Carol Bratt

Here's a tip for MS Word users who do a lot of cutting and pasting with text and prefer to minimize the number of times they reach for the mouse. For example: suppose you want to copy and paste a line that which uses the "Heading" format into a ... paragraph with normal formatting. When you select the line, MS Word will also select the paragraph mark which denotes a carriage return (or the beginning of a new line). If you simply paste the line (instead pasting as "unformatted text"), Word will impose the "Heading" style on the line you just pasted. Here's a quick and easy way to copy and paste ... (view more)

When the spell checker is activated in MS Word, text in your document are compared against the main dictionary and any additional "custom dictionaries" you may have created. Sometimes you may not want MS Word to use the custom dictionary. For ... instance, let's say that you have developed a rather extensive dictionary that is very specific to your industry or to your company. The dictionary may contain many specialized terms, but using those terms to spell-check a document you are preparing for may be inappropriate. If you want to limit Word's spell checker so it only uses the main dictionary, ... (view more)

Microsoft Word includes a feature that allows you to add footnotes and endnotes to your documents. This can come in real handy for some type of scholarly or scientific documents; however, in some instances, you may need to use only a single footnote ... for multiple references within a document. To do so: Insert your first (primary) footnote as normal. Position the insertion point in the document where you want the secondary reference to the footnote. Choose Insert | Reference | Cross-reference. MS Word will display the Cross-reference dialog box. Using the Reference Type drop-down list, choose ... (view more)

Need to copy an object quickly and easily using PowerPoint? Instead of using Cut and Paste, try this method instead: Single left-click the object you want to copy (this will select the object). Hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard. Now, hold down ... the left mouse button with the CTRL key and drag the object to the new location. It's simple. It's quick! Now try the above steps again -- but this time, press the Shift key at the same time as the CTRL key; the result will have objects aligned to each other -- particularly useful if you have many objects on the screen that need to be arranged in ... (view more)

Pretty much anyone who uses a computer is savvy when it comes to "point and click" using the left mouse button. But when using the alternate (right) mouse button many users often remark, "What else can this mouse do?" The truth is that the right ... mouse button is just as powerful as the left, and it's a feature that is available in all Windows programs. When the right mouse button is clicked (in almost all circumstances), a "dialogue" menu pops up and provides the user with choices that are related to the task at hand. For example: when you right-click with WordPerfect, you receive ... (view more)

Need a way to grab attention to a headline? Try accentuating your words using a Table Border in MS word! To do so: Click View | Toolbars, and ensure that 'Tables and Borders' has a checkmark. Using the Tables and Borders toolbar, click the 'Insert ... Table' icon and create a 1 x 1 (single-cell) table. When the table is displayed, right-click over top of the cell and choose the option 'Borders And Shading'. Under the Preview heading, deselect the left, right, and top sides of the cell's border. Under the Style heading, navigate to the Width pull-down menu and choose a heavy line style (such as 4 ... (view more)

Do you have a list of important people in MS Outlook? Do you need to a way to automatically request a "Read Receipt" for these people (but not everyone you email)? In that case, you can set up a specialized "After Sending" Mail Rule: Click Tools | ... Rules and Alerts, and select New Rule; this will start the Open Rules Wizard. Select the option to 'Start from a Blank Rule' (near the top of the Window); also choose the 'check messages after sending' option. Click next. In the Conditions window Step #1, checkmark "sent to people or distribution list". In Step #2, click the link to "sent to people ... (view more)

Need to print part of a page in Internet Explorer? It's as easy and 1-2-3! Simply highlight the required material with your mouse. Choose File | Print from the menu. Checkmark the "Selection" radio button in the print dialog box. If you need to ... print parts of a document that are split across multiple pages (for example: a table of contents with sections which link to separate pages), simply switch to the Options tab of the print dialog and checkmark the box labeled "Print all linked documents." See, I told you it was easy! Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one! (view more)

Tight on time? Need to boost productivity while surfing the web? Use these shortcut keys to make your next experience with Internet Explorer more enjoyable: To add www. and .com automatically to your website addresses in Internet Explorer: Press ... [CTRL] + [Enter] and www. will appear before the address you've entered and .com after it. Note: This only works if "Web Addresses" in the Tools | Internet Options | Content | AutoComplete settings in Internet Options is check-marked. To switch to 'full screen' mode with no title bar in IE, press [F11]. To return to original mode, press [F11] again. ... (view more)

Do you habitually right-click? Even if you've never used a "right-click" dialogue menu before, it's fun to right-click and see what extra options are available, and where. Who knows -- the extra options you reveal might make a right-clicker out of ... you! Try it for yourself. In MS Outlook 2003, you can right-click on: Group headers to Collapse All or Expand All. The Day Planner's time scale to change the scale or access Time Zone settings. Any Day/Week/Month view for a host of options, including 'Go to Day'. Folders (including shortcuts on the Outlook bar) to see folder options. Any ... (view more)