERT menu and click on SYMBOLS. Check them out.

SEVERAL Vista QUESTIONS
WHERE DID RUN GO?
Go to the MICROSOFT BUTTON and type RUN and it is available to you.

WHERE DO YOU GO TO ADD AND REMOVE PROGRAMS IN VISTA
In the control panel they have split the add programs from the remove programs and renamed them.
To remove a program on the control panel you select PROGRAMS AND FEATURES and there you find a list of all your installed programs.
To add a new program, you select ADD HARDWARE


MS WORD MAY BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY
Microsoft Word can be purchased separately, but if you have a use for other MS programs you may want to consider an office suite. I would recommend Microsoft office 2007 Home And Student, (Excel 2007 One Note 2007 PowerPoint 2007 Word 2007)which I have seen for $73.00 and web sites plus tax and shipping.

If you choose the Office Professional 2007 version, you additionally will get Access 2007, Accounting Express 2008, Outlook 2007 and Publisher 2007 and I have seen web prices on it from $120 to $200.

THE SIMPLEST WAY TO BURN A FILE TO A DISK

To copy a file or photo to a disk, open my computer, the icons usually on your desktop, and it will show the hard drive and devices’ with removable storage capabilities I find the document or photos that I won on the disk and simply drag them or my DVD or CD removable storage device and let go of them on top of that device. It will immediately burn them to that disk. You can do that with multiple documents and photos as long as you don’t exceed the capacity of the disk. When you finish and push the button to remove the disk it will finalize that disk before the door opens. Finalizing a desk allows it to be used in viewed on it any other computer. A disk that has not been finalized and generally only be viewed on the computer on which it was made.

This is the simple way to get this job done, however if you want to make multiple copies of the same combination of files/photos you need to create a burn a list and use a CD\DVD burning program so that each new disc you burn will be identical.

FOUR SHORTCUT KEYS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER

Control + X =cut
Control + C = copy
Control + V = paste
Control + A = highlight everything in your document

THE PREVIEW PANE IN MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS (Win XP) OR WINDOWS MAIL (Win Vista)

Some people like having the preview page showing in the above two programs. You view the subject of an e-mail on your list and, with the preview pane active, you automatically look at that document as you simply click on the title

For various reason, some like this feature and some dislike it. The Preview Pane may be turned on or turned off by these steps

Open your Email program. Click on VIEW > LAYOUT and in the PREVIEW PANE section, remove the checkmark in the SHOW PREVIEW PANE to remove that view or add a checkmark to view and use the preview pane. See below:

ALPHABETIZING LISTS IN WORD

If you have a table or a word document with the fields separated by tabs, Word can easily sort / alphabetize those fields for you. A sample list of names with four fields follows:
LAST FIRST MI CITY
Swim Ann B. Frankfort
Peter Ann C. Bardstown
Riester Alice D. Jackson
Robertson Barbara E. Frankfort
Jarvis Anna F. Barbourville
Jaeger Ann G. Frankfort
Ochoa George I. Elizabethtown
Hughes Betty J. Frankfort
Jaegers Betty K. Louisville
Haynes Bev Nicholasville


To alphabetize the above sample list, you would HIGHLIGHT the text to be sorted, go to TABLE > click on SORT. Notice that at the bottom of the (above) dialog box, in the MY LIST HAS area the NO HEADER ROW has been checked. This is appropriate only if there is no header row. Since my list above does have a header row, (last first mi and city) once you select HEADER ROW, instead of field 1, field 2, etc. which shows in the SORT BY section, the name of each field would be listed in the sort by, then by, then by sections of the dialog box.

You may sort this list in any order you desire, using the three sections of the dialog box. To sort the list by city and the individual’s name, you would start with CITY, then by LAST, then by FIRST.

Remember; it is important to select HEADER ROW when you do have a header row otherwise the header row will be included in the sort and likely be placed in the middle of your list along with the other names.



AUTO CORRECT FEATURE

AUTOCORRECT is located under the TOOLS > AUTOCORRECT.

This is a WORD feature, which automatically corrects common typing errors people make. For example if you intend to type the word
across but accidentally press the “c” twice, (accross) word will automatically remove the extra c so the word is spelled correctly. Also if you accidentally type
aUTOMOBILE , the autocorrect feature would change that to Automobile once you touch the space bar.

With some thought and planning you may put this tool to good use for your situation. Don’t forget to add any words you typically misspell (which are not already on the autocorrect list). Then autocorrect will correct them as you type.
Go to TOOL > AUTOCORRECT and select the AUTOCORRECT tab and look over the two boxes in the center of that menu. I prefer to keep all options check marked in this section.

You may customize the autocorrect feature. For example if you constantly had to type Central Kentucky Computer Society (about 33 keystrokes), you could add to the autocorrect list of words, a key word, but not a real word, such as ckcsx -- after which you would type Central Kentucky Computer Society. Then every time you type ckcsx and touch the space bar, those 5 letters would be converted to the full name of the organization. Note: A shortcut to accomplish this task, type the words you want to autotext (part of autocorrect), highlight them.


You may want to use mysig as a key word to insert, automatically, your full name within your document.

Autocorrect will also do this

Type : ) = smiley face
Type : ( = frowning face
Type : = mouth on straight line
(try the above three in MS Word to see actual results)
Type ( tm ) = ™
Thpe ( c ) = ©
Type ( r ) = ®
Type ( sm ) = (sm)
When you type smiley faces in word using a colon and a close parenthesis, like this :) and autocorrect will change those keystrokes to make a proper face.


UNICODE SYMBOLS

Unicode provides a unique number for virtually every character in every language. There also numbers of perhaps 1000 symbols that can be used. Obviously it is not possible for is to have a keyboard with enough keys which would allow you to have access to all of these letters and symbols in common use.

By searching the Internet, you may find a long list of various symbols should you be looking for one and in particular.

Activate a unicode; hold down the alternate key and using the numeric keypad to type in the assigned unicode number. (numerals across the top of your keyboard, do not work for unicodes.)

There are only a couple of unicodes that I use periodically.

100º degree mark ALT + 167
50¢ cent mark ALT + 155

Jo Stratton provided:
“these are the symbols I use most often. In each case, hold down the Alt Key while typing the numbers”.

¿ -- upside down question mark (used in writing in Spanish)—Alt + 0191
ñ – tilde with an n (used in writing in Spanish)--Alt + 0241
º -- degree symbol – Alt + 167
Ø – strike through a 0 – Alt + 0216
™ -- Trade Mark – Alt + 0153
© -- Copyright –Alt + 0169
® -- Registered – Alt + 0174
§ -- Section symbol (usually appears in legal documents) – Alt + 0167
é – accented e (I use this in typing the word "résumé") – Alt + 130


END OF MARCH 2009 SIG (WORKSHOP)