Friday, May 29, 2015

Don't Check Spelling

Avoid the squiggles


Omitting text selections from Word's spell checking process

If you frequently include macro code listings or other chunks of cryptic information in your documents, Word's spell checker is likely to have a field day pointing out unrecognized words.

You can make Word's spell checker skip over code listings and other information that it is likely not to recognize by applying the No Proofing language setting.
  1. Select the text you would like the spell checker to skip.
  2. Next, select Tools>Language Set Language from the menu bar.
  3. In the Mark Selected Text As list box, select the (No Proofing) option and then click OK.
From now on, the spell checker will skip over the text you selected without flagging any spelling or grammatical errors.
Alan Wyatt's WordTips site has a comprehensive list of spell checker links: Spelling and Grammar Checking

BTW: If you want to spell check Web forms and information boxes you fill out using Internet Explore, look at ieSpell:
"ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry (e.g. web mails, forums, blogs, diaries).
Even if your web application already includes spell checking functionality, you might still want to install this utility because it is definitely much faster than a server-side solution. Plus you get to store and use your personal word list across all your applications, instead of maintaining separate ones on each application."



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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Signing Macros

Security levels


There are three levels of Macro security:

High:
A computer user can open without a prompt a digitally signed project from a trusted publisher. Otherwise, the application blocks opening signed projects from untrusted publishers as well as unsigned projects.
Medium:
A computer user can open without a prompt a digitally signed project from a trusted publisher. In addition, you can also designate the publisher of a signed project as trusted so their projects will open without a prompt in the future. Unsigned projects are always prompted with a reminder that the file may contain potentially harmful code, but users can elect to open them anyway.
Low:
A computer user can open an unsigned project without a prompt. When users make a Low security setting, they're reminded that they aren't protected from potentially unsafe macros.
Securing Access Databases
"If you've used Access 2003, you've probably seen several security warning messages - Access 2003 cares about your security. An important part of Access 2003 security is digitally signing your code. As Rick Dobson shows, you can do it, but preparing for digital signing is critical.

A digital signature acts like shrink-wrap on your project: Clients know that they're getting a copy directly from you that no one else modified. Clients will also know that they're working with "your" code and not any version of it modified by a third party. As computing moves forward into a "security conscious" era, learning how to acquire and use a digital certificate is also important for interfacing with organizations that adopt policies of only running digitally signed Access 2003 projects: Your users may refuse to accept software from you that isn't shrink-wrapped."
Also:
Signing Access Projects
Other links:

How to make sure that your Office document has a valid digital signature in 2007 Office products and in Office 2003


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Friday, May 22, 2015

Sequentially Number Invoices

Creating sequentially numbered documents


Use an Autonew macro to add a sequential number to a document and save it with that number.

In the template from which you create the document, insert a bookmark named Order in the location where you want the sequential number to appear and create an AutoNew macro, as follows:


Sub AutoNew()
Order = System.PrivateProfileString("C:\Settings.Txt", "MacroSettings", "Order")
If Order = "" Then
Order = 1
Else
Order = Order + 1
End If
System.PrivateProfileString("C:\Settings.txt", "MacroSettings", "Order") = Order
ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("Order").Range.InsertBefore Format(Order, "00#")
ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:="path" & Format(Order, "00#")
End Sub 


If you do not need to display the number in the document, but just want to save it with a sequential number, there is no need to create the bookmark in the template and you should then delete the second last line of the code.

Article contributed by Doug Robbins
Word MVP Site


Microsoft Knowledgebase:
Macro to Increment Invoice Number to New Form Document


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Monday, May 18, 2015

Customize Envelopes

Your own #10


The default layout for envelopes is not sacrosanct to anyone but the postal service.
You can move objects around; add text and pictures.

GMayor.com:
Changing Word Envelope Layouts
Graham Mayor

PC Magazine.com
Custom Envelopes in Word


Microsoft Support:
Create and print envelopes for a mass mailing
40 minute lesson

About.com:
Customizing Envelopes with Pictures


Slipstick.com:
Printing Labels or Envelopes for Contacts
Inserting Addresses into Microsoft Word Documents

"One of the advantages to using Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Outlook is the ability to use information from the Address Book in Microsoft Word documents. Exactly how to do it, though, isn't obvious. The key is an AutoText entry called AddressLayout. This article shows you how to change this entry and how to add an Insert Address button to the Word toolbar."


From Answers.com:

"USAGE NOTE The word envelope was borrowed into English from French during the early 18th century, and the first syllable acquired the pronunciation (on) as an approximation to the nasalized French pronunciation. Other similar words borrowed from French in the modern period include envoy (17th century), encore, ennui, ensemble, entree (18th century), entourage, and entrepreneur (19th century). Most retain their pseudo-French pronunciations, with the exception of envoy, which, like envelope, is mainly pronounced with (en) now."



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Monday, May 11, 2015

Personal Information

Clean it up


If you have enabled the "Allow fast saves" feature, earlier versions of your document, that you thought had been deleted, may still be readable.

If the document was edited with "Track Changes" enabled, a name is associated with each change. You can get rid of all the personal information with a few simple settings.

Choose Options from the Tools menu, click on the Save tab, and uncheck the box labeled "Allow fast saves". Now click on the Security tab and check the box titled "Remove personal information from this file on save".

In Word 2003 the check box's title is: "Remove personal information from file properties on save". When you save the file, the Author, Manager, Company, and Last saved by fields are cleared. Names in comments or edits are changed to simply Author. Any routing slip or e-mail header information is also removed. If the document contains tracked changes, you may want to accept them all before saving.

The Allow fast saves option is global. The Remove personal information option is specific to the current file and is present only in Word 2002 and later. If you want that option to be the default, click on the File Locations tab in the Tools> Options dialog and note the folder containing user templates. In that folder, open the file Normal.dot. Check the Remove personal information box as noted above, then save and close the file. All new files created from this point on will have that feature enabled by default.

Also see:
Charles Kenyon's Word Users Guide:

Confidentiality and MetaData in Word Documents


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Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Kearning

More typography


At larger point sizes, it is aesthetically pleasing to move some letters closer together than they would normally appear. For instance, the word "To". The letter "o" can be nudged under the arm of the "T":


Kerning
Adjusting (increasing or decreasing) the space between adjoining type characters.
Kearning pair
Two adjoining type characters to which a particular kearning value is applied.
Kearning value
The space between two adjoining type characters. This value is usually measured in em.

From the Word Help file:
  1. Select the text you want to change.
  2. On the Format menu, click Font, and then click the Character Spacing tab.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • Expand or condense space evenly between all the selected characters

      Click Expanded or Condensed in the Spacing box, and then specify how much space you want in the By box.

    • Kern characters that are above a particular point size

      Select the Kerning for fonts check box, and then enter the point size in the Points and above box.
Note: Selecting Expanded or Condensed alters the spacing between all selected letters by the same amount. Kerning alters the spacing between particular pairs of letters.

Microsoft Typography: A Disagreeably Facetious Type Glossary
WebStyleGuide.com: Webstyle Guide - Typography
About.com: Typography Tutorials
Typographica a journal of typography featuring news, observations, and open commentary on fonts and typographic design. Here's the RSS connection: Typographica Feed


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