Excel Templates

When you open Excel, click the File tab and this will enable the backstage view. Click New and this will display all of the templates you can choose from.

Browse through the different templates and find the template you are looking for. Click on the selected template and the different varieties of the template will be displayed. Select the type you need.

When opening the template version you will be presented with several different options once again. Again, the options are plentiful. You will see this over and over again with template options in MS Office. Make your final selection.

The Daily Chores template is the selection here. We can see what it looks like by clicking on it. In the right pane, you will see a thumbnail view of the template and the popularity rating.

If the selected template is what you are looking for, click the Download icon to begin using the template. You may not have fish or dogs or go to school. You can specify the tasks as you see fit. A slightly whimsical example is shown in the screenshot below.

All of the templates in Excel can be customized, of course. They save a great deal of time and there is a wide variety to choose from.

Word Templates

Working with templates in MS Word is similar to working with them in Excel. Open a new document and click the File tab and select New. The template options are presented.

Choose the template that you need. Word is quite useful in this respect when it comes to templates. If you are running your own business, there are a variety of different invoice formats to choose form. You can also use job description templates and forms or create flyers for promotional purposes.

After selecting Invoices, you will see the different categories, much like we saw in Excel. Select the category.

The “Simple Design” of a Sales invoice was selected and in the right panel, you see the preview. If you like what you see, click the Download icon. This will bring up the template and you are ready to start entering products and services, the cost and the total. You can modify the business name at the top as well as all other information.

These templates work the same in all aspects of MS Office. You can use them for PowerPoint too. It is simple and practical to use templates and the time saved is well worth the extra clicks.

The master document holds links to sets of other Word files. These sub-document contents are not inserted in the master document as such. Rather, the master document creates links to the various sub-documents. You are able to make changes to the sub-documents separately while all of these changes are added to the master document as a default. This works well for integrating separate Word documents of related subject matter. By creating a table of contents and an index in the master document, you end up with an integrated document.

Also, when several different people are writing a single document on separate computers, the master document offers the perfect solution to deliver various sections of the document to the individuals working on the project.
This article demonstrates the basics of creating a master word document as well as sub-documents. Begin creating the master document by opening a new blank document.

Title it as a master document and then save it. You can include the file name and then append with “Master Document”. Next, go to the View tab above the Ribbon and select Outline, found in the Document Views section. This opens a Navigation panel to the left of the blank document. Here you can start to enter the various headings for the document.

In the Outline Tools section in the Outlining tab, utilize the dropdown menu of Level styles and then use the green arrows to alter the headings.

After entering all of the desired headings, click Show Document. You can find this in the Master Document section in the Outlining tab.

There are several different options to access in the Master Document section. Select the entire outline and click Create in the Ribbon. It will look something like the screenshot below. Each one is a separate file attached to the master document. If you have the documents on the desktop, they are automatically added as sub-documents.

Click Collapse Subdocuments to see the links to each subdocument. Ctrl+Left-click on the link and it will open the title to the document just as you placed it in the master document outline. You can then add the content from scratch or, if the document is already created, simply cut and paste.

Do this for each subdocument heading and link and you have created a master document. This is simply the basic approach. There are options to create chapters under the headings, a table of contents or an index. Word will automatically insert a continuous section break within the master document. These section breaks will be inserted before and after each subdocument. There are a variety of different options for master documents in Word 2010. This demonstration relates more to existing documents in a simple master document format. The rest of the features are a different subject. You can always explore the user manual or look out for future articles.

You may actually like the fact that the sentences don’t seem to be crammed together with the Word 2007/2010 default. Even so, this will give you the option of changing that if you need to.

Word 2007 default spacing:

To change the line spacing for an entire document, go to the Styles section of the Home Ribbon and click Change Styles and select Style Set.

Hover the pointer over each of the styles in the dropdown menu, the document will shift to that style and you can select the one you need. In the following screenshot, Word 2003 was selected and we can see how it changed the spacing.

And if you select the Manuscript style, you get a totally different spacing format.

This is certainly more versatile than simply choosing between 1.0, 1.15, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0. All you have to do is hover any of the options and select the optimal format for your document.

