Project 1: Word Basics
Word Help

Step-by-Step: Help Topics

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What you will learn:

to use Word Help contents to turn off Office Assistant what AutoCorrect can correct what AutoFormat can change

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Start with:    (Word is open with a blank document.)

If you worked through the lessons in Working with Windows, you already have formatted a floppy disk and put several folders and files on it. While the files you saved will not be used again, you do need the folder my docs and its subfolders word project1, and word project2.  You will make more folders as you go along.

 Eventually your floppy disk will be full, so keep a spare blank disk handy or plan to delete files (after your work has been graded!).

Check it out!
	Your Class disk should currently contain: my docs win project2 doc 1.txt myname.bmp word project1 word project2

Turn off Office Assistant

If you are using Word 97 or later, to get to the Help dialog you must turn off the Office Assistant. If you do not see the Office Assistant, it may be just hiding instead of turned off. You will learn to use Office Assistant in the next lesson.

1. If the Office Assistant is not showing , from the menu select  Help  |  Show Assistant .
    
2. Click on the Office Assistant cartoon to open its dialog.
    
3. Click on the Options button.
    
4. On the Options tab of the dialog that opens, uncheck the box Use the Office Assistant.
    
5. Click on OK to close the dialog. Watch the Assistant do its disappearing act. 

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Read Help Topics

Word has the ability to automatically fix some of the most common typing mistakes and to automatically insert symbols for some character combinations. It can be quite a surprise if Word "corrects" something and you weren't expecting it. You can turn off some of this automation if it "corrects" things that you don't want corrected.

1. From the menu, choose:
   Help   |   Contents & Index 
    Microsoft Word Help  |  Contents  |  Formatting  |  Formatting with AutoFormat 
   Microsoft Word Help | Contents | Document Fundamentals  | Formatting Text |  AutoFormat
   Help | Microsoft Office Word Help (the Help Task Pane opens) | Table of Contents | Working with Text | Automatic Text Options | AutoFormat
    
2. Read all the topics displayed under AutoFormat. Be sure to read the linked topics inside them. Some are also listed in the Contents pane, but not all are. Close Help after you have finished reading.

   

    In Word 2000 in the topic Format a document automatically, read the link Learn about automatic formatting options. and the link in that topic Learn about the results of formatting a document automatically. This last page has a list of the autocorrections Word comes with. It's is a lot harder to find than it was in Word 97.

   In Word 2002/2003 the topic Automatic formatting results has a list of what kind of formatting Word will do automatically by default. It's an important list that is buried rather deeply in the topic structure.

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Dialog: AutoCorrect

1. Open the AutoCorrect dialog box, using the menu  Tools  |  AutoCorrect… .
   Tools  |  AutoCorrect Options… .
    
2. Select the tab AutoCorrect. There should be a check mark in each box. Be especially careful that Replace text as you type is checked.

   

3. Select the tab AutoFormat as you type. (Be careful you are on the correct tab and not the AutoFormat tab. Confusing again!!)

   
    

4. For this exercise, be sure that the box for Ordinals (1st) with superscript is NOT checked. Usually you will want this one checked, but we are going to experiment shortly.
    
5. The box for Define styles based on your formatting should NOT be checked. When this one is checked, Word looks at what formatting you apply to text that already has a paragraph style. Then Word changes the style definition to match! Useful, but it could be disastrous if you forget about it.
    
6. Place a checkmark in the other boxes as shown in the illustration by clicking them.
    
7. Click on OK to close the dialog.

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AutoCorrect

To print a copy of what you will be typing, click here to open an image in your browser. Use the browser's Print command (File | Print). Then use the Back button to return to this page.

1. On line 1 of your blank document type the words  Word Project 1  and press the ENTER key to move to a new line.
    
2. On line 2 type your name and press the ENTER key.
    
3. Starting on line 3, type the characters at the right EXACTLY as shown. Press the ENTER key at the end of each line. Watch carefully to see how Word changes what you type.

   Note: After the (tm) those faint double dots are colons. The dots in between words show that there is a blank space there.

   The AutoCorrect and AutoFormat features change your typing except for the one feature that we turned off earlier - the ordinal number.
    

4. With your cursor in the last line, press BACKSPACE once. This stops the bulleting of the lines.
    
5. Start typing the name of the current month. Word's AutoText suggests a completion to what you type in a popup tip , in this case the date. (You may need to type a space after the month to see the popup.) Of course the date you get will be today's date!
   Word 2003 suggests just the month, not the full date.
    
6. Press ENTER to accept what Word suggests.

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AutoFormat

1. Select the characters  1st  in line 4 by dragging over them.
    
2. From the menu select  Format  |  AutoFormat… |  Options  |  Autoformat as you type . Put a checkmark in the box beside Ordinals (1st) with Superscript. Now when Word autoformats as you type, it will apply this rule, too.
    
3. Click on OK to return to the AutoFormat dialog.
   Now Word is ready to AutoCorrect your superscript. But you must do something to make Word actually look at the text again.
    
4. Click on AutoFormat now, if it is not already selected.
    
5. Click on the OK button. The characters should look like 1^st now. Amazing!!

   [You can also use the AutoFormat button, but it is not on the toolbar by default in all versions of Word.]
   

   
   Completed document - AutoCorrect & AutoFormat done
    

6. Go back to  Tools  |  AutoCorrect… 
   Tools  |  AutoCorrect Options… .
   Uncheck again Ordinals (1st) with Superscript. You'll get another chance to use this technique later.

   You might be asking yourself- why not leave these AutoFormat choices on all the time? Sometimes it's more trouble than it is worth if Word keeps trying to AutoFormat something that you don't want changed. If you really want a set of 6 dashes instead of a border, you have to uncheck the AutoFormat Borders which turns those dashes into a straight line across the page, for example.
    

7. Save this document by clicking the Save button. Since this is a new document, you will see the Save As dialog box. Name the document  mysymbols.doc  and save it in the  word project1 folder on your Class disk.
    
8. Print by clicking the Print button on the toolbar.
    
9. Close the document with the Close button for the document window, but do not close Word.