Couple more issues

[Tim Streater]

1) My wife (W2008, Intel Mini 10.5.8) had the issue that a double-click
no longer selected a word in a Word doc. We checked by swapping the
mouse for another that it wasn't that ( although I took the mouse - a
Might Mouse - off for a wash and brushup as it wasn't scrolling either).
In the end she rebooted and it fixed it. We couldn't find a pref for
"double-click selects word" so any suggestions here would be appreciated.

2) I notice that if a W2008 doc doesn't have focus, mousing over and
scrolling (with a Mighty Mouse) doesn't work (this works in plenty of
other apps). Is this just a general problem with Office 2008?

3) How does one give feedback to Microsoft about the Help? I always have
problems finding how to do a non-breaking space or hyphen.

4) Errr ...

5)That's it.

Thanks,

 

[Rob Schneider]

Re 1) I guess since the reboot fixed it not sure what help needed.

Re 2) I guess, based on me trying it, that's how Word works. It needs
to have focus before it will respond to the mouse. Seems reasonable to
me and it frankly doesn't matter that other apps don't do that.

Re 3) feedback to Microsoft: Menu: Help/Send feedback about Word should
do it.

Re using Help, make when you want to search for Help, that you are
searching Word's Help, not the Apple OS Help. When you go to Menu: Help
and see the searach box, that searches Apple's Help and has nothing to
do with Word. I understand that's is standard for Apple OS
applications. I haven't the foggiest idea why Apple did it that way. Do
Menu: Help/Word help. In any event, Help is Word 2008 is pretty poor
anyway.


--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[CyberTaz]

Re #1- Contrary to what we're led to believe, apps need to be quit &
re-launched periodically & Macs do have to be rebooted at least once in a
while. Otherwise, caches don't get cleared & other 'housekeeping' isn't
performed. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is that erratic
performance will occur. The only suitable alternative is to use utility
software that does the maintenance on the fly.

Re #2- You are partially correct. Word does not support background
scrolling, but Entourage does. I'm honestly not sure about Excel & PPT but
don't have access to a Mac right now.

Rob has provided the answers for #3. As for the special characters, have a
look in Insert> Symbol - Special Characters for those you mentioned as well
as several more. You can also use the OS X Character Palette to insert
others, but how effective they'll be in a Word document varies. If you need
to use such typesetting glyphs as thin spaces, hair spaces, discretionary
hyphens, etc. you need a program more directed toward desktop publishing,
such as QuarkXPress or InDesign.

 

[Tim Streater]

Re #1- Contrary to what we're led to believe, apps need to be quit &
re-launched periodically & Macs do have to be rebooted at least once in a
while. Otherwise, caches don't get cleared & other 'housekeeping' isn't
performed. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is that erratic
performance will occur. The only suitable alternative is to use utility
software that does the maintenance on the fly.

I guess I should have asked her to do a restart of Word before the
reboot, but I was bust at the time. If this happens again we can try
that.

Re #2- You are partially correct. Word does not support background
scrolling, but Entourage does. I'm honestly not sure about Excel & PPT but
don't have access to a Mac right now.

Rob has provided the answers for #3. As for the special characters, have a
look in Insert> Symbol - Special Characters for those you mentioned as well
as several more. You can also use the OS X Character Palette to insert
others, but how effective they'll be in a Word document varies. If you need
to use such typesetting glyphs as thin spaces, hair spaces, discretionary
hyphens, etc. you need a program more directed toward desktop publishing,
such as QuarkXPress or InDesign.

Thanks. I don't need these but occasionally I see that something is
split over two lines where it would look better if it were not. The
non-breaking space and hyphen I find useful for that.

 

[Tim Streater]

Re 1) I guess since the reboot fixed it not sure what help needed.

Yes, too late for that one

Re 2) I guess, based on me trying it, that's how Word works. It needs
to have focus before it will respond to the mouse. Seems reasonable to
me and it frankly doesn't matter that other apps don't do that.

I find it a useful feature so it's a shame it's not supported.

Re 3) feedback to Microsoft: Menu: Help/Send feedback about Word should
do it.

If that's the recommended spot then I'll use that - thanks.

Re using Help, make when you want to search for Help, that you are
searching Word's Help, not the Apple OS Help. When you go to Menu: Help
and see the searach box, that searches Apple's Help and has nothing to
do with Word. I understand that's is standard for Apple OS
applications. I haven't the foggiest idea why Apple did it that way. Do
Menu: Help/Word help.

That is in fact what I do, but thanks for clarifying about the Search
box. I'll give them some Help feedback too.

Cheers,

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Tim:

Since your issues have now been dealt with, this is just a comment

For best service in here, don't combine your issues

Most of the people offering help in here (we hope you will soon be one of
them...) are specialists. They quickly scan the headings in the group,
looking for questions within their area of expertise.

Many of them will not stop to read a post unless the heading fits their
expertise -- we all get busy, and some of us cover multiple groups.

So a single issue in each post, and a succinct heading that summarises the
issue, is highly recommended to get the fastest service and most competent
advice

Cheers

1) My wife (W2008, Intel Mini 10.5.8) had the issue that a double-click
no longer selected a word in a Word doc. We checked by swapping the
mouse for another that it wasn't that ( although I took the mouse - a
Might Mouse - off for a wash and brushup as it wasn't scrolling either).
In the end she rebooted and it fixed it. We couldn't find a pref for
"double-click selects word" so any suggestions here would be appreciated.

2) I notice that if a W2008 doc doesn't have focus, mousing over and
scrolling (with a Mighty Mouse) doesn't work (this works in plenty of
other apps). Is this just a general problem with Office 2008?

3) How does one give feedback to Microsoft about the Help? I always have
problems finding how to do a non-breaking space or hyphen.

4) Errr ...

5)That's it.

Thanks,

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or 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 | mailto:[email protected]