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| The Word On Word 97 |
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Using Word September 1998 • Vol.2 Issue 3 |
The Word On Word 97 | ||
 Microsoft Word 97 can handle any project that revolves around text. This full-featured word processor can do just about everything short of curing writer's block. To understand how powerful a word processor such as Word can be, it helps to know a little about word processing in general. Word processing is the ability to create, store, and print documents on a computer. A good word processing program can be used for garage-sale flyers to a small business newsletter or a letter to great-aunt Ethel. Sure, people did these things before computers, but word processing programs make creating text documents amazingly easy. Unlike the typewriter of days gone by, a single mistake does not ruin the entire page. There is no need to pull the paper out of the printer and slather on the Liquid Paper. You can easily move text around, replace vocabulary, and insert new words at any point. Even the act of typing changed with computers and word processing programs. Such programs do not require users to press the ENTER key on the keyboard at the end of each line, because the software automatically wraps lines in the best spot on the page. This handy feature lets you continue your train of thought without worrying about how much typing will fit on each line. This is only one of the ways computer word processing programs revolutionized the way we write, organize, and even perhaps think.  Important Tools. The most common editing tools in word processing programs such as Word are cut, copy, and paste. Cut removes text from the page without the need for correction tape or any of that mess. Copy puts a copy of selected text into the computer's clipboard for use elsewhere. Paste sets down words just cut or copied to the clipboard into a new location, even between existing words or letters.
In addition to formatting text and making typing less of a chore, word processors have come to include a mighty big toolkit for creating the best documents. Additional features usually include spell checkers, grammar tools, and the ever-important thesaurus to keep you from repeating yourself. The Word Is The Word. Several different word processing programs are available for purchase, and they perform the same functions when it comes to creating documents. Today, the difference is usually in price and how well a certain program gets along with other common business applications. Microsoft Word 97, more commonly called just plain Word or Word 97, is available as a standalone application or with other Microsoft Office 97 suite applications. Because of this and because of its own well-developed features, Word is the best-selling word processing program on the market. It's not difficult to learn the many features of Word. It does everything you want a word processing program to do and many things you would not expect. The combination of ease of use, comprehensive abilities, and Microsoft's sheer dominance keeps the program at the forefront. Opening Word brings up a white screen, much like a blank sheet of paper. The difference is this screen comes with a loaded toolbar along the top, as well as rulers, line count indicators, and more statistics along the bottom. Menus. The main toolbar is a series of buttons and drop-down menus that usually run across the top of the page. The buttons allow you to access tools quickly. The menus are convenient ways to store large numbers of similar commands in addition to some more complex options. The commands are divided into different menus depending on their function(s): File. The File menu contains commands that deal largely with the document file itself, such as Open, Save, and Print. Edit. The all-important Cut, Copy, and Paste commands along with other useful features such as Find and Replace are under the Edit menu. View. Access different ways to look at documents in the View menu. You can zoom in or out on pages and you can add additional toolbars. Insert. The commands in the Insert menu help you to place many kinds of information into documents, ranging from the current date and time to scanned photographs. Format. The Format menu is where the comprehensive set of options for controlling how text looks on a page, including text style and layout choices, is located.
Table. When you want to arrange information into orderly columns and rows, the Table menu is where you turn. Handy commands such as Sort help keep the data neatly organized. Window. The Window menu lets you easily slip between open Word documents. It also contains commands for splitting the screen so you can view more than one document at a time. Help. The Help menu is available to sort out any confusion you may encounter with any of Word's many tools. It's also the home of Word's Office Assistant, the eager little icon who wants to help you with troubles, templates, and more. Toolbar buttons. The toolbar buttons located directly below the drop-down menus provide shortcuts to many of the same. For example, the printer button sets the Print command in motion. Many of the other buttons, such as Open and Cut, are also somewhat self-explanatory from their image. Others, such as the paintbrush icon, are a little less clear. Called the Format Painter command, this icon is one of several formatting tools available as buttons. It copies the format from a selected object or text and applies it to the object or text you click next.
Customization. Word is a highly customizable program. You can completely rearrange the drop-down menus and toolbars, create new toolbars, move buttons between toolbars and into drop-down menus, and toss out commands you do not often access to free valuable toolbar space. You can also customize existing toolbars and menus as well. You can detach toolbars from the main window by dragging them with the mouse. You can add or subtract toolbars for special jobs by right-clicking the toolbar area or looking under the View menu. Special toolbars include commands for drawing, creating forms, and adding WordArt. Under Options in the Tools menu, users can alter many aspects of how Word looks and operates. Simplify & Diversify. Buried in Word 97's toolbars, drop-down menus, and options screens are several nifty new features aimed at simplifying the writing process. Microsoft's IntelliSense technology plays an important part in several key new features, including AutoCorrect, AutoComplete, and AutoText. IntelliSense monitors your typing and works to save time while you type by correcting spelling errors and finishing frequently used words and phrases. For example, AutoCorrect automatically fixes common typos such as "teh" instead of "the." Users who are aware of their often-made errors can add words to the AutoCorrect data bank.
Although not new to Word 97, the grammar checker is a definite improvement in this newer version. One complaint of the previous version was the grammar checker was not that smart—it often cried out for changes in text that was grammatically correct. The new version does not pick up on every idiosyncrasy in the English language, but it is better. Like the spell checker, if you right-mouse click a troubled word or phrase, the grammar checker will bring up possible solutions. Users who find the grammar police irritating can disable this feature under the Tools menu. Keeping in the spirit of simplification, Word 97 makes it easier to create and use macros. Found in the Tools menu, the Macro command offers users the opportunity to simplify often-repeated keystrokes and commands with a one-stroke macro. Users define the task and the necessary keystrokes to complete the macro. Under this menu, you can also review your constructed macros. Other intriguing features in Word 97 deal with manipulating a document after it is written. AutoSummarize is a strange-but-interesting tool found under the Tools menu. It tries to highlight the most important parts of a document on command. Users determine how condensed a summary they want to see, and Word does the rest. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not, but it can help writers determine if what they just wrote clearly gets across their most important points. For editing large documents, Word's Find and Replace features can be the difference between getting a project done and tearing out fistfuls of hair. Using these commands tells Word to replace all occurrences of a certain word or phrase with another, even if the word in question appears in different forms. For example, Word can replace all instances of "worst" with "best" as well as automatically exchanging "worse" for "better." Word makes dealing with long documents easier with built-in tools for things such as indexes, tables of contents, and tables of authority. Users still have to contribute to the arduous task, but the program takes out the drudgery.
Inserting graphics into documents also offers some visual relief from mundane text. Inserting a graphic into a document is a simple task, and since you can reposition graphics anywhere on the page, you have many options. If you cannot find a ready-made graphic you like, Word 97 also provides a complete set of drawing tools so you can create one. With the design and content options, it can be difficult to decide what elements to include in your documents. Changing from one thing to another may make you long for the original draft. This is a common frustration people have with word processing—the lack of ability to see changes. Word 97 offers a solution. Previous versions of Word allowed for strike-through and other techniques to differentiate between versions, but Word 97 makes this process more visible. Particularly useful with shared documents, these collaborative tracking and versioning tools allow users to see who made what changes and when. Word 97 also lets you save the versions within the same document. When the document has made it through the final revisions, you can use the Web tools in Word 97 to put it on the World Wide Web. Word can add hyperlinks (icons, graphics, or words in files that, when clicked with the mouse, automatically open another file for viewing) to documents, making jumping to new locations both in and outside the document a snap. Users with little to no knowledge of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML, the language used to create Web documents) can easily create home pages and other Web documents with the help of the Web Page Wizard. Wizards are an integral part in Office 97 and in Word particularly. Word wizards walk you through the creation of certain kinds of documents step-by-step. For instance, the Letter Wizard prompts you for specific information, and offers you layout choices. When you are through deciding between elements, the wizard customizes your information into a letter format. You need only supply the data and make the choices and the wizard handles the design. Templates work in a similar fashion, offering you many different designs to choose from. The main difference between wizards and templates is that with a wizard you choose formatting and content options, while the templates give you a predetermined layout. Wizards are terrific tools, but you do not need to feel like you must rely on them. One of the best things about Word 97 is that it's easy to learn and easy to use. Familiarize yourself with the capabilities of this diverse program, and you can move beyond just letter writing. Word 97 lets even the novice user in on Web page authoring and desktop publishing, and, coupled with the other programs in the Office suite, the possibilities are endless.  by Anne Steyer Phelps |
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