New to Word 2010

[sf]

Migrating to Word 2010 from Word 2003 and of course it's way more than
I need. I've figured out how to do some things, but am not happy with
them. I see why they say Open Office is like Word now. It is very
much like Word 2010 and I don't like this new word for the same reason
I don't like the Word processing in OO... except maybe I can get a
little help here and find out how get what I want to do accomplished.

1. For easy access, I put a blank document on my desktop which I
cleverly called "blank doc" - but is there some way to access a normal
blank doc the same way I could in 2003 from my Quicklaunch bar?

2. Where is Find and Replace without using the shortcut? It's under
Edit in 2003, but I can't seem to fine it in a menu in 2010 (and
where's Edit?)

3. How do I save a doc and not have to type in the new title? It's
done automatically in 2003 by taking the first line (I save recipes so
the title of the recipe is what I want), but apparently I have to
enter it manually every time in 2010.

4. How do I hide or modify some/all of those tabs? Most are
unnecessary for my intents and purposes and all are a visual mess.

5. Is there some way to downgrade my version of Word if this doesn't
work out?

If I wasn't clear enough, then you have an idea how confused and
befuddled I am feeling right now.

Many TIA

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

1. A desktop or Start Menu shortcut to start Word 2010 should start it with
a new blank document open. Once Word is open, if you want another new blank
document, you can create one by pressing Ctrl+N or by clicking on a button
that you can add to the Quick Access Toolbar. Right-click the QAT and choose
Customize Quick Access Toolbar. In the Popular Commands list, scroll down to
New (when you mouse over it, it should say FileNewDefault), select it, and
click Add.

2. The Ctrl+F keyboard shortcut now opens the Navigation pane to the Search
tab, but Ctrl+H still opens the classic Replace dialog. The Find and Replace
commands are in the Editing group at the far right of the Home tab.

3. I find that the first text in a new document (the title if that's what's
first) is still suggested as the default filename when I first save. If
you're not seeing this, then I don't know the explanation.

4. You can hide the entire Ribbon, showing just the tabs, by double-clicking
on any tab or pressing Ctrl+F1 (repeat to display them again). You can also
customize which tabs are displayed. Right-click on the QAT and choose
Customize the Ribbon. Clear the check boxes for any tabs you don't want
displayed. You can also create custom tabs and groups.

5. If you have a retail copy of an older version of Office, you can install
it in place of Office 2010, but there is no downgrade path aside from that.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[sf]

1. A desktop or Start Menu shortcut to start Word 2010 should start it with
a new blank document open.

I need a little help with modifying the normal.doc (see below)

Once Word is open, if you want another new blank
document, you can create one by pressing Ctrl+N or by clicking on a button
that you can add to the Quick Access Toolbar. Right-click the QAT and choose
Customize Quick Access Toolbar. In the Popular Commands list, scroll down to
New (when you mouse over it, it should say FileNewDefault), select it, and
click Add.

Thanks! I must have looked at it at least 3 times and still didn't
"see" it.

2. The Ctrl+F keyboard shortcut now opens the Navigation pane to the Search
tab, but Ctrl+H still opens the classic Replace dialog. The Find and Replace
commands are in the Editing group at the far right of the Home tab.

Found it, thanks!

3. I find that the first text in a new document (the title if that's what's
first) is still suggested as the default filename when I first save. If
you're not seeing this, then I don't know the explanation.

Aha, I see what the problem was... it was saving as I had titled it
originally! That's another way 2010 and OO are the same.

I reset the default font and margin size in the normal.doc, but when I
try to "save", Word wants to know where to save it. I can't seem to
find the "Set As Default" dialog although I thought I followed the
directions at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291291.

4. You can hide the entire Ribbon, showing just the tabs, by double-clicking
on any tab or pressing Ctrl+F1 (repeat to display them again). You can also
customize which tabs are displayed. Right-click on the QAT and choose
Customize the Ribbon. Clear the check boxes for any tabs you don't want
displayed. You can also create custom tabs and groups.

Okay, that did it - much better now! How do I deal with all of those
"options" for line spacing etc in the "home" tab? "No spacing" seems
to be what was called single spacing in 2003. Which would be 1.5 and
2.0? I also see Remove from Quick Style Gallery on right click to
eliminate some choices I won't want, but if I change my mind about one
or two - where are they located to retrieve?

Also when doing a copy & paste from the internet with 2003, I
sometimes I needed to go to Format Paragraph and deselect "Auto"
spacing, so where is that function located 2010?

5. If you have a retail copy of an older version of Office, you can install
it in place of Office 2010, but there is no downgrade path aside from that.

I was afraid of that. I misplaced my MS Office CD with Word on it
years ago.

Thanks again!

 

[sf]

I reset the default font and margin size in the normal.doc, but when I
try to "save", Word wants to know where to save it. I can't seem to
find the "Set As Default" dialog although I thought I followed the
directions at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291291.

