WORD TIPS
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Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Date
To insert the current date or time into your document, click where
you want it to go and then go to INSERT then DATE & TIME in your menu
and chose the correct format for what you want by clicking on it.
Clicking on the box marked Update Automatically, means that whenever
you open that document, it will automatically put today's date in.
Then hit OK.

Formatting
All formatting is done the same way: first highlight the area you
want to change, then chose the appropriate action. Then click away.
Different applications have different options, but for just about all
of them you can:

Bold - shown as the letter B on your toolbar, this makes text darker
& heavier
Italics - shown as the letter I on your toolbar, this makes the
writing slant to look like running writing.
Underline - shown as the letter U on your toolbar, this underlines
the highlighted text.
Change the alignment by putting text or pictures on the left, middle
or right of the page. This button looks like 6 stripes, first left,
then middle, (known as centre) and then right. Some also have full or
justified alignment which lines up both sides of the page to look
straight.
Change the font size by clicking on the number to the left of the B
on your toolbar, and its type by clicking on the words next to that.
Numbering - shown as a small column of numbers on your toolbar,
allows you to do a numbered list without having to manually put in
each number or change them if you need to add an extra one in the
middle. To end numbering, hit enter twice, or click on the numbering
button again. Formatting from the Menu allows you to change the style
of the numbering as well as restart numbering if you want two lists,
one after the other.
Bulleting - Shown as a column of three dots on your toolbar, this
allows you to make a list show as bulleted points. Works the same way
as numbering.
Decrease indent - shown as an arrow with two stripes next to it,
moves a line closer to the left margin. The next one over is increase
indent, which moves the text further away from the margin. It is
similar to the tab key.
Borders - shown as a box grid with a down arrow this puts a box
around the highlighted area. It can be modified to add just one line
or many. Using the FORMAT - Borders and Shading, you can choose a
variety of different types of lines and colours.
Highlight - shown as a pencil with a coloured line under it, allows
you to highlight areas permanently in your text the same as you would
with a highlighter pen. Click on the pen and then drag it over the
area you wish to highlight. Once finished, click the highlight again.
The dropdown arrow allows different colours of highlighting.
Font Colour - Shown as a letter A with a coloured line under it,
allows you to change the colour of the font.
The format painter - shown as a paintbrush, allows you to take the
formatting from one area of the page, and apply it to other areas.
Click in the area you want to copy then hit the format painter.
Click, hold and drag the painter over the are you wish to change.



Most of these options have a FORMAT option on the menu that allows
you to change several things at once.

Pictures
To insert a picture, go to INSERT - PICTURE and then choose where
you are getting the picture. Clip art has a wide range of pictures
that are free to use in your documents. There is also a web link that
allows you to view many thousand more on the web.

Clicking on it and dragging the edges in and out can then resize the
picture. When the cursor changes to a double headed arrow, you can
use it to change the size.

Right clicking on the picture gives your other formatting options.

Tables
Tables allow you to sort information on your page. This information,
for example, is in a table. Each small box inside the table is called
a cell. Columns run up and down the page & rows run across.

To insert a table, go to TABLE then INSERT and TABLE on your menu
bar, or click on the grid with a pencil on it on your toolbar to draw
your table. This is the option I recommend.

First position your mouse (it will now look like a pencil) on your
page where you want the table to start. Then click hold and drag it
down until you have a decent sized box. Then you can draw lines
inside the box to give you columns and rows.

If you make a mistake, there is an eraser next to the pencil on the
toolbar that if you hold over the line you wish to remove and then
click and drag over it, will remove that one line.

To make the edges of the box different formats, change them with the
down arrows next to the boxes beside the eraser.

The first changes the type of line, the next the width of the line,
the next the colour of the line.

If you wish to have a line there, but make it invisible, chose No
Border from the line style box.

After those icons, there are buttons for changing the style of the
table. (Clicking on the small square with a four-headed arrow in it
that appears at the top left hand corner of the table if you run your
mouse over the outside edge, will format the whole table at once.)

The bucket allows you to choose the colour of the background behind
the writing, no fill gives you the same colour as the page.

To format the table after drawing it, you can also right click on
highlighted cells to add a few format changes at once. Just click on
the option to bring up all the things you can do. The first options I
have listed here are all under Borders and Shading.

The next icon with the grid allows you to add extra columns or rows
and make the table fit the contents or the page.

The next one allows you to merge two cells together. First highlight
the cells you want by clicking holding & dragging across the cells.
Then hit the button.

The next allows you to split cells in half.

The next is the alignment of the text inside the cell. Click on the
down arrow to get all the options.

The next makes all highlighted rows the same size. The one next to
that makes all the highlighted columns the same. The fast way to
highlight an entire column is to go to the very top of the table and
move the mouse over the top of the table. A black arrow will appear
pointing down the column, click hold and drag to select multiple
columns, or just click to select one.

The next icon allows you to select common formatting patterns rather
than do it all yourself.

The next changes the direction the text is flowing. Pressing it once
will have it going from top to bottom in the cell, press it again to
go from bottom to top.

The next two sort the table into alphabetical order.

The last one add highlighted cells together and gives you a total in
the cell you were in when you clicked on it.

Templates
If you are frequently doing the same letter, invoice or something
similar, where you only need to change one or two things each time,
it is often easier to set up all the things that don't change on a
template. Then you can just make one or two changes and have a new
document ready to print out.

To make a template, set out the document as normal and then go to
FILE, then SAVE AS. In the box labelled Save as type, hit the little
downward facing arrow and click on the Template option.

Once the template is saves, you can use it by opening the program,
going to FILE then NEW and opening the template from there.

Text Box
Sometimes you want text in unusual places that you can't quite
manage with normal typing. The easiest way to make the text go
exactly where you want it is to use a text box. Go to INSERT then
TEXT BOX on your menu or there is a white page with lines and a big A
on it on your drawing toolbar. (Normally down the bottom of the page
near the middle). Centre the cross hairs where you want the upper
left hand corner of the box, and then click and hold and drag it down
to where you want the bottom of the box. Then let go. A box will
appear with a cursor in it, just type normally.

To move the text box, move your mouse over the box until it turns
into a four-headed arrow, then click hold and drag the box to where
you want it to go. Once it is in position, let the mouse button go.

To make the box larger or smaller, click once on the box to cause the
edges to have shaded dots around them. Then move the mouse over the
box's edges where the little squares are until you get a double-
headed arrow. Moving out your mouse outwards will enlarge the box,
bringing it in towards the middle of the box will make it smaller.

To get rid of the line around the box, or to make it different
colours etc, move the mouse over the box and right click. Then choose
Format Text box by clicking on the words. Fill is the inside of the
box, & Line is the line around the outside edge. Click on the various
arrows beside the words to see what options you have available. The
tabs at the top allow you to bring the text box on to of pictures,
closer to them and many other things. Feel free to experiment.


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Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."