Wittenberg University -- Computing Center

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Microsoft Word

If you need DOWNLOAD instructions, please click here. To locate more help when using Microsoft Word: Help can be found by pressing the F1 key on the keyboard after the Word program has been started, by clicking on the Office Assistant that appears, or by clicking on Help (located in the menu bar.) To use Help, click on the Search tab and type in a few keywords relating to the topic. To add a shortcut to Word on your Desktop in Windows:

Minimize any windows currently open by clicking the _ in the upper right corner of the window.
Right-click in a blank area of your Windows background.
Highlight "New" with the mouse and left-click "Shortcut".
Click Browse.
Click the "+" next to the C:\ drive, next to Program Files, then Microsoft Office, and finally Office.
Locate and click "winword.exe" from the list.
Click Next.
Click Finish.

To start Microsoft Word: Word can be opened from the Start menu on the taskbar or from the shortcut on the desktop. Word can be found under Start, Programs, Microsoft Office Pro. The icons at the top of the window:

The title bar at the top of the window shows the name of the current document. It also contains the standard Windows control buttons such as minimize and maximize.
The menu bar contains the text list of Word's menus and can be used to navigate the commands.
The Standard toolbar contains buttons and other controls that represent often-used menu commands such as new document, save, or print.
The Formatting toolbar contains buttons and other controls that allow you to quickly change the appearance of a document by selecting a font, size, etc.
The Status bar (at the bottom of the window) provides information about the open document as well as the current settings and operations in progress.

How do I know which button is what?

The mouse pointer will change depending on the area of the document. For example, the pointer turns into an I-beam if you're working in a text area, or a northeast arrow if you're in the left margin of the document area. Anything outside the document area (where you can type) will be a northwest arrow. The pointer can help to identify buttons on the toolbars as well. When the pointer is placed over a button a text box will appear showing the name or function of the button. To get the Toolbar back after it disappears:

Under the Tools menu select Customize.
Click the Toolbars tab.
Scroll down the list of toolbars until you find the one that is missing.
Click the box to the right of the toolbar name so a check appears. This will make the toolbar reappear.
Click the Close button.

To navigate in a Word document: Word documents can be several pages long. To view the other parts of the document, use the scroll bars at the right and on the bottom. Scrolling will not change the insertion point for text, so if there should be a change, click on the area where the change should occur. The arrow keys and page up or down keys will also allow movement within a document. To save files:

Saving files regularly prevents the loss of data through power outages or system crashes. To save a document, click on the save button located on the standard menu bar. If it is a new document Word will give the option to set the name and where the document should be saved. We recommend saving the information to your personal drive (H:\) to prevent data loss due to corrupt diskettes. To save the document as another name or to another location, click on File in the menu bar and then Save As. Select the alternate name or location and press OK. To set default font settings in Word:

Under the Format menu select Font
Select Font tab
In this window set the settings for the default font that you want to have
Once all the settings have been set to the way you desire, click on the Default... button
It will then ask you to confirm that you want to change the defaults, click Yes

Why are none of my custom settings being saved in Word 97/2000?

Under the Tools menu select Options.
Select the File Locations tab.
Double-click the line labeled Documents.
Where is says Folder name: at the bottom type in H:\ and press enter.
Double-click on the line labeled User Templates.
Where it says Folder name: at the bottom type in H:\ and press enter.
Then Click the OK button.
Close Word and then re-open it.
Redo all the settings that you had set before.

To enter text in the document: Entering text is just like any other word processing program. Just use the keyboard to add letters or symbols. To edit text in an existing document: Use the mouse pointer to highlight any text that should be deleted. Once the text is highlighted you can press the DELETE key on the keyboard to remove it. Other methods include holding the SHIFT key and the arrow keys on the keyboard to highlight the text, then pressing DELETE. To add text, place the pointer over the spot where text should be added and left-click to place the insertion point. Type in the desired text. Merging information files and letters:

Open the letter in MS Word

Click Start, Programs, MS Office Professional, Microsoft Word or double-click the shortcut on the Windows background.
Choose File, Open.
Locate and select the letter file to open.
Click open.

Click Start, Programs, MS Office Professional, Microsoft Word or double-click the shortcut on the Windows background.
Choose File, New.

Click Tools and select Mail Merge.

Select Create under Main Document.<.LI>
From the pull down list, select Form Letter.

Click Active Window.
Click Get Data Source and select Open Data Source.
Locate the download information file by clicking Browse, the I:\ drive (department on Siberian), and the MERGDATA folder.
Change "File Type" at the bottom of the window to "All Files".
Select the file by double-clicking the name in the window.

To double check the information before merging, click Edit in Section 2 (Data Source) on the screen. You will see what information from a sample record will correspond with which merge code.
To add an additional merge field, click the location for the field in the document.
Click the "Insert Merge Field" button in the toolbar, then select the field from the list.
Before merging the information, you can also sort the records by any of the merge codes to facilitate printing. For example, you can choose to sort by zip code so that large mailings won't need to be sorted later.
To sort records:

Under Step 3 "Merge the Data with the Document", click Query Options.
Select the Sort Records tab.
Pull down the Sort by list and make a selection.
You can make additional selections - for example sort by zip, then last name, then first name.
Click Ok.

You can also filter out particular records before merging the information:
To Filter:
Under Step 3 "Merge the Data with the Document", click Query Options.
Select the Filter Records tab.
Choose the merge field name where the information can be located - for example select "nickname", set Equal to as the condition, and "Billy" as the information to find in the record to be filtered out of the list.
Click OK.

This is what our practice document looks like with the merge fields:

Click Merge under Section 3.

From here there are a few more options. "Merge to" provides the option to merge into the document and keep it on the screen, or you can select Printer to have the information merged as it prints instead of being added to the letter. You may want to use this option for letters that are used regularly to prevent old data from being used accidentally.

You can also select which records to be used based on dates if needed.

The "Do not Print Blank Lines When Data Fields Are Empty" will be helpful when someone only has a 3 line address instead of 4.

Example:

Joseph Deck
P.O. Box 10
123 Anystreet Lane
Springfield, Ohio

But an address without a PO box would print like this with the blank lines set to be visible:

Joseph Deck

123 Anystreet Lane
Springfield, Ohio

Use the "Check Errors" button on the right to verify that the information being used is not corrupt before printing. Choose whichever method of reporting you would like for Word to use and click OK.

All finished? Click "Merge".

Macros allow you to combine a whole series of commands into a simple keyboard combination or icon. *NOTE: Be aware that Macros in word documents can be dangerous since they can be used to delete files, alter files or even send files to other users without you knowing it. Use macros that you have created personally or only when you know exactly how they work. Word 97/2000 warn you if you try to open up any documents that have macros in them to make you more aware of the potential dangers of macros. We will use the following example to demonstrate how to create a macro. Whenever I want to create a new document I want it to always have my Name at the top of it followed by the Gone fishing picture, as shown below. To create a macro for yourself:

Click Tools, Macro, then select Record New Macro.
In Record Macro, look at the Store macro in: option. Make sure it is set to All Documents (Normal.dot).
At the top, assign a name to the new Macro. NOTE: You cannot use spaces in the name of your macro.
To put the macro on the toolbar, select the Toolbars option.
The Customize window opens, listing the macros that are available, including the new one. You can drag this icon/macro to the toolbar so that you have a check button for it available.
Click the Close button.
Open a new document by clicking the File menu and selecting New.
When prompted for what type of document select Blank Document.
Type in This document created by user replacing user with your name.
To add the picture go to the Insert menu and select Picture..
When prompted for the picture find type in C:\winnt\gone fishing.bmp and press Enter.
Press enter twice after the picture is inserted to put a blank line between the picture and the text to follow it
On the floating recorder box click on the blue-square to stop the macro from being recorded.
Close the document that you were working in, without saving.
Now click the button for your macro, and a new document will appear with your new header already filled out. Macros can perform almost any series of commands that you can perform in Word, and you can assign them to special keyboard combinations. When you want to add them to toolbars or keyboard combinations look for the Macros category.

To create a Toolbar in Word 97/2000:

Click Tools, Customize.
Click the Toolbars tab
Click New.
In the Toolbar name: field enter in a name for the toolbar
In the Make toolbar available to: field make sure it says Normal.dot.
Click OK.
The new toolbar will appear floating next to the Customize window.
Follow the steps for adding icons to a toolbar listed above to add buttons to the toolbar.
When finished adding buttons, click Close.
To place the new toolbar, click on the title of the Toolbar and drag it to the location where you want the toolbar to appear.

To get the Toolbar back after it disappears:

Under the Tools menu select Customize.
Click the Toolbars tab.
Scroll down the list of toolbars until you find the one that is missing.
Click the box to the right of the toolbar name so a check appears. This will make the toolbar reappear.
Click the Close button.