MS Word: Headers & Footers Demystified – Part 1
(Yes, we accidentally ran part 2 of this Tues instead of today. Sorry about that, here’s part 1. If you want a review of part 2, click here)
So, now you know what they are, I’d bet that the next question you’re dying to ask is “How do I get to these wonderful little miracles?” (All right, I… Continue reading
Word’s Readability Statistics
OK, so we’re all here for the same purpose, that is, to get Word to give us the scoop on a document’s stats.
The first step is to turn on the Readability Statistics feature.
Accomplishing this task is really quite easy. Go to the Tools menu, Options choice.
In the Options window you’re looking for the Spelling & Grammar tab.
At the bottom, you’re looking in… Continue reading
What’s Your Readability?
Do you find yourself preparing MS Word documents for a specific audience?
Ever worry that it’s just too complicated? Maybe it’s just written in a way that’s above the target audience’s abilities? Maybe it’s below their abilities?
In the course of my job as a teacher I’ve prepared hundreds of documents (project instructions, memos, letters… you get the idea) and I’ve always got to keep in mind… Continue reading
Inserting MS Word Bookmarks
Ok, so we’re all here to find out how to create and use MS Word’s Bookmark feature for quick navigation through our documents. With that in mind, let’s dive right in.
The first thing would be to decide where you need a bookmark. It could be a string of text, a picture or simply a blank space somewhere. (Whatever your bookmark location, make sure you have… Continue reading
Bookmark It!
Ever have a “monster” MS Word document?
Find it a bit of a pain to navigate?
Tired of the Page Up and Page Down buttons?
Yeah, me too. There’s just got to be an easier way to navigate through the entire mess, and, well, there is.
In fact there are several different ways to shortcut by all the navigational headaches—but today let’s discuss MS Word’s Bookmark feature.
First… Continue reading
Using Word’s Hyperlinks With bookmarks
On Tuesday we covered MS Word’s bookmark feature—all in all, a pretty quick way to navigate through large documents.
But… wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the ability to set up links within the document so you can jump from location to location without all the Go To stuff?
You know, like a web page—you click on a marked link and poof!… Continue reading
Word: Sorting Data
Have you ever found yourself wishing that the list you just typed into MS Word was alphabetized? Or, for those of you who are good with Excel, you’re probably wishing that you typed the list in Excel in the first place (where it’s so easy to sort data).
Well, stop dwelling on the “should have, could have” stuff and smile. It’s very easy to sort data in… Continue reading
Word: Double Spacing
By default, MS Word documents are single-spaced, which is great for most of what we do. But, what about that small percentage of documents where you need things double-spaced?
Now, as I’ve said before, I’m a teacher. I have a lot of opportunities to see how people (both students and staff) are using their technology. I’m always amazed when I find someone using the enter key to… Continue reading
Word Pages With Pizzazz—The Basics
So, you’re working in MS Word and you’re trying to create a unique, eye-catching document.
You’ve been looking for just the right touch to make it grab their attention. Something that’s not too over the top but definitely says “Read me!”.
You’ve eliminated the idea of AutoShapes and pictures. No, you’re looking for something to tie it all together.
Hmmm…
Wait, I know, what about… Continue reading
Quick Table Splits
You’re working in MS Word and you’ve got a beautiful table—it’s perfect!
Well… almost perfect.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, you’ve just come to the conclusion that it really should be two different tables.
Now what?
Are you having copy / paste nightmares?
Or, worse yet, you’re picturing a situation where you’ve got to create a whole new table and re-enter all that data!
Well worry no more.… Continue reading
Formatted Text in AutoCorrect
I’m sure we’re all aware of MS Word’s AutoCorrect feature—that little gem secretly working in the background replacing many of our common typos with the correct spelling.
And, for you more advanced users, I’m sure you’ve already modified the list to be used as an automatic replacement tool for complex or long text strings.
My question is: do you find that you’re constantly going back to… Continue reading
The Word Highlighter
Have you ever been working on a Word document and come to a point where you need to enter a fact that you’re not sure of? Do you really want to stop this very minute to look up the information?
I’m not sure about you, but I hate to stop every few minutes to look something up. I’d rather keep going with the typing part, look information… Continue reading
WordArt Designed By You
Are you a person who likes and frequently uses Microsoft’s WordArt?
Yeah, me too.
But don’t you sometimes find yourself wishing there was a way to have a “toned down” version?
You know, a way to pick and choose a few elements of the whole WordArt feature?
If this is you then here’s a tip that’s sure to add to your ability to jazz up your… Continue reading
The Spaces Too?
In MS Word, what’s the difference between Ctrl + U and Ctrl + Shift + W?
Give up?
The answer is one little word: “spaces”.
Let me explain.
I’m sure we all know that Ctrl + U will underline text, spaces and all like this.
In contrast, the Ctrl + Shift + W will underline only the text.
See how the spaces are not underlined?… Continue reading
Fast And Efficient Envelope Addressing Using MS Word
You just finished a letter. It’s beautifully written, printed, and ready to go. Now all you need is an envelope.
For this next step I’m sure most of us are aware of the nifty little function in the Tools menu of MS Word that allows you to go in and address envelopes for printing.
You go to Tools menu, Envelopes and Labels… Continue reading
MS Word: Headers & Footers Demystified
So, now you know what they are, I’d bet that the next question you’re dying to ask is “How do I get to these wonderful little miracles?” (All right, I can hear the groans and moans from here. Maybe they’re not little miracles but they’re pretty useful little gadgets anyway.)
The way to access headers and footers is to go to the View menu… Continue reading
Paste Options?
You just completed a copy / paste in MS Word XP and you happen to notice this little button appear at the end of you pasted text.
What’s that you ask? Hmmm…
Good question.
And here’s a good answer.
The little button offers you the Paste Options.
(Now I know a few of you just had the Paste Special thing pop into your mind, but just keep… Continue reading
The Word Font Window On Demand
OK, so when working in MS Word we all know about the usual toolbar buttons and lists that allow us quick access to things like font type, size, bold, Italics, underline, color, etc.
But did you know that there are even more aspects of your fonts that can be manipulated?
There are things like character spacing and text effects to be explored along with… Continue reading
Changing Directions
Have you ever wished that you could change the direction of text? I mean literally have it read in another direction.
Maybe you want to change the look of the documents or maybe you need to maximize the space you have to work with in the horizontal direction. (Change direction, get more space… If only that would work in my living room. Change the direction of the couch… Continue reading
Click, Click — Text Formatting Trick
Many of you may be aware of the Change Case text options in the Format menu of MS Word. This wonderful feature will allow you to take text and, in one quick swoop, change the case of every letter to match your needs.
From the Change Case options, you can make text all lower case, all upper case, sentence case, toggle case or… Continue reading
Navigation Shortcuts for MS Word
Here’s the picture: you’re working on the ultimate document, it’s a masterpiece! Too bad the masterpiece is also a nightmare. It’s easily the longest document you’ve ever edited and the navigation through all those pages is a huge headache. (Not to mention the back and forth, back and forth between the keyboard and the mouse.) Help!
Never fear, help is on the way. While these… Continue reading
Give Me A Break!
Since we’re all here for the same reason—to find out all about MS Word’s section breaks—I’ll get right to the “how to”.
The most obvious step is to have a Word file open that would benefit from having different sections.
Once your file is open you’ll need to place your cursor at the point where you want to create a section break.
Now use the Insert… Continue reading
Paragraphs, Pages And Now There’s Sections?
OK, so we all have experience with paragraphs and pages in MS Word… but did you know you have further options for sub-dividing your documents?
No?
Well, let me fill you in.
According to Word’s online help, Sections are “a portion of a document in which you set certain page formatting options. You create a new section when you want to change such properties… Continue reading
Breaking the Connection of Word’s Headers and Footers
Here’s the scenario: you’re working in MS Word and it’s time to set up your header or footer information.
Everything is going well except there’s one small catch. (Isn’t there just always “one small catch”?)
Anyway… the document you’re working on requires different header or footer information at different locations. (Maybe you need the first few pages numbered with Roman Numerals and… Continue reading
White Space Be Gone In Word XP
If you’re like me then you like to work in MS Word using the Print Layout view.
I simply like to be able to see my whole page—margins and all. I like to keep an eye on the layout of the document without always jumping to Print Preview.
Anyway, once in a while I find myself working on documents that have a lot… Continue reading
Stop the Open/Close Madness
You’re working in, oh, let’s say, MS Word and you need to switch to a new document.
Tell me. Do you close MS Word, saving the current file, and then open Word all over again? Are you one of the many people I see everyday who spends an unbelievable amount of time opening and closing the same files and programs over and over again?
Hopefully that’s… Continue reading
Working With Multiple Files In MS Word Simultaneously
So, here you are feverishly working on several different MS Word files trying to read, copy / paste and type all at once.
You’re in file A, read a few lines, flip over to file B and type. Now over to file C, copy a paragraph, back to file B and now paste. Back to file A for another copy. Return to… Continue reading
