Use Tables
Tables are very valuable whenever you want to arrange things in rows and columns or put things into boxes. This layout was originally created using the Table function and any worksheet with questions and answers can be laid out quickly and easily using Table.
The best way to find out what is possible is to explore the Table menu on your menu bar.
You can change the width of columns by simply dragging the lines.
Explore the Table Autoformat options (in the Table menu) to see loads of different ways of presenting the work. The simplest layout is 'Grid 1'.
Use Bullets
The Format menu gives you many options for using Bullets and Numbering.
You can bullet ordinary text or you can use bullets and numbering within a table as I have done here.
This box is bulleted and the first column of this table uses numbered items. To use different types of bullets for different columns in the table, first make sure the cursor is in the column you want to set, and choose Select Column from the Table menu. This will highlight the column. Now choose Bullets and Numbering from the format menu and set the option you require.
Numbers are adjusted automatically. This means that if I decide to add or delete rows in my table the items in the first column will be renumbered accordingly.
Check your spelling and grammar as you type.
Choose Options from the Tools menu, click on the Spelling and Grammar tag and tick the boxes to check spelling and grammar as you type.
Whenever you make a spelling error the word will be underlined in red. Click on the word with the right hand mouse button to see alternatives and select the one you want.
If you have spelt the word correctly you can add it to the dictionary with the Add option.
If the grammar you have used is deemed incorrect the text will be underlined in green. This happens if you type monstrously long sentences for example. Sometimes it can be irritating to be told the work is ungrammatical when it is the way you want it! You may wish to turn this option off.
Use AutoCorrect
The AutoCorrect option in the Tools menu can be set to correct all your typos automatically without even asking you. Moreover it can learn the mistakes you make regularly and deal with these for you. I am a pretty mediocre typist and often transpose letters - my machine puts them all right for me and I do not even know I have made the error! This is very ego boosting.
Explore the AutoCorrect option in the Tools menu and tick the options you want to work with.
You will see a long list of the autocorrections which are already built in.
When using the above option, which checks your spelling as you type, you can add words to the AutoCorrect menu. Click on the word with the right hand mouse button as before but now choose AutoCorrect. The options will be presented again and as you choose the right one the autocorrection will be automatically added to the list.
- If you have a fairly up-to-date version of WORD (eg WORD97) you really do not need a programme such as Publisher as you can easily mix text and graphics on WORD pages.
- You can use clip art, as I have done here, or pictures created in other packages and stored as files. From the Insert menu choose Picture and then whether you want to use clipart or a file. Try things out with clipart to begin with. Choose the image you want and click on Insert. The image will probably not be exactly the right size or where you want it but this is easy to correct. When the image appears in your document the Picture Toolbar may well appear at the same time. If it does not choose Toolbars, then Picture from the View menu. The first thing to do is to make your picture float freely over the text so that you can move it where you like without messing up the text. For this use the wrap tool (a yellow diamond on a square ruled with lines). Click on the picture to select it (you will see the little square handles all around it) and then on the wrap tool and choose None. You can now move the picture around without changing anything else. Different kinds of wrap can be useful - you will need to experiment with them to see what they do. To resize the picture click on one of the handles and pull. A diagonal pull on the bottom right handle will resize while keeping the original length/width ratio. It is worth exploring the rest of the Picture Tools - the clip tool (looks like two Xs) is handy for shaving bits off.
- You know how frustrating it is when you accidentally hit the caps lock key and type three lines without noticing that it's all in capitals? Well this can be put right simply using the Change Case option in the Format menu.
- Explore the various options. Upper case can be changed to sentence case - a capital will be used to start a sentence.
- Sometimes you want to create a worksheet or template with clearly defined areas for text to be entered. A good way to do this is to use text frames within you document.
- The Drawing toolbar may already be showing - it is the bar which says Draw at the left hand end. If it is not- select Toolbars from the View menu and choose the Drawing toolbar. One of the items on this toolbar looks like a page of lines with a letter A in the top left. Click on this and the cursor will change to a cross and allow you to create a text frame in your document. This frame can be manipulated like a picture frame - repositioned, stretched, etc. Text inside the frame can be altered using the normal formatting tools. The template for an Annual Record of Achievement (available on the MAPE website www.mape.org.uk) has been set up using text frames.
- The quickest way to open a document which you have recently been working on is to use the Windows Start button.
- Choose Documents from the Start menu and you will see that the last 15 documents you have worked on are all listed. Click on the one you want and it will open straight away. (Not strictly a WORD tip this as it is Windows which does this for you.)
- Sometimes you put two words together (or more often perhaps a word and a number) which are not hyphenated but which nonetheless need to stay together to make sense - 'Year 6', for example, or 'Class 7'. A line break between the word 'Year' and the number '6' both looks odd and makes your text hard to read.
- To keep things together you need to use a 'nonbreaking space' instead of an ordinary space between them. To enter a nonbreaking space simply press Ctrl, Shift, Spacebar. What appears looks just like a normal space but will not break over the end of a line.
- Do you know of the 'for DUMMIES' series of books on all sorts of computer matters? They are comprehensive manuals written in a friendly and chatty style which is both readable and accessible. Typical titles are 'Internet for Dummies', 'Windows98 for Dummies' etc. There are loads of versions of 'WORD for Dummies' - get the one which matches you version of WORD (eg mine is WORD97).
- The books can be found in computer shops like PC World or ordinary bookshops. They are easily spotted as shelves of bright yellow tomes! They are not cheap (my 'WORD97 for Dummies' cost £18.99) but they are well worth the money.