File Extensions - What are they?

The following is a list of some of the most popular "file extensions" you will see on your computer and or receive in an email...  File Extensions tell the computer the specific type of "file" something is...    Note if any file extension has an "x" at the end of it, it is an indication it was done in one of the Office 2007, 2010, 2013 programs... (ie.e docx; xlsx, pptx)
Extension	Example File Type
zip	Zip archive
pdf	PDF Document
mp3	MP3 Audio File
jpg	JPEG Image
exe	Executable file
wmv	Windows Media Video
doc	Microsoft Word Document
ppt	Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation
mpg	MPEG-1 Video
tif	Tagged Image File Format
wav	Waveform Audio Format
mov	QuickTime
psd	Photoshop Document
wma	Windows Media Audio
xls	Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
mp4	MPEG-4 Part 14
txt	Plain text file
bmp	Windows bitmap
pps	PowerPoint Show
aif	Audio Interchange File
pub	Microsoft Publisher
gif	GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) Image
qbb	QuickBooks backup file
dat	Data
rm	RealMedia
mdb	Microsoft Access
htm	Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
flv	Flash video
wpd	WordPerfect Document
rtf	Rich Text Format
jpeg	JPEG image
html	Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document
pst	Microsoft Personal STorage
ttf	TrueType font
mswmm	Windows Movie Maker Project File
eml	E-mail message
bat	Batch file
wps	Text document; MS Works

Using Auto Complete in Excel (and Word)

Auto Complete in EXCEL helps save time by reducing the amount of text we have to type (enter) when we are filling out a table with duplicate entries (like names, cities, states, and you can add more of your own... And this feature is also available in WORD. 

 

By default, AutoComplete is turned on in Excel. These steps will first show you how to turn it off.

Turn AutoComplete On or Off in Excel 2010

• Click on the File tab of the ribbon to open the File menu
• Click on Options to bring up the Excel Options dialog box
• Click on the Advanced button in the left hand pane
• Under the Editing Options section
• Click on the Enable AutoComplete for cell values option box to remove the checkmark
• Click OK
• AutoComplete should now be disabled
• To re-enable AutoComplete, re-check the option box

Turn AutoComplete On or Off in Excel 2007

• Click on Office Button > Excel Options to bring up the Excel Options dialog box
• Click on the Advanced button in the left hand pane
• Remove the checkmark from the Enable AutoComplete for cell values option box
• Click OK
• AutoComplete should now be disabled
• To re-enable AutoComplete, re-check the option box

Turn AutoComplete On or Off in Excel 2003

• On the Tools menu, click Options
• Now  click the Edit tab.
• To allow automatic completion, click to select the Enable AutoComplete for cell values check box.
• To prevent AutoComplete click to clear the check box.
• AutoComplete should now be disabled
• To re-enable AutoComplete, re-check the option box

Registration for next series is this Thursday, October 25th-9am

We are pleased to remind you that registration for the next computer class series (#56) at 1000 Southern Artery will be held this coming Thursday morning, October 25^th, 2012 at 9am in the main building – so join us and bring a friend…

This Series #56, will run from Nov. 5^th, 2012 to February 7^th, 2013

No classes will be held for various holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and Martin Luther King Day.  

Morning classes, designed for those becoming familiar with computers and the various software application programs such as Word & Excel, will be held:

• Beginners held Monday 9am-10:30am & Wednesday, 10:30am-12Noon
• Intermediate 1/Internet are Monday 10:30am-12N and Wednesday, 9am-10:30am
• Intermediate 2/Word & Excel Basics is Tuesday, 9am-10:30am 

Our morning classes cover…

• Beginner classes cover Hardware, Software and an intro to the Internet
• Intermediate 1/Internet classes cover all aspects of the internet, surfing effectively and using your email to the full extent
• Intermediate 2/Intro to Word & Excel classes are an introduction to the two most popular software programs used worldwide-Word is the basis of all email programs, word processing & texting, and Excel is a spreadsheet program for list management and budgets… 

Afternoon classes are designed for those who understand computer, internet and word basics and are anxious to expand their horizons and have a better understanding of the changing technology (and terminology) and all the “new stuff” that’s available, and our afternoon classes will be held:

