help searches

[Cricket22]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I just installed the student/educ version of 2008 and am searching help files. When I enter "document elements" to learn how to get rid of that panel over Word, the help returns "creating applescript..." Nothing to do with what I wanted. I also searched for "increase font size" to learn how to get the up and down arrows on the menu to increase/decrease font. Nothing remotely about this topic appears.
What is with the help system? Why can't I simply find the icons I want on the menu bars like with the older versions? Where the heck are they hidden?

 

[Cricket22]

Let me correct my first post on this. I found the menu buttons. But the help system is still very poor and not resulting in relevant responses. Second, Is there a way to hide the document elements, quick tables, charts, etc. from view as they take up a lot of room at the top of a document.
Thanks.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

The help is not finished, but it will be added to over time. Make sure
you are searching online help.

You can't get rid of the Document Elements bar, sorry, best you can do
is keep it collapsed, unless you want to switch to Draft View. Complain
to MS via Help | Send Feedback in Word.

I'm not seeing the Font increase/decrease on a built-in toolbar--I think
you'll have to add the buttons to a toolbar yourself. (although I don't
think Help ever would have answered that question, even in Word 2004)

See the general instructions for customizing a toolbar here:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CustomizeToolbars.html

The specific commands you need are listed under Format in the left
column--in the right column scroll down until you see Grow Font and
Shrink Font and drag them to a toolbar.

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

I just installed the student/educ version of 2008 and am searching
help files. When I enter "document elements" to learn how to get rid
of that panel over Word, the help returns "creating applescript..."
Nothing to do with what I wanted. I also searched for "increase font
size" to learn how to get the up and down arrows on the menu to
increase/decrease font. Nothing remotely about this topic appears.
What is with the help system? Why can't I simply find the icons I
want on the menu bars like with the older versions? Where the heck
are they hidden?

This is a flaw in Apple's implementation of Help.

Under Help in any of the applications you'll need to specifically select
the application name to open the *correct* Help files. Entering anything
in the Search field will only return Apple (Mac OS X) Help files.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Cricket22 -

Instead of going to the Help menu use the Help button (purple circle with ?)
which takes you directly to Word Help rather than Mac Help.

Additional to Daiya's reply: Rather than cluttering your toolbar take a look
at the Formatting Palette of the Toolbox. There's a Slider control right
next to the Font Size List which you may find even more convenient.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Guest]

All the comments to help are useful except the issue of the help. I did use the Word help button and was in Word help. It is still giving irrelevant responses. Try entering "add new page" and see what you get from Word help. Frankly, I am ready to return the program. Some examples of why:
- can't just hit return and get a new page
- copy/paste from internet puts content in a box of some kind and I can't make the cursor click on any part of the page to type my own text. Why should I have to enter a 'text box' on a Word page to enter text?
-When you start a new page and start typing, the text appears within a box. This is totally crazy. I have used Word since 1988. This is the first time it has been so user-UNfriendly.
-Copy/paste from another document puts it in a tiny box that you have to drag and shape as if it is a graphic.
I am an old woman but I would like to put a string of cusses here like you have never seen. But you will just have to imagine it. Give me back a real program. Was this put together by a community of monkeys?

 

[CyberTaz]

I believe most of the issues you're encountering are because you're using
Publishing Layout View. It's more oriented toward Desktop Publishing / Page
Layout work, not for the typical document construction you're accustomed to.
If you work in Print Layout or Draft View I think you'll be far more at
home.

There's not much about adding a page because adding pages isn't something
you do in Word's conventional views. Publishing Layout is a new, radically
different feature of the program in the 2008 version. If you're in
Publishing Layout, New Page is the first command in the Insert menu, but
you're working in a totally different type of document structure.

As for the Help, there's no doubt it needs improvement. They are working to
do so, but it's a monumental task. If you're interested in learning more
about using Publishing Layout search Help for: publishing.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac