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 Word – Using Sort
Last April we talked about using Excel for sorting – but did you know that Word lets you sort as well? This is particularly helpful if you are given a list in Word or have pasted a list from Excel into Word to change the lists’ case (lowercase, uppercase, etc).
It’s easy to use – just highlight the list you want sorted. In the tool bar click Table and choose Sort. Your sorting can be done in three levels set to be ascending or descending, or you can use Options to further define your sort.
Hints:
- If you don’t immediately see Sort on the Table menu, put your mouse over the two down arrows at the end of the list to expand (this is a common function in all MS Office programs)
 Sort By: Paragraphs or field number (columns)
Sort By Type: text, number, or date.- Sort By: Ascending (A-Z or 1-9) or descending (Z-A or 9-1)
- Header row vs no header row: If your list contains header rows (column headings such as name, address, city, etc.) and you’ve got the whole list highlighted, then click on “header row.” By doing this the header row will not be sorted into the list. Word knows the first line of data is column headers and not to sort it.
- Options (Separate Fields At): You can indicate to sort by more than one word or field inside a single table column (like first and last name). Choose Tabs, Commas or Other (you can fill in a character) to indicate that a column contains both last and first names and are separated by a tab, comma or other character. This way you can sort by either last name or first name, just as you would if the last and first names were in a list instead of a table.
PowerPoint – The Task Pane (or Pain)?
The Task Pane in PowerPoint can be a pain because it takes up a bunch of room on the screen no matter where it is placed. But once you get used to using it you’ll find it does make working in PowerPoint easier when doing certain tthings. To see the Task Pane, choose View and then T ask Pane (or use Ctrl-F1). It will most likely appear on the right side of your window.
Using the graphic example to the right, let’s walk through the Task Pane:
A. This title area shows which task you are in
B. Click the down-arrow to see the tasks available (some are more useful than others)
C. Use the right and left arrows to navigate through recently used tasks
D. The home icon puts you back to the home Task Pane
E. The three dots below the E are called a handle – this handle is used to move the Task Pane around or to undock it from a menu area
Available Task Panes
 Getting started (guide to using the task bar)
Help (PowerPoint help table of contents and help search)
Clip Art (library of clip art available)
Research (look up information in a variety of research and reference services). (If any one has used this feature, let me know – I haven’t tried it yet.)
Clipboard (reuse items that you have recently cut or copied)
New Presentation (choose a blank template, a recently used template, or import a template)
Slide Layout (use to determine the setup of your slide – location of titles, text, pictures, etc.)
Slide Design – Color and Animation Schemes (pick your slide design, color schemes, and overall presentation animation)
Custom Animation (use this when creating animation – this pane is essential when for animation)
Slide Transition (set up how your slides while transition from one slide to the next – will they fade or dissolve, etc.)
Hints:
- Moving and adjusting the Task Pane. To move the pane put your cursor over the three vertical dots in the upper left corner of the pane and drag it to a new location. If you drag it upwards it will dock itself in your top menu area, if you drag it down it undocks itself and becomes a separate window.
- Once it is undocked you can adjust the height and width of it by moving your cursor over the edges of the window and when the double headed vertical arrow appears, drag it to whatever size works best for you.
 Sticking with Static – ClingZ Paper
ClingZ is an electrostatically-charged plastic film that sticks to almost any clean dry surface including wood, metal, and glass without leaving any residue, nail holes or tape damage.
This versatile, lightweight, movable medium is a great option for many projects. Use it for signs, posters, calendars, temporary vehicle messages, meetings, window designs, and point-of-purchase displays. It can be peeled off and hung elsewhere and used as a dry erase board. The sheets slide along the wall and can be easily repositioned if hung incorrectly. It is available in transparent film or white.
While this material is generally an indoor material, we experimented and found that it will hold on a dry, clean vehicle surface for many miles.
Call us today (203-934-4275) to discuss the best ways for you to use static to stick your message.
Fun Facts for January – History of the New Year Resolution:
The popular tradition of making new year resolutions has origins in ancient Babylon and Rome. In ancient Babylon the Babylonians would return farm equipment that they had borrowed during the year.
In 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome, was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies at the New Year.
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