If you want to select one of the style sets as a default every time you open a new document, go to Change Styles and select Set as Default.

This may seem obvious and simple, but it is surprising how many users are unaware of this useful option. It is easy to switch between defaults and even return to the original default setting. If you were pleased with the default setting in Word 2003, set that as the default. The same goes for any of the styles. You get the point.

It is also possible to change the line spacing in specific parts of a document. Simply highlight the portion of text in the document to change. Go to the Ribbon and in the Paragraph group, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button.

Next, choose the spacing you want for that section of the document. This feature also has the live preview option to hover over the different spacing options and see how the section will look. By selecting Line Spacing Options, there are further tweaks to implement.

Word 2007 and 2010 offer a plethora of different formatting options. Use them to create any desired document format. All of the tweaks are in the Ribbon.

Start with a blank Word document. Place your title at the top. Generally you will want to center it. Click Insert then Shapes on the Ribbon and select a shape in the Flowchart section of the shape menu. Word 2010 users switch to Insert and select a shape from the Shapes menu under Illustrations.

You then use the plus-shaped cursor to position and choose the size of the shape. It will be apparent how it looks once you let go of the mouse button. You can alter the position by left clicking the shape and moving it.

There are numerous options for linking the shapes on the flow chart. In this demonstration, an arrow will be used. You want to get the basic design established before concerning yourself with graphic effects.

Here is where you can choose the arrow. You can create a new shape to link the arrow to or you can copy the shape you started with. Here the shape is copied.

Just copy and paste and drag the shape to the desired position. Familiarize yourself with the different shapes and position adjustments. All you have to do is select shapes, size and position them, copy them if needed and link them together. Take 20 minutes or so and just play around until you feel comfortable with it. Now it is time to start adding text. Right click a given box and select Add Text then start typing. Adjust the font if necessary.

When the chart is outlined and the text is added, you can begin working with some graphic effects to make the flowchart attractive. Go to the format tab on the Ribbon. Word 2010 users only need to select a shape to automatically get the Format tab in their software.

Click on the shape in the flowchart and then select a color from the Format color chart, click on the color and the shape takes on that color.

Shadow and 3D effects can be added. From the Format tab on the Ribbon, find the 3D effects and click on a shape then click on “3D effects” and select effects from the dropdown menu. Click on the effect and the shape takes on that effect.

Use the Format tab to add shadow effects and change shapes and other effects. You can also use Smart Art. These are pre-designed graphic layouts that allow you to insert professional looking content without being a graphic designer. Select Smart Art from the Insert tab on the Ribbon and pick a design.

Here is what you can come up with after entering the text and changing the colors on the template design.

There is much more that you can do. This gives a basic idea of the procedure for those with no experience making flowcharts in Microsoft Word. You will be a pro in no time.

One of the things that irritated me for quite some time was the default save folder for pictures. Word always defaulted to saving the picture in the My Pictures folder under the currently logged in user’s user directory. I need to add that I’m using Word 2010 under Windows 7, and that it may be different on other systems.

This meant a lot of switching as I was using a different default folder for pictures and image editing.

I first tried to find a way to change the default save picture folder in Word 2010, but failed to find a suitable setting. The only setting available was to change the default document folder, but that had no influence on the picture saving in Word.

You find that setting under File > Options > Save.

I knew that it was possible in previous versions of Word to change additional default directories, including the directory where the pictures were saved in.

The reason for those missing options is the new library feature of Windows 7. Microsoft has moved the default save folder settings to each individual library. Here is how you make use of that new feature to change your default file save as locations under Windows 7.

Open Windows Explorer and click on the Libraries folder in the sidebar. It should look like this.

You will only see libraries for Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos by default, but can add your own folders as a library.

Right-click a library and select Properties from the options. In my case, I had to right-click the pictures library. You will see a listing of all folders making up that library. One of the folders has a check mark next to it. This indicates the default save location for files of that type.

To change that location do the following. If the new default folder is already listed select it, and click the Set save location button. If it is not listed yet click the Include a folder button and add the new folder to the library. Select that folder afterwards and click set save location to make it the default file saving location. The check mark should now be visible next to that folder.

