Registration for Nov 4th Computer Class Series #60 is Tuesday, October 22nd 9am

Just a reminder that registration for the next Series #60 of Computer Classes will be held tomorrow morning at the Southern Artery main building, Classroom 1, so come on down and bring a friend...

Classes are held Monday-Wednesday mornings and Monday-Thursday afternoons..

Monday-Wednesday Mornings:

Beginners held Mondays 9am-10:30am & 10:30am-12Noon

Intermediate 1/Internet held Tuesdays 9am-10:30am & 10:30am-12N

Intermediate 2/Word & Excel Basics held Wednesday 9am-10:30am

When an additional class is needed for a specific topic in the morning, it will be held Wednesdays 10:30am-12N 

Monday-Thursday Afternoons:

Advanced Classes Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday at 1pm-2:30pm and Thursday at 12:30pm-2pm; 2pm-3:30pm

This series our Advanced Afternoon Classes will be focusing on buying and using Smartphones; Reviewing Word Processing Skills and then spending several weeks using those Word skills to create Note Cards, Envelopes and Labels; Discussing changing technology in digital cameras & camcorders, tablets, kindles, nooks & ipads and spending two weeks improving printer and scanning skills...  Remember - these are your classes, so if you have suggestions for class topics, please let us know...Your input is very important to the success of this program and to ensure we are helping you learn the computer related topics that are of interest to you...

The ten week series will begin the week of November 4th and continue into the first week of February, however no classes will be held:

Monday Nov 11th - Veteran's Day Holiday

Monday - Friday, Nov. 25-Nov 29th Thanksgiving Holiday

Monday-Friday, Dec. 23rd - Jan. 3rd, 2013 Christmas-New Year Holiday

Monday Jan 20th - Martin Luther King Holiday

Reminder - When Quincy and/or Weymouth Public Schools are closed for inclement weather, no computer classes will be held.

Enjoy your day...

Word Processing-Tips to Create a Flyer or Invitation

BEFORE YOU BEGIN a new FLYER OR INVITATION

Be sure you have listed all information you need in your flyer and or invitation - It is too easy to forget something when you get busy “creating” so jot down the “5” W’s: 

Who - What - When - Where - Why

AS YOU BEGIN YOUR New Document:

Be sure to set your margins – If you are using paper with preprinted borders, measure the pre-printed area, so that you can set your margins allowing enough room so your typing doesn’t go into the printed border area (known as the gutter)

Once your margins (top, bottom, left & right) are set, then be sure to choose & set paper layout/orientation to either portrait or landscape

Name your NEW document:

Once margins & paper layout/orientation are set - now Name Your Document Immediately

·        When you open a document in Word, it will have a Document Number

·        The more “new documents you open” during the day the higher the numbers go

·        You want to name your document, so you can find it

·        In Word 97-2003, to the Menu Bar, File, Save As

·        In Word 2007, open the Office Button (Office Button replaced File in the upper left corner of monitor) and then choose Save As

·        In Word 2010, open File, Save As

*Note in Word 2007 & 2010 you want to be sure that you save all documents as 97-2003 compatible so that no matter what version of Word your friends or associates use, they will be open documents you send them and work with them…

Once you have chosen “Save As” the computer will open the “My Documents” folder in Word 97-2003, or in Word 2007/2010 it will open the Library First and then the Document master folder..

Once the Document master folder is open, choose or create the folder you want to save your work in; or if you intend to save yr work onto a flash or portable drive, go to My Computer, find the drive you are using, then open the Document master folder and then find or create the correct folder for your work to be saved in

Once you are in the specific folder you want your work stored in (Always look up to the top of the address bar in the Save As Dialog Box that your work will be saved in the correct folder you have chosen or created for it) you will now name your document

When you finish typing the document name, just use the enter key on your keyboard or you can left click on SAVE in the bottom right corner of the Save As Dialog Box

Tips:

• Type in all the information you will need on your flyer/invitation – do the formatting once the typing is done so you know how much data you have to work with
• Before printing the document on your pre-printed paper, print one on plain white paper & hold it against your paper to the light to be sure it is inside the border
• Have someone else read it, before your pint, so that you are totally sure you have included all of the information needed

Word Processing Basics - Highlighting & Fonts

As requested, for the next few posts we are going to review some WORD PROCESSING BASICS:

SELECT TO EFFECT (highlight)

When you want to edit/change text (add Bold, Italic, Underline, Delete, change color, cut, copy, past, change font size or style and lots of other "formatting options") remember to "select the text first/highlight it" and then click the button of your choice..  

