Tips & tricks
More than one billion people worldwide use Windows. Readers share their favourite technology discoveries to help you get more from MS Office programs and make the most of your PC.
Add an address into any program
If you keep your addresses in the database, they can be used in any of the software components offered in Microsoft Office 2007. When you want to do address labels in Word, or send e-mails in Outlook, they can be accessed. I love that!
Brad Kamieniecki, Yorkton, Sask.
Add features to the Quick Access Toolbar
One of my favourite features in Microsoft Office Word 2007 is the Quick Access Toolbar. For example, to add the Translate feature to the Quick Access Toolbar, click on the Review Tab and then right-click the Translate button. Click on Add to Quick Access Toolbar. The Translate button now appears on the Quick Access Toolbar next to the Office button.
Chris Youngdale, Haliburton, Ont.
Alt key with just a tap of a finger
In Office 2007, you no longer have to hold down the Alt key to use shortcuts to access menus and their corresponding commands or submenus. It was awkward keeping my pinkie finger on the Alt key while pivoting on that same finger and hoping to hit the right keys at the same time. Now you just have to hold it down long enough for the letters to pop up next to the menu headings. This method of reaching the commands that you need is far more accurate and faster!
Edwin Sanchez, Calgary, Alta.
Before you share, use the Document Inspector
Before you share your document with other people, use the Document Inspector to check the document for hidden metadata, personal information or other hidden content. The Document Inspector can find and remove information such as comments, versions, tracked changes, ink annotations, document properties, document management server information, hidden text, custom XML data and information in headers and footers.
Trevor Stenson, Edmonton, Alta.
Create a camping checklist
Have a checklist ready for camping trips. I have a different-coloured index card for each member of the family. The cards are pre-printed, so each person grabs his or her index card, and nothing is ever forgotten.
Cyndi MacKenzie, Airdrie, Alta.
Customize your slides
With the Background Styles option in the Design tab of PowerPoint, you can choose a different background for every slide and completely customize it with a variety of shadings and colours. The gradient and textured backgrounds create eye-catching presentations.
Christopher Bahen, Brockville, Ont.
Easily find data with the Excel Ribbon
A very handy tool for helping find an Excel 2003 command or function in Excel 2007 is the Excel Ribbon mapping workbook. It makes the transition much easier. To find the location of menu and toolbar commands in Excel 2007, open the Excel Ribbon mapping workbook. Instructions on the first tab of the workbook provide tips for customizing, finding and printing data.
Nolan Wallin, Fort McMurray, Alta.
Easily manage your references and footnotes
While I was tooling around in Word 2007, I discovered the References tab. This tab handles almost any type of citation you may be required to use in your writing. Divided into six sections — Table of Contents, Footnotes, Citations & Bibliography, Captions, Index and Table of Authorities — everything is organized in an efficient and self-explanatory fashion.
Udo Rosenberg, Gibsons, B.C.
Find a safe beach for your family
My best summer survival tip is to use the Internet to check out which beaches have lifeguards — on what days and during what hours — so you can make safer choices about where to swim with your family.
Ernestine Lahey, Louisbourg, N.S.
Find disabled-friendly locations
I use the Internet to find disabled-friendly accommodations and parks with good accessibility. It used to take me months to plan a trip, but now I can plan a trip in less than a week!
Que P. Banh, Victoria, B.C.
Find money-saving coupons online
When making plans with the kids to visit a museum, fun park or wave park for the day, check out the venue’s web site for money-saving coupons, special events and loads of additional information.
Liz A. Ritchie, Brampton, Ont.
Go directly to a file
When I open a file and want to use Home Office/Student, I click “Always Open this type of file with this program.” I don’t have to search through useless programs to get to the file I want.
Lesley Kent, Nanaimo, B.C.
Go fishing!
I do a lot of fishing, wilderness camping and hiking all over Nova Scotia during the summer. Before I go anywhere, I plan my trip on the computer and save my plans in a file marked GONE FISHING. If anyone wants to find me, that’s where I’ll be.
John D. Robertson, Windsor, N.S.
Go global with a variety of dictionaries
If you constantly work in two languages in Word, enable Review > Set Language and check Detect Language automatically. The languages’ dictionaries must be loaded to use this feature.
When typing a document, you can even have paragraphs switch languages, and the dictionaries will check spelling for each paragraph separately. The languages must be selected at the installation stage of Office.
Robert LaFortune, Orleans, Ont.
Improve with Excel, Word and Outlook
Excel 2007 has an increased spreadsheet row and column capacity of 1 million rows by 16,000 columns. You can import and work with massive amounts of data. In Word 2007, you can remove unwanted information from your documents. The new Document Inspector can remove comments, tracked changes or other unwanted information. In Outlook 2007, I used to press the Send button and then realize something was wrong, but it was too late to stop the e-mail from going out. I love that you can now defer the delivery of a message or all messages by at least one minute.
Angela Gonzalez, Vancouver, B.C.
Insert tables with the new Ribbon feature
I discovered that inserting tables in Microsoft Word 2007 has changed slightly from [inserting tables in] the previous version of Office. But it’s really a piece of cake with the new Ribbon. Once you have created a table, add a splash of colour. Click on the table you have just created and find the new set of tabs in the Ribbon. Click on the Table Styles selector and click on your favourite color scheme. The result is a very attractive, very simple table.