• Monday & Tuesday at 1pm-2:30pm
• Wednesday & Thursday at 12:30pm-2pm & 2pm-3:30pm  - Winter hours effective 11/5/2012 for these 2 days of classes 

Our afternoon classes this series will focus on the changing technology and all the wonderful things we keep hearing about – if you have any of these devices or are thinking of getting one, or just want to better understand the system you have – then join us, when we will cover:

• Photo Gifts: More than storing them on PC’s, Gift Ideas, Movies, Digital Photo Frames
• Ereaders… Kindles, Nooks & More..
• Tablets, Netbooks, iPads, Laptops
• Cloud Computing – SkyDrive, iCloud and Google Cloud..
• Music –MediaPlayers-Windows, VLC & Itunes
• Getting To Know Apple, Google & Amazon

Registration is this Tuesday, August 7th - 9am

Don't forget - Registration for the next series of computer classes at Southern Artery, Series #55, is this coming Tuesday morning, 9am – August 7th at the Southern Artery North Building..

The series itself, begins the week of Monday, August 20^th and continues thru November 1^st…No classes will be held on Monday, September 3 for the Labor Day Holiday or on Monday, October 8^th for the Columbus Day Holiday

Special note – we have combined our Intro to Word & Excel classes held in the morning as requested by many students… so you will spend half the series working with Word Basics and the second half learning Excel basics… - This has also allowed us to add another Beginner or Internet class as needed…

Times & Topics for our Morning Beginner/Intermediate Classes:

·         Monday 9am: Beginner 1-Computer Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

·         Monday, 10:30am: Intermediate 1/Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)

·         Tuesday, 9am: Intermediate 1/Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)

·         Tuesday, 10:30am: Beginner 1-Computer Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

·         Wednesday, 9am: – Intermediate 2/Word & Excel Basics (Word Processing basics and then intro to basics of spreadsheets to manage lists and numbers)

·         Wednesday, 10:30am: Beginner 1-Computer Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

Times & Topics for our Afternoon Advanced Classes:

• Monday & Tuesday: 1pm-2:30pm
• Wednesday & Thursday: 1pm-2:30pm and 2:30pm-4pm.

During this new series, Afternoon students, will continue to focus on Word Skills in Word Email & Power Point: We will spend the first few weeks with Word Tables creating create a medial information form; we will then review some of the new features offered by email services, then work with organizing photos on our computers and flash drives; learning more about new features offered by Picasa for photo editing – including easily uploading Picasa photos to Walgreen’s & Facebook; and finish out the series spending several weeks creating slide show presentations with Power Point…

Remember, all afternoon students, who have completed the morning Beginner & Internet classes, are welcome to sign up (and pay) for a 2nd class, in the morning such as the combined Word/Excel class, or to refresh their skills on computer and internet basics... Requests for the 2nd class will be granted/honored on a first come first serve basis and students coming up from the Morning Internet Class have priority on the Word/Excel Class openings..

As always, consider registering with a friend so that you have someone to motivate you to use your new skills and if you have ideas or suggestions for topics that you would like to see us teaching – be sure to let us know… 

These are your classes and we want to be sure you are learning the skills important to you…And as always we welcome your comments and suggestions about what it is you want to learn during these classes, not only about application software – such as Word, Excel, Picasa and others, but all of this technology that is changing continually… 

Changing the default settings in your Office Programs

Default simply means “Standard” – the way in which a program will work each and every time you use it and you can change/modify many of the “default” settings on computer programs that we use daily, including our browsers and office programs…

This is a personal choice – certainly you can continue to use the default settings established by the provider that are built into the program.  But, changing the way your Browser or Office Programs work can make life so much easier.

