Format the Document:

Always think about the format of your document at the beginning. If you make changes midway, the changes will only be in effect from the point where you made them -- not for the whole document. The top line of the toolbar offers options for changing the document on pulldown menus. The second line provides icons and windows used for making many of the most common changes.

Notice that the default font is probably Times Roman, size 10 (or 10 point). The larger the "point size," the larger the text will be. Many people prefer 12 point. To change, click on the downward-pointing arrow next to the 10, slide your cursor down the offered options and click on 12 to select the new size. You must do this before you begin typing in order to have the change apply to the entire document.

Moving Through the Document:

Once you have text on the screen, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move without making changes. Use the mouse to move to another location in the document, then click the left mouse button to reposition the cursor to that point. Note that moving the mouse without clicking will not actually move the cursor, and any typing you do will occur where the cursor is located.

Modifying Text and Making Changes to Your Document:

After typing, you can select a section of text to modify by using the drop-down menus and icons at the top of the screen. Modifications include font style and size, appearance (bold, italics or underlined), and justification (left, centered or right side).

The portion of text that you want to modify must be selected before you can make any changes to it. To select, position the cursor at the beginning of the text you want to change, hold down the left mouse button and move to the end of the text to be selected, then let your finger off the mouse button. You will see that the selected text is now highlighted.

Here’s how to make some of the most common modifications:

Changing Fonts: The font window displays the name of the currently selected font (probably Times Roman). Click on the arrow to the right of the window to see and choose from other choices. As described above, the next window is the size of the font. Click on the arrow to the right of the window to choose a different size.

Embellishing Text: Choose how you want to modify the text. Press the B icon to make it bold, I to italicize or U to underline. Note that all of these commands are toggle commands, which means that the same command removes these formats.

Justification: Justification is the term used to describe how the text is aligned on the page. The first icon is for left justified (the normal look of documents), the second is for centered. These are the most popular choices; however, others are available by selecting Format from the top line, then Paragraph from the pulldown menu and Alignment in the dialog box.

Bullets: The next icon is a toggle for creating an indented, bulleted list. The default is a bold circle. For other choices, click Format then Bullets and Numbering.

Page Numbering: Click on Insert on the menu bar, and choose Page Numbers. Choose from the windows the position and alignment of the numbers.

Page Breaks: If you want to be sure that a block of text will begin at the top of a page, regardless of future editing, you can insert a page break in front of it. To do this, click on Insert from the menu bar, then select Break. A new page is automatically created at that point. You can also insert a page break after the text if you don't want anything else on the page.

Footnotes: Go to Insert on the menu bar, choose Reference then Footnote. Click on the Insert button and a number will be automatically added at that point in your text. The cursor will appear at the bottom of the page for you to enter the footnote. When finished, move the cursor back into the text and click to resume typing. Note: should you later delete the footnote number from the text, the footnote will also disappear.

Cutting, Copying and Pasting: You can delete or move text by using the "cut and paste" techniques. First, select the text to be cut or copied by highlighting it as described above. To make a copy of the text without removing the original, click on the two pages icon in the toolbar. If you want to delete it altogether from its original location, use the scissors icon. To paste, move the cursor to the place you want to insert the copied or cut text, click the mouse button and then click on the clipboard icon.

Inserting Graphics:

To insert graphics, click on Insert , select Picture and the source of the graphic (clip art, file, etc). To insert clip art which is part of the Word program, select from the available options and click Insert. To insert a graphic from a file, you will need to click on From File, locate the file, select it and finally click on Insert.

Saving Your Document:

To save your document to a diskette, click on the diskette icon in the toolbar. You will be asked to specify where to save it. Place a in the drive. Check to make sure that the box next to Save In says 3-1/2 Floppy (A). If it does not, select this from the dropdown menu next to Save In.

You will also need to give your file a name in the File name: window. The first few words of the document will automatically appear in the window. To change it, highlight the text in the box and type the name you want it to have. Note that multiple word file names are permitted, but may cause problems if you need to open the document in a different format. To avoid future problems, you can use a file name of eight characters (letters or numbers) or less with no punctuation marks.

Click on the Save button to save your document. After the first save, subsequent saves of this document will automatically go to the same file name and overwrite the previous version. Make sure the computer has finished saving your document before closing it or removing the disk. Removing the disk from the drive too soon may damage your document.

Opening a Previously Saved Document:

To open a file which you have previously saved to a disk, click on the open file folder icon in the toolbar, which will cause a dialog box to appear. You will need to specify where to find the document by clicking on the arrow next to the drive window, selecting 3-1/2 Floppy (A) from the menu and your file from the list of files on that disk.

Printing:

The easiest way to print is to press the printer icon on the toolbar. This command will print one copy of the entire document on the regular printer. If you need to make adjustments to this, you may click on File in the top menu bar and select Print from the dropdown menu. This will bring up a dialog box with a number of choices (number of copies, which pages to print, etc.). When finished making adjustments, click OK to send your document to the printer. NOTE: The Pay-for-Print system will require you to authorize the printing. Please follow the instructions posted in the Lab to complete the printing process.

Helpful Features to Try:

Spelling and Grammar Checking: To run the spelling/grammar checker, position the cursor at the top of the document and press the ABC " icon. A dialog box will appear. Usual choices are to change (click on the correct spelling if offered) or ignore (if the computer doesn't recognize something) or add something you use frequently and would like to add to the spell checker (but be sure you've spelled it correctly before adding!). By default, this version of Word will check both spelling and grammar simultaneously.

Thesaurus: To use the thesaurus, first highlight a word for which you would like to find a substitute. Choose Tools from the menu bar, then Language and select Thesaurus. A dialog box will appear offering you other word choices. If you want to substitute one of the offered words for the word you have typed, click on the word you want.

Change Case: Microsoft Word offers an easy way to make your text all caps, all lowercase or title case (first letters capitalized). First, highlight the text you want to change, then go to Format on the menu bar and choose Change Case. Click in the button next to the desired new format and click on OK.

HELP!

If you want to know how to do something, or come across something you don't understand, go to Help on the menu bar. Click on Microsoft Word Help to bring up the "Assistant". Type your question (or a few words describing what you want to do) and click Search. You can then choose the topic you'd like to look at from a list of options.