Never mind, I figured it out. Thanks!

I'd still like to know if I'll be shooting myself in the foot when I
remove choices from the Quick Style Gallery.

TIA

 

[sf]

Never mind, I figured it out. Thanks!

Gah. I'm stuck. Word still wants to know if it should save the
changes and where it should save the changed doc (both Save and Save
As) when I try to exit. I'll try again tomorrow after I get some
input from you. Thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

There is no Normal.doc. The Normal template for Word 2010 is Normal.dotm.
When you choose "Set As Default" in any dialog (Font, Paragraph, Page
Setup), you have a choice of saving the changes in the current document only
or in the template on which the document is based. For changes that you want
to affect all new documents, choose the template. Assuming that you're using
a Blank Document, that template will be Normal.dotm.

Any style that you remove from the Quick Style gallery can always be added
back. When you view any style in the Styles pane, right click on it and
choose Add to Quick Style Gallery. Where it appears in the gallery will be
determined by the priority you have assigned to it. Styles with a priority
of 1 are listed first (in alphabetical order), followed by styles with
priority 2, and so on. Personally, I have no use for Emphasis or Strong, so,
if I were actually using the Quick Style gallery (which I mostly am not but
only because I rarely use Word 2010), I would probably remove them or at
least demote them.

You can still set spacing in the Paragraph dialog as before. If you choose
Custom Paragraph Spacing from the Paragraph Spacing menu, you get the Manage
Styles dialog, which includes font and paragraph formatting in the classic
style. You can use the arrows in the spin boxes to choose Auto line spacing
(it's below 0). In addition, there's a Line and Paragraph Spacing control
in the Paragraph dialog on the Home tab. It lists spacing in classic terms
(1.0, 1.5, 2.0, etc.) and also (Line Spacing Options...) provides access to
the Paragraph dialog. You can also access the Font and Paragraph dialogs in
(almost) any paragraph from the right-click context menu, which is what I
always do. There's no keyboard shortcut to open the Paragraph dialog, but
Ctrl+D opens the Font dialog.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[sf]

Thanks for your patience and all the information, Suzanne. I should
print this out and use it as a cheat sheet until it becomes second
nature. People say 2010 is great after you get used to it... but I'm
still in the learning stage.

I've never used "styles" or macros and just my main template (?) to my
own preferences (once) since this is for personal use. Can I add my
version (blank) as top choice in Quick Styles (if so, how)? Maybe
that would be best if I won't have to change the title with every new
document I save. Right now, I use a document (that is cleverly called
"blank") sitting on my desktop with all the changes I want in font,
line spacing etc.

````````````````````````````````````````````

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I would suggest that you take a two-pronged approach. You can customize some
aspects of Normal.dotm (fonts, margins, line spacing) to your preferences.
This is accomplished by using the Set As Default button in the appropriate
dialogs and selecting the radio button for "New documents based on this
template." For anything that involves adding text (especially headers,
footers, page numbers), it's better not to modify Normal.dotm but instead to
create a document template. Word 2010 lets you save a template anywhere, so
you could conceivably save it to the Desktop, but I would not recommend
that. Instead, save it to the default Templates folder, but add a shortcut
to it on the desktop. Use that instead of your Blank document and you won't
have to bother with Save As. You'll get a new blank document every time you
double-click on it.

And yes, if you have a custom paragraph style that you use all the time, you
can certainly have it appear first in the Quick Styles Gallery. I strongly
advise leaving the Normal style alone and customizing Body Text or Body Text
First Indent as your default body style. You can assign that style a
priority of 1 and add it to the gallery. Demote the current #1 styles to 2
or lower, and they'll appear after your favorite style.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[sf]

I would suggest that you take a two-pronged approach. You can customize some
aspects of Normal.dotm (fonts, margins, line spacing) to your preferences.
This is accomplished by using the Set As Default button in the appropriate
dialogs and selecting the radio button for "New documents based on this
template." For anything that involves adding text (especially headers,
footers, page numbers), it's better not to modify Normal.dotm but instead to
create a document template. Word 2010 lets you save a template anywhere, so
you could conceivably save it to the Desktop, but I would not recommend
that. Instead, save it to the default Templates folder, but add a shortcut
to it on the desktop. Use that instead of your Blank document and you won't
have to bother with Save As. You'll get a new blank document every time you
double-click on it.

And yes, if you have a custom paragraph style that you use all the time, you
can certainly have it appear first in the Quick Styles Gallery. I strongly
advise leaving the Normal style alone and customizing Body Text or Body Text
First Indent as your default body style. You can assign that style a
priority of 1 and add it to the gallery. Demote the current #1 styles to 2
or lower, and they'll appear after your fa

Noted and thanks again, Suzanne!