Customizing your Office programs can impact the way in which documents print, how they are saved, the way they appear on the page, margins, paper layout/orientation – such as portrait or landscape, the font you use, whether the red & green squiggle lines appear as you type indicating spelling & grammatical errors - these are just a few of the many ways in which you can “customize” the way in which your Office Programs work for you.  Decide for yourself – making each program easier for you to use can be done as often as you’d like – some compare it to adjusting the seat position and rear view mirrors when you get into a car…

In Word 97-2003:

Click TOOLS, Then Click OPTIONS

You will see various options available for you to be able to modify to your liking

Click SAVE (set at 1 minutes – doesn’t affect your work, simply saves in the background)

Click SPELL (whichever options you’d like & Auto Text Entries and many others)

In Word 2007-2010:

Click on the Office Button or File Tab

At the bottom of the dialog box/page that opens, left click on “WORD OPTIONS”

This opens the Control/Dialog Box, which lists on the left various categories which allow you to “customize” the software you are using to your own liking..

Special Note for anyone using 2007-2010 Office Programs it is very important to save everything you do as “97-2003 compatible” so that you can share your documents with others who may not have the newest of these software programs.  You can do this as you save each and every document, or do it once when you are in your Options Settings, under the Save category..

What is a “Template” and how can you use them?

Basically "templates" are pre-designed layouts for various items you might want to create on your computer using the various Microsoft Office Programs...

Using TEMPLATES in Word, Excel, Power Point and other programs allows you to open a pre-designed document in these and other various programs.  You can then use the pre-designed layout which is stored in the “Template Folders”.  Some templates are built into your Office Program, and if you can’t find what you need, you can go to Microsoft online for even more templates, just as we do with clip art.  

This means you don’t have to create the entire document, form, spreadsheet/budget or other, power point presentation - much of the design work is already done for you.  Once you find a “template” you want to use, you save it in whatever folder you choose, you can modify it to your own needs and use it however you would like…It is yours.

In 1997-2003 Word/Excel/PowerPoint:

• Go to the Menu Bar, choose "New" and the Template Dialog Box will Open, which has multiple tab categories across the top
• Select the category you want, and you will see various template choices to choose from
• Select the template you want and it will be on  your screen
• Now save the template as your own, finding or creating a folder to save it in and giving it a name that works for you.
• Now you can modify it anyway you would like.

In 2007-2010 Word/Excel/PowerPoint:

• Go to the Office Button in 2007 or File Tab in 2010, Choose "New"
• You will now see the various templates available
• Select the template you want, and "download it"
• Select the template you want and it will be on your screen
• Now save the template as your own, finding or creating a folder to save it in and giving it a name that works for you

Now you can modify it anyway you would like.

How can I freeze both my top row & first column in Excel at the same time?

Q: I want to freeze the top row & first column in my Excel Spread Sheet at the same time?

A: Love this tip – this this will freeze all rows above the selected cell and all columns to the left of the selected cell –
Example: if you highlight cell B2 – then your top row and first column would be the only 2 things frozen!!!

In 97-2003 Excel
• Left click on a single cell of your worksheet
• Then go to Window; then choose Freeze Pane

In 2007-2010 Excel
• Left Click on the View Tab, go to the “Window Section”
• Open drop down list for "Freeze panes"
• Choose Freeze panes

Note-If you have Office Starter (Word Starter, Excel Starter, Power Point Starter) which is a Microsoft Application program that has replaced the former Microsoft Works - you cannot FREEZE or UNFREEZE cells. Although the starter programs allow you to perform many tasks, it is not a full featured program such as the Microsoft Office for Student & Home Versions and above...

EXCEL: HOW TO TURN THE HEADING ROW “ON” OR “OFF”

When we work in Excel (Spreadsheets) whether for numbers or data management, it's always best to be sure that we've typed in a heading row, so that when we sort a column - it will be easier to understand the meaning of the data. By default, the value in the heading is not included in the sort operation.

 

Occasionally, you may need to turn on or off the heading so that the value in the heading is or is not included in the sort operation. Do one of the following:

• To exclude the first row of data from the sort because it is a column heading, on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Sort & Filter, click Custom Sort, and then select My data has headers.
• To include the first row of data in the sort because it is not a column heading, on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Sort & Filter, click Custom Sort, and then clear My data has headers.

Registration for next Series is Tuesday, 9am-October 25th

Don't forget - Registration for the next series of computer classes at Southern Artery, Series #52, will be held this Tuesday morning, 9am - October 25th at the Southern Artery North Building in Classroom #1.

