Where to Start Learning MS Word 2008

[Norm]

I'm "trying" to learn Word from scratch and having trouble already.
:-(

I'm reading "Bend...." and at the same time the MVP site. Helpful but
I'm getting lost. :-(

I assume I should start with Preferences? But I'm not sure if my saving
Preferences is holding. Are Preferences in Word 2008 global (if that is
the correct word to use)? That is that once set they don't change and
apply to all documents created?

Maybe if I can get that concept clear, I'll be able to make faster
progress in this process.

Thanks for the help,

A Beginner (one who longs for 5.1a)

 

[Norm]

I'm reading "Bend...." and at the same time the MVP site. Helpful but
I'm getting lost. :-(

OP add....

Maybe this is a better way to ask my question in the original of this
thread.

If you were starting to setup Word 2008 and needed an User Guide to help
in that process with recommendations, what would you use?

And with respect to Preferences, I quote Clive in Bend:

Important: First open a new blank document (Command-n) so that you can more
readily save all of these configurations to your Normal template, Otherwise,
you could inadvertently apply the configurations only to the document you
have open, such as ³Bend Word to Your Will². You may prefer to print the next
few pages - that means you can stay in the ³Preferences² pane while you look
through the recommendations, and you can write down what you have decided on
where your preference differs from mine.

When you have finished making the changes you choose in this section, you
should save the Normal template. You can do that by quitting Word (Command-q,
not just closing the document or Command-w). You'll be asked whether you want
to save the Normal template unless you have opted otherwise. Or you can hold
down the Shift key and choose File menu » Save All. Since you can do this at
any time, and as often as you like, it makes sense to Save All a few times
while doing the initial configurations suggested here.

I gather that just changing Preferences doesn't do anything permanently
for your future documents unless you do as suggested in Bend?

And if you have already set up some "My Templates" will those be
governed by one's new Preferences or the Preferences at time the
template was created?

Thanks again.

 

[Michel Bintener]

If you were starting to setup Word 2008 and needed an User Guide to help

in that process with recommendations, what would you use?

Hi Norm,

go to any online book reseller, such as Amazon, and type either "Word 2008"
or "Office 2008" into the search field. "The Missing Manual" series is very
good, and as a novice, you can't go wrong with the "Dummies" series. As a
matter of fact, Jim Gordon, a Microsoft MVP and frequent contributor to
these newsgroups, has one "Dummies" book coming out soon; see here for more
details:

Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One for Dummies
<http://tinyurl.com/lgqfcd>

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Norm:

I think you are quite correct in what you are doing.

Follow Clive's recommendations for setting up all the preferences in Word
2008. Ignore the ones he doesn't mention (leave them set the way Microsoft
set them)

No, not ALL preferences are global. And Word makes a very poor job of
telling you which ones are not!

Basically, anything on the "Compatibility" pane applies to the open
document only. All the rest are global.

Once set, you are correct, they will apply to any new documents created and
will not change. However, once you have finished setting them, it's not a
bad idea to quit and re-start Word, just to ensure that your changes are
written back and saved. If you were to get a crash after changing and
before quitting, your changes would not be saved.

I would also take it a bit easy on yourself: the world is not going to end
if you forget to set one

Cheers

I'm "trying" to learn Word from scratch and having trouble already.
:-(

I'm reading "Bend...." and at the same time the MVP site. Helpful but
I'm getting lost. :-(

I assume I should start with Preferences? But I'm not sure if my saving
Preferences is holding. Are Preferences in Word 2008 global (if that is
the correct word to use)? That is that once set they don't change and
apply to all documents created?

Maybe if I can get that concept clear, I'll be able to make faster
progress in this process.

Thanks for the help,

A Beginner (one who longs for 5.1a)

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Norm]

I would also take it a bit easy on yourself: the world is not going to end
if you forget to set one

Thanks.

I followed Clive's notes for all the Preferences. Now on to the
Toolbars.

However, if you have time, I am having trouble setting the Normal
Template. I couldn't change the font so I finally deleted the one I had
been working on and....

1. The new one created by Word is in My Templates rather than in User
Templates. OK? Why?

2. I've tried to change the Font two or three times and it never stays.
When I start a New Document it has Cambria as the font. ?

I'll read the MVP site again on setting Normal.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Norm]

Thanks.

I followed Clive's notes for all the Preferences. Now on to the
Toolbars.

However, if you have time, I am having trouble setting the Normal
Template. I couldn't change the font so I finally deleted the one I had
been working on and....

1. The new one created by Word is in My Templates rather than in User
Templates. OK? Why?

2. I've tried to change the Font two or three times and it never stays.
When I start a New Document it has Cambria as the font. ?

I'll read the MVP site again on setting Normal.

Thanks for any suggestions.

OP Back.

Answered #2 myself. I was changing the Font either in the Style not
under Format>Font. :-(

But since I deleted the Normal Template when it wasn't working, I now
get to go thru Clive's setup again. :-( Now I see why good idea to save
at steps and rename.

Still confused about #1 above if someone has the time.

Thanks.

 

[Norm]

2. I've tried to change the Font two or three times and it never stays.
When I start a New Document it has Cambria as the font. ?

I'll read the MVP site again on setting Normal.

Thanks for any suggestions.

OP Back.

Answered #2 myself. I was changing the Font either in the Style not
under Format>Font. :-([/QUOTE]

OP back. I did not fix this.

I think I need to clear all the Application Support/Microsoft/Office
files and start afresh.

How would I do that?

This old beginner is getting confused.

Thanks.

 

[John McGhie]

OP Back.

Answered #2 myself. I was changing the Font either in the Style not
under Format>Font. :-(

OP back. I did not fix this.

I think I need to clear all the Application Support/Microsoft/Office
files and start afresh.

How would I do that?

This old beginner is getting confused.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Hi Norm:

The new one created by Word is in My Templates rather than in User
Templates. OK? Why?

It isn't. The Word 2008 template should be in

~/Users/Norm/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates

If there is a Normal template anywhere else, get rid of it, or Word will
keep trying to import its settings and confuse you.

To change the default font in a document, you must edit the Normal.dotm
template.

First change the default font in the default Theme (the Microsoft Office
Theme) in Word 2008.

Then change it in the Normal style.

Then change it on the default paragraph in the document.

Then save the Normal.dotm template.

Hope this helps

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Norm]

To change the default font in a document, you must edit the Normal.dotm
template.

First change the default font in the default Theme (the Microsoft Office
Theme) in Word 2008.

Then change it in the Normal style.

Then change it on the default paragraph in the document.

Then save the Normal.dotm template.

Hope this helps

That does help. Thanks.

I deleted the Normal.dotm in the wrong places and it created one in the
correct location (I assume) and then I started again.

I changed the font just in the Format menu (Format>Font) and saved that.
It seems to have worked.

Should I go thru your steps above?

I haven't learned about Themes. I'll go to Help or MVP site and try to
learn it.

Thanks.

 

[John McGhie]

That does help. Thanks.

I deleted the Normal.dotm in the wrong places and it created one in the
correct location (I assume) and then I started again.

I changed the font just in the Format menu (Format>Font) and saved that.
It seems to have worked.

Should I go thru your steps above?

I haven't learned about Themes. I'll go to Help or MVP site and try to
learn it.

Thanks.

Hi Norm:

If there are no "old copies" of Normal or Normal.dotm files hanging around,
it will behave itself, regardless of where it placed the new Normal.dotm.
It's only if it can find an old one that it gets into mischief.

So no, if you have made the changes since you deleted the previous versions,
you're good to go.

However, unless you set the defaults in the Microsoft Office Theme, Word
will keep changing them on you.

Cheers

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Norm]

However, unless you set the defaults in the Microsoft Office Theme, Word
will keep changing them on you.

Thanks.

Will do, so far the few new docs I've launched have had the new font I
saved as default.

However, given what you said, I'll change the Theme to that font.

Thanks very much for the help.

 

[Norm]

However, unless you set the defaults in the Microsoft Office Theme, Word
will keep changing them on you.

John:

Trying to figure out Themes. But so far not having much luck in Word
Help.

If you have the time:

1. Is there always a Theme for each doc? And if so, how does one tell
what it is? I go to the Theme tab on the Formatting Palette and I don't
see how one tells what is selected. I'm confused. :-(

2. How does one either eliminate the Theme option or "permanently" set
it to a default Theme.

3. How does one change the Default Theme.

4. Can one get rid of the Toolbar (or maybe it is part of the Word
permanent Toolbar) that presents Document Elements, Quick Tables,
Charts...etc. ?

Thanks for any tips.

Now back to reading Word Help, MVPS site, and Bend.

As you said, one shouldn't have to spend 100 hours to learn an
application. Pages is looking better but I really like Word if I can get
over this "new to Word 2008" and template/style mental block. :-(

Appreciate the help,

Norm

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Norm;

I'm obviously not John but where he is it's sleepy-bye time so maybe I can
fill in a little

John:

Trying to figure out Themes. But so far not having much luck in Word
Help.

