Using the Extend Mode – Microsoft Word Tip

Tags

extend mode, Keyboard Shortcuts, select text

The Extend mode in Microsoft Word helps you select blocks of text quickly and easily. Here is a tutorial to show you how it works.

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We will use the sample text generated by Microsoft Word to demonstrate this feature.

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Generate Sample Text

1. Create a new document.
2. On a new line, type =rand().
3. Press ENTER.
   Microsoft Word generates three paragraphs of random text.

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Click here to learn more about generating text in Microsoft Word.

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Enable the Extend Mode Indicator

1. Right-click anywhere the status bar.
2. Select Selection Mode.

Enable the Extend Mode

1. Press F8.
   The Extend mode is enabled and the Extend Selection indicator is displayed in the status bar.

Working in the Extend Mode

With the Extend mode, you can select a word, the sentence to which the word belongs, the paragraph to which the word belongs, and the whole document with a press of the F8 key.

1. Click at the start of the word from where the selection must begin. For example, in the second line of the second paragraph, click just before the Q of the phrase Quick Styles gallery.
   
2. Press F8.
   The word Quick is selected.
3. Press F8.
4. The sentence to which the word Quick belongs is selected.
5. Press F8.
   The paragraph to which the word Quick belongs is selected.
6. Press F8 again.
   The entire document content is selected.

To deselect the highlighted text:

• Press SHIFT + F8 repeatedly.
  The text is deselected in the reverse order; whole document>paragraph>sentence>word.

Some Extend Mode Shortcuts for Selecting Text

Other shortcuts to select text from the current position of the text cursor are:

End Point	Key
Start of the sentence	HOME
End of the sentence	. (period or full stop)
End of the paragraph	ENTER
Start of a line	HOME
End of a line	END
Start of the document	CTRL+HOME
End of the document	CTRL+END

Select Text from the Cursor Position to a Particular Word

1. Click at position where the selection must begin. For example, in the second line of the second paragraph, click just before the word formatting.
2. Under the Home tab, in the Editing group, click the arrow next to Find and then click Advanced Find.
   The Find and Replace dialog box is displayed.

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   Do not directly click on Find or use CTRL+F to invoke the Navigation Pane. Extend mode gets disabled when you display or use the Navigation Pane.

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3. In the Find what box, type the word. For example, quick.
4. Click Find.
   The selection extends from the cursor location to the first instance of the word you searched for.

Disable the Extend Mode

• Press ESC+Any Arrow Key.

Generating Sample Text – Microsoft Word Tip

Tags

rand function, random text, sample text

Many a time, we want sample text in a document. For example, when creating a template, placeholder text can be used to define formatting and layout.

One way is to type or copy text from another document. Another way is to “generate” the sample text using the rand() and lorem() functions of Microsoft Word.

 

To generate random text in Microsoft Word:

1. On a new line, type =rand(). Ensure there is no space between = and rand().
   
2. Press ENTER.
   Microsoft Word generates sample text. How much and what text is generated depends on the version of Microsoft Word being used.

You can also specify how much text you want to generate by specifying the number of paragraphs and the number of sentences in each paragraph.

The rand() function will now be written as:

=rand(number_of_paragraphs, number_of_sentences_in_each_paragraph) 

1. On a new line, type =rand(5,2).
2. Press ENTER.
   Microsoft Word generates 5 paragraphs of text, each with 2 sentences.

Tips:

• To generate The quick brown fox…., use rand.old() instead of rand().
• To generate Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…, the traditional Latin default text preferred by the printing industry, use lorem() instead of rand().

Did you like this article? You may also like:

• Using AutoCorrect Effectively – Microsoft Word Tip
• Using AutoText Effectively – Microsoft Word Tip

 

Using AutoCorrect Effectively – Microsoft Word Tip

Tags

AutoCorrect

In an earlier post, we had shown you how to use AutoText effectively. In this post, we take a closer look at another underrated feature of Microsoft Word, AutoCorrect.

With AutoText, you were able to save and reuse complex pre-formatted content units such as tables. However, many a time you need to use pre-formatted text such as product names. This is when AutoCorrect is useful.

For example, a company’s branding guidelines  may require product names to be written as shown in the image below.

In addition, the guidelines may also require that the words in the product name should never be split across multiple lines. For example, the image below shows how the product name should never be written.

The correct way to write a product name is shown in the image below.

One way is to:

1. Type and format the product name correctly.
2. Use copy and paste to ensure that the product name is reproduced correctly.

A simpler way is to use make the product name an AutoCorrect entry and reuse it.

Creating an AutoCorrect Entry

1. Type and format the text that you want to store as the AutoCorrect entry.
2. Select the text.
3. On the File menu, click Options.
   The Word Options dialog box is displayed.
4. From the list on the left, select Proofing.
5. In the right-pane, click AutoCorrect Options.
   The AutoCorrect dialog box is displayed.
6. In the Replace text as you type section:
   1. Against With, ensure that Formatted text is selected.
      The formatted product name is displayed in the text box under With.
   2. In the Replace box, type a shortcut the you want to use to insert the product name. For example, pn.
   3. Click Add.
      The entry is now displayed in the AutoCorrect entries.
7. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, click OK.
8. In the Word Options dialog box, click OK.

Using the AutoCorrect Entry

• In any document, type pn and press the space bar.
  The shortcut is replaced by the text.

Tip (Nothing to do with AutoCorrect):

• You can keep two words together by using a non-breaking space instead of a space between them. To insert a non-breaking space, press Ctrl+Shift+Space Bar.

Open Source Tools for Technical Writers

Tags

free tools, help authoring, open source tools, screen capture, visio

One of the commonly heard queries on many of the technical writing lists is a request for “free tools” that could help technical writers.

Here are some open source tools that are useful for technical writers:

1. Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations
   1. Google Docs
   2. Apache OpenOffice
2. Help Authoring
   1. HelpMaker
3. Screen Capture
   1. Greenshot
4. Image Editor
   1. GIMP
5. Drawing Tools
   1. draw.io
   2. Inkscape

There are many more useful tools out there. We will post another list soon!

Mumbai: Certificate Course in Instructional Design (Saturdays Only)

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India, Mumbai, part-time

ibruk Consulting is pleased to announce a 4-Month Certificate Course in Instructional Design.

The course has two components:

1. 3 Months of Training
2. 1 Month of Project

The 3-month training will cover:

• Instructional Design Fundamentals
• Dick and Carey’s Systems Approach
• The ID Lifecycle Artifacts and Deliverables for Instructor Led Training (ILT) and Asynchronous Online Learning
• Writing Engaging Instructional Material

After the training, the participants have 1 month to complete a project that will require them to apply all stages of an ID lifecycle.

Schedule

• Training: June 21, 2014 to September 13, 2014 (12 Saturdays; There will be no class on July 19)
• Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Project: September 14, 2014 to October 18, 2014

Location

ibruk Consulting Pvt Ltd, A-404 Mangalya, Off Marol Maroshi Road, Opp Marol Fire Station, Andheri (E), Mumbai – 400059.

Course Details

For a detailed course outline and certification process, download ibruk Consulting – Certificate Course in Instructional Design.pdf.

Contact Us

• Call us on 91-22-29204260/1
• Email training@ibruk.in