Melanie L. Mills
Computer Services
Bloomsburg University
570-389-4096
PC News Fall 2000
Office 2000—O2K
Inside this issue:
Office 2000
1
Tables
1
Using Extend
Mode
2
Shortcuts
2
GroupWise
2
Office 2000 is packed full of
new features that will help
us work more efficiently.
Below is a brief overview of
some of the key features.
•Picture Bullets in Word
2000 can spice up your
lists by clicking on format,
bullets and numbering and
then click on the bulleted
tab. Click Picture and then
click the pictures tab. Select and insert the picture
bullet you want to use.
•Two new features in Excel
2000 include, automatic
list extension and a Clipboard toolbar.
To automatically extend lists, enter numbers in A1:B5. In
C1 enter =A1+B1, then fill
down. Now type new numbers in A6 and B6. When
you tab, C6 will contain the
formula =A6+B6. The Clipboard toolbar contains a
new feature, Collect and
Paste. This allows you to
gather a group of clips to
be pasted at one time or
hold a clip to paste in multiple places.
It is especially handy
for copying
formulas to multiple locations. The toolbar must be
displayed before clips are
copied; otherwise, only the
last clip is retained in
memory.
This toolbar is
also available in Word
2000.
•PowerPoint 2000 has
added a new view, the
Normal View. This view divides the screen into three
panes: Outline, Slide and
Notes. Instead of flipping
back and forth among each
of the individual views
(which are still available),
you will most likely use the
Normal view to perform
the
majority
of
your
PowerPoint activities.
•When starting Access 2000
you will notice a change to
the design of the Database
Window. The object tabs at
the top of the window have
become a Shortcut bar on
the left. The functionality is
the same, with the capability to add object groups.
This is just a sample of enhancements to Office 2000.
Feel free to contact me if
you have a need for FrontPage or Publisher tips.
Tables in Word 2000
Table Move Handle
Table Resize Handle
Among the more significant
changes is the greater ease
with which you create and
format tables. In Word
2000 you can automatically
control table size and adjust
column widths by using the
AutoFit commands on the
Table menu. You can set
tables to resize to fit within
the window of a Web
browser, allow cells to automatically expand as you
type, or set columns to a
fixed width. AutoFit to
Window resizes a table so
that it fits in the window of
a Web browser. The table
fits the window size exactly
as the window expands or
shrinks. Click in a table,
point to AutoFit on the Table menu, and then click
AutoFit to Window. You can
see the results by clicking
Web Page Preview on the
File menu.
AutoFit to
Contents automatically adjusts the width of columns
in a table so that they expand as you type. Click in a
table, point to AutoFit on
the Table menu, and then
click AutoFit to Contents.
Fixed
Column
Width
keeps each column in the
table at a fixed width so
that columns will not expand as you type. Click in a
table, point to AutoFit on
the Table menu, and then
click Fixed Column Width.
Table Move Handle
Use the table move handle
to drag a table to a new location, without changing its
size or shape. To move a
table rest the pointer over
the table until the table
move handle appears on
the upper-left corner of the
table. Drag the handle to
move the table to a new
location.
Table Resize Handle
Instead of adjusting row
and column sizes, use the
table resize handle to drag
the table boundaries to the
size you want, while maintaining the same row and
column proportions. To resize a table rest the pointer
over the table until the table resize handle appears
on the lower-right corner of
the table. Drag the table
boundary until the table is
the size you want.
There are several other table enhancements including
nested tables,
inserting
rows above or below current row, merging cells vertically or horizontally and
the ability to wrap text
around a graphic within a
cell.
Page 2
Melanie L. Mills
Computer Services
PC News Fall 2000
Using Extend Mode
Press on the F8 key and
you enable what Word for
Windows refers to as extend mode. This is the
keyboard method of anchoring the cursor in
preparation for making a
selection. The letters EXT
appear on the status bar,
and when you move the
cursor using the cursor
control keys, the size of
the text selection changes.
You turn off the extend
Helpful Hints
Shortcuts
Word
Has anyone had this
problem? Word suddenly
displays a prompt (Y/N)
when you select a block of
text and press "delete."
Go to the Tools menu.
Choose Options. On the
General tab turn off the
option for WordPerfect
navigation keys.
Excel
You may be aware that
you can wrap text in a cell
by right clicking on a cell
and
choose
format,
alignment and select the
wrap text check box. A
related shortcut allows
you to start a new line in
a current cell. Click on
ALT+ENTER to insert a
line break.
The following Word shortcut allows you to add lines
in your documents, without removing your fingers
from the keyboard. Start
at the left margin of a new
line, type at least three
characters, and then press
Enter. The result is a line
based on the characters
you typed. You can use the
following characters:
• Type three dashes and
you get a single line.
• Type three underlines
and you get a bold single
line.
• Type three equal signs
and you get a double
line.
• Type three asterisks and
you get a heavy dotted
line.
mode by pressing the Esc
key. When you press the
F8 key multiple times, you
can select different parts
of your text. For instance,
when you press F8 once,
you simply turn on extend
mode. Press it a second
time, and the current word
is selected. A third time
results in the current sentence being selected. A
fourth time selects the
current paragraph, and a
fifth time selects the whole
document. To use Extend,
from the status bar, double-click the EXT button at
the bottom of the Word
window--it is grayed out,
but it will work. With Extend active, you can select
text using the arrow keys-hands off (you don't have
to hold down any keys).
When you're finished with
Extend, turn it off by
pressing Esc.
You can actually type more
than three of each character, if you desire. Word
does not care that much-the only requirement is
that there is at least three
of them, and they begin at
the left margin. What Word
does is add a border of the
specified type to the bottom of the paragraph. If
you want to later delete
the line, the only way to
do so is to remove the
paragraph, or choose Borders and Shading from the
Format menu. If you cannot automatically add lines
on your system, follow
these steps:
1. Choose
AutoCorrect from the Tools
menu. Word displays the
AutoCorrect dialog box.
2. Make sure the AutoFormat As You Type tab is
selected.
3. Make sure
the Borders check box is
checked. 4. Click on OK.
This Excel shortcut will
insert the date and time
for you in a matter of seconds
without
removing
your hands from the keyboard. To insert the current date into a cell, you
can type =TODAY() and
press Enter. If you're in
too much of a hurry for all
that typing, try pressing
Ctrl-; (semicolon) to insert
the date, and Ctrl-: (colon)
to insert the time. The inserted information will display using the cell's current format.
GroupWise
Time-saving
shortcut
Create a new mail message and type in a first or
last name. Now press the
down arrow key on the
keyboard. GroupWise cycles through the corresponding names as you
press the down arrow key.
The names could be on or
off campus, depending on
the contents of your frequent contacts group.
Creating Groups
If you have a Word document or Excel spreadsheet
with several email addresses
already
typed,
save your self some time
and copy and paste them
into a new GroupWise mail
message in the to: box.
Click on addresses and the
names should appear on
the right.
Under the
names you can click on
save group and give your
group a name. Click cancel if you do not really
need to send a mail message, and your group will
still be saved.
Questions, comments, tips—contact Melanie - mmills@bloomu.edu