You can add scrolling words to the bottom of your PowerPoint presentation so that it looks like the Stock Market Ticker Effect by using PowerPoint’s Crawl in Effect. You can add the same message to every page in your PowerPoint or just add it to the first page.
Step by step instructions:
1. Add a textbox onto the slide, and add the text that you want to scroll across the bottom of the screen.
2. Place the textbox on the bottom left, just beside the edge of the slide. (Move the textbox off the slide so that it can’t be seen)
3. Select Slide Show > Custom Animation
4. Select the textbox, and then click Add Effect > Entrance > Crawl In
5. On the Effect tab, Change the Direction to “From Right”
6. On the Timing tab - change the Speed to “20 seconds”; Change Repeat to “Until End of Slide”
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Split the View in a Microsoft Word Document
Sometimes it is handy to be able to split the screen in Word in two (particularly with long documents). Look at the very top of the scrollbar on the right side of the screen and you will see a small grey shaped _ button. It isn't easy to see but the upward arrow button is directly below it. Click and hold the button and drag your mouse down the screen and release. Your document is now in two separate areas.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Free Online/Offline Email
Zimbra Desktop is free for anyone to download and use. It works on Windows, Apple and Linux computers. It combines email, calendar, contacts, and documents and there is an additional collaboration tool.
- Email, contacts, calendar, and documents all in one application
- Syncs Zimbra, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail email, contacts and calendars
- Read email from any POP or IMAP email account including AOL, Hotmail or business email
- Works on Windows, Apple, or Linux desktop computers
- No limit to the size of your email storage
- It works online AND offline
Monday, 15 March 2010
Need to clear up cluttered icons on your desktop?
I could hardly see the wallpaper on my desktop for the array of icons scattered all over it! Have now discovered "Fences". Clean and organise your desktop by creating shaded areas which become movable and re-sizeable containers for your icons. Double click blank spaces on your desktop and all your fences will fade out, and back! I love it!
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Get Help With Word 2007
Microsoft Office 2007 brings with it countless improvements over the 2003 version but some features, especially the new ribbon interface, can be a little tricky to get to grips with. This interactive guide from Microsoft takes you step-by-step through the transition from 2003 to 2007.
Download Guide
Download Guide
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Free Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Paint.net is intended as a replacement for the limited Paint progam that comes with Windows. Paint.net is a free image and photo manipulation program that supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects adn a number of tools and effects.
It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials and plugins. Apart from GIMP, it does not seem to have many rivals as far as freebies are concerned.
Request a FREE introduction on how to get started in paint.net.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Free Alternative Software to the Microsoft Office Suite
If you're looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office Open Office is a worthy contender and it's absolutely FREE!
Open Office, developed by Sun Micro Systems, is a hugely popular alternative and is free to download and use - not bad given that the standard edition of Microsoft Office costs in the region of £250.
The fact that it's free often leads people t think Open Office has limited features, but this is not true: the current Version 3 has functionality that rivals Microsoft Office. Open Office will also save files as Microsoft versions - useful for sharing with those using Microsoft products.
There is also readily available a selection of official Open Office Tutorials. If, however, you would like more in depth eduction the software, or prefer to be professionally trained on a one-to-one basis, then training is available from The Away PA.
Lessons are carried out in 1 hour modules via an interactive training room and are tailored to your requirements. You can take as many or as few lessons as you wish - there is no minimum requirement. To find out more, contact The Away PA by email: info@theawaypa.eu or telephone 08450 527565.
Zoho is an online office suite which is great for creating and editing documents online, but there will always be those times where you would prefer to use a standard application from your local drive (eg, Open Office above).
A plug in for Microsoft Office lets you edit your Zoho documents using Word and Excel. Download the Plugin.
Open Office, developed by Sun Micro Systems, is a hugely popular alternative and is free to download and use - not bad given that the standard edition of Microsoft Office costs in the region of £250.
The fact that it's free often leads people t think Open Office has limited features, but this is not true: the current Version 3 has functionality that rivals Microsoft Office. Open Office will also save files as Microsoft versions - useful for sharing with those using Microsoft products.
There is also readily available a selection of official Open Office Tutorials. If, however, you would like more in depth eduction the software, or prefer to be professionally trained on a one-to-one basis, then training is available from The Away PA.
Lessons are carried out in 1 hour modules via an interactive training room and are tailored to your requirements. You can take as many or as few lessons as you wish - there is no minimum requirement. To find out more, contact The Away PA by email: info@theawaypa.eu or telephone 08450 527565.
Zoho is an online office suite which is great for creating and editing documents online, but there will always be those times where you would prefer to use a standard application from your local drive (eg, Open Office above).
A plug in for Microsoft Office lets you edit your Zoho documents using Word and Excel. Download the Plugin.
Monday, 14 December 2009
With the help of converters and viewers from Office Online, you can share your Microsoft Office files with people who have different versions of Office
With the help of converters and viewers from Office Online, you can share your Microsoft Office files with people who have different versions of Office programs, or even with people who don't have Office installed.
Converters allow you to open files created by people using different versions of your Office programs.
Viewers provide a means for people who don't have Office programs to see your work. You can provide them with the appropriate viewer along with your Office files.
Alternatively, you can use a FREE online service DocsOnline.Converters for Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2007
Access viewers
Excel converters and viewers
Outlook converters and viewers
PowerPoint converters and viewers
- PowerPoint 2007 viewers
- PowerPoint 2003 viewers
- PowerPoint 2002 viewers
- PowerPoint 2000 converters
- PowerPoint 2000 viewers
- PowerPoint 97 converters
- PowerPoint 97 viewers
Microsoft Project converters
Visio converters and viewers
Word converters and viewers
- Word 2007 viewers
- Word 2003 viewers
- Word 2002 converters
- Word 2002 viewers
- Word 2000 converters
- Word 2000 viewers
- Word 97 converters
- Word 97 viewers
Converters and viewers for Macintosh users
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Sync your Google Calendar with Outlook
Google Calendar has a sync utility which works with Outlook 2003 and 2007 on Windows XP and Vista.
Exit Outlook and click on the download link in Step 2 under "Get Started". When it has finished downloading, run the file to install the software. Click on the I Agree button, Next and then Install. Click on Close when the installer finishes.
The calendar set up window will appear. Enter your Googlemail address in the top box and password in the box below. Leave the top option '2-way' selected, so Outlook and Google Calendar will always have the same entries. Choose how often you want the diaries synchronised. Click on Save.
Voila!
The Away PA
http://theawaypa.eu
Exit Outlook and click on the download link in Step 2 under "Get Started". When it has finished downloading, run the file to install the software. Click on the I Agree button, Next and then Install. Click on Close when the installer finishes.
The calendar set up window will appear. Enter your Googlemail address in the top box and password in the box below. Leave the top option '2-way' selected, so Outlook and Google Calendar will always have the same entries. Choose how often you want the diaries synchronised. Click on Save.
Voila!
The Away PA
http://theawaypa.eu
Power Up Your Documents with Word Links
If you are a regular user of Microsoft Word, but have never explored document links, then you are missing out on a great way to exploit the information contained in documents. Links offer a way to move around a document quickly and easily. They can also be used to automatically pull in data or information from other documents and to add extra oomph to contents, tables, glossaries, indeces and cross-references.
Read more...
Read more...
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Quick Shortcut to sending an email in Windows
If you want to quickly send an email in the Windows operating system, you have to start your email client, click on the write button and start writing the email. A much faster way is to press [windows R], type [mailto:] and hit enter. This opens the new mail message window of the default email client on your computer . It is even possible to add parameters like [mailto:admin@example.com?subject=test&body=test2] which would automatically add the recipient admin@example.com, the subject test and the body text "test2" to the email.
Author: The Away PA
Author: The Away PA
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Donwloading and Installing Fonts (Windows XP and Windows 200)
Because fonts work with a PC's operating system, they are not downloaded to Office directly. Use the Font Control Panel in Windows and then it will work with Office automatically.
Many websites offering fonts package them in .zip files to reduce file size and make downloading faster. If you have downloaded a font that is saved in a .zip format, you can "unzip" it by double-clicking the icon for the font and following the instructions on the screen.
Once you have selected a font to install, download it from the internet by following the instructions on the website and install it through the operating system on your pc. Select one of the file download locations, click on the link, and then follow the instructions in the File Download dialogue boxes to complete the download to your hard disk drive. You may also want to make a note of where you have saved the download, so that you can easily navigate to it when you install the font through the operating system. Add the font to your computer through the operating system.
Here's how -
IF YOU ARE USING MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP:
1. On the Start Menu, click on the Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, double-click on Fonts.
3. On the File Menu, click on Install New Font.
4. Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded or unzipped font and, in the List of Fonts box, click on the font you want to add.
5. Click OK.
IF YOU ARE USING MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000
1. On the Start Menu, point to Settings and then click on Control Panel.
2. On the Control Panel, double-click on Fonts.
3. On the File Menu, click on Install New Font.
4. Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded or unzipped font and, in the List of Fonts Box, click on the font you want to add.
5. Click OK.
Many websites offering fonts package them in .zip files to reduce file size and make downloading faster. If you have downloaded a font that is saved in a .zip format, you can "unzip" it by double-clicking the icon for the font and following the instructions on the screen.
