exploring the user interface word 2010

8/7/2019 Exploring the User Interface Word 2010

1/12

Basic Activities in Word 2010

Page 5 of 89

1 Toolbars vs. the Ribbon

1.1 The Ribbon

If youve even just seen an Office 2010 window, you have encountered the ribbon. Ithouses tabs with functional groupings of buttons and drop-down lists that are supposedto be relevant to particular tasks. Some icons are bigger than others, and have beenengineered that way to add prominence to the most commonly used items. Below is theribbon that appears when a user has just opened a blank Word document.

1.1.1 Toggling the Ribbon

If you find the ribbon distracting or too space-consuming, toggle it out of sight using oneof these methods:

Press CTRL-F1. Double-click on the current tab.

Right-click on the row of tab labels or any item within a tab and chooseMinimize the Ribbon from the shortcut menu.


2/12

Word 2010 Level 1

Page 6 of 89

Use the reverse of any of the previously described methods to show the ribbonagain.

1.1.2 Using Ribbon Tabs and Groups

Instead of utilizing drop-down menus and dialogue boxes, the ribbon offers variousribbon faces that are divided into activity groups. In the Home Ribbon tab, for instance,users will find many of the familiar activities such as controls for the formatting ofdocument contents, controls for bulleted and numbered lists. Click a ribbon tab tochange the ribbon face to see other ribbons.

On each ribbon face, users will find groups of activities. Microsoft has replaced many ofthe dialogue boxes that users would normally see with ribbon groups. For example theFont group, circled above contains many of the activities that were formerly found in theFormat dialogue box. The former Font dialogue box contents are shown on thefollowing page.


3/12


Page 7 of 89


4/12

Word 2010 Level 1

Page 8 of 89

As you might expect, Word 2010 has many features, all of which cannot possibly beaccessed from icons on a ribbon. Many of the old dialogue boxes remain. Some ofthem have been modified somewhat. Compare the new Font dialogue box with thegraphic of the old one on the previous page.

Many groups have a small arrow icon in the lower right corner of the group. When themouse pointer is hovered over this icon, the equivalent of a tool tip indicating the nameof the dialogue box that will be displayed appears. When a user clicks the icon, thedialogue box is launched.


5/12


Page 9 of 89

1.1.3 Other Tabs

When a user is performing some specialized activity such as inserting an AutoShape,other contextual tabswill be displayed to assist the user with the work at hand. In the

graphic below, the user is working on a graphic and Word is now displaying the PictureTools tab. The Picture Tools tab has many of the tools previously offered in the Picturetoolbar in version 2003. Users will also find a large number of additional features.

1.1.4 Even More Choices

Many contextual tab groups offer drop-down arrows that offer many more choicesabout the activity currently being performed. For example, in the Picture Tools | PictureStyles group, users will find a drop-down that allows them to choose a large number ofdifferent styles for the picture on which they are currently working. These groups offormatting and style choices are referred to as galleries.


6/12

Word 2010 Level 1

Page 10 of 89

Many galleries also exhibit a feature called Live Preview. To use Live Preview, userscan activate a gallery and then hover their mouse over a choice offered in the gallery.The work will quickly take on the new style or formatting. Live Preview gives users abetter chance to choose appropriate displays without returning repeatedly to the list of

choices.

Users will find the galleries offer a large, sometimes overwhelming number of choicesto change, enhance and produce professional looking work in Word.

1.2 Where have all the Tools Gone?

1.2.1 The File Ribbon Tab

In this version of Word most of the familiar and most commonly used tools havedisappeared from the working screen. Users are often confused by the lack of a Print,Save, Open, New and other regularly used icons. All of these can be found under theFile ribbon tab. There really isnt a file ribbon, however. Microsoft calls this theBackstage View. In the backstage view, users can save, print, open and sharedocuments.


7/12


Page 11 of 89

1.3 How do I change my Options?

In the old Word, we could click the Tools menu choice to find the Options dialogue boxcontrol. To perform the same types of activities, and more, in the new Word, click theFile tab and then Options choice as indicated below.

The Word Options dialogue box contains the functionality we were used to in theprevious version. We will explore a couple of the features below.


8/12

Word 2010 Level 1

Page 12 of 89

1.3.1 Setting New Document Defaults

Use the Proofing button to edit the AutoCorrect Options and other basic options.

1.3.2 Default Saving Location and Format

Efficient users will cause their copy of Word to save in the correct location, such as ona shared network drive or in a specified folder. The new version of Word also savesfiles in a different format than previous versions. If workbooks are to be shared withother users, they must also be using Office 2007 software to open and edit workbookcontents. If other users are working with previous versions of Word, the workbooksmust be saved in a format that is suitable for their software.

These activities can be controlled from the Save group in the Word Options window.


9/12


Page 13 of 89

1.4 The Quick Access Toolbar

To facilitate even more efficiency, Office 2010 products have the Quick Access toolbar

as illustrated below.

The default components of the Quick Access toolbar are the Save, Undo and Redocontrols. To add additional controls such as Open, Print, Print Preview and so on, userscan use the settings included in the File tab | Options I Quick Access Toolbar choicesor they can simply right-click on the Quick Access toolbar and choose Customize QuickAccess Toolbar.

For example, at times, we would like to see how our work would look if we printed it out.This can be accomplished by using the Print Preview activity. Unfortunately, Print

Preview is not easy to get at in Office 2007. Since we intend to do this on a regularbasis we should customize the Quick Access toolbar to add the Print Preview icon to it.

1) Click the drop-down at the right end of the Quick Access toolbar.

2) Click Print Preview.


10/12

Word 2010 Level 1

Page 14 of 89

3) The Print Preview icon will be added to your toolbar.

1.4.1 Removing an Icon from the Quick Access Toolbar

To remove an unwanted icon from the Quick Access toolbar, right-click on the icon andclick Remove from Quick Access Toolbar.

1.4.2 Additional Modifications to the Quick Access Toolbar

If the activity you need to add to the Quick Access toolbar is not shown on the quickaccess list, it likely can be added from the Customize choices.

1) Click the drop-down at the right end of the Quick Access toolbar.


11/12


Page 15 of 89

2) Click More Commands.

3) Locate and double-click the command you wish to add.

4) Use the Move Up or Move Down arrow to adjust an entrys position left to right onthe toolbar.


12/12

Word 2010 Level 1

Page 16 of 89

5) Click OK to close the window and see the result of your work.

exploring the user interface word 2010

Documents