TIP: To highlight everything in a document, whether 1 page or 100 pages: use SELECT ALL or CTRL + A (keyboard shortcut)

BASIC SCREEN: Insertion Point “I” vs. Work Bar, Title Bar, Menu Bar, Toolbars, Ruler, Scroll Bars (right & bottom), Status Bar & Task Bar

BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINE: B – I – U Highlight text, use icon on formatting toolbar OR Menu Bar, Format, Font

DON'T PANIC WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE - Use your "Undo" & "Redo" buttons

FONT STYLE:  The design of your characters – letters – numbers

FONT SIZE: the size of your characters – letters – numbers

STANDARD  BUSINESS FONT & SIZES

Commonly used in business:

Times New Roman, 12pt.

Arial, 14 pt.

STANDARD INTERNET/WEB PAGE FONT STYLE & SIZES:

Verdana or Tahoma – 8 pt, 9 pt or 10 pt.  (smaller than normal business prints)

What do DIFFERENT font sizes mean?

A 72 pt. Is always equal to 1" inch high Upper Case Letters

so a 36 pt = to 1/2" inch high; 9 pt = 1/8" inch high 

How to easily enlarge what you are looking at in a document

If you zoom in and out of your documents quite a bit, you may get tired of using the pull-down zoom control on the toolbar or ribbon.

If you have a mouse that has the wheel between the two buttons, you can do a neat trick. All you need to do is hold down the Ctrl key as you turn the small wheel.

Each click of the wheel, up or down, increases or decreases the zoom factor by 10%.

Remember the zoom does not impact/change the actual font size - it simply changes the magnification of what you are zooming up and or down on...This is true anywhere in any application or browser software (word, excel, PowerPoint, etc) that you use on your computer...

How to replace an "X" in your document with a "check mark"

Q: How can I replace an X throughout my document with a Check Mark?

A: It’s easier than you think to replace any word, number, phrase or character in a document without doing it one at a time.  You can do it quickly and easily by using your Find and Replace Dialog Box.  In this case you will be finding the capital X in your document and replacing it with a check mark character.

ü                     Note: you can find the check mark character " ü "   that I used in the Wingdings font.

There are several ways you can go about the task, but they all follow these general steps:

1. Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
2. Click the More button, if it is available and  the Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
3. In the Find What box enter an uppercase X.
4. Make sure the Match Case check box is selected.
5. Place the insertion point in the Replace With box.
6. Click the Format button and then choose Font. Word displays the Font dialog box.
7. In the Font list, select the Wingdings font.
8. Click OK to close the Font dialog box. The insertion point should still be in the Replace With box, and the font specification you made should appear just under the box.
9. Type the character you want to use for your check mark. (More on this in a moment.)
10. Use the control buttons in the dialog box (Find Next, Replace, or Replace All) as desired to make your replacements.

The confusion sometimes occur in Step 9, so there are several ways you can specify the check mark character.

One way is to copy the check mark to the Clipboard before you start the steps. Just type the check mark into the document, as desired, and then use Ctrl+C to copy it to the Clipboard. Then, in step 9, you can either press Ctrl+V to paste it into the Replace With box or you can use the ^c characters to tell Word you want to use the contents of the Clipboard as your replacement.

Or remember that all characters, such as the check mark or any style bullet have specific "character codes" in Word, Word Perfect and other Word Processing programs..  If you can find out the character code for the check mark (it is available in the Symbol dialog box if you use that method of creating the check mark), then you can use the code in the Find and Replace dialog box. 

The character code for a check mark ü  is 252, which must be entered using four characters and a carat mark, like this ^0252 in the Replace With box. When you do the replacement, you'll see the check mark (which corresponds to the character code) appear in your document.

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…

INSERT DATE & TIME IN A WORD DOCUMENT

Want to save time creating documents... Did you know that you don’t have to type the date and/or time each time you create a new document. Next time you create a document, try INSERTING the date and time vs. typing it. Just select "Insert" then "Date and Time" where you want this information to be in your current document. When the "Date and Time" dialog box appears, just choose/highlight the date or time format you want, then press "OK". NOTE: Another option when you do this – is note on the right column there is an action box which gives you the option of "UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY". If you choose this option (which means checking it off) every time you open and resave the document, the date and/or time are automatically changed to the current date and/or time – so be careful where and when you use this.