Once you have selected a font to install, download it from the internet by following the instructions on the website and install it through the operating system on your pc. Select one of the file download locations, click on the link, and then follow the instructions in the File Download dialogue boxes to complete the download to your hard disk drive. You may also want to make a note of where you have saved the download, so that you can easily navigate to it when you install the font through the operating system. Add the font to your computer through the operating system.
Here's how -
IF YOU ARE USING MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP:
1. On the Start Menu, click on the Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, double-click on Fonts.
3. On the File Menu, click on Install New Font.
4. Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded or unzipped font and, in the List of Fonts box, click on the font you want to add.
5. Click OK.
IF YOU ARE USING MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000
1. On the Start Menu, point to Settings and then click on Control Panel.
2. On the Control Panel, double-click on Fonts.
3. On the File Menu, click on Install New Font.
4. Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded or unzipped font and, in the List of Fonts Box, click on the font you want to add.
5. Click OK.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Safer Saving
In Microsoft Word, it is possible to make the progam save a backup copy of a document every time it is saved. This means that if you accidentally save a change that you didn't want, an earlier version can be recovered from a file that is saved alongside your current file.
To do this, open the File Menu and select Save As. In the dialogue that comes up, click on the Tools Button and, depending on your version of Word, select either General Options or Save Options from the list. When the Save dialogue box opens, tick the checkbox labelled 'Always create backup copy' and press OK.
To do this, open the File Menu and select Save As. In the dialogue that comes up, click on the Tools Button and, depending on your version of Word, select either General Options or Save Options from the list. When the Save dialogue box opens, tick the checkbox labelled 'Always create backup copy' and press OK.
How to filter email and prevent junk arriving in your inbox
Thunderbird users can customise how junk email is received and dealt with. If the Junk filter is enabled (go to the Tools menu, then Account Settings, then Junk Settings, then 'Enable adaptive junkmail controls for this account') all suspicious email will carry a green junk icon, leaving you the choice of deleting it, or clicking the button - 'This is not Junk'. In the case of the latter, future emails from that sender won't be treated as spam.
Within the Junk Settings menu, there are further options to move new spam to a Junk folder automatically, which I would strongly recommend, and to delete junk mail older than a specific period. To prevent trusted emails being marked as junk, there is also an option to 'Not mark mail as Junk' if the sender is in your personal address book.
It is also possible to train Thunderbird to identify what's spam and what's not. To do this effectively, you will need tomakr all mail as either Junk or Not Junk by right-clicking the message and selecting the corresponding option from the list. The associated keyboard shortcuts (we like them!) are J for Junk and Shift+J for Non Junk. The more you teach Thunderbird, the more Junk will automatically find its way into the Junk folder - but don't forget to periodically check the Junk folder.
Outlook Express can also be trained, but in a different way, using Message filtering. Rather than simply blocking a sender, you can instruct Outlook to deal with certain email in a certain way. Within the Tools Menu, click Message Rules, then Mail. Create a new 'rule' for the progam to follow by clicking the New button and selecting certain conditions and actions. For example, you could select the following condition:
Within the Junk Settings menu, there are further options to move new spam to a Junk folder automatically, which I would strongly recommend, and to delete junk mail older than a specific period. To prevent trusted emails being marked as junk, there is also an option to 'Not mark mail as Junk' if the sender is in your personal address book.
It is also possible to train Thunderbird to identify what's spam and what's not. To do this effectively, you will need tomakr all mail as either Junk or Not Junk by right-clicking the message and selecting the corresponding option from the list. The associated keyboard shortcuts (we like them!) are J for Junk and Shift+J for Non Junk. The more you teach Thunderbird, the more Junk will automatically find its way into the Junk folder - but don't forget to periodically check the Junk folder.
Outlook Express can also be trained, but in a different way, using Message filtering. Rather than simply blocking a sender, you can instruct Outlook to deal with certain email in a certain way. Within the Tools Menu, click Message Rules, then Mail. Create a new 'rule' for the progam to follow by clicking the New button and selecting certain conditions and actions. For example, you could select the following condition:
'Where the Subject line contains specific words - loan, Nigeria, increase'
do the following Action: 'Move to the specified folder - Junk'
do the following Action: 'Move to the specified folder - Junk'
How to block emails arriving from a specific sender or domain.
To do this in Outlook Express, click on a message from the sender that you want to block. then, in the Message Menu, click Block Sender. Now any email you receive from this sender will automatically find itself in your Deleted Items Folder.
Adding names to the Block Sender list in Outlook produces the same result, but requires a slightly different process. Click Options within the Tools menu and, on the Preferences tab, under Email, click Junk Email. Now click the Block Sender tab and then Add. Within the box "Enter an email address or internet domain name to be added to the list" type in the offending email address, then click OK. Alternatively, right-click the unwelcome email and click Junk Email to add the sender to the Block Sender list.
