Word 97 Essentials

Is this course for you?

This course is intended for anyone wishing to use use Word 97. It covers basic and intermediate skills and is focussed on preparing documents. It covers basic text editing and word processing tools and shows how to control document appearance. It shows how to ensure consistent appearance using styles and templates, as well as managing pages with column layouts and more complex layouts using sections.

 You don't need previous experience with word processing as all the basics are introduced, but familiarity with Windows is helpful.

The course includes the following elements:

Lesson 1: Word 97 basics Lesson 12: Applying Styles
Lesson 2: Opening and Saving Lesson 13: AutoFormat
Lesson 3: Working options Lesson 14: Characters and Fonts
Lesson 4: Editing 1 Lesson 15: Create and modify Styles
Lesson 5: Editing 2 Lesson 16: Character styles
Lesson 6: Toolbars Lesson 17: Page format
Lesson 7: Help features 1 Lesson 18: Tabs
Lesson 8: Help features 2 Lesson 19: Column layouts
Lesson 9: Editing 3 Lesson 20: Headers and Footers
Lesson 10: Finding text Lesson 21: Templates
Lesson 11: Replacing text Lesson 22: Spelling and Grammar
Pre-defined curricula What you will need to enrol

Lesson 1: Word 97 basics top list 
Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Start Word 97
  • Control the Office Assistant
  • Maximise the Word and document windows
  • Enter text
  • Use the menus
  • Get a 100% view of the document
  • Do basic text correctionss
  • Select and delete lines and paragraphs
  • Print a document
  • Close a document without saving
    		• Although Word can look complicated at first glance, in fact it's very easy to produce simple documents like letters or memos once you've mastered the basics. This lesson concentrates on the essentials of using Word, how to start the program, how to use the menus and how to control Word on screen and how to create and edit simple text. By the end of the lesson you'll have learned enough to produce basic documents of your own -- the sort of things you might otherwise have to do on a typewriter.

    Lesson 2: Opening and Saving top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Open a document
  • Change the current folder
  • Edit a document
  • Save a document with File, Save
  • Use the File menu to open a recently edited document
  • Select alternative save options
  • Save a document with a different name (using Save As)
  • Use long file names
  • Use document templates
  • Use multiple documents
  • Use the X-button to exit
    		• One of the most important features of any program like Word is being able to save your work on disk and then come back to it later on. During this course for example, you will be working on a range of documents which are already set up on the disk. If you've used Windows or any other computer programs before, then you'll probably take this for granted; but without it, making a simple change to a document could mean re-typing the whole thing. So, this lesson concentrates on saving your work on disk, then opening documents to work on.

    Lesson 3: Working options top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Control working options (with Tools, Options)
  • View the Tip of the Day
  • Use the Full Screen setting
  • Use the View buttons
    		• Word is very flexible, not just in what it can do, but also how it appears on screen and how it displays documents. In this lesson we'll look at some of the most important settings which allow you to control how Word behaves.

    Lesson 4: Editing 1 top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Edit text using insert mode
  • Edit text in overtype mode
  • Select and enhance text (Bold and Italic)
  • Remove enhancements
  • Change the alignment
  • Use the Automatic Spell Check
  • Correct spelling errors
  • Control what you want to print
  • Print and collate multiple copies
  • Print envelopes
  • Change the current printer
    		• Word has many powerful editing features, but in this lesson we start with the basics of how to select text and correct it, and how to change text enhancements and layout. Word normally is set up to help you with spelling while you are typing and we take a brief look at how to use the spelling check feature. We then look at some of the printing options, so that you have more control over what parts of a document you decide to print, how many copies you want and so on.

    Lesson 5: Editing 2 top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Get a 2-page display
  • Change View settings
  • Use the Zoom button
  • Control page breaks
  • Navigate through a document
  • Use the GoTo feature
  • Use the Undo menu options
  • Control line spacing
    		• While you are editing, you generally have just one page on screen at a time, so that you can read the text. When you are working on longer documents, you may want to switch to a different view so that you can see 2 or more pages. And you'll certainly want to be able to navigate your way around the document to bring different pages into view. You'll also want to control line spacing and where page 'breaks' occur.

    Lesson 6: Toolbars top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Display Toolbars
  • Use the ScreenTips to identify buttons
  • Open a document from the Toolbar
  • Use the Undo and Redo buttons
  • Move and resize Toolbars
  • Hide and display Toolbars
    		• In general, Word does try to make life easy, and to give you some choice in how you want to work. For example, Word's Toolbars contain an array of buttons, which are shortcut alternatives for many of Word's menu options. In this lesson we take a closer look at the Toolbars -- how to identify which button does what, how to take advantage of some of the shortcuts, how to control where the Toolbars appear on the screen and how to decide which of Word's many Toolbars you want on display.

    Lesson 7: Help features 1 top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Use the What's This? button
  • Control the Office Assistant
  • Change Assistant appearance
  • Chane Assistant options
  • Get help from the Assistant while you type
    		• All good Windows applications have built-in help information, which can replace the need for a printed manual. Word 97 has a new kind of help, the Office Assistant which gives you much freer access to the help information, but also can step in with hints, tips and other messages while you are working.

    Lesson 8: Help features 2 top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Get Help
  • Use the Help index
  • Use the Find feature
  • Get help at a dialogue box
    		• When you want to look up detailed information about a topic you don't have to go through the Office Assistant. Word has its own built in Help feature, which gives you a more structured approach to finding information.

    Lesson 9: Editing 3 top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Use the document scroll bars
  • Control the View options
  • Display the non-printing characters
  • Use the browse buttons
  • Select with Click-and-Drag
  • Edit with Cut-and-Paste
  • Insert text from a file into a document
  • Edit with Drag-and-Drop
    		• When you are editing documents, it is often helpful to be able to edit or manipulate whole sections of text. You might want to copy a section, move it somewhere else in the document or simply delete it. So in this lesson we look at the techniques for selecting text, then copying and moving the text within a document with the 'Cut-and-Paste options' as well as the alternative click-and-drag technique for moving text with the mouse. We also look at how you can build up documents by inserting text from different document files.

    Lesson 10: Finding text top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Use the Find feature
  • Use the Search options
  • Use the Sounds Like options
    		• Word's "find" feature takes the hard work out of searching through documents to find every occurrence of a particular word or phrase that you wish to locate. The Find feature will do much more than that though; you can get it to find text special characters, or even to locate words you have never seen written down, providing you can say what the text sounds like.

    Lesson 11: Replacing text top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Replace a word
  • Replace special characters
    		• It's not unusual to spend time preparing a document, only to find that a key word or phrase needs to be changed. For example, new products are often given code names while they are being developed, and the real name needs to be used once the product is launched. Word can take care of that problem very neatly, by automatically replacing every occurrence with your new text.

    Lesson 12: Applying Styles top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Use pre-set styles
  • Display the style used for the paragraph
  • Apply styles using the toolbar
  • Apply styles using the menu
  • Use Replace to apply styles
    		• One of the best ways to improve the appearance of your documents is to use different typefaces or fonts and set the characters to a different size. To make things as simple as possible, Word is supplied with a range of pre-set styles, so that you can quickly format headings and sub-headings to stand out from the main body of the text. And, if you change your mind about a style, you can use the Replace feature to switch to a new style wherever it occurs in your document.

    Lesson 13: AutoFormat top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Understand the default document style
  • AutoFormat documents
  • Use the Style Gallery
    		• The way a document looks isn't just for cosmetic reasons. A well laid-out document is much easier to read, which in turn makes it easier to get your message across. Word has a range of tools for helping you give your documents visual impact - and you can control the whole process manually by defining fonts, sizes and so on. If you want quick results though, Word's AutoFormat can very rapidly convert a plain document into one which looks very professional.

    Lesson 14: Characters and Fonts top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Change fonts from the Toolbar
  • Change fonts using the dialogue box
  • Understand Font Face, Style and Size
  • Apply font effects
  • Use colour
  • Use the Underline options
  • Preview fonts
  • Use the Format Painter to copy formatting
    		• As well as using the Style panel or the AutoFormat feature, you can take more control of the fonts used in your documents with the Formatting toolbar, you can make your own decisions about the face, the size and other effects. And once you've fine-tuned one section of text to suit you, you can quickly copy the format to other sections with the Format Painter.

    Lesson 15: Create and modify Styles top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Control paragraph spacing
  • Change spacing before and after headings
  • Modify a style
  • Create a style from selected text
  • Apply styles to new text
  • Modify the Normal style to change font
    		• Styles give you a quick way to apply a range of formatting instructions; the font, type size, alignment and so on. Once you have used AutoFormat or the pre-set styles for a while, you'll want to take more control and define your own styles to suit the type of documents you are working on.

    Lesson 16: Character styles top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Create a character style
    		• As well as paragraph styles, which affect the whole of a paragraph, you can set up Character styles, which affect just the characters you select. This allows you to switch to a different style in the middle of a paragraph so you can make a section of text stand out. For example, you could set a different style for a product name, so that it appears in a different font.

    Lesson 17: Page format top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Control page format
  • Select paper size
  • Set margins
  • Add a gutter margin for binding
  • Align text horizontally
  • Use quick indents
  • Use the Ruler to change indents
  • Align text vertically
    		• This lesson looks at the basics of how to lay out your document on the page by controlling page size, margins, alignment and by setting indents.

    Lesson 18: Tabs top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Use the default tab settings
  • Change the default tabs
  • Set tab stops
  • Set and clear tabs with the ruler
  • Insert section breaks
    		• Tabs gives you a quick way to organise your document into tabular column layouts. It's useful for quick tables, lists and so on, and for lining up figures correctly. In this lesson we look at using the default tab stops and at defining your own tabs both for text and for numbers.

    Lesson 19: Column layouts top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Edit text in a column layout
  • Edit a column layout
  • Change column width
  • Use unequal column widths
  • Use section breaks and column breaks to control layout
  • Adjust column widths using the ruler
    		• It is well known that text is easier to read when the lines are short. That's why newspapers and magazines so often arrange the page in columns of text. In this lesson we see how Word makes it easy to set up and control column layouts, so that you can achieve the same effect in your documents.

    Lesson 20: Headers and Footers top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Create headers and footers
  • Add text to a footer
  • Insert the date automatically
  • Use the Print Preview
  • Use the Magnifier
  • View multiple pages
  • Control page numbering
  • Edit a footer
  • Delete a page number
  • Switch the header and footer view
  • Create alternate headers and footers
    		• If you are working on longer documents like reports, it is normal to have text which repeats on every page. You can use Word's Header and Footer features to take care of this for you as well as set page numbers and other information.

    Lesson 21: Templates top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Use templates for document layout
  • Create a template
  • Save a document as a template
  • Edit a template
  • Find a template
  • Add special effects
  • Preview preset templates
    		• Once you have set up a complex page layout, defined paragraph styles or written some standard text, you can make your work available to other documents by defining it as a "template", or pattern for other documents to follow. In this lesson we look at creating your own templates, as well as using the range of templates which are normally supplied with Word, for documents of different types, so you can very quickly produce professional-looking results.

    Lesson 22: Spelling and Grammar top list 
    Learn how to...Tutor's summary
  • Control spelling options
  • Correct underlined words
  • Get help with grammar
  • Correct errors as you type
    		• When you're preparing a lot of text, it's easy to make mistakes, especially when you're in a hurry. Not all of us are perfect typists! Spelling and grammar checkers have been around for a while, and while they are very useful, they are often easy to forget. Word brings a new level of sophistication, because it can check while you type and highlight your mistakes - and even correct spelling for you automatically. But these features do have limitations; as we'll see in this lesson, there's no substitute for a final proof-read.

    Pre-defined curricula

    Like all courses at the Reeltime College this course comes supplied with a number of predefined curricula designed to help you go straight to the subjects you're most interested in. Curricula supplied with this course include:

    1. Standard curriculum (all lessons)
    2. Word 97 basics
    3. Help
    4. Editing text
    5. Document appearance
    6. WP Tools
    7. Personal curriculum (designed by you)

    What will I need to enrol?

    This is what you need to get the most from the course:

    1. A Pentium-class PC with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 or XP.
    2. Sound card and loudspeakers or headphones
    3. A CD-ROM drive (or DVD drive) either on the PC or accessible over a local network.
    4. Approximately 10 Mb spare disk capacity. If you have another 30 Mb spare, you can choose to copy introduction movies onto the hard disk.
    5. If you download the course handbook, you'll need approximately 2 Mb spare for the download.
    6. The course assumes you have a copy of the target software (Word 97) correctly installed on your computer. If not, you'll be able to watch the movie segments, but not complete the hands-on segments.

    You can enrol on the course by using the Reeltime software, which also allows you to preview the course content off-line. For more information, go to the How to join Reeltime College  page.

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