Setting Up Word 2008

[Grandbob]

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

I'm a new user of Word 2008, as well as a senior citizen, and need help in setting it up so I can use it primarily for reports, correspondence, etc. I'd like to have a customized toolbar that has only what I need and without any of the fancy multi-colored element and other gizmos that pop up and don't go away. Are there instructions or something that will help me do this?

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello & Welcome;

If by "fancy multi-colored element" you mean the Elements Gallery (Document
Elements, Quick Tables, etc.) you can't get rid of it but you can minimize
it. Go to Word> Preferences> Gallery & clear the check to show it on
launching the program. The buttons will remain but the Gallery won't occupy
the same amount of height unless you click one of the buttons. If you do
expand it click the current button again to return it to minimized.

Many of your other questions will be answered by way of the Word links in
the Help & How-To pages of Mactopia:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.mspx?product=Word 2008&app=4

I'd suggest you first focus on the use of Styles for formatting your
documents as well as the use of templates & that you familiarize yourself
with the many other settings available in Word> Preferences. Word Help can
also be useful but even after 18 months it's still a work in progress

If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask -- but it's best to
post in the group specific to the individual program or in this group if it
has to do with Mac Office in general. It would also be to your advantage to
use Entourage (or another newsreader-capable app of your choice) to interact
with the newsgroups rather than using the web interface. The directions to
set it up are available at:

http://www.entourage.mvps.org/support_options/subnews.html

There is an extensive wealth of useful information pertaining to Entourage &
Office in general on that same site. You'll also find the answer to many
Word questions - as well as much insight on how the program works at:

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html


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

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

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

I'm a new user of Word 2008, as well as a senior citizen, and need help in setting it up so I can use it primarily for reports, correspondence, etc. I'd like to have a customized toolbar that has only what I need and without any of the fancy multi-colored element and other gizmos that pop up and don't go away. Are there instructions or something that will help me do this?

Hi

To make a custom toolbar do the following:

1. From the View menu choose Customize Menus and Toolbars
2. Click the New button and then enter a name for your toolbar
- a very small empty toolbar will appear. You may have to look closely
at the screen because it is only a placeholder big enough for one
toolbar button
3. Click the Commands tab of the Customize menus and toolbars dialog box.
4. Drag individual commands to your new toolbar

In the Customize dialog box, near the lower left there's a pop-up menu
that lets you choose to save your new toolbar in either Normal (Word's
default template) or the current document, which could then be saved a
sa a template if you like.

You can make as many custom toolbars as you like.

When you're done making a toolbar, click the OK button in the Customize
dialog box to close it. Then you can toggle your toolbars on and off
using the View > Toolbars menu.

You can swap toolbars from one open document or template to another
using Format > Styles > Organizer.

You can change the way a toolbar button appears on a toolbar by
right-clicking or control-clicking a toolbar button and choosing
Properties. You can dispaly the icon, text, or both. You can paste new
button pictures for your toolbar icons this way, too.

As you can see, Word gives you a lot of flexibility when working with
toolbars.

-Jim