Adding names to the Block Sender list in Outlook produces the same result, but requires a slightly different process. Click Options within the Tools menu and, on the Preferences tab, under Email, click Junk Email. Now click the Block Sender tab and then Add. Within the box "Enter an email address or internet domain name to be added to the list" type in the offending email address, then click OK. Alternatively, right-click the unwelcome email and click Junk Email to add the sender to the Block Sender list.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
PowerPoint Black and White
When making a presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint, there will be moments when you like to have the audience's full attention. However, leaving a slide projected while you talk can be a distraction. To quickly stop the projection of a slide either press B on the keyboard to turn the display black, or tap W to have Powerpoint project a pure white screen. When you're finished talking, simply repeat the keypress to revert the display back to the slideshow.
Micrsoft Excel - It's a Wrap!
When entering lots of data into a cell in Excel, it can be annoying to press Enter and see the application create a single, straight line of text. A solution is found in Excel's ability to 'wrap' characters entered into cells, which automatically increases the height of the cell to accommodate the information, leaving the cell's width unaffected.
This can be achieved by pressing Alt + Enter simultaneously at the end of the entered data. This forces the entered data to wrap itself to the width of the cell.
This can be achieved by pressing Alt + Enter simultaneously at the end of the entered data. This forces the entered data to wrap itself to the width of the cell.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Create a New Toolbar
Did you know that any folder can be turned into a toolbar on the Taskbar, and it can be used for all sorts of things!
For example, I have turned a folder containing my favourite music album into a toolbar - it's brilliant! I can now select and play any track from the Windows Taskbar.
Another more serious and work-like use - and we do all need to work :-( - is to create a toolbar for a folder that contains work documents, or other important files.
TO CREATE A TOOLBAR:
1. Right click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars/New Toobar.
2. Choose a folder on your hard drive, such as Documents or Music, or any other one that you might have created.
3. After adding the toolbar, click the double arrow on it to show the files and click one to open it. Simple! You can also open the folder in Explorer by right-clicking the toolbar name and selecting Open Folder.
For example, I have turned a folder containing my favourite music album into a toolbar - it's brilliant! I can now select and play any track from the Windows Taskbar.
Another more serious and work-like use - and we do all need to work :-( - is to create a toolbar for a folder that contains work documents, or other important files.
TO CREATE A TOOLBAR:
1. Right click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars/New Toobar.
2. Choose a folder on your hard drive, such as Documents or Music, or any other one that you might have created.
3. After adding the toolbar, click the double arrow on it to show the files and click one to open it. Simple! You can also open the folder in Explorer by right-clicking the toolbar name and selecting Open Folder.
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Control Page Breaks in Word 2003
You don't necessarily have to put up with the line and page breaks that Word think you ought to have in a document. If you want a group of words to stay together and not be split up over a line break, hold down the Ctrl and Shift buttons when pressing the Space bar. If you want to force a page break, hold down the Ctrl button and press Enter.
There are several other options that can be set for paragraphs. Left click once in the paragraph, click on the Format menu and then on Paragraph. The Widow/Orphan option on the Line and Page Breaks tab prevents single line from a paragrapn appearing at the top or bottom of pages. 'Keep lines together' is even more powerful and makes sure the entire paragraph is kept together.
Author: Rita Lima (The Away PA) - Certified Microsoft Office Specialist
There are several other options that can be set for paragraphs. Left click once in the paragraph, click on the Format menu and then on Paragraph. The Widow/Orphan option on the Line and Page Breaks tab prevents single line from a paragrapn appearing at the top or bottom of pages. 'Keep lines together' is even more powerful and makes sure the entire paragraph is kept together.
Author: Rita Lima (The Away PA) - Certified Microsoft Office Specialist
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Quick Desktop Shortcuts
If you find the Favourites menu hard to access in Internet Explorer 7, there is an alternative that means saving the web links as shortcuts to the Windows Desktop. Then the website can be started just as you would a program.
First, go to the web page that you want to save as a shortcut. Press the left Alt key to make the full menus appear in Internet Explorer. Left-click on the File menu, then Shortcut to Desktop. Minimise the Internet Explorer and any other windows you have open and you will see the icon on the Desktop. Left-click on it once and press F2 if you want to change the name. Double-click on it to go striaght to that web page. Cool!
First, go to the web page that you want to save as a shortcut. Press the left Alt key to make the full menus appear in Internet Explorer. Left-click on the File menu, then Shortcut to Desktop. Minimise the Internet Explorer and any other windows you have open and you will see the icon on the Desktop. Left-click on it once and press F2 if you want to change the name. Double-click on it to go striaght to that web page. Cool!
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