Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Styles not applied to all texts

Word makes judgments


When text is selected, Word must examine the styles that have been applied and determine which to keep and which to overwrite.
  1. Type the following text:

This line will test how styles and formatting work in Word.






  • Select all the text, and then apply italic formatting.

  • Select all the text, and then apply a style such as Heading 1.

    You notice that italic formatting is not retained.

  • Select all the text, apply the Normal style, and then remove the italic formatting.

  • Select "work in Word" in the text, and then apply the italic formatting.

  • Select all the text, and then apply the Heading 1 style.
  • You notice that the italic formatting is retained.
    'This behavior occurs because Word uses a specific rule to determine whether to apply a style to selected text. According to this rule, Word applies a style depending on the percentage of the selected text that already has formatting applied. For example, if you already applied formatting to less than 50 percent of the selected text, this formatting is retained when you apply a style. If the selected text includes multiple paragraphs, Word first calculates the percentage of text that is formatted in the first paragraph. Then, it examines the paragraphs in the same range. If the formatting that is applied to the text in the paragraphs that follow the first paragraph differs from most of the formatting in the first paragraph, Word does not apply the style to the following paragraphs. Therefore, the formatting is retained in these paragraphs."
    Support.Microsoft.com:
    A style is not applied to all the selected text in Word


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    Friday, February 12, 2016

    Custom Properties

    Use your own


    If you look at Properties on the File menu, you will see a number of entries. You can also create your own custom properties.

    Click the Custom tab and add what you want.



    To insert your own properties in a document, use Insert>Fields

    1. Choose Document Information in the list of Categories
    2. In the list of Field Names, choose DocProperty
    3. Click the Field Codes button
    4. Add the property name to the Field
    5. Click OK
    6. Click OK. Word to inserts the value.


    Here's the "click path" for 2007:



    Also: Word.Tips.Net:
    Creating word custom doc properties from code


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    Wednesday, February 10, 2016

    Who was that font I saw you with last night?

    That was no font, that was my typeface


    You can find the Fonts supplied with some Microsoft products
    Select a product name from the list to get a list of fonts supplied with that product.

    Microsoft's Typography is an interesting site to poke around in.

    Here are some books I use for reference material:
    Words into Type
    by Marjorie E. Skillin, Robert Malcolm Gay ISBN 0139642625

    Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works

    by Erik Spiekermann, E.M Ginger ISBN 0201703394

    The Elements of Typographic Style
    by Robert Bringhurst ISBN 0881791326
    "A font can be defined as a collection of characters with the same style and size. A typeface is the design of the characters regardless of size or style. The terms are used interchangeably today."



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    Friday, February 05, 2016

    Vertical Selection with ALT

    Old trick


    This trick has been around for awhile, but it might be forgotten as new information in the right ear shoves old knowledge out the left.*

    If you hold down the ALT key while selecting in a Word document, you can select a block. This could be a vertical area, such as the prefixes of a list.



    The selection can then be formatted or deleted.


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    Wednesday, February 03, 2016

    Quote Me All You Like

    What the other guy says has weight


    There are sites that give you Bartleby Quotations.

    Gar Reynold has put together a list of some other sites that can help bolster any argument, no mater how specious.


    "In my presentations, I may have several slides which feature a quote from a famous (sometimes not so famous) individual in the field. The quote may be a springboard into the topic or serve as support or reinforcement for the particular point I'm making. A typical Tom Peters presentation at one of his seminars, for example, may include dozens of slides with quotes. 'I say that my conclusions are much more credible when I back them up with great sources,' Tom says."

    PresentationZen.blogs.com:
    Where to get quotations


    "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
    Pablo Picasso



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    Saturday, January 23, 2016

    Date an Octothorpe

    Some more of those things I'm sure I used to know


    The keyboard combination of Alt+Shift+D inserts the current date in MS Word and PowerPoint. Ctrl+; (semicolon) does it in Excel and Access.

