MS WORD Introduction

Microsoft Word is a powerful tool to create professional looking documents. Microsoft Word is currently one of the most commonly used applications for creating critical documents such as reports, letters, business plans, and more for the World Wide Web and for print. The newest version of Word extends this tradition by giving users the tools they need to streamline the process of creating, sharing, reviewing, and publishing their important documents. Word makes it easier for users to discover and use existing functionality and provides intelligent new ways for users to work with their documents. Word now also makes it easier for users to share and review documents with others without changing the way they currently work.
Microsoft Word 2000 gives you the tools to more easily create professional-quality documents and share information-in print, e-mail, and on the Web.

The Word Screen

The Word screen can be customized in many ways.  However the basic look is below:

The Application Window
When you open the program, you automatically open a new word processing document. The document window opens up in the Application Window.

The Menu Bar:
You can access all of the commands via the Menu Bar. The menu options are File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window and Help. Some of the uses of these menus are detailed in the following sections.
Tool Bars
Many of the commands in the Menu Bar can more easily be accessed using the toolbars. The toolbars shown are the Standard and Formatting; they contain what Microsoft considers to be the most common commands. These bars can be customized according to the user.

Status Bar
The Status Bar tells you the page, time, date and other useful things such as whether the insert toggle button is pressed.

Your Document
The document is displayed in the large white space in the middle.
Ruler: The ruler (optional) tells you the width of your document as well as the margins and tab stops. To make the ruler appear or disappear, go to the View menu and click on the Ruler option.
Also note that the name of the document and the program you are working in (Microsoft Word) is displayed on the title bar.

The View Menu
The View menu is where you select how you would like to see your document while editing it. There are five different ways to view a document ( four of which have shortcut icons located in the lower left corner of the screen).

NORMAL -The Normal view is the one most used when creating and editing documents. What you see before you is only the main text, without Headers and Footers (this includes page numbers and footnotes). The layout is simplified so typing and editing can go more quickly.

ONLINE LAYOUT - a new feature in Word - optimizes the layout to make online reading easier. Text appears larger and wraps to fit the window, rather than the way it would actually print. By default, online layout view includes a resizable navigation pane called Document Map that shows the outline view of the document's structure. By clicking an outline topic of the document, you can instantly jump to that part of the document.

PAGE LAYOUT - Page Layout view displays the document exactly how it will be printed. Headers/Footers, Footnotes and Page Numbers are now visible. Page Layout view is good for editing a document that contains a lot of frames, objects, pictures or columns. In Normal view, these items will not be displayed as they are printed.

OUTLINE - The Outline view (far right icon) collapses a document into main headings and text without formatting. A new toolbar appears which allows even more ways of viewing the document. You can display only the document's headings, and change the importance of headings including the text beneath it. In this format, moving a heading will also move subheadings and all text beneath them.

FULL SCREEN - You must access this view from the View Menu; there is no shortcut icon in the lower left corner of the screen. In this view, everything disappears except for your document. Toolbars, menus, scroll bars, title bars, the ruler, and the status bar have all been hidden from view. At the bottom right-hand corner of your screen there appears a Full Screen toolbar with one button. Click the button Close Full Screen to return to your regular screen. If this button does not appear, simply type ALT-V to access the view menu and select your preferred method of viewing the document.

Zoom
Access the Zoom dialog box by going to the View Menu, and clicking Zoom. You can use the Zoom feature to view your document in varying sizes, and preview how your document will look. For a shortcut to the Zoom feature without a preview box, click on the arrow button next to the paragraph button. You will see a list of different Zoom factors. You can also input your own size by clicking on the box and entering a percentage.