Tips and Tricks for Office XP - Part 2

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Change colour code

Tired of those old red underlines pointing out your spelling mistakes again and again? Then change the colour! Word XP has an easy registry tweak that can change the colour of the error underlining, besides the grammatical errors signifier. Open the Support.dot file from C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Macros. Click the Registry Options button from the table. From the window that pops open, choose SpellingWavyUnderlineColour and click on Choose Colour. A window pops up from which you can select the colour you want the misspelled words to be underlined with. Click the Change button. The next time you start Word, all words wrongly spelt would be underlined with the colour you have chosen. To change the underlining colour for possible grammatical errors, click GrammarWavyUnderlineColour. To change the underlining colour for possible formatting errors, click FormatConsistencyWavyUnderlineColour.

Working your own way

Word has a default setting of Autocorrect set to correct and capitalize words as and when you type. Word XP allows you to control the way Word changes the words you type. When you place the cursor on the word that has been automatically changed, Word displays a small blue box. (This option is one of the features of smart tags in Word XP.) When you point the mouse, a thunder-like symbol is shown, which when pointed to, gives you the options to undo the changes made, stop making similar changes, or launch the Auto correction settings. This way you can control the way your software changes the words you type. When the blue box appears, you could also press [Alt] + [Shift] + [F10] to launch the smart tag menu.

Multiple selection

With the earlier versions of Word you were not allowed to select words that were non-contiguous. With Word XP, you can select words and text in multiple places across the document. While selecting text which is spread over multiple places in the document, press the [Ctrl] key. This will allow you to select all the text of your choice at one go, even when it is non-contiguous. Click the first word to be selected as you would do it normally. The next selection could be made by pressing the [Ctrl] key to make additional selections.

Faster word count

Word 2002 allows you to track word counts as you work on your document. You don't have to strain yourself to click Tools > Word Count. Instead, you can use the new Word Count toolbar. On the View menu, point to Toolbars and click on Word Count. Click on Recount any time you wanted an update on the word count. You will now see the usual statistics that earlier versions of Word popped up when you clicked the Tools > Word Count option. You can also use the shortcut key [Alt] + [C] for the new word count to appear in the toolbar.

Displaying more of the recent documents

Often you would be working on multiple documents and your job might require opening documents that were worked on recently. But the list of recently used files on the Files menu just shows four. You could lengthen the list that Word shows up in the Files menu by changing the More documents option. On the Tools menu, click on Options. Click the General tab if its not highlighted. In the Recently Used file list box, specify the number of files you want displayed in the File menu. Click OK to make the changes effective. Now Word shows you the number of files you had specified, that were recently worked on.

Continue numbering after paragraph breaks

At times, you will encounter situations where you need to insert a paragraph by breaking a numbered list and at the same time, ensure that the list continues after the paragraph is inserted. Word 2002 allows you to do the same. Click the Numbering button on the Formatting toolbar and begin creating your numbered list. When you insert the new paragraph and click the numbering button again, the Autocorrect Options Smart Tag appears. The list resumes with the next number by default, but you can restart the numbering by choosing the appropriate command in the Smart Tag options.

Shortcuts to Task Pane

Working with the new Task Pane requires you to use the mouse frequently. Instead, you can assign a shortcut for the same and could either bring up or hide the task pane. Choose Tools from the menu and click on Customize. Click on the Commands tab, and click the Keyboard button near the bottom of the dialog window. Select the View option in the categories, which is to the left, and scroll through the list that's available on the right side to locate View Task Pane. Choose a new shortcut that you wish to use in the Select 'New shortcut key' field. Assign any shortcut and click OK to make the changes effective. Now, you could press the assigned shortcut key to bring up or hide the Task Pane.

Printing multiple pages

Word 2002 is, in a sense, eco-friendly and you can print multiple pages on a single sheet of paper. To do so, go to File > Print to bring up the print dialog. Click the Zoom button placed in the bottom right corner of the dialog. Select the number of pages that you would like to print per sheet and click OK. Normally, two per page with a 12-point size makes it readable without compromising much.

Navigate Word Documents by Using the Table of Contents

When writing long documents in Microsoft Word, you'll find the table of contents (TOC) is an indispensable tool-even if you don't include the TOC in your final draft. The TOC creates internal links (similar to the ones you find on a Web page) that you can use to quickly navigate a document as you work. And, if you're already using styles, adding a TOC is easy. First, be sure that you've applied either built-in (for example, Heading 1 and Heading 2) or custom styles to all headings and subheadings in your document. Then switch to Outline view using the View menu, and click on Update TOC button on the outlining toolbar. If you do not see this, right-click anywhere on the toolbar and select Outlining.

View Multiple Pages in Word

Isn't it great how you can see several pages at a time in Print Preview? Did you know you can also view multiple pages when working in the Print Layout view in Word? Just add the Multiple Pages button to the Standard toolbar. Here's how: 1. On the File menu, click Print Preview.
2. Right-click the toolbar and click Standard.
3. Right-click the toolbar again and click Customize.
4. Holding down the CTRL key, drag a copy of the Multiple Pages button from the Print Preview toolbar at the top of the screen to the Standard toolbar.
5. Close Print Preview.
Now the Multiple Pages button appears on the Standard toolbar in the Print Layout view. Just click it, and select how many pages you want to view

Translating into other languages

Word 2002 also comes with a simple word translator that can convert to other languages. However, the translator is basic, so don't expect much. To convert a sentence, select the sentence and choose Tools and then Language. Select the Translate option to bring up the Translate Dialog window. Pick the required language dictionary from the dialog and then click Go. You will now get the required translation

Cross checking

After you have entered a whole lot of data all by yourself, you might need to recheck it. And rechecking the data with the onscreen version can be a pain. Don't panic. Excel XP has the facility to read out data. Choose Speech from the tools menu and click on the Show Text to Speech Toolbar option. On the Speech toolbar, click the Play button and the reader starts reading the data row-wise, starting from row one. You can change the settings to read column-wise also by clicking the appropriate button on the Speech toolbar.

Easy access to new AutoSum functions

The earlier version of Excel had all the Autosum features handy, but they were limited. Excel XP has the Autosum button linked to a lengthier list of functions, which can be added to your worksheet in a jiffy. You can quickly calculate the average of selected cells, maximum or minimum value, and much more with these new and powerful functions. Just click on the arrow next to the Autosum symbol for access to all the functions.

Watch your values

Excel XP has an option that allows you to add watches to cells. When you need values across the sheets within a workbook, you might be required to shuttle to and fro between the sheets. Watches come to the rescue at such moments. Right-click a cell and click on Add watch. A watch window pops up in which all the cells that have a watch are displayed with their corresponding values. This window stays even when you shuttle between sheets. This way it reduces your shuttling between sheets to look for cell values that are required across the workbook.