The series itself, begins the week of Monday, October 31st and continues thru January… For those of you heading to Florida after the holidays, don't miss this series - You will have time to attend most of it and then we will continue to send you the handouts via email when you are away to be sure you don't miss anything!!

Times & Topics for our Morning Beginner/Intermediate Classes:
Monday 9am – Beginner 1 - Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)
Monday, 10:30am – Intermediate 1 - Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)

Tuesday, 9am – Intermediate 2 - Word Basics (Word Processing basics – a great class for everyone)
Tuesday, 10:30am – Intermediate 3 - Excel Basics (basics of spreadsheet software to manage lists & numbers)

Wednesday, 9am – Intermediate 1 - Internet Basics (All about the internet, web & using email)
Wednesday, 10:30am - Beginner 1 - Basics (Hardware, Software & Intro to Internet)

Times & Topics for our Afternoon Advanced Classes:
Monday & Tuesday: 1pm-2:30pm
Wednesday & Thursday: 12:30pm-2pm and 2pm-3:30pm (these are our winter hours for both classes, so that anyone driving to/from class, can be home before it get’s dark)

Afternoon students will focus on a variety of subjects including Updates on Internet/Email, using our class and other blogs; Word Processing – review, creating labels and tables & more; using Flash Drives & organizing what’s on your computer; Social Networking including Facebook and in January, always a favorite topic: tips on using your new holiday toys..

Afternoon students, who have completed the morning Beginner & Internet classes, are welcome to sign up (and pay) for a 2nd class, in the morning such as Word and/or Excel, or to refresh their skills on computer and internet basics... Requests for the 2nd class will be granted/honored on a first come first serve basis and students coming up from the Morning Internet Class have priority on the Word Class openings..

As always, consider registering with a friend so that you have someone to motivate you to use your new skills and if you have ideas or suggestions for topics that you would like to see us teaching – be sure to let us know…

These are your classes and we want to be sure you are learning the skills important to you…

What is clip art & how do I use it?

Holidays are coming and you might want to use clip art or photos to enhance your documents - invitations, holiday letters and more.... First of all ~ always insert graphics into your documents vs. copying them, so they react the way you want or need them to...

Clip art is a picture or graphic that can be inserted into various documents, such as those you might create in word processing, power point, excel or publisher to name a few...
You don’t have to purchase clip art software (as we did years ago) - There are thousands and thousands of different CLIP ART options built into various documentation programs and you can continue to build your own clip art collection from a variety of sources such as Microsoft online or Google images…

When you are in your word document, put your cursor/insertion point to the specific location in your document where you want the clip art, picture or symbol to be “inserted”.

• In Office 2007-2010 Word, Excel, etc.. go to the Insert Tab
  
• In Office 2003 or older versions, go to Insert on the Menu Bar and then to Pictures, Clip Art, etc.

You will now choose what you want to Insert - Picture, ClipArt, Symbol, Text Box, Word Art etc..

For clip art you will now see the gallery and/or the gallery search bar, so that you can search for or choose the image you want – if it is a picture, then open the folder or sub-folder the picture is in and choose the picture – one it is highlighted choose insert.

The image will now be inserted into your document…

When the graphic is on your page, the Picture Formatting Toolbar appears (in older versions of Word 2003 and prior-you can right click on your toolbar and turn this on or off) in Word 2007 & 2010 it appears as a new/additional tab, after the View tab..

When you insert graphics into your document, always go to the Text Wrap Icon (looks like a little dog in a postage stamp) and when the list appears choose Through. This allows you to easily work with both your text and graphics. Later, you can then change your choice of text wrapping – tight, square, behind text, in front of text (choices vary depending on your version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc 2000-2003-2007-2010?)…

Use your sizing handles around your graphic to change the size of your graphic – personally I like to use the sizing handles in the corners so that I change the height and width of my graphic all at once to be sure I don’t distort the graphic making it too tall/short or too wide/narrow…
Use the four headed arrow on the graphic to move the graphic around on your page to where you want it…

If your sizing handles boxes aren’t there or you don’t see the picture formatting toolbar, simply click on your graphic again – you must have the sizing handles around your graphic in order to see the picture formatting toolbar…

Clip Art & other graphics are a great way to enhance your documents - remember: one picture can be worth a thousand words... have fun & enjoy

What is Excel? And why would I use a spreadsheet?

Most of us understand that word processing software makes it much easier to create documents such as letters, forms, invitations, greeting cards and anything that contains text. Well – Excel does the same thing for us – making it easier to work lists, figures, numbers for list management, budget, statistics, data – anytime any type of calculation needs to be done. Although Excel spreadsheets/worksheets used to be used primarily for accounting and other analytical information where calculations needed to be made easily; but many of us find them a wonderful resource for list and other data management.

Like so many software application programs, Excel opens with a blank document – but in Excel that blank document is a blank worksheet, which is actually a grid of rows and columns.

In Excel, the rows of you spreadsheet/worksheet are serially numbered 1,2,3 .... and the columns are serially lettered A,B,C..... This numbering enables each space or cell to have its unique address; thus D15 represents the cell in the 4th column and the 15th row.

In Excel, using the ‘=’ sign, simple mathematical equations or formula can be used and sums, differences, products etc. calculated. Thus typing say, ‘=23+56’ in any cell will give the result of 79. The same work can be done by typing in the numbers 23 in cell A1, 56 in A2 and ‘=A1+A2’ in cell A3 and in fact what you have done is create a “formula”

Using a formula with cell references allows us to change the value in either cell A1 or A2 to get the revised result. This has significant advantages when using a complex formula or the same formula across multiple cells. The more recent your version of Excel, the easier it is to create and/or use formulas included in the software command list.

So many of the basic commands that we use all the time in Word Processing whether you use Microsoft Word Pad, Word or Word Perfect, such as Open, Save, Copy, Paste, Find, Replace Undo, Redo, Center, Left, Right etc.. are also available and work the same in Excel, Excel also offers a variety of basic commands that are designed to work with spreadsheets – whether you are managing a list of data or one with numbers and some of those are Paste Special, Filter, Sort, Wrap Text, Autofill, and Freeze panes.

And with the newer versions - Excel 2003, 2007 and 2010 - each new version adds more and more "templates" so that we don't have to recreate the wheel - so whether you are creating a budget for the holidays, a special event, your vacation or next years income & expenses - or various lists for managing data - there are hundreds of templates to choose from with the formulas already built in...

So whether you are trying to create a basic budget or want a way to quickly and easily maintain you all of your contact lists in one document – Excel is the answer.. So give it a try... it's easier than you think and can be used for so many things..

CTRL + F - Keyboard shortcut to find specific words

By now, most of you know how much I enjoy using “Keyboard Shortcuts” which make doing certain functions a little easier - and I like easy - but they do allow us to give a command and get results quickly and easily…

To me CTRL + F is one of those keyboard shortcuts that I think you will use as often as I do, which is “all the time”

Most of us spend time looking for documents or other things on our computer because we can’t remember what we named them – but we do remember words specific in that document – report, spreadsheet, letter – whatever… Well if you haven’t tried this keyboard shortcut before – give it a try…

This great keyboard shortcut works in almost every application (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point, with all major browsers, Notepad, Word Pad and many other application software programs... Simply type the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F (F for Find) to find a word or series of characters.

Give it a try right now while you are on the internet—search for the word “keyboard” in the next section.

What is OCR software

Typically when we “scan” something into our computer – whether it is a photo or a document, the end results is a “digital picture” of whatever we scanned. But, OCR software (OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition) allows us to EDIT what we have scanned.

Simply “scan” your document into your computer and the OCR software converts it to an "editable file" that can be edited in most word processing and spreadsheet software programs. What types of documents can you scan? Basically any printed material –such as notes, letters, documents, spreadsheets, magazine or newspaper articles, books etc.

The quality of the OCR conversion process will largely depend on the quality of the scanned image and the clarity of the characters of that image.

Today – many of the printers for the home market, especially “all-in-one” multi function printers and “photosmart” printers include OCR software capabilities included with the software or you can visit the manufacturer’s website and download it for free.

