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ColumnsUnder the Page Layout ribbon, there is a button called Columns. When you click it, some options will appear. You can give your paper two columns, three, or you can choose to have a small column appear on the left or right side of your text. To have more than three columns, or to customize the width of your columns, click More Columns at the bottom of the list to see more options.Columns by default apply to your entire document, but you can make them begin only after a certain point in the document. Click “More Columns” and use the drop down list at the bottom. Select “From this point forward” instead of “whole document.” If at any point you would like to go from columns back to a single document, go back to Columns, click “More Columns,” change your column number to one and select “From this point forward” at the bottom. Tables-184152349500Tables can make it easy to compare multiple pieces of information, or communicate that information quickly and accurately.To insert a table, click on the Insert ribbon and click on the button that says Table. This will give you a drop down menu with many blocks. Highlight these blocks (by moving your arrow over them) to indicate how many columns and rows your table needs. Once you have highlighted the amount of squares you want, just click your mouse and the table will be inserted at your insertion point.There are also other ways to insert tables into Microsoft word. Instead of highlighting the blocks, you could also click the button that says Insert Table and then indicate how many rows and columns the table should have when prompted. Or if you already have a table created in Microsoft Excel, you can click Excel Spreadsheet to insert that table into word. Lastly, hover your mouse over the Quick Tables button to see a menu of pre-made tables that are more stylized.Once you have inserted your table, Design and Layout ribbons will appear. Use these to customize your table by adding colors, borders, merging cells, etc. Note the Sort button in the Data section. We will use this in our exercise later. This allows you to sort the information in your table alphabetically by whichever column you choose. Note: It’s important to always give your tables headers, like the table above. This helps MS Word determine where your information begins and what type of information it is. This will be useful in using the Mail Merge feature later. Exercise 1: Create a Table1. Go to the File tab and open a new, blank document.2. Go to the Insert ribbon and click Table.3. Create a table with 3 columns and 6 rows. Once you have a table, type in the following information:Owner NameType of AnimalPet NameSue BrowncatSnowballCarrie BlackdogKodyJohn WhiteiguanaIzzieLara GreenhamsterWhiskersBill BluehorseRunner4. Once you’ve created your table, use the Design ribbon to select a table style. Remember, the table must be selected for this ribbon to show up. 5. Once you have the table styled the way you like it, open the Layout ribbon. Under the Alignment section click Align Center. 6. Highlight the names in your first column (Not including Owner Name) and click Sort, under the Data section. Click OK to sort the names alphabetically. Notice the other fields move with the names.7. Go to the File tab and save your document under My Documents. Give your file the name Pet Owners. Once saved, close the file. Mail MergeMail Merge is a useful function if you are writing form letters, making envelopes, or creating some other type of document which will go to many different people. Essentially, mail merge allows you to save a list of names, with their addresses, phone numbers, or other information associated with them, and then can insert these into your document where you indicate all at once. This way, you can write a letter once, and Microsoft word, can make many copies, each addressed to a different person on your list.-36258515875000When you type up your document you should leave either blanks or some other form of space holder to mark where the information from the list will be inserted. You can create your list from scratch as you go, but it is best to already have the information recorded in either a table or an Excel spreadsheet.Once you have a both your document and your list, you are ready to begin the mail merge. The Mail Merge button is located on the Mailings ribbon. The Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard, found on the dropdown menu, is generally the easiest option to choose. Exercise 2: Mail Merge1. Go to File and Open the Mail Merge Form Letter that is saved in the Word Exercises folder.Notice the places in the letter where, instead of a word, there are just three X’s. These are place holders, indicating where we’d like Microsoft word to insert information for us.2. Go to the Mailings ribbon, click Start Mail Merge and select the bottom option Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard.3. In the panel that appears along the right side of the screen select letters as your document type. At the bottom click Next: Starting Document.4. Our form letter is already open so select Use the current document. At the bottom click Next: Select Recipients. 5. We will be using the table created in Exercise 1, so select Use an Existing List and click Browse. Select the file Pet Owners. Once you click open, a window will pop up displaying the information from the table in that file. Click Ok. Then click Next: Write your letter.6. Highlight the first place holder, the XXX after the word Dear. Click More items. It will come up with a list of the fields in your table. Click Owner Name and click Insert. Then click Close. Note: Be careful. If you highlight the space next to the placeholder as well, Word will get rid of that space, and you will end up with no space between the word you inserted and the word after it. 7. Fill in the other place holders. In the second place holder, we want the type of animal, in the third and fourth we want the pet name.8. Once the place holders have all been filled in with one of the table fields, click Next: Preview your letters. You can use the arrows to scroll through the different letters.9. Scroll to recipient number 3, John White. We’ve just realized that we misread the date. John’s Iguana is not due for a check-up yet. While on his letter, click the button that says Exclude This Recipient. Then at the bottom, click Next: Complete the merge.10. Under Merge, click Edit Individual Letters to open a copy of each letter. In the little box that pops up, leave All selected and click Ok.Customize MS WordYou can customize many things in Microsoft Word to make its set-up most efficient for your use. If you have a font, text size or color that you prefer you can set up Word to automatically use that font, without you having to change to it each time you open the program. You can do the same thing with margins, and other aspects of the page layout if you prefer something different than the current default.Click on the arrow at the bottom right corner of the Font or Paragraph section under the Home ribbon. In the window that pops up, change your settings to the way you want them, and then at the bottom click Set as Default. This will save your current font and paragraph settings as the default settings that Word starts up with from now on. Any place you see that arrow in the lower right corner it means there are default settings you can go in and change.TabsWhen you open the paragraph section, there is also a button at the bottom of the window, next to Set as Default called Tabs. Click this button to set your default tab settings. This controls where your cursor moves to on a line when you press tab on the keyboard.Quick Access ToolbarThere is also a way to choose what buttons you’d like to see on your quick access tool bar. Click the downward pointing arrow to the right of the toolbar, and select which items you’d like to be visible on the toolbar. Items visible on the toolbar have a checkmark by them. If something has a checkmark that you don’t want on the toolbar, click the item to remove the checkmark. If you want a command you do not see click More Commands… to find it and use the add button to place it on the Quick Access toolbar. For More Customization Options…For the option to customize more items, such as your ribbons, click on the File tab to the left, then click Options. It is the bottom button on the left hand side. General categories of settings are along the left side. Click the category name to see the settings come up in the area on the right. Proofing controls spellchecking and those changes Word makes automatically to formatting. Capitalizing words at the beginning or a sentence, for example. Click the button called Autocorrect Options to see how you can customize what types of things Word is allowed to correct automatically.In Save, you can change the type of file Word saves as. This may be useful if you’re sharing your document with someone who has an old version of MS Word that cannot open .docx files. In that case, you could change the type of file Word saves as to .doc or another file type useable by both parties. Here you can also change how often MS Word auto-saves and the location it auto-saves to.In Advanced you’ll find a variety of options not found in the other sections. They have to do with editing text, copy and paste, images, printing and more.With Customize Ribbon you can decide which buttons you’d like to show up on a particular ribbon. The left side shows available commands. Use the dropdown at the top to choose which group of commands is shown. The right list shows commands and ribbons. Along the bottom of the right hand list are buttons called New Tab and New Group. Use the New Tab button to create an entirely new tab. A new group can be inserted into an existing tab. (The Font or Paragraph sections in the Home tab are groups). If you want to add commands from the left list to a certain tab, you must create a new group to put them in first. ................
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