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This Week's Topic Microsoft Word Tips & Tricks Learn to use MS Word to organize, format, and expedite the creation of your documents (see the style sheet example in the Download Depot). This week we will cover various tips and tricks for using MS Word. (These tips are written for Word 97, but they can be adapted for other versions of Word.) This Week's Tips MS Word—Organizing Your Document (Monday) Base your longer documents on an outline to bring organization and cohesiveness to your writing. Use MS Word’s outline function to organize your information. To view and print your document in an outline format, on the menu select View, then Outline. To choose an outline numbering format, highlight your text. Then select Format, then Bullets and Numbering, and then the Outline Numbering tab. Download your free Style Sheet Example today! MS Word—Labor Saving Features (Tuesday) Take advantage of the labor saving functions provided by MS Word. The following functions help you type and review your documents: Use the Autocorrect function to avoid repeatedly typing long names or terms. Use the Search and Replace function to find extra spaces between letters, words, and punctuation. Change letter cases by highlighting the words and selecting the Shift and F3 keys until the case is correct. MS Word—Autoformatting (Wednesday) MS Word uses automatic formatting to expedite common formatting tasks. Here are some tips to autoformat your documents: To choose which types of text you want automated, select Tools, then Autocorrect, and then the Autoformatting tab. Use the Format Painter icon to apply the formatting of selected text to the desired text. To display formatting problems, select the Show/Hide Icon (a large paragraph symbol) to reveal all non-printing characters. MS Word—Create Your Own Templates (Thursday) Design your own templates for frequently created documents. (Look up “Templates, Create” in MS Word help.) The Download Depot includes an example of a template style sheet. When creating your template, make sure you define formatting styles for headers, normal or body text, margins, footer elements, and page numbering (if needed). MS Word—Customizing Your “Normal” Template (Friday) Customize your documents to suit your needs. Each time you open a new document in MS Word, you open a copy of the “Normal.dot” template. Consider inserting the following fields into the bottom (footer) of your “Normal.dot” template: date and time created, file name, file location, and author name or initials.