So your current printer maybe OCR ready- not sure? Once again, go to the manufacturer’s website – put in your model # and it will give you the specifics on if the OCR software is available, if so how to download and use the OCR software.

OCR software is a real timesaver so we don't have to retype documents to be able to edit them. OCR software is also available as “freeware” and for purchase if it doesn’t come with your printer…

Excel – Counting “X’s” in a Column

A question that comes up quite often with respect to Excel spreadsheets – is how to create a formula that will add up/count the number of cells in a column containing "X’s":

If you have a specific column or columns, that you have put an X in and want to count the total # of X’s in a specific column, for example for attendance or other criteria, the formula you would enter in the “total cell” is noted below. Be sure however to enter the correct column & line ID’s…

Example – In your excel spreadsheet – Column C, you have put several X’s in Rows 1 thru 28, and want to now count the # of X’s in Column C, the correct formula that would be noted in the total cell C29 would be:

=COUNTIF(C1:C28,"X")

Sorting Data in Excel

Excel makes it very easy to sort data that is entered in multiple columns, by using the SORT buttons (A-Z or Z-A)… So be sure when you are entering your data, to put information in as many individual columns as possible – In my opinion you can never have too many columns to sort data with..

Make sure before you give the command to SORT that you have highlighted the active sheet, so that all information in the columns and rows will then “move” when the information is sorted…

Excel Sort Data by One Column:

• Select all the cells in the list
• Choose Data>Sort
• When the Sort Dialog Box opens, be sure to check off that your list has a “header row” so you will see the data – not the column ID letter
• From the Sort by dropdown, select the column you want to sort. Note: If the dropdown is showing Column letters instead of headings, change the setting for My list has, from No header row to Header row.
• Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order

Excel Sort Data by multiple Columns:

Such as when we are entering data for our contacts to prepare a mailing list – we might want to sort by Last Name, First Name and then Spouses Name which are in 3 three columns. So we will sort it all at once, but giving different levels 1 would be Last Name; 2 would be First Name and then last the Spouses Name…starting with the most important sort.

• Select all the cells in the list.
• Choose Data>Sort
• When the Sort Dialog Box opens, be sure to check off that your list has a “header row” so you will see the data – not the column ID letter
• From the Sort by dropdown, select Last Name.
• From the Then by dropdown, select First Name.
• From the Then by dropdown, select Spouses Name.
• Click OK

Note about Excel 2007 and 2010

• The SORT BUTTON is on the HOME TAB to the far right in the Editing quadron and also in the DATA TAB in the Sort & Filter quadron
• When the Sort Dialog Box Opens you will see one SORT field, but you can add as many levels for sorting as you would like.…

Google Docs - Part 2 of 2

For anyone who is using Google Doc's - Google has a great new software plug-in “Cloud Connect” that easily will move any and all of our Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint files to Google Docs.

Cloud Connect, was released by Google on Thursday Feb 24^th, 2011 and it will allow users to save our files to save their files to "the cloud," which in this case is on Googles servers.

That means that once our files are saved in Google Docs, we can then edit files in Microsoft Office and sync them up to the clouds. This will also mean that it will be much easier if and when we want to collaborate on documents and will eliminate the confusion as to which version of a document is the most recent one.

"For example, you can edit a Word document's Opening Page of Grandma’s Life Story from Lake Havasu, AZ, while your sister in Quincy, MA is adding the family tree and your brother in Weymouth, MA is making other revisions.. This way, instead of having to send emails with tons of attachments, your whole family or group can work together."

And the great news is that Google will save every revision of any document users of Cloud Connect make, whether those edits take place in Office or Google Docs. And files can be shared in a view-only form via Google Docs as well with each document getting a unique Web address (just in case you don’t want someone make changes).

Cloud Connect is free and works with Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 on Windows PCs. Cloud Connect, however, won't work with Mac versions of Office. Sorry – it’s not available for Mac Users yet, but Google indicates it’s working on it, so no doubt it will be in the near future….

Check it out for yourself…

http://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudconnect

What are Google Docs?

