To start Microsoft Word, select Start, All programs, the click Microsoft Word. At the Start menu, Microsoft Word could be listed as a menu item on the left, above All programs. Selecting this option will also enable access to Word.
The program will start, displaying a default work sheet. The sheet displayed is normally set to “Page Layout”. At this point you can commence typing at the flashing cursor (document cursor). Word has two cursors, the document cursor and the mouse cursor.
As you move the mouse cursor over the screen, you will notice that it changes from a pointer to an I bar and to other forms depending on the position of the mouse in the screen.
Above the top of the worksheet window the control and tool bars are displayed, as above.
Selecting any of these items causes a drop down list to be displayed, showing further options. Take the File option as an example, click on File and the drop down list appears.
The image on the right displays the options that should be presented when the File option is selected. On some occasions there are a limited number of options displayed, as the image on the left indicates. The remainder of the options will be displayed after a short time, or can be accessed by clicking on the double down arrows beneath the Exit option.
As you can see there are a great number of options available to change and manipulate the document and its contents. The icons on the tool bar represent a short cut for most of the above mentioned options.
For example if you desire to bold face a word, position the mouse cursor before the item to be bolded, click and hold the left mouse button then move the cursor to the right so to highlight the word or paragraph. Release the mouse button, making sure that the item is still highlighted and select B (bold) from the tool bar to change to a bold type face.
This function is only one of many that can be accessed by this method.
The office assistant is a valuable tool, to guide users who are unfamiliar with the word product.
If the office assistant is not active, click on Help, and select “Show the Office Assistant”. To use the assistant type your question in the field supplied and a response will be displayed giving you possible options that should answer your question.
A search option is also available, which will open the help file for Word allowing greater search possibilities.
Help is the only way you will learn the full usage of the Word program. All users, including experienced people have to use the help option.
Programs supplied today rely on the help option as the major source of information as they do not provide written documentation with the purchase of the product.
You can purchase third party publications that will help you but they still can not cover all the aspects covered in the help file.
This is to enable the user to arrange the way the completed printout will be displayed, i.e.:
Orientation, being either landscape or portrait.
Setting up the margins and default font size required.
To set up the page, click File, Page Setup.
This will display the following screen.
From this screen the user is able to select the orientation, the margins, paper type and layout options. Once this has been established at the commencement of document creation it will continue till it is changed by the user.
Font sizes, bold, underline and other formatting requirements can be accessed as either a short cut from the format menu or icon shortcuts on the tool bar.
These options offer a variety of choices as to the presentation of written data, pictures, drawings and clipart.
If any of these options pose a problem you can use the help function to explain their operations.
Once the wording of the document is completed there is time to dress up the end result. Borders can add flair and a greater presentation depending on the result required.
To access the borders option, choose Format, then click on Borders and Shading, this will present you with a screen simular to the one on the right. You can also click on the borders icon on the tool bar.
There are several types of borders available which can be displayed within the document or around the document to suit the particular presentation of your document.
The screen on the left, defaults to paragraph borders.
This is where you highlight a paragraph and a line is drawn around the outer edge.
The following paragraph demonstrates this.
This is a test.
As you can see the line is drawn around only the paragraph selected. Of course you can highlight as many paragraphs as required.
The other
option is the Page Border. This
places a border around the outer edge of the whole document.
Our TOPAP monthly newsletter is a good example of this.
With page borders you are not limited by just lines of varying types, as
Microsoft Word includes graphic borders.
The picture on the left has one extra option to the previous picture, which is a drop down list for “Art”. This allows you to choose the various art decos you want around the border.
There are other options in the settings list to switch to a complete box, shadow, 3D or set up a custom design. This can be for an individual page or can be for the whole document. The options are yours to choose.
Experiment with the possibilities by using different borders and styles throughout a document to see the affect borders have on drawing attention to sections of the information.
Borders are also available when multiple columns or tables are to be used.
Tables are used to tabulate in a pre-formatted idea to display data in a document. This allows users to setup information in column format. Borders are set around the outer edge of each cell, which draws attention to the data enclosed. Data extracted from spreadsheets can be successfully displayed in a document to enhance the information presented.
To set up a table in a document, select the “Table” option on the menu bar and you will be given a drop down list like the one on the left. There is also an icon on the tool bar as a short cut. The picture displays a group of options to enable various choices once a table has been structured.
Click on the “Insert Table” option and you will be presented with the display on the right.
This is where the number of columns and rows are established.
Enter the number of columns and rows, at the cursor position the table will be entered.
The image above is a typical table that will be drawn for you usage. The number of rows and columns can be added or subtracted depending on the design. The “cells” are the boxes created by the result of the table. Width and height of the cells can be manipulated as desired
When you access the table area a tool bar as seen above is displayed. This gives you the options to add rows, columns borders, change the text colour, sort the fields and much more. Take the time to investigate these options, again when in doubt consult the help file. Use the assistant. That’s what it’s there for!