Lots of Word goodies to get through today, so onwards we head.
Insert Ribbon
We start today's class with the rest of the Insert Ribbon goodies. Last week we looked at inserting images and how to place and manipulate them on your document. We also looked at SmartArt and Shapes. We will leave Charts for when we look at Excel (I bet you can't wait) and I NEVER use the Screenshot tool, but I will share with you the way that I capture and use screenshots in Word (and any other application).Headers and Footers
Headers and Footers allow you to place information that will appear on the top and/or bottom of every page within a document. You would usually place things like page numbers or filenames within a header or footer, or for an assessment task, you could include your name and student number. You can have a different Header and Footer for odd and even pages.
You can use one of the pre-formatted Headers or Footers or you can create your own. To create your own, or to edit an existing Header or Footer, double-click in the Header or Footer on your document. You can then use the Header and Footer Design tools.
Cover Page
We talked about writing reports in our Social Media class and I mentioned that a report should have a Cover Page. Creating a Cover Page is just a click away.
Click on Cover Page, Choose the style you want, and then just modify it with your own information. Voila!
Text
There are a couple of cool tools within the Text section of the Insert Ribbon.
With the Text Box tool, as well as being able to add a plain text box, there are some pretty preformatted text boxes. The advantage of Text Boxes is that they have similar features to pictures and you can move them about the page in the same way.
Quick Parts is where you can create re-usable bits and pieces as well as add Document Property information. I have a signature line that has been saved that I can re-use whenever I want.
Word Art is also treated like an image - it allows you to add funky formatted text to your document that can be used for a header or attention grabber.
Date and Time can be used to add the current date and time to your document - very handy when creating templates and also useful to put in headers and/or footers.
If you would like to see this again, watch the tutorial on YouTube
or you can watch it here.
Tables
There are a number of ways to create tables with Word. The first is by using the Table button on the Insert Ribbon and highlighting on the grid how many rows and columns you want.
As you can see above, by using the Table button, you can visually select the size of the table from the grid or you can use the Insert Table option menu. Again, the preview will show you how it will look in your document – our WYSBYGI again.
Another method is to use the Draw Table toolbar.
Once you have created your table, you can use the Design ribbon, to choose from a range of table formatting and colours.
The advantage of using the Draw Table option is that you can create a table of any shape/size. Change the pen colour and style to be even more "creative". You can also use the Design Styles to alter the shadings and colourings of the table.
As well as being able to create an empty table, you can also create a Quick Table, which is a preformatted table style. Once the table is on your page, you can then replace the text with your own.
You can use your mouse to resize any columns or rows within the table. You can also select cells and change lines and shadings individually and you can add or remove columns and rows.
Watch the Video on creating tables on YouTube
Or here it is below.
Paragraph Formatting
Paragraph formatting affects the whole paragraph, not just what you have highlighted. If you want to format multiple paragraphs, you will need to select them.A paragraph is defined as one or more lines of text finishing with a carriage return. You can use the Show/Hide button to determine where a carriage return is.
Bullets and Number lists
These are the first two tools for paragraph formatting. You can select the tool before you start your list or you can format after you have typed the list.
Justification
Paragraphs can be left aligned, Centred, right aligned, or fully justified. Fully justified lines will align at both the left and right margins.
Line spacing
Paragraph/Font Colours and Borders
By default the colours and borders here work with the whole paragrah, but if you just have some text selected, they will work like Font tools and only the text that is selected will change.
Tabs and the amazing Ruler
I’m a bit of a visual person when it comes to setting tabs. I like to use the ruler. If the ruler is not visible, you can change it in the View Ribbon by checking Ruler box. By default, TABS are set at every half inch across the ruler. (One inch is 2.54cm).The Ruler is the best way to play with TABS and the best way is to see this in action.
Watch how easy it is to play with TABS using the Ruler on YouTube
Or you can watch it below.
Page Layout
Page Layout options include Margins, paper or page orientation, paper or page size, columns, and page and section breaks. Margins, orientation and paper size are easy and pretty obvious.COlumns and section breaks can get more complicated.
Columns
Columns on their own are quite simple, but columns mixed with section breaks are truly awesome. The best way to appreciate this is to see it in action.Watch the tutorial on columns and section breaks on YouTube
or watch it here
Proofing Tools
Under the Review Ribbon, you will find your proofing tools. These include spell checker, grammar checker, thesaurus, research and translate. These tools should be used at the end to make sure that your document is accurate for spelling and grammar. I must admit, I don’t like the grammar checker as it always gives me heaps of errors. I guess I tend to type/write how I talk and not always with correct and proper sentence structure, althow I pryde meself on me spellin. You will also find your Word Count tool – just in case you have to write a 500 word essay and you need to keep track of your word count so you don’t go overboard.
You will notice that Word, by default, spell checks as you type - just in case you didn't know what those red squiggly lines were, they indicate a spelling mistake. A word of warning though - don't just rely on these proofing tools to ensure that your document is accurate as a spell checker is just that and will not always pick on words that are used in the wrong context, but are correctly spelt. English can be a fickle language and can be confusing even for those who speak it as their native tongue!!! Take words like stationary and stationery; there, their and they're; where, wear and we're; your and you're; too, to and two etc. Word can figure out when some of these are used in the wrong context, although spelt correctly, but not all.
As well as spell checking as you type, you can specifically run a spell check on your document or you can look up a particular word to make sure that you are using it correctly. To run a spell check on your document, click on the Spelling & Grammar button in the review ribbon.
When a word is found that is not in the dictionary, you will get a window that will allow you to replace the word with one of the suggestions, ignore the word, or add it to the dictionary.
You can use the right mouse button on any words that have the squiggly lines to see various corrections. With the context menu, you can quickly select an alternative from the list, ignore, add the word to the dictionary, or look up the word.
You can also change the language from English (US) to any other language.
Options
The last topic for today will be looking at the options, particularly those that relate to the proofing tools. Options can be accessed from the File menu.
AND THAT CONCLUDES OUR WORD LESSONS FOR NOW
STAY TUNED FOR AN ASSESSMENT TASK
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