Comparing two WORD documents side-by-side

If you have ever had two somewhat similar documents that you need to compare and merge the differences - here is how to do that easily... Since Microsoft Word 2003, all newer programs (Word 2001, 2007 & 2010) have a built-in document comparison tool where you can view two documents side-by-side.

1. Open both documents in Microsoft Word 2003, 2007 or 2010.
2. Focus on one document. Click on the Window menu bar option.
3. Click on Compare Side by Side With. If you only have two documents open, this menu item will mention the second document's filename. If not, a dialog box will appear allowing you to choose the document to compare.
4. The two documents will appear side-by-side. As you scroll through one document, the other will scroll as well.
5. A Compare Side floating toolbar will appear. If you don't want one document to scroll while the other scrolls, click the left button (it looks like two documents side-by-side with an up and down arrow).
6. View/edit your document as needed.
7. When done, click on Close Side by Side

Word Processing "Keyboard Shortcuts"

These are some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts when I'm working in MS Word - Word Processing - they can really help to save time…

• Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V = Cut, Copy and Paste respectively. These work in virtually every Windows program. Learn them, use them, save LOTS of time and mousing around in the Edit menu.
• Ctril+A=Select All, which highlights you entire document-whether 1 page or 1,000 pages so you can make changes quickly and easily to your entire document
• Ctrl+B = Apply Bold. Highlight text then click Ctrl+B...and it’s bold.
• Ctrl+I = Apply Italic. Same idea as adding bold, except it adds italic instead.
• Ctrl+Y = Repeat the last action. Say you just added a row to a table. Click Ctrl+Y and add another one. Keep doing it and add a whole bunch of them.
• Ctrl+spacebar = remove all local formatting. If text looks weird, it could be because you may have inadvertently added something. It's also good consistency. You can make sure that the only formatting you're applying is the stuff you've set up in your styles.
• Shift+F3 = Toggles case. If you know people who type in all upper case - Yikes-how aggravating!!! So just use Shift+F3 to switch case from UPPER, lower, and Initial Caps.
• Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End = Move to the top and bottom of a document, respectively.
• F8 + arrow keys = Select text. Sometimes selecting large bodies of text with the mouse is a big pain. Use F8 in conjunction with the arrow keys or Page Up and Page Down keys to select it more easily.

Remember if you have favorites that you use all the time, let us know what they are so we can share them with your fellow students... in the meantime - enjoy!!

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

WHAT IS VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE…

Voice recognition software, is application software that converts speech to text and it has reached the point where some say you can actually navigate your computer and write documents faster than you could with a keyboard and a mouse – some of the popular software on the market are..

Dragon Naturally Speaking has 2 versions

• 11 Preferred is almost universally regarded in reviews as the best voice recognition software, with potential for 97% accuracy-cost about $80
• 11 Standard edition works with AOL Instant Messenger, MS Word, Internet Explorer and WordPerfect, but not Excel and this doesn’t support portable voice recorders-cost $45

Windows Vista and Windows 7 include Windows Speech Recognition at no additional charge. Though the program was originally rife with issues, it now performs extremely well -- almost as well as Dragon Naturally Speaking

Mac Speech Dictate gets top review as the best speech recognition choice for those with Apple Mac operating systems about $150

Aligning your text

It is very easy to align your text - but let the computer do it for you - never use the space key several dozen times to "center" text in a document, email or other application....

When you use Microsoft Word, Works, Word Pad or Word Perfect an this also works for cells in Excel, slides in Power Point, in most email programs when you are typing a new email message and many other software programs when you are working with “text”.

The "alignment buttons" allow you to easily align your text and the 4 standard options are:

• Left
• Center
• Right
• Justify/full justify (used to be called block style)

On your formatting toolbar (or in the Home Tab Ribbon of Word 2007/2010) you will see 4 “alignment buttons”.

When your cursor/pointer is in the word, sentence or paragraph you want to change the alignment for, simply click on the alignment button of your choice..

What is a PDF document???