    If you do not like the date's format, select a different one with Insert>Date and Time and, if you would like to make that permanent, click on the Default button in the lower left corner of the dialog box (in PowerPoint it's in the lower right corner).

    In Excel, Ctrl+Shift +# formats the entry as day-month-year. Ctrl+1 will display the "Format cells" dialog box.

    BTW, the "hash, pound or number" sign # is also called an "octothorpe".

    The person who named it combined Octo for the eight points and Thorpe for James Thorpe.

    "Bell Labs engineer, Don Macpherson, went to instruct their first client, the Mayo Clinic, in the use of the new touch tone phone system. He felt the need for a fresh and unambiguous name for the # symbol. His reasoning that led to the new word was roughly that it had eight points, so ought to start with octo-. He was apparently at that time active in a group that was trying to get the Olympic medals of the athlete Jim Thorpe returned from Sweden, so he decided to add thorpe to the end."

    While we're at it, the "backwards P, Enter mark" is actually named a "pilcrow".

    The pilcrow was used in medieval times to mark a new train of thought, before the convention of using paragraphs was commonplace.

    Also see:
    Geek-speak names for punctuation marks

    Wikipedia:
    Punctuation


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    Sunday, January 17, 2016

    Booklets

    Sized and numbered


    Word has the built-in ability to print booklets with automatically numbered pages.

    "If you don't want to spend money on an add-in, or use VBA; and are willing to do a bit more work yourself, here is the method I use. I've produced booklets up to 100 pages long this way, and it works quite satisfactorily for me."


    Word.MVPS.org:
    Booklet printing

    How-to Geek:
    Create Booklet

    RickySpears.com:
    Microsoft Word Booklet Templates
    "The WordBookletTemplates.zip file contains Microsoft Word templates for 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and 32 page booklets, with and without page numbers (16 templates in all). I think I developed these with Microsoft Word 97 and I've never made any changes to them. They use a series of text boxes that flow from one to the other to get the text where it is supposed to be in the booklet."



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    Tuesday, January 12, 2016

    Add Captions Programatically

    When the project seems overwhelming


    Faced with a repetitive task, I often have to make the decision, do I do it by hand again and again? Or do I write or find a macro to do the heavy lifting?
    "Have you ever had a document with ten, twenty, or even 100 images, and then as an afterthought decided you wanted to add a caption to each of those images? This is an easy task through the user interface (UI). All you have to do is select each image, one at a time, and choose Insert, then Reference, then Caption. Unfortunately doing this through an image-heavy document is a boring chore and takes up a lot of time.

    Fortunately, the Word object model lets you to apply a caption to a selected object. An add-in that does this for you is only a small chunk of code away. The sample add-in accompanying this article demonstrates how to do this. It also demonstrates many other details about working with shapes and images in Word programmatically that are useful to know about."

    Working with Word Images Programmatically


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    Saturday, January 02, 2016

    Readability Evaluation

    What grade are you?


    Word has a built in tool to determine the level of reading difficulty of a document.

    To see the statistics:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab
    2. Select the Check grammar with spelling check box
    3. Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK
    4. On the Standard toolbar, click Spelling and Grammar
    5. In 2007, click the Office button in the upper left corner. Click Word Options. Choose Proofing and When correcting spelling and grammar in Word.
    When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it displays information about the reading level of the document.

    Each readability score bases its rating on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence.
    Flesch Reading Ease score Rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard documents, aim for a score of approximately 60 to 70. The formula for the Flesch Reading Ease score is: 206.835 - (1.015 x ASL) - (84.6 x ASW) where: ASL = average sentence length (the number of words divided by the number of sentences) ASW = average number of syllables per word (the number of syllables divided by the number of words)
    Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score
    Rates text on a U.S. school grade level. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document. For most documents, aim for a score of approximately 7.0 to 8.0.
    The formula for the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score is:
    (.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) - 15.59
    Readability
    Measuring the reading age of books and other reading matter.