If you go back to Word you will notice that the new save location will be suggested whenever you save pictures in the program.

You can use the same technique to change the default save locations for documents, videos and music.

You can alternatively use the Windows 7 Libraries Management Tool or the Win7 Library Tool to make those changes.

I’m not sure how this is handled under Vista or Windows XP. If you use Word 2010, or another Office program and run Vista or XP let me know.

Like most other things in life, someone tried to answer that question with a formula, or algorithm. Microsoft Word offers readability statistics, but only if the feature is activated by the user. It is turned off by default.

Here is a quick guide on how to enable the readability statistics in Microsoft Word. Please note that I’m using Microsoft Word 2010, and that the setting may be at a different location in previous versions of Word.

Click on File and then Options. This should open the Options window where the majority of configuration changes can be made. Locate Proofing on the left side and click on it.

Place a checkmark into the box next to show readability statistics and click the OK button afterwards. This enables the feature. You won’t realize directly that it has been activated. That’s because it is linked to proof reading, which was already indicated by its location under proofing in the options.

The easiest way to bring up the readability statistics is to press F7 to run the spell checker on the open document, or by clicking on the Review tab and then on the Spelling and Grammar button.

The readability statistics display counts of words, characters, paragraphs and sentences, information about sentence, word and character averages and readability statistics

The Readability section displays the percentage of passive sentences, the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

Flesch Reading Ease scores can be interpreted in the following way:

• 90.0–100.0: Easily understandable by an average 11-year-old student
• 60.0–70.0: Easily understandable by 13- to 15-year-old students
• 0.0–30.0: Best understood by university graduates

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level transforms the Flesch Reading Ease score to a United States grade. A grade level of 9.9 as shown on the screenshot above is expected to be understandable by average 9th to 10th grade students.

If you are a Word user, are you using the Readability Statistics?

Microsoft Word offers options to prevent data loss caused by connection issues to remote storage. The option is available in Word 2003, 2007 and 2010. This guide explains how to make the configuration changes in Word 2010 so that copies of remote documents are always stored on the local computer system during editing to prevent data loss.

The File button in the upper left corner of the Word window opens a context menu that includes a link to the Options menu.

word options

The left sidebar links to specific configuration categories like Save, Proofing or Language, the right content area lists the parameters that can be modified in the selected category.

The Advanced category displays a large list of parameters that can be changed in Microsoft Word.

The Save sub-heading under Advanced contains the parameters needed to make the changes to work with local copies of remote Word documents.

The entry “Copy remotely stored files onto your computer, and update the remote file when saving” is responsible for this. Enabling it reduces the chance of data loss while working with remote documents in Word.

word remote document copies

The parameter “always create backup copy” can be enabled to increase the security further. Word will always create a backup document copy once the option has been enabled.

Repair My Word is a standalone application for Microsoft Windows operating systems that can recover corrupt word files by loading,repairing and saving them int he software program itself. According to the developers homepage the program is compatible with Microsoft Word 6.0, Word 95, 97, 2000, XP, and Word 2003.

The corrupt word file has to be loaded into the program with the Repair / Open button. This opens a file browser that can be used to pick the word document. Repair My Word will try to load the file and display a preview of it in its program interface. This can be used to check the contents of the Word document before it is being saved.

Repair my Word can try to repair documents with the following error messages (and others):

• The document name or path is not valid. Try these suggestions. Check the file permissions for the document or drive. Use the File Open dialog box to locate the document.
• Word cannot open the document.
• Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges.
• When you attempt to open a Microsoft Word 97 document into Microsoft Word version 6.x or 7.x, the document contains garbage characters.

A great addition would be the option to load folders into the application or let it scan the computer to find documents on its own.

The author takes a look at styles (general, header, charakter and table styles), Table of Contents, Line and Page Breaks, Captions and Cross Reference, Turn off auto formatting, Character Based formatting, Continue previous list and finally keyboard shortcuts. The tips are great and pretty useful if you write a lot.