Stephanie Lin, Richmond, B.C.
Keep in line with the ruler — when you want it
When you are typing and don’t want the ruler on all the time, place your cursor on the grey line between the document and settings above. The ruler will come on temporarily so you can see it and adjust it if necessary.
Kim MacDonald, Halifax, N.S.
Keep it all in notes
Office OneNote is very handy for taking quick notes of something I want to use or check out later.
Les Ens, Campbell River, B.C.
Make it STAND OUT. Change the Case.
A really handy feature I found in Word 2007 is the Change Case button. It is located below the Font Size drop-down in the Font section of the Ribbon. To use it, highlight/select the sentence or word you wish to change, and then click on the case option you want. This is just GREAT for emphasizing titles, headings and abstracts.
Guan Wang, Richmond, B.C.
Make math simple — add equations to your Word doc
Equations can be put into your Word document with ease. Click Insert > Equation and you’re off and running; no more looking for the program to import it. You can also set up automatic numbering or bullets. I was amazed by this feature and would recommend Office 2007 over Office 2003 any day. This is a great upgrade, especially for students. It saves time and frustration when trying to complete math assignments.
Camille Stewart, Gravenhurst, Ont.
Make stunning tables with the grid
I use a lot of tables in my business and have always liked using the grid system in Word. I was surprised to find that now the grid is shown on the page as you select it. It’s really easy to see exactly what you are going to get when you make a table. It’s also great that you can select colours for the table from the design tab that pops up — nice and easy!
Craig Brownridge, Brampton, Ont.
Make your presentations stand out with a theme
Creating a theme in Microsoft Office PowerPoint makes things a whole lot easier when you create a presentation. Where I work, we use particular colours and fonts in our presentations, so by setting the theme a certain way, each time we go in to create a new presentation, we can easily pick the theme and get started with all the right colours and fonts.
Sharleen Nielsen, Halifax, N.S.
Pick your summer activities from a hat
There is plenty to do in our part of Ontario. I click on the activities file on my computer, and we choose from different things to do for the day. We write the ideas on paper and put them in a hat. Each member has a chance to choose the day’s tour.
Patricia Joan Wong, Thornhill, Ont.
Plan your garden online
The children are planting their own small gardens this year, and each child looked up veggies on the web. Then we purchased the plants, and the children researched how to plant them and care for them as well as other gardening tips.
Brieanna A. Gilboe, Essex, Ont.
Prepare postcards ahead of time
Before going away, reduce the stress and make things easier by taking along pre-made postcard labels for each person you want to send one to. It makes it easier to choose the cards, too.
K.K. Peters, Edmonton, Alta.
Print faster with a customized toolbar
Add commonly used commands to the Quick Access Toolbar on the top left corner in Office 2007. Simply right-click on it and go into customize the toolbar. Sometimes adding the print command will speed up productivity.
Kent Marks, Winnipeg, Man.
Protect your newborn baby
As first-time parents, we have found the Internet invaluable for learning about infant safety in the summer: preventing burns, treating bug bites and practising pool safety.
Rachel Im Lenkowski, Vancouver, B.C.
Quick Access to shortcuts
This new feature is one of my favourites. With older versions of Word, not everybody knew all the shortcuts or where to find them. If you press the Alt key in Microsoft Word 2007, it will display all commands on the Quick Access Toolbar. No more trying to figure it out.
Patrick Oliveira, Kelowna, B.C.
Save time with themes
I save tons of time with the themes in Office. Changing the theme of a document not only changes the background colour but also changes the colours, styles and fonts of the diagrams, tables, charts, shapes and text. You can get great looking results fast and easy.
Richard Mraz, Toronto, Ont.
Search for summer activities
I use the Internet to search for new camping sites, bike trails, outdoor concerts and new activities to keep me outdoors in the summer. I also sign up for text messaging on my mobile to receive alerts.
Patrice Celotto, Burlington, Ont.
Stop searching for menus
To get your word processing done in no time, you can customize the Quick Access Toolbar. All commands are listed in alphabetical order in More Commands in the Quick Access Toolbar. By adding the more frequently used commands to this toolbar, you can finish your job faster by clicking on the icons in the toolbar instead of navigating around the menus.
Amy Yuen, Vancouver, B.C.
Use a cool font!
When you go to the Font dialogue box and click on a particular font type, the example shows up in the text and gives you a better look at how the font will appear if selected.
Nicholas Clark, Montague, P.E.I.
Use Word to make professional labels
It’s easy to make labels or envelopes in Word. Go to Tools > Letters & Mailings > Envelopes and Labels, and you can be sure that your outgoing mail will look professional.
Veronica Savage, Toronto, Ont.
Zoom in for a better view
One feature I’ve found really useful is the zoom slider at the bottom right corner of Word and other Office 2007 applications. Now, zooming out to see how the text looks on paper before printing and zooming in to enlarge font is a breeze compared to all the menu navigation in older word-processing software. For more precision, you can also click on the buttons beside the slider: Print Layout, Full Screen Reading, Web Layout, Outline and Draft.