    Wikipedia.com:
     Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
    Support.Microsoft.com:
    Frequently Asked Questions About Proofing Grammar

    I am working on a law review article dealing with readability. We have found a problem with Microsoft Word's Flesch-Kincaid formula - it does not appear to be accurate. We took a sample text of slightly over 100 words, and ran the check. We then changed the word "report" to statement" (with everything else unchanged) and Word indicated a higher grade level. However, the grade level should not have been affected, since "report" and "statement" are both two-syllable words. It looks like Word is somehow incorporating number of characters in each word into it's Flesch-Kincaid score, which it should not. Any idea what the problem might be?


    You're right, Word handles the formula a little differently.
    BTW, they say the sample s/b 200+ words for reliability.

    and:
    Wikipedia



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    Friday, December 25, 2015

    Insert>Fields

    Tiny code snippets


    Microsoft has included a number of code pieces that you can use without having to haul out the VBA editor. These codes handle such things as page numbers, Table of Contents, Merge data and more.

    "Some 80-plus fields are built into Word that provide information about the file and the user; store, display, and manipulate reference information; and link the document to other applications - all without a bit of code."


    Automate Word Documents with Minimal Code
    By Cindy Meister


    Cindy Meister is a Word MVP.

    She also works with bobbin-lace. Here is a sample of a Honiton lace butterfly.

    Also:

    AddBalance.com:
    Using { Fields } in Microsoft Word

    GMayor.com
    Formatting Word Fields with Switches

    In 2007-10 you can use the =(Formula) field.
    On the Insert tab look for Quick Parts:




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    Saturday, December 12, 2015

    Justify Clean Up

    Minimize white space


    When a document is formatted with columns, the text is often Justified. This can lead to a messy layout of words and letters.
    "When justifying text in Microsoft Word use the hyphenation feature to improve the look of your page. (Without hyphens). . . unnecessary 'white space' is distributed throughout. When hyphenation is turned on the overall typographic color of the page is much more even. To enable this feature in Microsoft Word do the following: After you have justified the columns in your document, choose from the "Tools menu" > Language > then from the dropdown menu, choose "Hyphenation", then choose "Automatically hyphenate document"





    FontBlog:
    Typography Tip #2


    BTW, this goes along with one space after punctuation.
    Bill Hill - There is only one space after a period


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    Friday, December 04, 2015

    SCORE Templates

    Free business advice


    SCORE is a nonprofit organization providing small business advice and training.

    SCORE's 10,500 volunteers have more than 600 business skills. Volunteers share their wisdom and lessons learned in business. Our volunteers are working/retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders.
    • SCORE offers Ask SCORE email advice online.
    • Face-to-face small business counseling at 389 chapter offices.
    • Low-cost workshops at 389 chapter offices nationwide.
    • "How to" articles and business templates
    Here are some of the available templates:
    A Business Plan for a Start-up Business
    Microsoft Word
    A Business Plan for an Established Business
    Microsoft Word
    Bank Loan Request for Small Business
    Microsoft Word
    Break-Even Analysis
    Excel
    Competitive Analysis
    Microsoft Word
    Financial History & Ratios
    Excel
    Loan Amortization Schedule
    Excel
    Opening Day Balance Sheet
    Excel
    Personal Financial Statement
    Excel

    Projected Balance Sheet
    Excel
    Start-up Expenses
    Excel
    4-Year Profit Projection
    Excel
    12-Month Cash Flow Statement
    Excel
    12-Month Profit and Loss Projection
    Excel
    12-Month Sales Forecast
    Excel

    SCORE Template Gallery


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    Friday, November 27, 2015

    Page Numbers

    A baker's dozen of ideas


    Here is a collection of tips about how to display information in Headers and Footers.

    Field codes are demonstrated. Remember that the brackets {} must be inserted with Ctrl+F9, not directly from the key board.

    Here's one suggestion:

    Display the word "more" at the bottom of every page except the last page.

    Insert an "if" field into the footer.

    The field in this case will be a compound entity that consists of two fields nested within a third field.

    { IF { PAGE } = { NUMPAGES } "" "more" }
    1. Position cursor where you want the field.
    2. Press Ctrl+F9 to insert the field braces.
    3. Type the field expression as it appears below, using Ctrl+F9 and arrow keys as needed to keep text within the various braces as you type.
      { IF { PAGE } = { NUMPAGES } "" "more" }
    4. Select the entire expression.
    5. Right-click the selection and choose Toggle Field Codes.
      (or use Alt+F9)
    Headers and footers and page numbers


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    Thursday, November 19, 2015

    Automate Word Tables

    VBA examples and instructions


    The Microsoft Developer's Network has a pretty comprehensive article on programmatically working with data and Word tables.

    "You can look at the world as split into applications that store data (databases) and applications that present information, such as Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003. Increasingly, the end user demands to display database content in documents and presentations.

    While Word does provide some tools for displaying tables from databases in its documents, these are somewhat rudimentary, they require a basic understanding of how the database is built, and using them involves a number of steps. In addition, there may also be security and access issues involved, requiring additional layers of protection.

    The developer is therefore increasingly confronted with the task of transferring data into Word, whether in the form of tables, or as part of the document text. This article considers some of the major aspects of using the Word object model to work with tables."


    • Introduction to Automating Tables
    • Creating Tables Programmatically in Word
    • Populating Word Tables with Data
    • Adding Linking in Word Tables Programmatically
    • Extracting Data from Word Tables Programmatically
    A downloadable document is also available for those of us still addicted to paper. Automating Word Tables for Data Insertion and Extraction.


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    Monday, November 16, 2015

    Kürzungen für jeder

    Accessibility Shortcuts


    Several resources are available to help increase speed and effectiveness for keyboard users. Here are keyboard shortcuts for leading Microsoft products that help save time and effort and provide an essential tool for some people with mobility impairments.

    • Internet Explorer (11/10/9/8/7/6)
    • Office (2013/2010/2007/2003)
    • PowerPoint
    • Publisher
    • Windows (8/7/Vista/2003/XP/2000)
    • Windows Media Player
    Microsoft.com Keyboard Assistance.


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    Thursday, November 12, 2015

    Mail Merge Page Printing

    One big page


    After completing a merge to a new document, the status bar may indicate that the insertion point is located on page 1 of 38 pages. This is a bit of mis-information.

    If you turn on Show/Hide and look at the merged document in Normal view, you'll see that the merged document has section breaks rather than page breaks.

    If you try to print what should be Page 1, the entire document will print.

    To print just the first section, use "s1" in the Print dialog box.



    Another way to handle it is to go to Edit>Replace and replace

    "^b" (section break)

    With

    "^m" (manual page break)



    From Office.Microsoft.com:
    In the Pages box, type instructions to print one of the following:

    Noncontiguous pages

    Type the page numbers with commas between them. Type the range of pages with a hyphen between the starting and ending numbers in the range. For example, to print pages 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8, type 2,4-6,8
    A range of pages within a section

    Type p page number s section number. For example, to print pages 5 through 7 in section 3, type p5s3-p7s3
    An entire section

    Type s section number. For example, type s3
    Noncontiguous sections

    Type the section numbers with commas between them. For example, type s3,s5
    A range of pages across sections

    Type a range of page numbers and the sections that contain them with a hyphen between the starting and ending numbers in the range. For example, type p2s2-p3s5



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    Wednesday, November 11, 2015

    Graphics from the '50s

    Remember it the way you want to


    Original fifties clipart? Just in time for the holidays, some Ozzie and Harriet style pics.



    "Most communities in the fifties had small town print shops that doubled as printers of local news and advertising papers. These printers could not afford graphic artists so they used stock clipart supplied by large companies who distributed common graphics for use in advertising sections of the papers. They were provided for the printer in lots of categories to meet any advertiser's needs."

    Retrographix.com


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    Thursday, November 05, 2015

    Merge Pictures

    Different picture to every letter in a mail merge



    A variation of this technique could also be used with an IF statement to display different pictures based on some criteria, such as Zip code.
    1. Open the Excel worksheet that you use as the mail merge data source.

    2. Insert a new column that has a column heading such as Picture.

    3. For each row of the Excel worksheet, insert in the Picture column the path and the file name of the picture that you want to use for that record of the data source. Additionally, enclose the path and the file name in quotation marks (").

      For example, copy the path and the file name of the picture in Windows Explorer. Then, paste the path and file name into the Excel worksheet.

      Note The path and the file name of each picture in the Picture column will appear similar to the following example:


      "C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Pictures\foldername\filename.jpg"

    4. On the Edit menu, click Replace. Then, replace each instance of a single slash mark (\) with double slash marks (\\) in each path.

      For example, each path should now look similar to the following example:

      "C:\\Documents and Settings\\username\\My Documents\\My Pictures\\foldername\\filename.jpg"

    5. Save and then close the Excel worksheet. Then, quit Excel.
    In Word, follow these steps:
    1. Open the mail merge main document.

    2. If the Excel data source is not attached, attach the data source. To do this, go to Step 3 of 6 in the Mail Merge task pane. Click Browse, and then attach the Excel data source.

    3. Click Next: Write your letter.

    4. In the mail merge main document, move the insertion point to the location where you want the picture to appear.

    5. On the Insert menu, click Field.

    6. In the Field dialog box, click IncludePicture under Field names, and then click OK.

      Note You may receive the following error message:

      Error! Filename not specified

    7. Press ALT+F9 to display the field codes in the mail merge main document. You will see a field that is similar to the following field:

      { INCLUDEPICTURE \* MERGEFORMAT }

    8. Move the insertion point into the field immediately following INCLUDEPICTURE.

    9. Press the SPACEBAR, and then click More items on the Mail Merge task pane.

    10. In the Insert Merge Field dialog box, click the picture merge field, such as Picture, and then click Insert.

    11. Click Close to close the Insert Merge Field dialog box.

      The INCLUDEPICTURE field should now look similar to the following field:

      { INCLUDEPICTURE { MERGEFIELD "Picture" } \* MERGEFORMAT }

    12. Press ALT+F9 to hide the field codes in the mail merge main


    13. Click Next: Preview your letters.


    14. Click Next: Complete the merge.

    15. In the Mail Merge task pane, click Edit individual letters.

    16. In the Merge to New Document dialog box, click OK.

    17. On the Edit menu in the merged document, click Select All.

    18. Press F9 to update the fields in the merged document.
      (Word mail merges are not dynamic)

    19. To print your letters from the merged document, click Print on the File menu. Each printed letter will contain the picture that you specified in the Excel data source.
    Knowledgebase #909132:
    Different picture to every letter in a mail merge


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    Saturday, October 31, 2015

    Almost All You Need to Know

    Collection of Word explanations



    Shauna Kelly is a Microsoft Word MVP.

    She has compiled a gathering of important Word how to's and whys.
    For new users of Microsoft Word
    Basic concepts - Introduction
    Styles in Microsoft Word
    Tips for understanding styles
    Formatting
    How the Styles and Formatting pane works
    Numbering, Bullets, Headings, Outlines
    How to control bullets
    Templates
    What is the relationship between a Word document and its template?
    Layout
    How to keep a figure on the same page as its caption
    Sharing Microsoft Word documents
    What happens when I send my document to someone else?


    Making the most of Word in your business:
    Microsoft Word FAQ


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    Saturday, October 24, 2015

    Clip Art Gallery

    Sprinkle carefully


    Judicious use of Clip art can spice up a document. Here's an article about how to customize existing pictures including:
    • Display clip-related toolbars
    • Customizing your clip art
    • Cropping
    • Sizing
    • Adding text wrapping
    • Blurring
    • Rotating and flipping
    • Adding a drop shadow
    Edit clip art in Word


     

    Halloween clips


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