If you have the time:

1. Is there always a Theme for each doc? And if so, how does one tell
what it is? I go to the Theme tab on the Formatting Palette and I don't
see how one tells what is selected. I'm confused. :-(

Yes, there is always a Theme used in Word 2008 & it is simply goes by the
name "Office". In the Formatting Palette Document Theme section its
thumbnail has a blue border. Point to it & a tip box will open up displaying
its name. If you select a different Theme the blue border will shift to it
instead.

2. How does one either eliminate the Theme option or "permanently" set
it to a default Theme.

As suggested above, you can't have a document that isn't associated with a
Document Theme, so thre is no "option" to eliminate. The second part of the
question is the same as your #3...

3. How does one change the Default Theme.

To change the Default Theme you have to select the preferred Document Theme
in a custom Template you create on which you base future documents -- just
as you would any other attributes of the template.

I believe you can also open the Normal.dotm & select a Document Theme other
than Office, then save & close Normal.dotm -- I haven't tried this but I
believe it should work although I'm not sure I'd recommend it over the
custom template approach.

4. Can one get rid of the Toolbar (or maybe it is part of the Word
permanent Toolbar) that presents Document Elements, Quick Tables,
Charts...etc. ?

You're referring to the Elements Gallery which actually has 2 components;
the Gallery itself which displays thumbnails of the elements as well as the
buttons which allow you to select which gallery (Charts, Smart Art, etc.)
you want to have displayed in the Gallery. Correspondingly there are 2
answers:

In Word> Preferences> Elements Gallery you can choose to minimize the
gallery. That will reclaim much of the vertical space it otherwise occupies.

The *buttons*, however, are a different story -- Those remain displayed
regardless of whether you minimize the gallery or not. There is no option or
preference for removing them.

Thanks for any tips.

Now back to reading Word Help, MVPS site, and Bend.

As you said, one shouldn't have to spend 100 hours to learn an
application. Pages is looking better but I really like Word if I can get
over this "new to Word 2008" and template/style mental block. :-(

I'm afraid I disagree with John on this point unless the quote is
innaccurate or out of context -- I haven't looked to find it Word is
actually very simple to use if your needs are simple *and* you don't attempt
to venture into its more powerful aspects. IMHO, if either is not the case
one needs [and should be willing] to invest as much time as necessary to
learn the skills of using those tools effectively.

Pages appears to be a quite suitable program for many users and may very
well be better suited to your needs, but there will still be a learning
curve. I haven't investigated it thoroughly but I'm certain that if you
delve deeper into the program's capabilities you'll start to encounter the
same type of complexities. The question is whether the program does include
the capabilities needed for your intended purposes. My impression is that
there are quite a few powerful tools in Word which are lacking in Pages, but
if you don't *need* those tools, who cares

 

[Norm]

I'm obviously not John but where he is it's sleepy-bye time so maybe I can
fill in a little

Thanks. Given my age, I seem to be awake when the down under group is
wide-eyed. Ahhh..... those sleepless nights.

Yes, there is always a Theme used in Word 2008 & it is simply goes by the
name "Office". In the Formatting Palette Document Theme section its
thumbnail has a blue border. Point to it & a tip box will open up displaying
its name. If you select a different Theme the blue border will shift to it
instead.

Thanks. IMHO, it is not very clear as to which is selected. MS could
have just added the name as is the case with Styles.

To change the Default Theme you have to select the preferred Document Theme
in a custom Template you create on which you base future documents -- just
as you would any other attributes of the template.

I believe you can also open the Normal.dotm & select a Document Theme other
than Office, then save & close Normal.dotm -- I haven't tried this but I
believe it should work although I'm not sure I'd recommend it over the
custom template approach.

Hmmm.... well if one changes the default font in Normal but the default
Theme includes a different default font is there a problem? I think John
implied there could be problems down the road.

I don't think I'll ever use Themes so unless it gets corrupted or
inadvertently changed maybe not an issue.

The *buttons*, however, are a different story -- Those remain displayed
regardless of whether you minimize the gallery or not. There is no option or
preference for removing them.

Yes it was the row of buttons at the bottom of the standard toolbar.

Thanks for the help.

I'm afraid I disagree with John on this point unless the quote is
innaccurate or out of context -- I haven't looked to find it Word is
actually very simple to use if your needs are simple *and* you don't attempt
to venture into its more powerful aspects. IMHO, if either is not the case
one needs [and should be willing] to invest as much time as necessary to
learn the skills of using those tools effectively.

I won't disagree (or agree ) as I don't have the background. It is
probably more a matter of my trying to learn more about word and using
Word Help. Clive's "Bend..." and the MVPS site. I probably should have
selected one and ignored the others until more comfortable with MS 2008
or have an "emergency" issue.

