- Erase more carefully; turn on Show/Hide Icon (¶) while you
work
- Change default font: Format | Font | choose font | Default
button
- Use templates: Make selections of margins, fonts, fixed text
like letterhead, etc.
- To create template: File | Save As | Document Type as
Document Template (*.dot)
- To use template: File | New (must be from menu, not icon on
toolbar) | choose template
- "Move that table!"
- Symptom – Create a table right away and try to move it.
You can’t!
- UA – Unlike good ‘ol WordPerfect, there are no
reveal codes to place cursor before; just the paragraph container at the end of the
paragraph
- WA – Select table, cut, press ENTER, paste
- "All gone!"
- Symptom – Select text and press ENTER
- UA – That’s Windoze folks!
- WA – Undo – that’s Windoze also.
- "Is it cc:, pc: or just
c:
- Symptoms – type cc: and it becomes Cc:, backspace, make
correct, backspace, etc.
- UA – AutoCorrect thinks it is the beginning of a
sentence and must capitalize the word.
- WA – Tools | Autocorrect | Exceptions won’t work,
unchecking Capitalize first letter of sentence will work but not recommended. Simply
cursor ¬ to beginning of word, delete, make correction, and either cursor right or Ctrl +
® to beginning of next word. It’s still a pain.
- "Misbehaving Tab"
- Symptom – Whole paragraph indents, not just the first
line of the paragraph
- UA – Option set in Tools | Options | Edit tab | Tabs and
backspace set left indent
- WA – Disable option or Ctrl+tab. Moving First Line
Indent (top portion of "candy kiss" on ruler) least desirable alternative, but
it also works.
- "Help the blind see, help
the deaf hear, help the unformatted format!"
- Symptom – Stuff appears as you type and you didn’t
do it.
- UA – Format As You Type is formatting as you type:
indents, bulleting, numbered lists; 1/2 becomes ½ (well, that one I like).
- WA – Disable the sucker: Format | Autoformat | Options |
uncheck the ones you don’t want
- "Disappearing Tab
Settings"
- Symptom – You set the tabs, you want to change them, you
select what you think is your columnar data, and your tabs are gone but not forgotten.
- UA – You didn’t select the same data for which the
tabs were set or you aren’t a mind reader
- WA – Carefully select the exact set of data, no more and
no less
- "Where did that come
from?"
- Symptom – Out of no where, your bullets are underlined
or otherwise become strange
- UA – It’s the end of ¶ marker again
- WA – Turn on Show/Hide (¶), select just the ¶ symbol ,
and click on the offending format icon to toggle it
- "Where’d they go?"
- Symptom – Vertical scroll bars disappear
- UA – They are document specific
- WA – Tools | Options | View | check Vertical Scroll Bars
and Save document
- "My thesaurus speaketh!"
- Symptom – Type "It’s not my fault, Bill",
Tools | Language | Thesaurus
- UA – No, but "it's like falling off a log."
- WA – None, that’s the way it is, folks.
- "Line up, please!"
- Symptom – Notice the number list doesn’t line up on
the decimal point on 10 or higher.
- UA – They are left justified, besides it’s
oxymoronic to make ten brief points.
- WA – Format | Bullets and Numbering | Customize | change
Number Position from Left to Right
Excel 97 Annoyances
- "January Fractions!"
- Symptom – Enter ‘1/4’ and it becomes
‘4-Jan.’
- UA – Interpreted obviously as a date in the current year
- WA – Enter 0 1/4
- "No Print Gridlines Default" Symptom
– Create spreadsheet, Print Preview, and voilą, no gridlines
- UA – Complete turnabout from previous versions
- Long way: File | Page Setup | Sheet tab | check Gridlines or
same from Print Preview
- Short way: Create a template with gridlines enabled: File |
Save As | choose Save As Type Template (*.xlt)
- Real short way: Create shortcut to template just created and
use it to open Excel
- "What was I thinking?"
- Symptom – Developers take note: Spreadsheets by their
very nature are poorly documented.
- UA – Formulas typically use cell references
‘=B29*$C100, duh??’
- Insert Comments
- Use Range Names: =SubTtl*TaxRate
- Use instruction page with hyperlinks
- Use Ctrl+~ to display formulas, display row and column
headings as well as gridlines on Sheet tab of Page Setup, and Print out a hard copy
- "AutoComplete, Grrr!"
- Symptom – Start typing in a column and data from above
starts to appear. Press ENTER to accept.
- UA – Nice feature for data entry, but can be a pain for
certain kinds of data
- WA – Disable: Tools | Options | uncheck Enable
AutoComplete for cell values. You can still use right-mouse click, Pick from List option
- "So what about Y2K?"
- Symptom – Type in a date, such as 5/1/2000 or May 1,
2000, but only 5/1/00 displays.
- UA –There is no Y2K date format
- WA – Format | Cells | Custom | enter m/d/yyyy.
Save as part of template. Also check out www.microsoft.com/y2k for latest service releases and
patches.
- "My money won’t line up "
- Symptom – Some numbers are flush right, and some numbers
seem to have an extra space
- UA – Different formatting was used. The default general
lines up flush right, but truncates trailing zeroes. The Currency ($) icon actually
formats in an accounting style, ($9,999.99), the last space for the parentheses. Format |
Cells | Currency gives various formatting options
- WA – Choose your flavor.
Remember: It’s not your fault!
______________
1Disclaimer - The Freehold Computer Training
Center is not associated in any way with similarly titled books.
All software is the registered trademark of its respective publisher.
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