Have you tried Google Doc’s yet? Check it out - if you have Internet access, you can use the various aspects of Google Docs, which include Documents (Word Processing); Spreadsheets; Presentations, Drawings and Forms..

Google Docs is great for:

• anyone who travels so you can access your documents anytime anywhere


• groups who want to collaborate on various projects


• those who only use word processing software once in a while and don’t want to buy and download software on their computer...

Why Google Doc's is becoming so popular:

• You store your documents online, so you can access your documents from any computer


• No need to transfer documents to flash or portable drives or "synch" anything


• Works great with all Microsoft Office products, such as Word, Excel & PowerPoint, as well as OpenOffice, so you can upload or download your files.


• You can export documents as PDF files, so if you have Office 97-2003, this is a great/free way to convert documents to PDFs without having to upgrade to Office 2007 or 2010, or use other plug-ins


• Easy to collaborate on projects-you can make a document public or show it to others by sending a link. If you want to allow others to work on the document, you can send out an email to others notifying them that they can access the document.

Use your existing email account to sign into & set-up a Google Account-this video on YouTube explains just how to do that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJpkRbNto7E

Excel 2010 - Create an "Auto Fill List" Excel/Office 2010

EXCEL 2010 - HOW TO CREATE/ADD YOUR OWN CUSTOMIZED “AUTO FILL LIST” (this has changed a little since earlier versions of Excel)

If you have a list/header row already typed on a spreadsheet – skip this step

“Type your list either in the first row or the first column” of an Excel spreadsheet

• Highlight this customized list that you want to add to the Auto Fill Master list
• Now, go to the File Tab & choose “Options”
• In the Options list – in the left column, Choose Advanced
• Bring the scroll bar on the right down almost to the bottom.. until you see the button “EDIT CUSTOM LIST” (to the right of “create lists for the use in sort 7 fill sequences”)
• That Opens the Edit Custom List Dialog Box – toward the bottom right, left click in the button Import
• Now you will see your list in the right column-“List Entries” and in the left list “Custom Lists” – Click OK

Notes:

• If you have a list in another program (word, word perfect, email, etc) – simply highlight and copy the list in that program, open the Edit Custom List Dialog Box, right click and choose paste – the list will not be in the “List Entries” and when you add it – it will be added with the commas after each word/phrase.
• To change this list in the future (add or remove titles), come back to this dialog box, left click on the custom list on the left side that you want to change – the list will appear in the “List Entries” on the right – make the change and then click on ADD, then click OK
• You can only change “custom lists” you’ve created, not ones that came with your software..

Name & Save Your Work

Whether you are writing a letter using Word Pad, Word, Word Perfect OR creating a list of items from home or contact list using a spreadsheet software such as Excel OR creating a slide show for a power point presentation - remember when you begin - name your document immediately.
How we name a document is the same, although it varies some based on the version of software you are using...

You will notice when you open a document in Word it will have a Document Number in the title bar; if you open a spreadsheet in Excel it will have a Workbook Number - these will be replaced when you name your work (the more “new documents or spreadsheets you open” the higher the numbers get all day )

We name documents and save them in our choose of specific folders so that we can find them easily when we need them again... Saving work in folders is done in the same way in which we file work in a metal file cabinet...

• Go to File on the Menu Bar (or in newer versions go to the Office Button)
• Choose "Save As"
• In the newer versions of Word/Excel etc - you want to choose "Save as 97-2003" so that it can then be opened by others using these earlier versions
• Be sure you are in the correct DRIVE - at home the C Drive - OR if you are using a flash memory stick-choose that drive; OR at work or in school, choose the drive assigned to you.
• Then open the “My Documents” or "Documents" drawer
• Now choose or create the folder you want your work saved in
• Now NAME THE DOCUMENT, such as 2010.10.18 letter to paul
• Remember you can not use / or \ slashes when naming anything on the computer and numbers always come before letters on the computers filing system
• Once you are done typing the name you can use Enter on the keyboard, or choose OK or save with the mouse
• It is now saved and when you look at the work on monitor you will see the new name at the top on the title bar and on the open button on your task bar