How to go back to your last edit March 27, 2007
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Writing, Troubleshooting, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a commentYou can tell Word to undo a mistake you’ve made and to change it back to what you wrote a few minutes ago.
If you’ve made a mistake when writing, for example deleted a few paragraphs by accident, the first reaction may be to panic. How do I get it back? Do I have to write it all again?
One way to do this is to use the Undo feature in Word. This lets you go back in time, step by step, until you find the first version of the text you wrote.
Here’s how it works: 
-
In the Word document, press Ctrl and Z. This performs one Undo. It undoes the last edit you made to the document.
-
Press Ctrl and Z. This performs another Undo. It undoes the second last edit you made.
-
Continue to press Ctrl and Z to undo as many edits as you want.
When you’ve found the text that you were after, save the document, preferably with some naming convention that makes sense to you, for example, June Report Draft 2.
Rather than keeping one version of a document, especially one you’ll re-write many times, save it with a different version number as you work on it. This avoids losing all your work if the document crashes, which can happen if you repeatedly format a document and make changes to its layout.
At the end of the project, delete the initial drafts, then create a Gold Copy of the final draft and save it in the Archives.
Writing Effective Short Descriptions January 25, 2007
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Writing, Style, Templates , 1 comment so far
Short descriptions should explain what the subject matter helps the reader to accomplish, the purpose of using it, or the benefits it offers to the reader.
Do not simply repeat the title of the page or document. Avoid stating the obvious, such as “You can use the Paste option to paste text”.
Try to add more information about why the task is beneficial. Include information that helps the reader understand when to perform this task and in what circumstances it is necessary to do so.
Example of an ineffective description:
Creating a proposal template: You can create a proposal template with the proposal wizard. This short description does not tell why using the wizard is important or beneficial. It simply states the obvious and generates no interest in the reader. Will they try it? Not likely.
Example of an effective description:
Creating an RFP Proposal template: By using the proposal template, you can speed up the documentation process, use the pre-defined styles and formatting to ensure that your proposal gets submitted on time.
This description outlines some of the benefits the proposal wizard offers the reader. It is more likely to stimulate their interest.
Example of an ineffective description:
Pasting Text: You can use the Paste option to paste text into your document. This description does not tell users the benefit or purpose of pasting text.
Example of an effective description:
Pasting Text: Use the Paste option to paste text, objects, or images into your document. Use the Paste Special option to retain formatting, for example, if you want to copy content from a website and bring over both the text and images.
The effective description is better because it describes the different types of pasting and the reasons you’d use Paste Special instead of the standard paste option. After reading this, the reader feels more informed and better placed to make a decision.
Guidelines For Writing Webpage Titles January 25, 2007
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Recommended, Tips , add a commentWeb page titles describe the content of your web page. They are essential to get right if you want reader to visit your page, as well as search engines and RSS newsreaders to index them correctly.
The web page title should explain (at least) three things:
Purpose of the webpage.
Knowledge offered by its content
Benefits to the reader if they visit this specific page
This means that you need to write your web page titles with two things in mind.
- Search engines index these titles. So, write your title in anticipation of how the search engine will understand the text.
Don’t write: “Welcome to our award-wining company site.”
Do write: “XYZ Corp provides Wireless Content Management Solutions”
Which of these helps the reader the most?
-
People searching through search engines see this title in the results section. The page title is the sentence that gets displayed here so it’s important to make it relevant to the reader.
Don’t write: “Your browser doesn’t support this site. Download Flash to continue”
Do write: “Wireless Content Management Solutions tutorials for IT Managers”
Which of these companies do you NOT want to do business with?
Common mistakes
Common mistakes when writing web page titles are:
-
Adding unnecessary words or phrases to the title.
-
Writing overlong descriptions that dilute the page contents
-
Using clichés, jargon or terminology that the reader will not understand
Writing tips:
Emphasis how the reader will benefit by visiting this page. However, avoid sales pitches and corporate speak. No-one likes reading this stuff.
