Microsoft Word is a very large program and has great capabilities. Proficiency in Word is really beyond the Beginning Computer User class. However, the default format items will allow you to create a document. The demonstration here will give you a feeling for some of the capabilities of this program.
The appearance of text, tables, and other elements within a Word document are controlled by a style. A style is simply a name for a set of properties applied to a character, paragraph, table, or inserted object. Most of the styles apply to a paragraph. Some, e.g. bold, can also apply to one or more characters within a paragraph.
This is a typical window when you create a new Word document. The window of the document contains the name of the file and indicates that it is a Word document. This figure shows three toolbars at the top of the window:
These three toolbars, will allow you to create many different types of documents. The standard toolbar has a few features similar to those in most applications. These are drop-down menus. Click any of them and additional menu selections specific to Word apper in the drop down box.
Click the down arrow button on the style selector control,
so that "Heading 1" is visible.
Type "Jimmie Cone" followed by the enter key.
Note that the style selector control again displays "Normal". This indicates that newly added paragraphs will be styled with the "Normal" style. Add some information about Jimmie Cone. Each paragraph ends when the Enter key is pressed.
Click the "File" menu, and select "Save As...". Use the standard dialog box to save the file.
New documents can be created using a template that is on your computer or the Microsoft web site. A template is a special document that allows you to easily create a professional document without needing to design it yourself. Templates exist for many types of document.
A template has an extension of .dot. A template contains a set of predefined
styles applied to paragraphs. Click "New..." from the File menu. A menu opens with
two sets of choices. The top of the menu are the New documents. Each of
Blank creates a blank document with default styles. The "From Existing Document" will create a blank document and imports styles from an existing document.
The lower portion of the menu shows links to templates. These are short documents with defined styles. View "Templates" and "On My Computer..". A new pop-up window (Templates) will open with several tabs. Each of these shows a group of templates that was part of the Word installation package. While the New choices in the top of the menu create a new blank document, The Templates menu choices create a document with temporary text and a compatible set of styles. Replace the temporary text with your own and you have a professionally designed document.
Each template is professionally designed, and has a set of style sheets defined for the template you selected. Observe the style selector on the formatting toolbar as you place the cursor on each line.
You can change the template look by changing one or more of the style sheets defined in the template. Viewing styles on templates is a good way to learn.
There are many tool bars that are used in document creation. Three of the most used are shown in the previous screen shots. These are all near the top of the window. The visibility of the tool bars can be controlled from the View menu.
The standard toolbar contains a set of icons that do common functions. Move the cursor over the top of any of them, and a tip will appear with a brief description. Many of these are commands from the standard menu at the top of the window.
The next toolbar is the formatting toolbar. The appearance of each paragraph in a document is determined by the format [style] of the paragraph. Word has many styles defined by default, and allows the user to change any of these, or to create many new styles.
The ruler displays the a ruler, and shows the left margin, right margin, and tab stops. The ruler shows these for the selected paragraph. Each paragraph can have a differnt ruler. The ruler allows tab stops to be set any place within the line.
The ruler can also show other information when tables or images are included.
This summary describes only a small fraction of the features included in Word. Word can display data in a table, include a graph illustrating data, and images. This introduction, however, is enough to allow you to create a wide variety of documents.
There are many books available for checkout from the library. These can be kept for three weeks. Check the card catalog to look for titles available anywhere in the library system.
The library also makes the Safari collection (electronic books) available. You can read books here using a computer connected to the internet, or from any computer connected to the internet. All you need is a library card.
Check for courses offered by Adult Education and at Montgomery College. These are generally not free.
Here are a few online resources that you can use.
Free Word 2003 Tutorial by GCN Learn Free
Word 2003 Training from Microsoft
Online Word 2003 Help from Microsoft
Word 2003 Demos [video clips] from Microsoft
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