You may have the hottest hardware
under the sun, but it's nothing if your system
isn't running smoothly. After all, it's the
little things that make life bearable, and given
the undeniable nature of software to be
annoying, you'll want to set it up exactly how
you like.
To that end, we've taken a dive into the
highly chlorinated pool of most commonly used
software, and come out itching with some handy
hints to make life a little easier. Note that a
number of these tips require administrator
access to your machine, and you may not (and
most likely should not) be able to do them at
work! - So come, wade with us, the water's
fine...
Microsoft Word
Keep the right
format
Want to paste
formatted text into
Word without losing
the original format?
After copying the
selected text, in
Word 2003 click on
the Edit
menu and select
Paste
Special. In
Word 2007 you'll
need to have the
Home
menu activated, then
click on the down
arrow under the
Paste
button and choose
Paste
Special.
You can choose among
Formatted Text
(RTF), Unformatted
Text, HTML Format or
Unformatted Unicode
Text. Word 2007 also
adds picture formats
to the mix.
Lose the wrong
format
To quickly remove
the formatting from
your document,
highlight the
relevant text, then
press CTRL
+ SHIFT
+ N.
Use Bookmarks
Word's Bookmark
feature lets you
navigate quickly
through lengthy
documents.
Simply go to a
page you'd like
to bookmark and,
from the
Insert
menu, click
Bookmark
(in Word 2007,
it's in the
Links
subsection).
Name your
Bookmark
and click
Add.
To find your
bookmark, hit
CTRL
+ F,
then click on
the Go
To tab.
Select
Bookmark
from the menu on
the left and
enter the
bookmark name to
jump straight to
it.
Inserting automatic page
numbers
To insert page numbers
automatically, first you
need to enable headers
and footers, then insert
where you want the page
number to go.
You will need to
be in Print
Layout View
first. It's the
third page icon on
the bottom left (see
images below) in
Word 2003, and in
Word 2007 is the
first icon on the
bottom right, next
to the zoom in and
out controls
In Word 2003:
Click on the
View
menu, then
select
Header and
Footer.
Both will then
become visible
at the top and
bottom of the
page, and a
toolbar will
appear
While you
can use the
autotext drop
down menu on the
new toolbar to
insert a
template, to set
up things
manually, simply
click the icon
of the page with
a single hash in
it to enter a
dynamic page
number
In Word 2007:
Click on the
Insert
menu, and then
click the
Header
button and
select what
style you want.
You can then use
the Page
Number
button to insert
a number where
you like
Double click
outside the header
or footer to return
to the document.
Similarly, simply
double click a
header or footer to
return to editing it
Remember you can
be fancy with
headers and footers,
inserting graphics,
text boxes and all
sorts of things for
a unique layout
Switch into Print
Layout View first
Edit your headers
and footers, and
insert your
automatic page
numbers
Add a
word count
toolbar
This feature is
enabled by
default in Word
2007 — only Word
2003 users may
apply. You can
count the words
in a document
with a single
click by adding
a word counter
to your toolbar.
Go to
View >
Toolbars
and check
Word
Count.
Drag onto your
toolbar the
small bar that
pops up. Now you
can just click
Recount
whenever you
want to know
your word count
— extra stats
are stored in
the drop down
menu.
Always have
word count
on standby
Create a master
document
If you'd like to collate
a whole bunch of smaller
documents into one, easy
to read document, you
can create a Master
Document. A Master
Document doesn't merge
files, rather it links
to existing separate
files, and makes it look
like they're part of the
one document. The
advantage is, whenever
you update one of the
smaller files, because
it's live-linked it will
also update in the
Master Document.
Keep in mind that you'll
want to create page
numbers and so on in the
header and footer of the
Master Document, not the
individual smaller
documents, or managing
your page numbers could
become a private hell.
Change to
Outline View
by clicking the
fourth icon in the
bottom left in Word
2003, or the fourth
on the bottom right
next to the zoom
controls in Word
2007. The view will
change, and the
Outline toolbar will
appear
Type in a
heading in the
document to
represent the file
you want to import
Select what
you've typed, then
in Word 2003, click
the Insert
Subdocument
button and select
the file you wish to
link to. In Word
2007, you'll want to
click the
Show Document
button, then the
Insert
button, and choose
the file you want to
link to
The process is
the same for all
subsequent
documents. Save the
Master Document to a
unique file name
You can compress
the Outline view to
just the linked
locations of the
files by clicking
the Collapse
Subdocuments
button
You can view the
entire live-merged
document by making
sure the
Subdocuments are
expanded (by hitting
the same button as
above), and then
selecting any of the
other page views
You can edit the
individual linked
files by double
clicking on the torn
page icon next to
the Subdocument,
listed in the
Outline view of the
Master Document
Master Documents can
make working with
huge documentation
easier.
Stop correcting me
Speed up spell-check by
preventing Word from
grammar-proofing your
documents. To disable
grammar check in Word
2003, go to
Tools >
Options, and
click the
Spelling & Grammar
tab. Clear the check box
labelled Check
grammar as you type.
If you want to disable
the grammar check during
the manual spell-check,
then also clear the
check box labelled
Check grammar
with spelling.
When done, hit
OK.
To disable it in Word
2007, click on the
Review
menu, click the
Spelling & Grammar
button, and then hit the
Options
button. Deselect
Mark grammar errors as
you type and
Check grammar
with spelling,
then click OK.
Footnotes
An easy one this
one: to insert a
footnote in Word
2003, click
where you want
to insert it in
your text, then
go to the
Insert
menu, mouse over
Reference,
and click on
Footnote.
An options
dialogue box
will appear —
when you have
selected the
settings you
want, hit
Insert
and your
footnote will be
created.
To do the same
in Word 2007,
click on the
References
menu, and then
the
Insert Footnote
button.
The
footnote:
great for
references,
or amusing
annotations
Pratchett-style.
Stop
Word 2007 using
horrible spacing
By default Word
2007 inserts a
trailing space
after every
carriage return,
and makes things
a little more
spread out. To
return this to
normal for every
document:
Click
the
Home
menu, then
click on the
Line
Spacing
button (it's
the fifth
from the
left in the
Paragraph
section)
Select
Line
Spacing
Options
Under
the
Spacing
section, set
After
to 0
pt,
and set
Line
spacing
to single
Click
the
Default
button, then
click
Yes.
All new
documents
will now use
proper
spacing
Make Word 2007 save to
.doc by default
Word 2007 uses a highly
incompatible .docx file
format for saving files,
making it difficult to
share with friends and
colleagues who don't
have the same version.
To change this:
Click the Office
button in the top
left
Click the
Word Options
button
On the left-hand
side, select
Save
Change the
Save files
in this format
drop down box to
Word 97 -
2003 Document
(*.doc)
