Tech Tip of the Month
Make Technology Use Easier

Most Office users are probably familiar with the rulers in Microsoft Word.  There is one at the top of the screen to indicate the width of the page and items that are within the left and right margins. 

In addition there is a ruler on the left side of the screen that measures the length of the page.  However, many users are unaware that there is another view that offers still more information:

            the distance between the edge of the paper and the margin

            the distance between the selected tab and the left and right margins

It is easy to access the alternate view. 

            1) Left click on a margin or tab on the ruler and hold down the mouse button.

            2) While still holding down the left mouse button, click the right mouse button.

In the above figure, the alternate view shows the margins are both 1 inch, there is .75 inch between the left margin and the tab, and 5.75 inches between the tab and right margin.

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16)  The actual content of the PowerPoint presentation is much more important than the slide show template and color scheme used to deliver it.  For some reason many people believe that every presentation must have a unique PowerPoint template for its slides even though it can take a long time to select and apply a template to a presentation.  That time could be better spent ensuring the content is something appropriate for the audience and checking to see whether or not other rules against PowerPoint abuse have been violated.  

15)  Unless the audience is young children (in which case text-heavy slides should be avoided anyway), the participants probably know how to read.  Too many presenters who use PowerPoint insist on reading every slide.  Just as the purpose of PowerPoint is not to be a word processor, it is also not intended to be a type of teleprompter.  The point of the presentation should be to explain information to people that they cannot read on their own or glean from the slides themselves.

14) PowerPoint was not created to be a word processing program.  The purpose of PowerPoint is not to force as much information into a presentation as possible. The purpose of  slides is to have reminders and images that stimulate thinking and participation by viewers.  It may not even be necessary to have complete sentences.  Simple statements work just fine.  However, this is not an excuse for creating hard to decipher abbreviations or acronyms.  Typos will detract from a presentation too.  Always be sure to run spell check, but more importantly, PROOFREAD the presentation before delivering it.  

13) PowerPoint has many features, but that doesn't mean they all must be used in the same presentation.  For example, the fact that PowerPoint allows for bullet points is no reason to use them.  It is likely that presenters can convey as much information using a picture as they can using a slide crammed full of bullet points.  Next time, try this.  Insert a picture in the slide instead of bullet points and talk about the picture. The audience will find it more interesting than hearing a list of points read to them.

12)  Many times there is a valuable keyboard shortcut that can prevent users from having to search for something on the MS Ribbon or in menus.  Here is one to try.  To double underline the selected text use:  Ctrl + Shift + D

11) To change the selected text to all CAPS, press Ctrl + Shift + A. This feature is also available, along with all the other Change Case options, in the Font section of the Home tab on the MS Office 2007 ribbon, but the shortcut may be quicker. 

 10)  In Excel there are a variety of ways to format cells and input information.  It usually takes just a few clicks using the menus or ribbon.  However, it is also possible to format a cell or enter data using keyboard shortcuts.  

To quickly enter the current date into a cell, press [Ctrl] + : and Excel enters the date in MM/DD/YYYY format.  To test this, select a cell and press [Ctrl] + :.  

9) Learning to use the Format Painter tool (which looks like a paintbrush in the Home tab of the Office Ribbon) in MS Office 2007 applications can save considerable time.  To change new text (or cells in Excel), select the items that have the desired formatting, then click Format Painter.  Next click and drag on the new items to apply the copied formatting to them.  

Format Painter is usually a "once and done" tool.  That means after clicking Format Painter and changing a section of text the reformatting will stop when the mouse is released.  To reformat a number of unconnected items, double click Format Painter.  Then the reformatting tool will continue changing items as long as they are selected.  Pressing ESC will turn off Format Painter after it has been double clicked.

A nice feature of Format Painter is that it is not limited to only one formatting option at a time.  For example, items that are bold, underlined, italicized, in a new font , etc. can have these attributes copied to new selections all at the same time.  

8) Some of the best tips may be keyboard shortcuts that allow users to perform a task without using the mouse to navigate to a certain part of the screen.  

To close the current or active window push CTRL + W. 

7) Microsoft Outlook offers a variety of tools to manage email, schedules, and contacts.  The key to using Outlook efficiently is find the customizations and shortcuts that fit people's work habits.  

It's possible to save a few keystrokes when entering dates.  When entering the start and due dates for a new task, it's not necessary to type the entire date.  If a date is in the current month, simply enter the day.  Outlook will enter the remainder of the date.  If a date is not in the current month, Outlook will still save a few keystrokes by filling in the year.  If the month and day haven't occurred, Outlook will use the current year.  If the month and day have passed, Outlook will use the coming year.  

6) To select vertically in Microsoft Office applications, hold the <Alt> key and drag the mouse cursor over the text.  See the image below for an example:

5) Most Outlook users know that they can sort messages by clicking on the column title.  Clicking toggles the view back and forth from ascending to descending order.

What these users may not know is that they are not limited to sorting a single column in Outlook.  To sort by two columns (two categories), do the following.  First, sort the primary column by clicking the column title.  Next, hold down the shift key and click the column title of the secondary sorting category.  The messages will be arranged according to the the columns selected.  For example, clicking From and Size will arrange messages from the various senders in size order.  

4) Outlook allows users to view their calendars in different formats.  Without modification, the work week view displays Monday through Friday which is the traditional work week.  If desired, include Saturday and Sunday in that view.  Choose Options from the Tools menu.  Then click Calendar Options in the Calendar section.  In the dialog box, check Saturday and Sunday in the Calendar Work Week area.  

Users who don't wish to have the traditional five or seven day work displayed can modify what is shown.  Check the days of the week that apply to create a custom view.  For example, people who work Tuesday through Saturday can check those days to create a work week that reflects their schedules.

3) As new versions of Excel have been released, new features have been added.  There are many helpful tips that users may or may not know.  Excel users will want to take advantage of this shortcut.

To select an entire Excel worksheet, click the gray/blue box in the upper left corner of the worksheet.  It's the area to the left of the column letters and above the row numbers.  With the entire worksheet selected, users can quickly and easily make changes to all cells.

There are other methods to select all the cells too.  Keyboard shortcut people can press Ctrl A.  Cells can also be selected by clicking and dragging over the needed cells.   

2) In Windows, pressing the Shift+Delete keys will delete files or folders permanently without sending them to the Recycle Bin.  Using the Shift+Delete key combination on any file or folder not in the Scheduled Task folder will result in the following message:  "Are you sure you want to delete (name)?"  Clicking Yes will permanently remove it without sending it to the Recycle Bin first.  

1) Utilize the Undo Function--Press Ctrl + Z or select Undo from the Edit menu.  Keep pressing Ctrl + Z to go back and undo the most recent editing changes that have been made.  In Office 2007, the Undo button is located on the Quick Access toolbar in the upper left corner.  The Redo Function does double duty with the new Repeat button.