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One of the most daunting changes to Microsoft Office Word 2007 is the new ribbon feature. Instead of the usual drop-down menus, there is some nice coloured pictures that take a small bit of getting used to. However, once you've learned the basics of the Ribbon, you'll wonder how you lived (and typed) without it.
Microsoft implemented the Ribbon feature after consulting with many Word users on making the software easy to use. The things you use the most (such as formatting text, italics, bold, and underline) are all much easier to find, and require only one mouse-click rather than the time-consuming two or three, found in older versions of Office, such as Office Word 2003.
Ribbon Basics
There are three main parts to the ribbon, and once you know what they all do, you'll be churning out essays and bestselling novels in no time!
- Tabs: These are the main sections of the ribbon, each one leads to a variety of different features, all linked together under the same category. The seven Tab categories are: Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, and View.
- Groups: These are sections within the tabs, which make things like formatting easier to find. For example, all the Create and Edit Table features are grouped together in the Insert tab.
- Commands: These are the individual actions, such as Cut, or Align, or Insert Footnote.
The Mini-Toolbar
Even if you have a different Tab opened, you can still edit basic things such as font colour, size, and type. Just highlight the selected text, point at it, and the Mini-Toolbar will pop up allowing you to quickly edit certain text.
Where is Double Strikethrough (or some other command)? I can't find it!
Not every single command has its own icon in the its Group. Some of the lesser used ones, like the Double Strikethrough or specific Line and Page Break or Reference options are contained within a new feature called the Dialog Box Launcher. Clicking on the little arrow in the corner under a Group such as "Font" will bring up the Font Dialog Box, with which you can do all those favourite features such as Emboss, Engrave, and Superscript.
Other Ribbon Features
The Quick-Access Toolbar at the top of the screen (above the Tabs) is fully-customisable, meaning that you can always be able to select the commands you use most often. If, like me, you have use the Spell-check often, you can right click on a Command and choose "Add to the Quick-Access Toolbar". Now this command is there no matter what Tab you have selected.
You can easily hide the Ribbon - if you want more space to see the document you're working on, or else if you want people to think you're old-school using Microsoft Word 97 or something. To do this, just double-click on any of the Tabs, and the Ribbon will disappear. To reverse this, and get the Ribbon to return, double-click on the Tab again and the Ribbon will open.
You can also use Keyboard shortcut keys to easily navigate from one Tab to another. These can also be used to access your Quick-Access Toolbar shortcuts. To switch tabs, or use the Quick-Access Toolbar, hold down the Alt button and press the particular key. To save you from having to remember which Alt-combination does what, the desired letters or numbers appear when the Alt button is held down.
Now you know what the Ribbon does, you and your family are ready to update your old version of Office to a brand-spanking-new cheap student value Microsoft Office 2007, complete with that much needed Word Software.
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