Ask the Master Newsletter Archives

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The Power of Word

Bill Gate's empire leaves little doubt of the power of Word. How are you getting the Word out?

Warmly,
Mary-Lou Ashton
Master Virtual Assistant

P.S. Instructions are for Word 2000 that I am currently using.

Questions In This Edition
(Click on the links to go to that question.)

• What is one of the features least often used?
• What is a common misused feature?
• What is the feature every VA should know how to use?
• What is the easiest way to move text into a table format?
• How do you make those cute little happy faces?
  

I think it would be using the "Show/Hide" formatting marks feature. This tool shows tabs, spaces and paragraph marks. A lot of people find these distracting which I did also when I first starting using them, however, they ensure accurate spacing by showing any additional spaces, tabs or carriage returns.

To turn this feature on go to the "Tools" menu click "Options" then the "View" tab. Under "Formatting marks" select the check boxes next to the characters you want to display or click "All".

Tabs. People are still using the "Tab" key and hitting it a number of times to position text where they want it on the same line. This can create havoc in your formatting if you change the margins on your page or change the type or size of your font among other scenarios. You are also restricted by the margin settings you have which are usually every 1/2".

I recommend 'setting' your tabs. To do this you need to be in either "Normal" or "Print layout" view and have your horizontal "Ruler" set to view. Highlight the line(s) you wish to set the tab(s) on. On the far left of the ruler you will see a character that looks like a capital L. You can click on this icon to change from a left tab to a center, right, decimal or bar tab. Once you have the type of tab you want you simply click on the horizontal ruler where you want the tab to be. You are now just one stroke of the tab key away from getting where you want your next text to go. You can set more than one and more than one style of tab on a line.

Track changes. When editing a document on behalf of a client you can track the changes you make so they know what they were and can either accept, reject or update the changes you made. It is also a valuable tool when more than one person will be editing a document.

To turn on this feature go to "Tools" then "Track Changes" and "Highlight Changes". Click the "Track changes while editing" and you then have the options of "Highlight changes on screen" and "Highlight changes in printed document". Whenever you make a change to the document it will cross out deleted text and add new in a set colour (found under "Tools", "Options", "Track Changes").

When you are receiving a document that has tracked changes you can compare the two documents before reviewing the changes ("Tools", "Track Changes", "Compare") or begin to directly review the changes. To do this go to "Tools", "Track Changes" then "Accept or Reject Changes". If you are not the last person to review the document remember not to accept any changes.

Convert tables. This feature allows you to easily convert text into tables and tables into text with the simple click of the mouse. Highlight either the table or the text, depending on which direction you are going, then go to "Table", "Convert" and select the appropriate direction. If you are converting a table to text you will then have the option to "Separate text with" paragraph marks, tabs, commas or another alternative.

When converted text to a table you will need to indicate the "Number of columns" (the "Number of rows" is determined by the number of rows of text you are converting), the "AutoFit behavior" ("Fixed column width, AutoFit to contents, AutoFit to window) and "Separate text at" (paragraph marks, tabs, commas or another alternative).

AutoCorrect. This feature, found under "Tools", allows you to "AutoCorrect", "AutoFormat As You Type", set "AutoText" and "AutoFormat". This is where the settings are that makes the colon, dash, bracket into a smiley face and capitols are added to the beginning of sentences.

Further exploration of this area will reveal correcting accidental usage of Caps lock, automatic numbered or bulleted lists, capitalizing first letter of a sentence or days of the week, the changing of a number, a slash and another number into a formatted fraction, text that is completed when you begin typing some standard word combinations and more. A tip when you are using complex styles is to turn off these features.