PDF: Short for Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of software application programs – including Microsoft Word & Excel, Word Perfect and others, so that it is possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. So they are welcome to open, read, save & print the documents – but they cannot change them.. When you and I visit websites, such as the registry of motor vehicles, IRS, medical, insurance and other such websites, forms we download are often done in PDF format so that we can view them, save them, print them as we need them – we just couldn’t modify them or change any information on them. In order to view them however, we need to have the Adobe Reader, which is a free application distributed by Adobe Systems

To download the latest version of Adobe Reader go to this website:
http://www.get.adobe.com/reader

NAMING & SAVING WORK

NAME YOUR WORK AND SAVE IT OFTEN

• When you open a document in Word, Works, Excel, Power Point or any type of “creation’ application software – they will have a document or project number until we give them a name of our choice
• The more “new documents, spreadsheets, power point slide show presentations” you open” the higher the numbers get all day
• You want to ALWAYS name your document, spreadsheets, power point slide show presentations, ASAP, so you can find it
• To name to the document to the Menu Bar (or the office button in the newer Office 2007 products) Choose File – Save As – It will open “My Documents” , and either choose or create the folder you want to save your work in
• In class – if you also want to save it to your Flash/Memory stick, repeat the process and once you choose “Save As” remember to go to “My Computer” and find the DRIVE that your flash/Memory stick is on–now open “My Documents” and either choose or create the folder you want to save your work in
• NAME THE DOCUMENT so you can find it in the future – Click Ok or Save

TIPS:

• Once your work is saved – in the future – you can simply click on the SAVE ICON often which will save your additions and changes to the named document you have
• If you are creating a second document, then you would repeat the steps above, giving this work an entirely new name

How to Create & Printing an Envelope

If you just need just one envelope – be sure you are in a new document or if you have completed your letter: then follow one of the following – steps vary slightly depending on what level of word you may have…
For older versions of Word – Envelopes/Labels are under Tools on the Menu Bar
For newer versions of Word – Envelopes/Labels are under Mailings on the Menu Bar or Word 2007's Tab system - Many of you may have the envelope icon on your toolbar

• Highlight the address in your letter
• Click on the envelope icon (or access it from the Menu Bar or Tab)
• When the envelope dialog box is open - Click "options" to choose the envelope or label size/style you want
• Type in the info for send to (if it doesn’t appear) and return addresses
• Enter the information, Select Print Preview to be sure it is OK
• If you don’t want the return address: leave blank or check the "omit box"
• The dialog box will confirm how to feed your envelope into your printer OR
• Check the printer for the etching in the plastic-paper feed tray to out the envelope in correctly
• Be sure to use the slides in your printer tray to hold the envelope (s) snug
• Click Print

ALWAYS USE THE CORRECT-FULL 9 DIGIT ZIP CODE:
If you don't know what the correct 9 digit zip code is, go to: www.usps.com
and first red tab at the topo their page will help you find the correct zip code
We've been using 9 digit zip codes for many years now, so help your mail get delivered as quickly as possible by always using the correct 9 digit zip code

WHEN YOU USE AN ENVELOPE THAT HAS A BORDER:
Be sure to change the margins when you see the envelope on your screen so that what you have typed doesn’t get lost in the border…

What is a Word Table

A table done in word processing software (Word, Works or Word Perfect) is simply a combination of columns and rows (in excel it is called a spreadsheet) and many times using a table within a word document is the easiest way to align text... My staff has always joked that I am the "table queen" because I use tables for everything - creating questionnaires, newsletters, calendars and whenever I want to keep information aligned within a letter or document such as lists..

Aligning text in a word processing document can be tedious if you try to do it using tabs and spaces. Fortunately, Word allows you to insert tables in your document. A table will help you align columns and rows of text with ease.

If you’ve never used Word’s tables feature before, it can be intimidating knowing where to start. And even if you have used the tables feature, you can find new ways to use it more effectively.

There are many ways to insert tables in your Microsoft Word document:

• In Word 97-2003: To insert a table using this method, simply click the Insert Table toolbar button when your cursor is positioned at the place in your document where you would like the table to begin
• In Word 2007: To insert a table – go to the Insert Tab, then choose the Insert Table Button

With either of these options, a grid will now appear that allows you to select how many rows and columns you would like your table to contain. Simply use your mouse to select the number of rows and columns by highlighting the boxes (text at the bottom of the grid will indicate what your selection is). When you have specified the correct number of rows and columns, simply click once, and your table will be inserted.