Thanks again,

Norm

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Bob:

As you said, one shouldn't have to spend 100 hours to learn an
application. Pages is looking better but I really like Word if I can get
over this "new to Word 2008" and template/style mental block. :-(

I'm afraid I disagree with John on this point unless the quote is
innaccurate or out of context -- I haven't looked to find it Word is
actually very simple to use if your needs are simple *and* you don't attempt
to venture into its more powerful aspects. IMHO, if either is not the case
one needs [and should be willing] to invest as much time as necessary to
learn the skills of using those tools effectively.

I don't recall saying that! I am getting on a bit, but such a statement
would be quite contrary to what I actually believe, so I suspect it was
someone else who said it

I am much closer to Bob's idea: if not even "further to the right"

Pages is a great application for making school flyers. With knowledge and
skill, you can achieve some good results with it. You probably "could"
learn Pages in 100 hours

FrameMaker and Word are at the professional/industrial end of the market.
Think Cessna 152 compared to Boeing 747, or Motorcycle to Mack Truck.

In the right hands, Word is more powerful than FrameMaker.

However, someone coming out of a University Communications Degree will spend
between five and ten years learning to use Word or FrameMaker at the
"Commercial Publication" level.

The reason the world tends to use Word in preference to FrameMaker is that
you don't HAVE to know what you're doing in Word. If you look at almost any
business document, you will see that that's a good thing, because it's quite
obvious that the authors of most business documents know zip about Word

While in FrameMaker you do have to know what you're doing, or all you're
likely to get is a mess.

Cheers

--

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Norm]

I don't recall saying that! I am getting on a bit, but such a statement
would be quite contrary to what I actually believe, so I suspect it was
someone else who said it

My sincerest apologies.... I am getting on a bit, probably a bit more
, but that is no excuse. I researched my Mail archives and while the
reference originated from "down under" as we say here, it was not your
quote. I'm very sorry!!!!

The reason the world tends to use Word in preference to FrameMaker is that
you don't HAVE to know what you're doing in Word.

That has been my situation in Word X but I hope to improve my knowledge
base this time around. If not, I'm now reassured that I don't have to
know what I'm doing which was obviously the case today with my misquote
and will probably be the case at least at first as I begin to use Word
2008.

Again, I apologize John.

Norm

 

[Clive Huggan]

On 5/11/09 1:28 PM, in article C7188370.3A41%[email protected], "John McGhie"

Pages is a great application for making school flyers. With knowledge and
skill, you can achieve some good results with it. You probably "could"
learn Pages in 100 hours

With incredible respect, m'learned colleague, Pages is much more powerful
than that. It does not have the advanced "industrial" features that advanced
users of Word deploy (hence not my personal choice), but for everyday use it
is a very accessible, elegant application that in word processing mode can
be 90% learnt in a day or so. In page layout mode it is far more advanced
than is needed for school flyers, especially if one combines features from
several templates as one's starting point. Like so many Apple applications,
if you only want 80-90% of an advanced application's capabilities
(Word/InDesign), it's very easily and quickly accessible. And it gets better
with each iteration -- with *useful* additions, not bells and whistles.

When you next visit this cold and windy place, I shall sit you down and bore
you catatonic with Pages' features... ;-)

Cheers,

Clive

 

[Norm]

Clive or John:

Appreciate any education on my Theme vs Style questions if you have time.

As I set up Word 2008 by going through Clive's "Bend..", I was stumped
by Themes and whether I need to do anything at all.

Thanks,

Norm

 

[Clive Huggan]

Sorry, Norm -- I know nothing about Themes because I have not chosen to move
to Word 2008.

I'll resist the temptation to comment on them; others have done so...

John, Bob et al will come along soon.

Cheers,

Clive
=======

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Norm:

Themes are an implementation of cascading style sheets.

Now off you go to the Web Coder's forum...

Seriously: I would avoid them like the plague. I have never found anything
that they do "useful". But it can be highly disconcerting.

At a very basic level, it will change all the font colours in a document
that has "standard" formatting. If you restrict yourself to standard
formatting, you can instantly choose from a selection of colour schemes.

I cannot imagine why anyone would ever want to do this..

And if you depart from standard formatting (and there's nothing to tell you
what "standard formatting" means...) then if you apply a theme, you get a
partial result.

Most of the supplied themes come from the "Shock and Horror" school of
optical assault. The mechanism is only half implemented in Mac Word, so we
do not have the ability to make our own themes.

This is another thing that should be more fully implemented in 2010.

Hope this helps

Sorry, Norm -- I know nothing about Themes because I have not chosen to move
to Word 2008.

I'll resist the temptation to comment on them; others have done so...

John, Bob et al will come along soon.

Cheers,

Clive
=======

--

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]