Make headings that will be easy to read when viewed as a bookmark. If your readers do bookmark your site, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to find you from their list of bookmarks, Highlight the page’s location within the context of the overall website, for example, if the page is one in a series of tutorials, then consider introducing it as follows, “Tutorials | Project Management | How to manage deadlines”. After reading this you can tell three things about the page, even before you visit it:
-
It offers a series of tutorials
-
Project Management tutorials are available on this site.
-
The subject of this specific page is how to manage deadlines.
Writing headlines in this manner (or along these lines) gives the reader confidence in your site. The feel that you site will be organized and built with their needs in mind rather than for the company’s own self-satisfaction.
How To take Screenshots of Floating Windows January 25, 2007
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a commentScreenshot Tutorial
- To copy the active window, press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.
This is the part of the screen that’s active, i.e. that you’re working on. - To copy the entire screen, press PRINT SCREEN.
This prints everything that appears on your monitor.
To paste the image into a Microsoft Office program, open a file and press Ctrl + V.
Change the spacing between characters December 7, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Style, Templates, Cool Tricks , add a comment
Change the spacing between characters
-
Select the text you want to change.
-
On the Format menu, click Font, and then click the Character Spacing tab.
-
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.
Tip: Selecting Expanded or Condensed alters the spacing between all selected letters by the same amount. However, Kerning adjust the spacing between two characters to create the appearance of even spacing, or to fit text to a given space.
Changing the background to blue with white text December 7, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Style, Templates, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a comment
From the Tools menu, choose Options.
In the General tab, select the Blue Background, white text checkbox.
How to go back to your last edit December 4, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Writing, Troubleshooting, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a comment
Did you know that you can tell Word to undo any mistake you’ve made and go back to what you wrote a few minutes ago? If you’ve made a mistake when writing, for example deleted a few paragraphs by accident, the first reaction may be to panic. How do I get it back? Do I have to write it all again?
One way to do this is to use the Undo feature in Word. This lets you go back in time, step by step, until you find the first version of the text you wrote.
Here’s how it works:
-
Press Ctrl and Z. This performs one Undo. It undoes the last edit you made to the document.
-
Press Ctrl and Z. This performs another Undo. It undoes the second last edit you made.
-
Continue to press Ctrl and Z to undo as many edits as you want.
When you’ve found the text that you were after save the document, preferably with some naming convention that makes sense to you, for example, June Report Draft 2.
Rather than keeping one version of a document, especially one you’ll re-write many times, save it with a different version number as you work on it. This avoids losing all you work if the document crashes, which can happen if you repeatedly format a document and make changes to its layout.
At the end of the project, delete the initial drafts, then create a Gold Copy of the final draft and save it in the Archives.
Change the spacing between letters December 4, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Templates, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a commentSelect the text you want to change. Click Format, Font, and then the Character Spacing tab.
Choose one of the following:
-
In the Spacing box click Expanded or Condensed and enter the amount in the By box. This adjusts the space evenly between all selected characters.
Or -
Select the Kerning for fonts checkbox. Enter the point size in the Points and above box.
Tip: Expanded or Condensed alters the spacing between all selected letters by the same amount while Kerning alters the spacing between specific pairs of letters.
How to Stretch Text December 4, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Style, Templates, Cool Tricks , add a comment
- Select the text you want to change.
- Click Format, Font, and then the Character Spacing tab.
- In the Scale box, enter the percentage you want to stretch the text.
Stretching is also refereed to as scaling.
Change the Windows Desktop Theme November 29, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Writing, Troubleshooting, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a comment
Like its brother-in-arms, the Screensaver, the Windows Desktop Themes eat away at your computer’s memory. Unless you really need them, uninstall! You’ll have a much quicker and more reliable machine.To change or remove desktop themes, follow these steps:
-
On the Desktop, right-click and click Properties.
-
Click the Themes tab.
3. In the Theme box, select the theme you want or click None.
Tip: if you have to use a theme, select one with few graphics.