While this method will create a table with uniform columns and rows, you can still customize your table after it is inserted by right-clicking on the table handle (the double-headed arrow at the top left corner of the table) and using the options on the shortcut menu to make changes. Hint: if you don’t immediately see what you need on the shortcut menu, select Table Properties for more advanced options.

It's not important to put in all the rows you need, because when you tab in the last column of the last row - you will automatically add a new row to the bottom of your table

If you decide in the future that you want to add many more columns - not a problem - you can copy your entire table to Microsoft Excel - which allows you 256 columns...more than enough to do whatever you need

Word Processing Tips - Insert Lines

There are times when we need to create lines across a page and here are some WORD shortcuts to easily create a variety of horizontal lines by typing the following characters three times, followed by Return or Enter:

• Minus (-) produces a thin line
• Underscore (_) produces a thicker line
• Equal sign (=) produces a double line
• Asterisk (*) produces a thick dotted line
• Tilde (~) produces a zigzag line
• Number (#) produces three lines, a thicker middle line between two thin lines

The lines will be the width of your page, or if you are using columns, the width of your column

In WordPerfect the first three shortcuts work in all versions after and including Version 7.

WORD:: SAVE A DOCUMENT TO YOUR FLASH/MEMORY STICK

When you save documents to your Flash/Memory Stick – you need to know which DRIVE your Flash Memory Stick is on - So when you plug it in watch for the "info box" that will appear telling you which drive letter it has been assigned... When you plug it into the USB port, it will tell you

• Word 97-2003: Go to the Menu Bar, File, Save As, My Documents (icon on left bar) is what may appear
• Word 2007: Go to the Office Button, Choose Save As, Choose 97-2003 document, the My Document folder will open (icon also appears on the left bar)
• Now to find your flash drive - use the drop down arrow beside “My Documents” and choose the correct drive for your Flash/Memory Stick (could be Drive E - F – G – H ??)
• Select or create a folder to put your work in
• Name your Document, when you are done typing use the enter key on your keyboard OR left click on the SAVE button

WORD PROCESSING TIPS – MARGINS, PAPER SIZE, LINE SPACING

The following tips are for Word 97-2003 using toolbars and we refer to “the Menu Bar” ; for those of you with Word 2007, then you have a Tab Ribbon Layout (vs toolbars) so go to the Page Layout Tab (3rd) and on that ribbon you will find the page setup & paragraph functions-then follow the steps below..

MARGINS: TO SET/CHANGE: Go to Menu Bar, File, Page Set Up - Choose the “Margin Tab” – Then change your top, bottom, left & right margin. (For preprinted stationary-measure the furthest point & add ¼”) Gutter is routinely left at “0”; and header and footer is routinely set at half of what the top & bottom margin measurement is

PAPER SIZE, TO CHANGE: Go to Menu Bar, File, Page Setup, Choose the “Paper Layout Tab” & make your changes: Portrait or Landscape; Paper Size/style, etc.

TO CHANGE LINE SPACING:

• Select (highlight) text/list you want to change line spacing for
• Click on Format on Menu Bar-Click on “Paragraph”
• Dialog Box will appear
• Choose Line Spacing
• Choosing Multiple allows you to set spacing less than or more than single space (1), such as .9 or 1.3
• Be sure Spacing Before & After Is set at “0” (to left of line spacing)
  

Word Processing Tips-Graphics

When you work with graphics (word art, photos, clip art, shapes, symbols) in word processing - just a few tips...

TEXT WRAPPING:
Once a new GRAPHIC is on your page, left click on the art work, then left click on the "dog/text wrapping icon" on the clip art/picture/word-art toolbar" (in Word 2007 this icon will appear in the format ribbon).
When you choose/click on the icon - an action list appears - initially while you are working with your document, choose "THROUGH" so you can work with it more easily.
Add more clip art to your computer files anytime online from MS Office Clip Art, or find other clip art sites

SIZING HANDLES:
If sizing handles disappear, just left click on the word art, clip art or auto shapes and they’ll reappear so you can now work with it
You will also see the appropriate toolbars appear OR add the word art, picture & clip art toolbars - Right click on the gray toolbar area at the top of your page and add the ones you want to stay active..
In Word 2007, the format ribbon appears when you are working with graphics-clip art, word art, photos, symbols, shapes etc