Microsoft Office XP
The Office XP Environment
In Office XP, several changes have been made to the overall Office environment that are aimed at making all of the Office programs more user-friendly and efficient. The most prominent environment changes include new features such as Task Panes and Smart Tags.
Task Pane
Upon starting any Office XP program, the Task Pane is present along the right side of the window. The Task Pane ends frequent trips to the menu bar by putting commonly used functions all in one area. You are able to create a new document, open an existing document, add clipart, or apply styles with a click of the mouse button.
Showing/Hiding the Task Pane
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Viewing Other Task PanesDepending on what feature you are using, you may want to view another Task Pane.
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Moving the Task Pane
By default, the Task Pane is located on the right side of the window in a docked state. If you would like the Task Pane to be in a different location, it can be easily moved.
The Task Pane can be either docked or floating. When the Task Pane is docked, it becomes part of the program window. When the Task Pane is floating, it is contained in its own window.
To move the Task Pane:
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Hold your cursor over the title bar
The pointer now becomes a crossbar. -
Click and drag the Task Pane to its desired location
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OPTIONAL: To dock the Task Pane, drag it off the left or right edge of the screen
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Release the mouse button
Smart Tags
Like the Task Pane, Smart Tags put commonly used functions at your fingertips. A Smart Tag is a button that appears after you perform a certain action. For example, after you paste text, a Smart Tag will appear giving you formatting options for the text. The tag will disappear when you begin typing text. Smart Tags also appear during AutoCorrect and when errors occur in Excel formulas. Overall, Smart Tags will help you stay informed on the options available to you at different instances when using Office XP.
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To reveal your Smart Tag options, click the tag
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Press [Alt]+[Shift]+[F10]
Smart Tags and AutoCorrect
When Word AutoCorrects your text, a Smart Tag allows you to change or turn off the AutoCorrect feature. Your options and the implications are listed here using the example of automatically capitalizing the first letter of sentences. (For more information on AutoCorrect, Refer to AutoCorrect: Corrections & Replacements.)
| Option | Implication |
| Undo Automatic Capitalization | Selecting this option will affect only this occurrence of the capitalization in the current document. |
| Stop Auto-Capitalizing First Letter of Sentences | Selecting this option will correct this occurrence and turn off this option for all documents. |
| Control Auto Correct Options... | Selecting this option takes you to the AutoCorrect dialog box where you can choose from multiple AutoCorrect options. Choices made here affect all documents. |
Save As and Open Dialog Boxes
The Save As and Open dialog boxes include a Places Bar which contains a list of shortcuts to locations where you are likely to save files. Using the Places Bar, you may go directly to a save location instead of going through layers of folders. The list of locations within the Places Bar includes the following:
History
Displays recently used folders and files in your profile on the C: drive
My Documents
Selects the Documents folder on your H: drive
Desktop
Selects the Desktop in your profile on the C: drive
Favorites
Selects the Favorites folder in your profile on the C: drive
My Network Places
Selects the My Network Places folder in your profile
To select a shortcut from the Places Bar
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From the list of locations in the Places Bar, click the appropriate icon
Help Window
The Office XP Help system includes BACK and FORWARD buttons and a text-based Answer Wizard pane. To get to the Help system, open a Help window.
Keyboard Option:
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To open a Help window, press [F1]
A Search dialog box will appear with the Office Assistant.
Button Option:
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To open a Help window, click HELP
A Search dialog box will appear with the Office Assistant.
Office Assistant Option:
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Click the OFFICE ASSISTANT
A Search dialog box will appear with the Office Assistant.
Menu Option:
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From the Help menu, select Microsoft Help
A Search dialog box will appear with the Office Assistant.
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Type your question
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Click SEARCH
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Select the desired search result
The Help window will appear.
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OPTIONAL: To use the Contents, Answer Wizard, or Index area of Help, click SHOW
The Answer Wizard feature is a natural language search engine. Entering key words here will usually result in a better search than a natural language question, however.
Customized Toolbars
In Office XP, the toolbars are easily customized to include the buttons that you use most frequently. By default, the Standard and Formatting toolbars share one row in Word. The buttons that you have specifically chosen to have on the toolbar and that you use most frequently will be displayed here.
When the Standard and Formatting toolbars share one row, each toolbar has a TOOLBAR OPTIONS button that will display additional buttons or button options. The buttons that you use less frequently, but still have chosen to have on the toolbar, will be displayed here.
Arranging Toolbars
If you prefer to arrange the Standard and Formatting toolbars one over the other:
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From the Tools menu, select Customize...
The Customize dialog box appears. -
Select the Options tab
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Check the Show Standard and Formatting toolbars on two rows box
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Click CLOSE
Adding and Removing Buttons
The ADD OR REMOVE BUTTONS option on the Toolbar Options pull-down menu can be used to add buttons to the toolbar or remove them from the toolbar. Buttons can be added or removed by selecting them. A check mark means the button is currently selected and displayed on the toolbar.
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Click TOOLBAR OPTIONS
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From the Toolbar Options pull-down menu, select Add or Remove Buttons » Standard or Formatting
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Select the option you would like to add or remove
NOTE: A check mark means the button is currently selected and displayed on the toolbar.
