Microsoft Word Formatting Tools Automatic Correction, Formatting and Completion Reusable Formatting [Styles] Reusable Documents [Templates] AutoCorrect, AutoFormat As You Type, and AutoComplete You can use the AutoCorrect feature to automatically detect and correct typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors, and incorrect capitalization. AutoFormat As You Type allows you to configure preferences for formatting that Word applies as you are typing. AutoText, explained in more detail below, includes AutoComplete, which identifies text by the first few letters, then Word completes the typing for you. All of the features can be configured by selecting AutoCorrect from the Tools menu, then clicking on the tab for each feature AutoCorrect and AutoText can be customized with your own entries. You can disable the various automatic features by clearing checkboxes on the AutoCorrect and the AutoFormat As You Type tabs. AutoText To create an AutoText entry: Activate the AutoText toolbar (Toolbars on the View menu or right-click any active toolbar). Select the text for the new AutoText entry. Click New on the AutoText toolbar. Make up a short name for the AutoText entry (2-3 letters). To use AutoText: Type your shortcut (see step 3 above), then immediately press the F3 function key. Or, a “Screen Tip” will appear once you type the first four letters of a complete AutoText entry. Press return to insert the AutoText entry, or keep typing if you don’t want to use it. You can see all of your AutoText entries by clicking All Entries on the AutoText toolbar. The ones you create are in the Normal group (there are many built-in AutoText entries). Styles A style is a set of formatting characteristics that are applied in one step. Word has many built-in styles and you can create your own. To create a new style: Select the text that contains the formatting you want to use for your style. On the Formatting toolbar, click inside the Style box Type over the existing style name to create the name for the new style. Press [Enter].
Styles you create are stored with the document or template you are working on. You can copy your styles to the Normal template with the Organizer feature on the Style dialog box (choose Style from the Format menu). Styles in the Normal template are available in all new documents. See Templates on the next page for more information. You can also modify existing styles: Open the Style dialog box, click the style that has the settings you want to change, click Modify, and then make the changes. The Modify Style dialog box has a format button for applying text and layout attributes to the style.
Microsoft Word Formatting Tools Templates A template stores “boilerplate” text that is used as the starting point for a new document. To use any of the templates (or wizards) that are installed with Word, click New on the File menu, click the tab for the type of document you want, and then double-click the template or wizard. The Normal template is the default template Word uses when you create a new, blank document. An easy way to create a template is by opening a document that contains the items you want to reuse and saving it as a template. You will have to remove anything in the original document that you don’t want to include in the template. If you save a template in the Templates folder, the template will appear on the General tab when you click New on the File menu. If you save a template in a subfolder of the Templates folder, such as Memos or Reports, the template will appear on the corresponding tab when you click the New command. NOTE: If you use network workgroups, you can save templates in a shared network folder. You can set the shared templates location by selecting Options from the Tools menu, then click on File Locations, where you can enter the location for your workgroup templates. If you are not already setup for a shared network drive or Windows file sharing, you will need to contact WITS for assistance. Creating a New Template To create template from scratch, simply start a new document (it will become a template when you save it as a template file). To base a new template on an existing document, open the document you want. To base a new template on an existing template, click New on the File menu. Click a template that is similar to the one you want to create, click Template under Create New, and then click OK. To edit an existing template, create a new document based on that template, make the edits, then follow steps 2-4 below, but use the original file name (you will be prompted to replace the original file when you save).
2. On the File menu, click Save As. 3. In the Save as type box, click Document Template (*.dot). This file type will already be selected if you are saving a file that you created as a template. 4. Word proposes the Templates folder in the Save in box. To save the template so that it will appear on a tab other than General, switch to the corresponding subfolder within the Templates folder. In the File name box, type a name for the new template, and then click Save. 5. In the new template, add the text and graphics you want to appear in all new documents that you base on the template, and delete any items you don't want to appear. 6. Make the changes you want to the margin settings, page size and orientation, styles, and other formats. 7. Click Save, and then click Close on the File menu.