Announcements

Using Office XP? - Then You'll Love This!

We just received a new title called Instant Office XP - and it's a must have for anyone who wants to learn how to run MS Office XP!

This program features engaging video tutorials that will help you get the most from your Office XP applications. This 6 CD set covers Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, and even Windows XP itself.

By using high quality video tutorials, this software teaches you - step by step - how to effectively use Office XP. These programs pay particular attention to the most common uses for Office XP - and make you an expert in those areas (see the site for more details).

The videos themselves are great. They're very easy to follow and understand - even if you've never used MS Office before! They are free of confusing computer jargon and are presented in everyday language. Instructions are very precise, and leave no room for errors. In short - it's done right.

If you find MS Office XP intimidating - or if you just want to be more proficient - this is something you should really try. After all, the better you use MS Office, the less frustration you'll feel and the more you can get done (and the sooner you can take off from work :-).

The price on this software is fantastic - Only $14.97 and US shipping is FREE! Considering the expense of Office XP, isn't it worth $14.97 to be able to run it better? Take a look at all that this software can do for you:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/instant-office-xp.htm

PS - You can't go wrong for a 6 CD set at this price - just think how much it would cost if you took classes on all these programs! This is going to save you a small fortune! (Besides, if you don't like it, just send it back within 30 days for a refund.)

MS Office 101

Navigation Keys For MS Excel

Most of us are familiar with Excel's movements with the Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys.

We even know that the arrow keys will move us one cell left, right, up and down.

Let's give the arrow keys a "little boost"—turbo charge them, if you will.

The Ctrl key is just the ticket for our little boost.

Ctrl + arrow key will move your selection to either the end of the current data section or the next nonadjacent section of data (if you were at the edge of a data section).

So, for example, if you're at the right side of a set of data cells and you hit Ctrl + Right Arrow you'll be moved right to the next piece of data in the same row.

Try it—once you do it's easy to see the extra power the Ctrl key supplies.

Zoom - Zoom!

Office Tip of the Day

MS Word Styles—Part 2: Custom & Modified Styles

On Tuesday we took a walk through the wonderful world of Word's ready-made styles.

Today it's time to jog through the land of custom and modified styles.

Got your jogging shoes on?

Yes?

Good—then we're off.

I'd like to begin with modifying styles.

The idea of modifying is to take an already defined style and make changes.

To accomplish this task you need to go to the Style window. (Format menu, Style choice)

Next, you'll need to select a style from the list to modify. (Remember that in Tuesday's newsletter we learned to show all available styles by choosing All Styles in the List field.)

Now click the Modify button.

You'll be taken to the Modify Style window where you can make your changes.

At the top you may be given a few choices—you can take a look at those later. Right now your attention needs to go towards the bottom of the window. (Just below the description.)

The buttons allow you to make necessary format changes and the check boxes are a couple of pretty important choices.

Let's begin with the checkboxes.

The one on the left, "Add to Template", must be checked if you want these changes to affect the style for all new documents using that template. (If you went in through a blank document then you're working on the normal template. If you use different templates then go in to make these changes from a document that uses the template you want to affect.)

Leaving the "Add to Template" box unchecked will make the style changes for the current document only.

You decide.

Will you need these changes in the future on new documents?

Yes? Then check the box.

Otherwise, leave it unchecked and the changes won't be applied to new documents.

The other checkbox is to "Update Automatically". This is one you'll want to be careful with. By checking this box you're authorizing Word to update all paragraphs using the same style with any changes you make to a paragraph manually in the document.

So, if you, for example, change the font size on a paragraph from 12 to 16, Word will change the font from 12 to 16 on all paragraphs in the document using that style. (Could be a plus, could be a minus, that's for you to decide. I know, decisions, decisions, decisions…)

Now let's move on to the buttons at the bottom.

(I will assume that OK and Cancel need no explanation, so we'll move immediately on to the more important Format and Shortcut Key buttons.)

The Format button is actually a pull-down menu of items you can change in the style. Things like font, paragraphs settings, tabs, border, etc…

Basically, it's all the things you might modify a paragraph with if you weren't using a style.

The Shortcut Keys button will take you to a window that allows you to enter a key combination you can use to start the style. (It can save you a lot of mouse time if you change between styles frequently.)

To set a shortcut, press a key combination that you can remember for the style.

Be sure to check that Word reports back that the combination is currently unassigned, otherwise you'll lose some other function you may want later.

When you have the choice you want, click Assign.

Then click Close.

(Whew! That was a lot, but bear with me we're almost done.)

Now you're ready to finish the modifying. Click OK on the Modify Style window then click Apply in the Style window.

And that's it—you've taken an existing style and made it your own. (As my nephew would say, "Mine!" )

Time to create a Custom Style.

(Good news here—it's almost completely identical to modifying styles so you already know all the difficult stuff.)

This time when you get into the Style window (Format menu, Style choice) you'll need to click the New button.

You're instantly taken to the New Style window.

Surprise, Surprise!

Looks identical to the Modify Style window, doesn't it?

That's because it is.

First you'll want to name your style (upper left corner field).

This time you have more choices at the top (such as whether this is a paragraph or character style as well as which current style you want to start out with—just for the beginning settings that you'll modify.)

Once you've made these choices the rest is identical to modify: make all the same decisions (I know—more decisions) and click OK when you're done.

Then click Apply in the Style window.

And... poof! You're the artist of a brand new masterpiece. A style all your own.

Be flashy—be conservative—be whatever you want.

Have fun!

~ April