Basic Word Processing

In the next series of exercises you will use a word processor called Wordª 6.0, the newest version of Wordª. Wordª 6.0 will show you some of the features common to all word processors. The following instructions assume you have booted the computer with either the student disk or from the hard drive as described in the second chapter.

1) Open the Word Processor

a. If you see the icon for the Wordª program on the desktop, you can double click on the icon to open the program. The icon for the program looks like this:

Do not open word 5.1. You will see a screen informing you that the program you have opened is Word 6.0.

If this icon does not appear on the desktop, move the pointer to icon of the server disk, the icon shown below, and double click the icon of the server disk in order to open the server.

The server will allow you to open programs we have on campus. It acts like a large storage device. It is not inside the computer, but in another part of the University and is connected to the computer by a network. After the server is open, the following desktop will appear:

Double click on the icon of the Applications folder and you will see the following screen:

Now double click on the Word Processing/Spreadsheet folder and, after that folder is open, double click on the Wordª 6.0 folder, and after that folder is open, double click on the icon of the program Wordª 6.0. You will see a splash screen telling you that you are using Wordª 6.0. After a few seconds, the following screen will be seen:

You should not have the screen for Word 5.1. The incorrect screen looks like this:

b. The bar along the top of the screen is called the menu bar. It will change depending on the program. For example, a menu bar for another type of program looks like this:

c. The File Name is the name you will give this document or file. At the present time you have not given it a name so it is called Untitled.

d. The vertical line, | , on the right of the screen is where the first words you type will appear. Type at least six sentences. You can type nonsense if you wish.

2) Add a word, change spelling, delete a word

a. Move the pointer, which now has the shape of an I beam, shown below, behind one of the words you have typed, and click the mouse.

You will now see a blinking | in place of the I beam.

b. Hit either the backspace or delete key to remove letters. After you have removed a few letters, type in some new letters. You can move the I beam, or cursor, to any location in order to delete or change words or letters.

3) Change the font

a. Now select the sentences you typed. You select the sentences by moving the mouse so that the cursor is at the first word of the sentence, then click and hold the mouse as you drag the cursor over all of the sentences. They will appear as white words on a black background as shown below:

b. Now move the cursor to the menu bar, and click and hold on Format. You will see the selection shown below:

c. Select another font by moving the mouse so that the cursor is over the word font in the menu, then let go of the mouse. You will see a dialog box that look like this:

By clicking in the appropriate boxes you can change the way the font looks. The preview box will show you the effect of your changes. Try, for example, some words in bold face type, some words in italics, and some in outline.

d. If you use a large size, the sentences may not fit on the screen. The little arrow on the side that looks like the picture below left enables you to scroll from this page to later pages.

(This is the scroll arrow)

Put the mouse on the arrow, click, and hold to see the page move down. Try moving the page up and down.

e. Another way to format a document is with the toolbar. The toolbars that are most often used are shown below. They will normally appear under the menu bar at the top of the screen. If you do not see these toolbars call the instructor.

If you click on the boxes marked B, I and u near the middle of the lower toolbar, you can make the selected words appear bold, italic or underlined respectively. By clicking on the boxes near the right of the lower toolbar you can change the alignment or justification. That is, you can center all of the words, you can make all of the lines equal length, or you can make all the lines start on the left or the right. Try it.

4) Save the document

Once you are happy with the way your document looks you should save it. Go to the menu under file and select Save. A dialog box will appear that says ÒSave Current Document as:Ó Type the name that you want to give to this document. This name will appear in the box right below the statement ÒSave Current Document as:Ó Make sure you are saving on your disk and not on the hard drive. If you have a question about where you are saving the document, ask the instructor. Next click on Save. You will be returned to your document. The file name that you gave to this document will appear above the ruler. As you work on a document you must save it often to avoid losing the work you have done. A shortcut to using the menu is to press the command key (that is the key with the cloverleaf on it) and the S key at the same time. As you work get in the habit of pressing these two keys whenever you are thinking of what to do.

5) Cut and Paste

a. One of the best reasons to use a word processor rather than a typewriter is that a word processor allows you to cut and paste inside the document and cut and paste between documents. It is possible to cut and paste words, sentences and paragraphs, as well as pictures, movies and sounds. Any information that can be stored in the computer can be cut and pasted. To make the document you have longer, first select all of the words you have typed. Now move the mouse to Edit and select Copy, move the cursor to the last word in your sentences, go to edit and choose Paste. All of the words you have copied have now been pasted into your document. Repeat this procedure until you have a two page document.

6) Printing your document

a. Make sure the printers in the lab are on.

b. Pull down the menu under the ð and select Chooser.

c. Select the appropriate printer with the advice of your instructor.

d. A dialog box may come up and ask you to make sure your page setup is correct. Choose continue.

e. Another dialog box will appear and ask you to choose a printer. Make sure you choose one that is in the building. If you are in the MacLab, choose one that is in the MacLab. If you are in the library, choose one in the library, If you are in the LC II Lab choose one in that lab. If you choose a printer that is not in the lab you are working, you will not find your output!

f. Close the chooser by clicking in the small box in the upper left hand corner.

g. Select File from the menu and choose print. A dialog box choose OK and the document will print.

7) Quitting

a. If you are done working on the document, pull down Quit under the File menu. You will normally see a dialog box asking you if you want to save the changes. You may chose yes, no or cancel. If you chose yes, the changes will be saved to the disk and you will be returned to the desktop. You may, at this point, shut down the computer by choosing this option from special on the menu. Whenever you are done with your work for the day choose Shut Down from the Special Menu. This action will allow you to be sure that all of your open documents, applications and folders will be put away correctly.

3.2 Other Word Processing Programs

If you have a computer the program you will use most often is probably a word processor. Wordª 6.0, the version you are using, is the newest version of the application, and probably the most powerful word processor, however it is big and slow.. Other programs include Word Perfect (popular on IBM and IBM clones), WriteNow (fast and easy to use), MacWrite II, and Microsoft Write ( a scaled down version of Wordª). In addition to dedicated word processing programs, word processing is often built into other applications such as graphics, spreadsheets, data bases and page layout programs. If you have created a document on IBM on a Wordperfect, Wordª 6.0 can open it. You can also save your document so that it can be used on an IBM or IBM clone.

This introduction just begins to show you some of the features of a word processor. Other features in Wordª 6.0 include the ability to create multiple columns, wrapping text around pictures, spelling checkers, outliners, the ability to form tables, automatic creation of a table of contents, footnotes with automatic numbering, and the ability to create form letters that can be sent to large numbers of people. Manuals are available for the Wordª in the computer laboratory.

Page layout programs allow you to create documents such as newspapers. The campus newspaper, The Runner, is created on the Macintosh with the use of a program called Pagemaker.

You will use word processing programs more often than any other program. If you have a computer at home you will find that you can type reports, write letters, and do all the other chores you used to do on a typewriter much more easily on a computer . You will also find that you can store thousands of documents on a hard drive and that it is easier to find and modify a document on the hard drive than it is in your file cabinet.

The bookstore offers excellent discounts on some programs.