================================================================= Maurer Publications Computing Tips - Issue #010509 ================================================================= Publisher: Steve Maurer, Maurer Publications Date: 05/09/2001 ================================================================= In Today's Issue: Note from the editor: 1. Article: Keyboard Shortcuts in Word 97 2. Today's Quick Tip: Email Address Fields 3. Quote of the Day: 4. Web Site News 5. Subscription information: ================================================================= A Note from the Editor: Hi, folks! Today's tip is a rather long, but important one for work productivity. Using a mouse may be easy but anytime you have to move your hands from the keyboard to the mouse you lose time (and in my case, I often lose my train of thought)! These keyboard tips will help you improve your productivity when using Microsoft Word. Pay special attention to these shortcuts: "save", "copy", "paste" and "select all". I consider these "must know" shortcuts! While these shortcuts are written specifically for Word97, many other word processing programs and several other applications use them. Try them out! You might want to print this one out for reference. Steve ================================================================= 1. Article: Keyoard Shortcuts Using a mouse may be easy, but moving from the keyboard to the mouse can slow down your work and be tiring over the course of a day. Here are some keyboard shortcuts and other tips that will help you increase your efficiency and save you some time in working with your computer. While this tip sheet was written using Microsoft Word for its examples, many of these will work in other programs. Experiment with them and see what happens! Printing: When you click the printer icon in the toolbar menu your printer will print one copy using your default printer and settings. To bring up the printer dialog box so you can modify the setting for that print job use [CTRL] + [P] key combination. Then you will be able to choose a different printer, print quality, number of copies and other print settings. This works in most all of your software programs, especially Microsoft Office products. Saving your work: [CTRL] + [S] will save your work. The first time you use it, the "save as" dialog box will come up, and then the properties box (if you have that setting enabled). After that, it will perform a save without dialog boxes. This makes it faster to save your work, especially when working with long documents. Making a habit of hitting [CTRL] + S every couple of paragraphs can make the difference in losing a whole document or just a couple of lines in the event of a power failure. Cut, Copy, and Paste: Cut, copy, and paste are very common tasks. For cutting and copying, select the text desired. Then use [CTRL] + X to cut, [CTRL] + C to copy. When you need to paste the clipboard contents, use [CTRL] + V. Undo/Redo: If you need to Undo or Redo an action use [CTRL] + Z for undo and [CTRL] + Y for redo. Bold, Italicize, and Underline: Use these key combinations - Bold = [CTRL] + B, for Italics use [CTRL] + I, for underlining use [CTRL] + U. If you are using these formats while typing, you can end the formatting by using the key combination. For example, use the bold key combination to start typing in bold letters and then use it again to continue typing without bold formatting. Accessing the Menu Bar: If you want to access the menu bar from the keyboard, you will use the [ALT] key instead of the [CTRL] key. Look at the selections on the menu board and notice the underlined letters in each option. Use the [ALT] key plus the underlined letter to open that menu selection. For instance, [ALT] + E will open the Edit menu. To scroll down through the drop down list, use the Up and Down arrows or [TAB] to scroll down and [Shift] + [Tab] to scroll up. To switch to another menu, use the left and right arrow keys. Even if you have already scrolled down the current list, using the left and right arrow keys will take you to the top of the next list. Pressing the [ESC] key will close the drop down menu with out making the change. You will notice that the drop down menus also have words with underlined letters. In this case, do not press the [ALT] key to access them. Just press the underlined letter. For example, in the picture above notice that the P in Paste is underlined. Just press [P] on your keyboard and you will paste the clipboard contents into your document. Selecting Text: There are various ways to select text. Some of these will require using the mouse, but in these cases you will find that the mouse used in combination with a keyboard sequence will allow more control and precision over text selection. Selecting text is most often used in conjunction with a cut, copy, or paste operation. It can also be used for formatting text, as in block quotes, character formatting (bold, underline, italics) and printing selected copy. Selecting a word: To select a word, place your cursor somewhere in the word and double-click the left mouse button. Selecting a sentence: To select a complete sentence only, hold down the [CTRL] key and then click anywhere on the sentence. This will highlight the entire sentence. Try it on one of these paragraphs! Selecting a paragraph: To select a paragraph, place the cursor somewhere in the paragraph and triple-click the left mouse button. The entire paragraph will be selected. Selecting a part of a document: To select part of a document, place your cursor at the beginning of the text you want to highlight. Hold down the [Shift] key and move your cursor directly to the end of the text you want (or press the [Shift] key before you make the second click). You do not have to drag it and you can use the scroll bars to move to the end of the selection as long as you have the [Shift] key pressed or press it before you select the end of the text. The entire portion of the document that you selected will be highlighted. Selecting the Whole Document: To select a whole document, press the key combination [CTRL] + A. This can be useful for copying the body of an email and pasting it into another email message or a word processing document. _________ Article By: Steve Maurer, Maurer Publications ================================================================= 2. Today's Quick Tip: Email Address Fields There are three recipient address fields in an email message. They are the "TO:" field, the "CC:" field and the "BCC:" field. You are probably familiar with the use of the "TO:" and "CC:" fields, but many folks are unsure of what the "BCC:" field is used for. "CC:" is the Carbon Copy field where you place the addresses of folks that are not the originally intended recipients, but you would like them to get a copy. The "BCC:" field is the Blind Carbon Copy field. When an email is sent, the names of the recipients in this field are hidden from everyone else who gets the mail. Only names in the "TO:" and "CC:" field are visible. This protects the privacy of the recipients. This newsletter was sent out using the "BCC:" field. Everyone's address is in the "BCC:" field, but you can't see them. ================================================================= 3. Quote of the Day: Experience is the comb life gives you after you lose your hair. - Judith Stearn ================================================================= 4. Web Site News My electronic book (eBook) is finally finished and has been posted on my web site. The Email Primer - from @ to Zip is available for download. This is a FREE book and is the result of many of the questions I have received over the years. Just download to your computer and then click on it. While you will need Internet Explorer to use the Internet links, you don't need it to read the book. Give it a read and let me know what you think! I've also added a "Let 'Em Know" form on the site. If you know of someone who would enjoy the site, especially the tutorials and download links, "Let 'Em Know" by using the blue and gray form. I have updated the software links in the "Free Stuff section, too. If you know of a program that folks would like, send me the information and it might just get posted onsite! As always, your suggestions for tips and software are always welcome. Drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you. Best of Success to YOU...Steve ================================================================= 5. Subscription information: This newsletter is sent ONLY to the subscriber who requested it. If you received this newsletter as a forward, we invite you to subscribe! To subscribe, email... To unsubscribe, email... Please pass this to a friend who may be interested! Contact Info: Steve Maurer Maurer Publications and WebDesign Check out our new tips and tutorials section! ================================================================= IT'S HERE!! My new eBook, Email Primer - From @ to Zip Stop sending "Dear Customer" Emails. Get WorldMerge, and send personalized email to your targeted contact list in minutes! Download your free copy today: