Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus on CD-ROM

If you haven't yet read the New York Times editorial by Mark Goldblatt on the bowdlerization of Microsoft Word's thesaurus, you owe it to yourself to do so. You can read the piece here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/23/opinion/23GOLD.html

(You may need to register in order to read the article. But it's free!)

Goldblatt chronicles his discovery that Microsoft has, astonishingly, removed "offensive" terms from Microsoft Word 2000's thesaurus--including such words as "fool," "idiot," and "nitwit." So can this milquetoast collection still be called a thesaurus? Nah.

But I don't care, because even before I found out about this idiotic (oops!) turn of events, I bought Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus on CD-ROM. You can learn more about the program here:

http://www.m-w.com/book/elecprod/elecc10.htm

The Merriam-Webster Web site describes this little marvel as "the complete Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, and Collegiate Thesaurus in a fully searchable electronic format [that] delivers accurate, up-to-date language information." The price? Just $14.95. (I'm not making any money from this, by the way. I just like the product.) The program can be used "while word processing, composing e-mail, preparing presentations, surfing the Web, browsing CD-ROMs, or designing spreadsheets." But to me the most important thing is that it can be used from *inside* Microsoft Word. It comes with a Word macro that you can assign to a menu or key combination. Then you can put your cursor on a word you want to look up and run the macro. The Merriam-Webster dictionary (or thesaurus) will open for your use.

While I was buying the dictionary and thesaurus, I also bought Merriam-Webster's Spell Checker, which is basically a spell-checker dictionary (based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate) that you can use to replace the one that comes with Word. The price is only $12.95. You can learn more about it here:

http://www.m-w.com/book/elecprod/spell.htm

Amazing! Astonishing! Astounding! Marvelous! Miraculous! Staggering! Stupendous! And not bowdlerized.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Last week, Ned Humphrey asked for a way to disable Word's "automatic titling" feature in the Properties dialog. You can read Ned's comments in the Readers Write column here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708956278

Steve Hudson responded:

Looks like Ned is doomed. There's no way to turn that feature off. About the best bet would be to assign the following mini macro to a key or toolbar:

ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties(wdPropertyTitle)=""

as well as intercept the 'send to' command and do likewise before actually doing the send.

Of course, a dangerous way around it is to include it in the autoopen event--but that means ALL documents will be untitled next save . . .

Thanks to Steve for this possible solution to Ned's problem.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

Jean Hollis Weber's Technical Editors' Eyrie is a Web site where technical editors can:

* Share knowledge, experiences and resources

* Demonstrate to writers, managers, and others the wide range of knowledge and skills technical editors have to offer

The site offers links to other editing resources and an archive of Jean's free newsletter on the ins and outs of technical editing. Why not sign up while you're there?

You can also download (and purchase) Jean's helpful books:

* Taming Microsoft Word

* Editing Online Help

* Electronic Editing

You can visit the site here:

http://www.jeanweber.com/index.htm

Typesetting with Microsoft Word

So, you've got a client (or a boss) who wants you to create a *finished* document in Microsoft Word. In other words, you get to do typesetting--in a program that isn't really designed for typesetting. Here are some tips you might find useful:

1. Consult Word's Help file or, better yet, a good reference book to learn about Word's Page Setup, Section Layout, and Heading features. Then use those features to set up different sections of your document in the way you need them--for example, you can use roman numerals for page numbers in front matter and have different running heads in different chapters.

2. Attach a good-looking template to your document by clicking "Tools > Templates and Add-ins > Attach," being sure to check the box labeled "Automatically update document styles." For this to work, you'll need to format your document with paragraph styles that have the same names as those in the template. You can create your own template, use one of Word's built-in templates, or use a template from one of the sources mentioned here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1704952768

3. Turn hyphenation on by clicking the "Tools" menu, clicking "Language," and then clicking "Hyphenation." Put a check in the box labeled "Automatically hyphenate document." Set the hyphenation zone to about half an inch or the equivalent. (You may need to experiment with this.) Limit consecutive hyphens to 3 or 4. (The more consecutive hyphens you allow, the better Word can adjust justified text--but you'll also get more word breaks.)

4. Make sure that styles allow hyphenation to occur. For each paragraph style, click "Format > Style > Modify > Format > Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks" and make sure the box labeled "Don't hyphenate" is empty. Also, make sure the box labeled "Widow/Orphan Control" is checked.

5. Turn on kerning for all text. For each paragraph style, click "Format > Style > Modify > Format > Font > Character Spacing" and make sure the box labeled "Kerning for Fonts" is checked and the box labeled "Points and Above" has a value equal to the smallest point size in the document (usually 8 points). This is probably overkill, but that's okay.

6. Set line spacing to an exact point size. For each paragraph style, click "Format > Style > Modify > Format > Paragraph > Indents and Spacing > Line Spacing" and set line spacing to an "exact" amount. This should be about 120 percent of the character point size. If your character point size is 10, for instance, you should probably set your line spacing to 12 points.

7. Adjust all of your styles to fit your design. This even includes such styles as Footer, Header, Footnote Reference, and Page Number, which should not be left with their default formatting. For example, if you're setting body text in Garamond, you should set your footnote references in Garamond as well.

8. Using "File > Page Setup," set your right and left margins to create an easily readable line length. One rule of thumb is that lines in body text should be roughly as long as an alphabet and a half in the current font and point size, like this:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm

That may not seem long enough, but go look at several of the well-designed books on your shelf. You'll be surprised at how short the lines are. If you want to use a longer line, you should also increase your line spacing so the reader's eye can "track" more easily from the end of one line to the beginning of another.

9. If you're using Word 97 or higher, click the Tools menu (Edit in Word 2001), click "Options" (Preferences on a Macintosh), click the "Compatibility" tab, and put a check next to these options:

* "Do full justification like WordPerfect 6.x for Windows." (Or better yet, use our WordSetter program to adjust word spacing to your own liking.)

* "Don't add extra space for raised/lowered characters."

* "Don't center 'exact line height' lines."

* "Don't expand character spaces on the line ending Shift-Return."

* "Suppress 'Space Before' after a hard page or column break."

* "Use printer metrics to lay out document."

At this point, your text should look pretty good, but you can make it even better by applying the principles described in such books as these:

Desktop Publishing with Word for Windows, by Tom Lichty.

The Printed Word, by David A. Kater and Richard Kater.

The Elements of Typographic Style, by Robert Bringhurst

The Art of Desktop Publishing, by Tony Bove, Cheryl Rhodes, and Wes Thomas.

The Non-Designer's Design Book, by Robin Williams.

The PC Is Not a Typewriter, by Robin Williams (for beginners only).

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Ned Humphrey wrote:

Thought you might be interested in another bug report. Actually, it's not so much a bug as one of Word's irritating quirks. I call it:

HOW'D WE GET ONTO THAT SUBJECT?

I'm sure you're familiar with the way Word automatically inserts the first line of any new document in the Title box of the Summary (located in the Properties dialog box). Of course, the first line is often not suitable as a title at all. If that were the whole problem, I could live with it. But it creates further problems down the road.

There are two things wrong with it: First, the "title" persists even after the first line changes. That's not so bad. You can change the title at will, or simply ignore it . . . with one major exception. Which brings me to the second problem: Because I edit multiple documents and then immediately email them on to the graphics department every day using Outlook, I systematically rename files sent to me by my various authors so that the graphics people know what to do with them just by looking at the filenames (saves time in writing email explanations), and so I myself can easily find them in my archives. When I click on the "Send to Mail Recipient (as Attachment)" button, what I want to have happen is for the filename to be inserted as the Subject line in the new Outlook email. That works fine if there's no title entered in Summary. But if Summary contains a Word-generated "title," the email subject head defaults to that instead of using the filename. So I have the extra work, each time, of going to File/Properties/Summary/Title and deleting the (often nonsensical) title. Only then am I able to send the email with the proper subject head automatically inserted.

Of course, if you create all your documents yourself, you can avoid this by checking the "Prompt for document properties" box under Tools/Options/Save and then deleting the suggested title when the Properties dialog box pops up before saving a new document for the first time; but as most of my stuff comes from other people, I have to perform the above routine to get rid of previously created "titles."

What I would like Word to do is give you the option of turning off the "automatic titling" feature altogether.

Do you, gentle reader, know of a way to take care of Ned's problem? If you do, please send your solution here: mailto:hints [at symbol] editorium.com

More Bugs

More bugs this week--just so you'll know what to watch out for while you're editing in Microsoft Word. Thanks to all who contributed to the collection. I've included a couple of my own "favorites" as well.

One bug I particularly dislike is the "no-delete-with-Tracking" bug. When I edit, I usually turn Tracking on so I can see revisions if I need to. But until I need to, I hide tracked changes so they don't appear on my screen. It's this particular combination that causes the bug. You can see it for yourself:

1. Turn on Track Changes (Tools > Track Changes > Highlight Changes) but tell Word not to display the changes on your screen.

2. In some existing text, delete a character with the DELETE key.

3. Use the LEFT ARROW key to move one character to the left.

4. Use the DELETE key to delete the next character.

Now comes the bug:

5. Use the DELETE key to delete the next character.

Aackk! It won't delete. Your cursor just sits there, bumping up against the invisible deleted character. Word 2002 (finally) squashes this little beast. For earlier versions of Word, our Editor's ToolKit program assigns a macro to the DELETE key that usually solves the problem. You can learn more about Editor's ToolKit here:

http://www.editorium.com/14842.htm

Hilary Powers (hilarypowers@earthlink.net) sent a description of two of her favorites: "The ghost-text bug is the one that leaps to mind--that is, Word's charming habit of reconstructing a copy of deleted text and dropping it into the line if you select text adjacent to the deletion and type over it--followed closely by the mystery invisible character (the one that makes Word report there are no double spaces when you're sitting there staring at one)."

Sam Mills sent another description of the ghost-text bug: "I fly through my edits by switching on revision marks but keeping them turned off onscreen. I always edited that way in Word 6 (Mac), and simply turned on the visuals when I'd finished. Then along came Word 98. Here's what happens: If I delete text (double-clicking a word and dragging to highlight all the text I want deleted) at the beginning of a sentence, and then highlight and replace text elsewhere in the same sentence, the text I first deleted reappears, as if inserted by an occult hand. If I'm moving forward quickly I won't notice the reinserted words behind me. I either must edit with the marks showing as I work, or save each file as a Word 6 document and reopen it in 6 to edit it. This buggy action occurs on all the Macs I've tried it on, including those at places like Kinko's, so it's not peculiar to my computer."

I'm able to replicate this dangerous weirdness in Word 97 but not in Word 2000 or 2002.

Here a really annoying little critter, not related to Tracking, that shows up in Word 2001 for Macintosh:

1. Open Word's Find dialog.

2. In the "Find What" box, enter ^13, which is the numeric code for a carriage return.

3. Put a checkmark in the "Use WildCards" checkbox (you may have to click the MORE button first).

4. Click the FIND button. What happens? You get a message: "The search item was not found." (Grrr.)

The reason this is so serious is that you can't use Word's paragraph code (^p) when searching with wildcards. The alternative is to use ^13. But in Word 2001, the alternative doesn't work, not even after installing Microsoft's service release. There is a workaround, however. Instead of typing ^13 into the "Find What" box, type this instead:

[^13]

In other words, you have to define the carriage return as a wildcard "group" and then "escape" the caret with the backslash. It's weird but it works. (It took considerable fiddling around to figure this out.)

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

In last week's newsletter, Steve Dobney wrote:

"I can create a table of contents easily but it remains a 'field' which won't import into a page layout program like Quark. The only workaround I can find is to copy it into a new document, save it as Text Only, and then copy it back."

Several readers sent a solution to this problem, which is simply to select the table of contents field and press CTRL + SHIFT + F9. That will convert the field to text (leaving formatting intact!). Then you can Find and Replace the blue Hyperlink character style with Default Paragraph Font character style. Thanks to Kieran Davies, Eric Fletcher, Katherine Pinard, and Hilary Powers for contributing to this solution.

Bug Collection

In the past couple of newsletters, I put out a call for bugs--or just things that bug you--in Microsoft Word. Thanks to everyone who responded. I had some of my own bugs to share, but I'll save those for another day. And now, the bug collection--including some useful advice!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Styles and Fields

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve Dobney wrote:

These may not be bugs in the true sense, but they're just three of the things that bug me about Word (97). Any suggestions appreciated!

1. I can print a list of the styles used in a document (using "Print what" in the Print dialog box) but I can't save the list as a Word document.

2. I can view style names next to each paragraph (changing to Normal view, going to Tools - Options - View and setting the Style area width to something other than zero) but I can't print the document like that, with the style names showing.

3. I can create a table of contents easily but it remains a "field" which won't import into a page layout program like Quark. The only workaround I can find is to copy it into a new document, save it as Text Only, and then copy it back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AutoCorrect and Spell Check "Suggestions"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kathleen Much (kathleen@alumni.rice.edu) wrote:

When Microsoft started shipping Word with "autocorrect on" by default, I saw several horrendous results. My two favorites are its global "correction" of PCs to Pcs (in a long article about personal computers) and Thierry to Theirry in a book of French history. It's also a nuisance to find caps after periods when you're editing something full of abbreviations.

Autocorrect is always off now when I edit.

Spellcheck is also a hazard in documents like mine with hundreds of proper names. I've seen Phallic suggested for Phillip, Jaguar for Jaeger, Plinks (???) for Polinsky, Hominid for Hammond, disease for diSessa, Rabid for Rabin, Macro for Marc, and many, many more nonsense "corrections".

Microsoft's grammar checkers are so bad I won't even consider using one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Table Incompatibility

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One subscriber (who preferred to remain anonymous) wrote:

Here's an irritating and scandalous bug that cost me a bundle.

Word 2002 is not backwards compatible with Word 2000 as to format or tables. Client sent document in Word 2000. I edited it in Word 2002. I mentioned to client that the tables looked bad and asked if I should fix them. Client said yes, please do. I edited file and fixed the tables and formatting and sent it back to client. Client opened it in Word 2000 and said formatting and tables were a mess and the tables were unreadable. Client fixed both by hand. I gave the client a credit (from my pocket) for Microsoft's outrageous failing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mail Merge Problems

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evie Allen wrote:

When using Word's Mail Merge feature to create mailing labels, Word adds two extra paragraph marks to the end of every address, one at the end of the last line of an address, and another one at the beginning of the next line, which is blank. If you have a lengthy address list that creates several pages of labels, the alignment of type on the labels gets out of whack due to these extra paragraph marks. Thinking I was doing something wrong somewhere in the process of using Word's Mail Merge Helper, I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base only to discover that this particular feature in Word is from a third party, namely Avery Dennison. When I clicked on the conveniently provided link to Avery Dennison, I was able to find a means of contacting their "support desk" via e-mail. They never responded to my inquiry.

My work-around to correct this problem is this: Once the label document has been created, I move to the top of the document and use the Find and Replace feature to find ^p^p and replace it with nothing. This action moves the end-of-cell marker up to the end of the last line of each address label and realigns everything so that the addresses are properly placed in the center of each label.

I am currently using Word 97; however, I've checked to see if this problem occurs in Word 2000 and I get the same result. I had higher hopes and great expectations when Office XP was introduced, and, yes, the problem appears to be corrected in Word 2002, but the entire Mail Merge process seems to have become more complicated than it was in the earlier versions. This is a great example of "the cure being worse than the disease."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Using Graphics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve Hudson sent a bunch of helpful information from a chapter of a book he's writing for advanced Word users:

--------

Pictures

--------

~File Bloat~

I'll re-iterate what I know, and I know that therein that smallish scope lies an answer to "Why is my word document so BIIIIG after whackin in a graphic".

1) Word doesn't understand any graphic except .wmf/.emf, .PNG and .bmp.

2) Word will import SOME OTHER graphic formats. When it does so, it must have TWO copies of the graphic. One as the original .whatever file. One as an internal-use only bitmap that word can use to display a representation of the inserted graphic. This can be turned off with a registry entry.

3) When you crop or otherwise adjust a picture using word's built-in controls, it needs at least two copies (both of which CAN be satisfied by point 2 above) - an original and a display copy.

4) BMP is the most inefficient way of storing a picture.

5) Linked pictures should not be stored with the document, but this rule is subordinate to 3).

6) Embedding pictures can cause total nightmares extracting the picture for export to a decent package to change it.

7) Linking pictures enables a source identifier with the picture object - useful for control and developmental labeling purposes.

My personal solution has been to:

Always use linked pictures, of type .jpg (full-color photo-like stuff, usually 79% compression) and .gif (screenshots, 256 color palette, high contrast theme) and perform NO graphic adjustments to the picture inside of Word - excepting scale.

Always use a relative path link, and either store the gfx in the same root as their host document, or in a subdirectory directly underneath same. Use a controlled naming prefix schema to identify picture categories. Run a simple embedding macro (available upon application in writing to me anywhere) to embed all linked pictures when sending the document out, or zip the dir and send the lot to the printers for bigger works.

~Insert Picture~

I link every picture as it's the only way to get the filename associated with the graphic, which is a control and qa issue.

However, I do not embed graphics for one good reason - even if I were to, I would still have to include a link as well to keep some sort of filename easily accessible to identify the picture.

The second good reason is the document loads much faster, as the temp file doesn't needs contain a duplicate of the embedded bitmaps.

I regularly use pictures in table cells. The ANCHOR will stay with the row.

I usually insert the picture into the doc as INLINE, then draw the table, then move the picture in via a select and then drag.

Anchors are shown by selecting Tools > options > view > Print & Web layout options > Object anchors

They usually appear to the left of the left margin, and funnily enough, look like a little boat anchor.

These can be dragged onto any paragraph you like, and the object will appear on the page where that paragraph is placed with the same relative offset twixt anchor and pic's top left cnr.

They are no longer treated anywhere near the same as inline. For a start, inlineshapes is one collection of objects, and shape is another. Secondly, as you have noticed, the field code can no longer appear on the page because it's now part of the drawing layer, not the text layer. It no longer is found in the fields collection. If you want to report on those pictures you need to use VBA.

Also, when I go "Insert picture", it takes me to the last used pic dir. If you have to browse with this to your "relative path" - it will still be set as an absolute path (grrrr).

AND THAT AINT ALL FOLKS.

~Don't Edit Pictures using Word~

"Cropping" in Word isn't really cropping, just the appearance of it. The whole graphic is still there, and can be restored by dragging the cropping handles out again. In other words, using the Word cropping tool doesn't make the picture (and hence the file size) smaller. I like PaintShop Pro when I actually want to trim away extraneous stuff. It also lets me copy just the window object I want, without cropping at all.

I also do grayscaling in PaintShop since, again, Word's grayscale is an illusion. You can put the colors back just by selecting the right color option.

Incidentally, I don't usually save the graphic in any format at all. That is, I capture, clip, and manipulate it in PaintShop, then copy/paste it into Word and do any resizing there. Word turns everything into .wmf anyway, if you're saving the pictures with the file, which I always do.

~Beware of Changing Picture Sizes outside of Word~

To further screw the issue up, Word has a 'nasty' way of dealing with gfx. It saves the frame size, so that it can flow and paginate text before having to fetch the binary image data. This is fine - until you edit the original graphic and reload the document (more applicable to linked gfx than embedded please note). What happens is, Word draws the same frame size as before, then stretches the new graphic to fit that. Kiss your aspect ratio goodbye, and sometimes all legibility.

Sometimes it takes multiple save / open / edits before the new settings stick.

1) Cut n paste all but last paragraph mark into a new doc. If you have lotsa gfx, you have lotsa bad baggage waiting in the wings to trip you up.

2) Re-insert troubled pix into place, then delete their previous incarnation.

3) Use Alt+F9 to reveal field codes, and check you don't have spuriously fully-qualified path names instead of relative.

Do this test:

1) Link insert a 300x300 pixel picture into your document.

2) Save and close

3) Replace the picture file with another of the same name, but 100x300 in size.

4) Open your word doc - the new picture is stretched out to fit the old frame.

-----------

ScreenShots

-----------

~Moire~

The moire patterns are caused because the Windows standard screen settings use 3D objects for the scroll bars instead of a solid tint. To solve, EITHER

change the Windows color scheme

or

Grab the picture in photoshop, magic wand each colored area and turn it into a solid color.

Always resize or crop the picture using a dedicated graphics program before you insert it into word.

As a reminder, alt+print screen captures the active window only.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Renee DeCarlo wrote:

just found this out yesterday...changing text into text box...hi-lite text and click text box icon at the bottom...pretty cool i thought...was cutting and pasting before...creating text box copy existing text into text box just in case it doesnt work and then delete existing text...im using word 2k...

Two subscribers responded to last week's newsletter on the WordPerfect compatibility setting that enables compressed word spacing. You can read the newsletter here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708754845

Nancy Adess (naedit@earthlink.net) wrote:

Another "Compatibility" item I've found extremely important, at least on the Mac, is to turn on "Use printer metrics to lay out document." Often when I get documents from others they are somehow wired to print double-spaced only, even if I change the spacing to single spaced on the screen. Turning on this compatibility option (tools>preferences>compatibility) restores control of line spacing to me. Even though I've set that option in my default template, that doesn't apply to imported documents and I need to turn it on for each one. Until I found that (I think with the help of a MS tech) I was endlessly frustrated.

Jim Cronin Cronin, wrote:

I heard about this compatibility setting elsewhere and thought it needed some easier method to both apply it and to know whether it was in effect in a document. So, I wrote the following macro and assigned it to a toolbar button. When you click the button, the Office Assistant appears. The checkbox in the balloon is empty if WP Justification is not "on" and it is selected when justification is "on". Give it a shot!

' WordPerfect_Justification Macro

' Macro created 10/22/01 by JimC

'
If Documents.Count < 1 Then GoTo ErrorHandler

With Assistant.NewBalloon

.Heading = "For better spacing in fully justified text..."

.Checkboxes(1).Text = "Make Word justify text like WordPerfect does it."

.Button = msoButtonSetOK

With Assistant

.On = True

.Visible = True

.Animation = msoAnimationCheckingSomething

End With

If ActiveDocument.Compatibility(wdWPJustification) = True Then

.Checkboxes(1).Checked = True

.Show

Else

.Checkboxes(1).Checked = False

.Show

End If

If .Checkboxes(1).Checked Then

ActiveDocument.Compatibility(wdWPJustification) = True

Else

ActiveDocument.Compatibility(wdWPJustification) = False

End If

Assistant.Visible = False

End With

ErrorHandler: Exit Sub

End Sub

Many thanks for the suggestions!

Compressed Word Spacing

[Calling all bugs! Calling all bugs! I'm trying to put together a bug collection for next week's newsletter. If you've discovered a bug (or just something that bugs you) in Microsoft Word, please take a minute and drop me a line.]

If you've tried using Microsoft Word to produce decently justified text, you've seen the problem: Word justifies text by expanding rather than compressing space between words, which leads to "spacey" typesetting. That's why I created our WordSetter program, which lets you adjust word spacing according to your taste:

http://www.editorium.com/14000.htm

However, it turns out that you *can* make Word (97, 98, 2000, 2001, and 2002) compress word spacing (although without adjustment) by changing a deeply buried option. Using this option *greatly* improves typographic quality. Here's how to set it:

1. Click the "Tools" menu ("Edit" in Word 2001).

2. Click "Options" ("Preferences" on a Macintosh).

3. Click the "Compatibility" tab.

4. Put a check next to the option labeled "Do full justification like WordPerfect 6.x for Windows."

Now, as you type in justified text (Format > Paragraph > Alignment > Justified), you'll see the word spacing compress automatically as it would in a dedicated typesetting program (or WordPerfect, of course). What joy! What rapture!

Microsoft's Knowledge Base describes the option like this:

"To achieve full justification, WordPerfect compresses the spaces between words while Word expands them. This often results in different line breaks and leads to different page breaks. To implement the WordPerfect justification method, select 'Do full justification like WordPerfect 6.x for Windows' in the Options list."

This option was created to preserve line formatting when opening a WordPerfect document in Word, but it's far more important than that. It actually makes it possible to do fairly decent typography in Microsoft Word. Evidently Microsoft missed this point (or didn't want to admit WordPerfect's superiority in this regard).

While you're looking at the "Compatibility" tab, put a check next to the option labeled "Don't expand character spaces on the line ending Shift-Return." Then if you break a line with a soft return (SHIFT+ENTER), the line will still be properly justified. Otherwise, the spaces in the first half of the broken line will expand broadly, justifying the line clear to the margin. Bad, bad, bad.

Even after you've set these options, justification may not look quite right on your screen, especially at the ends of lines, since Word doesn't render everything perfectly. When you print your document, however, you'll see the justified text in all its glory.

Word's Compatibility tab includes other options you might want to explore if you're doing typesetting with Word, including:

* Don't center "exact line height" lines

* Don't add extra space for raised/lowered characters

* Suppress "Space Before" after a hard page or column break

You can learn more about these and other options in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article here:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q288/7/92.ASP

There are other things you'll need to adjust if you want to do typesetting in Microsoft Word, but we'll leave those for another day.

I can't take credit for "discovering" the option to "Do full justification like WordPerfect 6.x for Windows." I learned about it from Woody's Office Watch, a great email newsletter about the quirks of Microsoft Office. Woody and friends can't take credit for it either, though; they learned about it from one of their subscribers, Dermod Quirke, to whom we are now all indebted. You can read their article (and sign up for the newsletter) here:

http://www.woodyswatch.com/office/archtemplate.asp?v6-n40

Go2Text vs. Find

Last week's newsletter featured a macro (Go2Text) designed to take you to specified text without using cursor keys or the mouse. You can learn about it here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708547575

A couple of readers have asked (much more nicely than this), "Why the heck should I use Go2Text when Word's Find feature will do the same thing?" It's a fair question, and it's something I should have explained last week. Here's my answer:

The differences between Go2Text and Find are small (for the purpose of going to text), but to me they're significant, which is why I created the macro. Yes, Word's Find feature will take you to the text you wanted to find. But notice: after finding something, the Find dialog remains *open.* To work on the text you've found, you'll have to press the ESC key (or click the Cancel button) to get rid of the dialog. With Go2Text, that isn't the case. As soon as you press ENTER, the dialog goes away, saving you the annoyance of having to put it away manually.

Now notice this: After using the Find dialog, the text that was found is *selected,* which means you have to press the LEFT ARROW key to get in front of it--another unnecessary keystroke. Go2Text simply takes you to the beginning of the text without selecting it (unless you specify that it should be selected). This is also true when you press CTRL + R to repeat the macro, while pressing SHIFT + F4 to repeat a Find selects the text.

In summary, when text is found:

Go2Text: Find:

Closes the dialog Leaves the dialog open

Goes to the start of the text Selects the text

To some people, these differences may not be important. But in my experience, those extra keystrokes add up fast in both time and frustration. If I can avoid them, I do. And if I have a dozen small macros for specific editing tasks, with each one saving me a couple of keystrokes, the effect on my work can be dramatic.

[Clarification: I don't mean to imply that Go2Text *replaces* Find or that it should always be used *instead* of Find. Find is a useful feature all on its own. Go2Text is for those times when you just want to jump quickly to some specific text without reaching for the mouse or cursor keys.]

I'm a big believer in exploiting the power of the computer to its fullest and in finding as many ways as possible to make work easier. Eventually, I hope to do all of my work with no effort. I'm kidding, of course, but that's sort of the idea. R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, had a word for this: ephemeralization. He believed that with technological progress, we would continue to do more and more with less and less until we were basically doing everything with nothing. That sentence is a simplification of Bucky's philosophy, but I think it's true to his vision of the world.

I love this statement from Dan A. Wilson, proprietor of The Editor's DeskTop (http://www.editorsdesktop.com/):

"The principal difference between the amateur e-editor and the real professional, in my opinion, is in the difference in their in-depth knowledge of the macro system and Find and Replace system. The amateurs use the computer as an electric typewriter and continue to do all of the slogging work as though they were still editing on paper. The pros seize the power of the computer's systems and exploit it ever more fully with each passing project."

Here's your assignment: Learn one thing this week that will make your life easier. Want some suggestions?

You can learn about macros here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706651129

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706748016

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706832239

You can learn about Find and Replace here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1705963026

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706069286

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706167662

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706267069

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706365638

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706458823

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706553959

And you can learn about Buckminster Fuller here:

http://www.bfi.org/introduction_to_bmf.htm

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

MACRO SECURITY MESSAGE

Mark Pool (mark913@earthlink.net) wrote:

From your most recent issue of Editorium I downloaded the Go2Text. When I tried to open the template, I got the following message:

"The macros in this project are disabled. Please refer to the online help or documentation of the host application to determine how to enable macros."

Can you tell me what I need to do to activate this template?

Thanks for your question, Mark. I'm sure others have encountered the same problem. This message means that Microsoft Word's macro virus protection is enabled or set to a high level of security. To change this:

In Word 2002 (XP):

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Options".

3. Click the "Security" tab.

4. Click the "Macro Security" button (on the lower right).

5. Click the "Security Level" tab if it's not already active.

6. Set your security level to medium and click the OK button.

7. Click the next OK button to close the Options dialog.

In Word 2000 or 2001:

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Macro."

3. Click "Security."

4. Click the "Security Level" tab if it's not already active.

5. Set your security level to medium and click the OK button.

In Word 97 or 98:

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Options".

3. Click the "General" tab.

4. Uncheck the box labeled "Macro virus protection."

5. Click the "OK" button.

In Word 95:

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Options."

3. Click the "General" tab.

4. Uncheck the box labeled "Enable Macro Virus Protection."

5. Click the "OK" button.

Now, in Word 2000 or higher, any time you open a document or load a template that includes macros, Word will give you the choice of whether to disable or enable macros. If the document or template isn't *supposed* to have macros in it, you should click the "Disable Macros" button, because the macros could be a virus. If the document or template *is* supposed to have macros and comes from a source you know is reliable, click the "Enable Macros" button so you can run the macros.

In Word 95, 97, or 98, you don't have these options. Macro virus protection is either on or off. Before turning it off permanently you may want to read more about it in Word's Help file or check with your system administrator.

MORE SEMIAUTOMATIC CORRECTIONS

Nancy Adess (naedit@earthlink.net) sent some additional semiautomatic corrections. Thanks, Nancy!

"is in the process of..."

Attempt to kill this.

"grow your skills" "grow your organization" anything but grow your food!

Substitute: improve, expand.

"To better serve" "to better market" "to better any verb"

Substitute: To verb more effectively/more efficiently/more successfully

"Impact" used as a verb.

Change to "affect."

To learn more about automatic and semiautomatic corrections, see these past issues of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708048908

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708127357

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708293844

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708382808

Go2Text Macro

When I'm editing in Word and see something I want to correct, I usually have to use the cursor keys (repeatedly) to get to it, or I have to reach for the mouse to select it. I finally got tired of both alternatives and created a macro called Go2Text, which instantly takes you to the character, word, or phrase you specify.

I'm giving away this macro! Subscribers to Editorium Update will be the first to have it, but please feel free to share it with friends and colleagues who might find it useful. After you've used it a few times, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

To download Go2Text for Word 6 or 7 (95), click here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/Go2Text6.zip

To download Go2Text for Word 8 (97) or above, click here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/Go2Text8.zip

The macro will work on both PC and Macintosh.

Once you've downloaded and unzipped (or unstuffed) the proper version of the program, you'll see the documentation, which is named GO2TEXT.doc. (Open it in Word to read it.) You'll also see the Go2Text template, which is named GO2TEXT.DOT. (If you need software to unzip or unstuff the program, you can download it from http://www.winzip.com or http://www.aladdinsys.com.) To use the template, follow this procedure:

1. Open it in Microsoft Word.

2. Double-click the large button that says "Double-Click here to Install."

3. Follow the prompts on your screen.

To use Go2Text to go to some text:

1. On your keyboard, press CTRL + SHIFT + G (which stands for "Go2Text").

2. In the box labeled "Enter Text," type the text you want to go to. It doesn't have to be far away. For example, if you see an error a few paragraphs down from your cursor, just type the first few characters of the error into the box.

3. Put a check in the boxes for any options you want to use.

4. Press Enter or click the OK button.

Go2Text will take you to the text you specified. It will also remember your entry and options for the next time you use the program.

To repeat the last action of Go2Text without having to retype the text, press CTRL + SHIFT + R (which stands for "Repeat"). The Go2Text dialog will not appear, but Go2Text will take you to the next occurrence of the text you specified earlier. You can keep repeating the action as many times as you like.

Please see the program documentation for other options and niceties. I hope you enjoy Go2Text!

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Karen Slaney (kswa@earthlink.net) sent some terrific additions to the automatic (or semiautomatic) corrections list, which you can learn more about by reading these past issues of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708048908

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708127357

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708293844

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708382808

Thanks, Karen! Here are her additions:

period of time|period

made a decision|decided

OK|okay

O.K.|okay

email|e-mail

towards|toward

for awhile|for a while

literally|[nothing]

alot|a lot

each others'|each other's

one anothers'|one another's

he/she|he or she

him/her|him or her

my Mom|my mom

my Dad|my dad

someone that|someone who

?,|,?

?.|.?

reason why|reason

!!|!

!!!|!

Neil Hymans sent this excellent tip for using Hidden formatting as a writing tool. Thanks, Neil!

Like all writers, my working copy is littered with half-finished sentences and gems-to-be that I want to retain until I'm absolutely sure I won't need them . . . but they are a real distraction when I'm trying to read back clean text. My solution is to make them disappear and reappear at will.

I have a global *character style* called "Hidden" (it is a character style so it won't overwrite the existing paragraph style). It only has two attributes: the text is hidden, and plum coloured for higher visibility. I apply it using a simple hotkey combo (ALT+D works for me), but it is easy enough to create a toolbar button or menu command to apply the style to a selection, to suit personal preferences.

By default, Word doesn't display hidden text. I recorded two simple macros: one to display hidden text, another to hide it. Once again, these can also be configured to work from hotkeys, menu commands or toolbar buttons according to preference.

When I despatch one of my creative gems to the literary boneyard, I apply the "Hidden" style with ALT+D. In Word's default mode, it vanishes instantly from the screen. When I get desperate for inspiration, I click the button to display the boneyard again, and there it is. Should I decide to reclaim the text, I simply select it and reapply the appropriate paragraph style.

Best of all: it takes about two minutes to create this facility on any version of Word.

Finally, there is an important caveat on this tip: don't rely on hidden text if trashed text is potentially sensitive. Turn the hidden text display on, then copy the public text to a new file for review (or better still use the amazing "Editioning" template--thanks for that tip, by the way!).

You can learn more about the "Editioning" template here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708466498

Editioning Software

Microsoft Word guru Steve Hudson has been sending me some interesting things. Today I'd like to introduce you to his "Editioning" macro, which allows you to use true conditional text in Microsoft Word 97 and above. Conditional text is the thing to use if you need to change a document in different ways for different audiences. I've written before about using Word's Hidden formatting to create conditional text:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1703011632

Steve, however, has taken the idea to greater heights of power and usability. For your convenience, I've placed his template (with its accompanying toolbar and macro) on our Web site, and you can download it here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/editioning.zip

After you've downloaded it, you'll need to unzip it. If you don't already have software to do this, you can get the popular WinZip program here:

http://www.winzip.com/ddchomea.htm

Macintosh users can use StuffIt Expander, available here:

http://www.stuffit.com/expander/download.html

Once the template is unzipped, you'll need to load it as a global template or add-in, which you can learn more about here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707012536

And here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707100224

Finally, here's how to use the program:

1. Open or create a document that will be your source document for the various versions you want to create, and be sure to keep a backup of this document.

2. Use Microsoft Word's Highlighter feature (available on the Formatting toolbar) to highlight the text that will appear only in the various versions you'll be producing. For example, let's say you're writing the documentation for a computer program that will be produced in three versions: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Some of the documentation will apply to all three versions, but some of it won't. For example, the advanced version will have features not available in the basic version, and you don't want the documentation for those features to show up in the basic documentation. So let's say that you highlight the information that applies only to the basic version in yellow, the intermediate in blue, and the advanced in red. Save this document with a new name, such as "Single Source."

3. With the Editioning template loaded, you'll see a new Editioning toolbar on your screen. Click the Editioning button to start the program.

4. In the "Color" box, on the right, click one of the colors you want to use, such as yellow.

5. In the "Description" box, on the bottom, type in a description of what that color represents, such as "Basic."

6. Click the "New" button to add the color and its description to the "Current List of Editions" box. (You can also click the "Delete" button to delete them.)

7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each color you want to use.

8. In the "Current List of Editions" box, click the color/description for the type of document you want to produce. For example, if you wanted to create the basic documentation, you'd click "Yellow Basic."

9. Click the "Publish" button.

10. Click the "Exit" button to close the program. (It will remember your definitions for the next time you use it.)

Now, in the document on your screen, all of your *unhighlighted* text will be preserved (since you want to use it in all of your versions), and the text that was highlighted in the color you selected (yellow) will also be preserved (but now unhighlighted). Text that was highlighted in other colors (blue and red) will be removed. So, you now have the basic version of your software documentation! Be sure to save it with a new name (such as "Basic Documentation"), and be careful not to save it over the top of your previously marked-up file.

That's it! Rinse and repeat for your other versions. Many thanks to Steve for making this program available.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Several subscribers provided useful tips this week, some with contrasting points of view. Many thanks to them all!

ON AUTOMATIC CORRECTIONS (see our past few newsletters):

Steve Hudson suggested the following automatic (or semiautomatic) correction:

has the potential to -> can

Kathleen Much (kathleen@casbs.stanford.edu) wrote:

You recommended: fortuitous (replace with "lucky")

You're right to check the usage, but what if the writer is actually using "fortuitous" correctly, to mean "by chance"? 🙂

I responded:

Then the editor should leave it alone. 🙂

Kathleen makes a good point. Many such corrections should *not* be made automatically or without thought. Please be judicious and remember that the computer is a tool, a means to an end, and not an end in itself.

ON NONBREAKING SPACES:

In our last newsletter, I asked for ideas about how where to use nonbreaking spaces and got some interesting (and useful) responses.

Lou Burgoyne wrote:

Phone Numbers, Addresses. Also Use Non-breaking hyphens.

Another subscriber (Martin) wrote:

useful after Mr or Mrs

Anne K. Bailey wrote:

I use it [the nonbreaking space] so often that I've got it mapped to my keyboard (alt s) so I can insert it without having to think about it (at least when using Word). I *always* use it in the following situations (I'll use a tilde to represent the nonbreaking space):

Between a first name and a middle initial (Anne~K. Bailey)

Between the two parts of certain last names (Vincent Van~Gogh)

Between the month and the day (September~11, 2001)

Between the word "percent" and the number (75~percent)

Between the word "page" and the number (page~42)

Between the word "age" and the number (age~65)

Between a number and the word it modifies (15~days) (three~times) (18~years old) (six~miles) (12~inches)

Between two parts of most compound words (pay~grade) (New~York)

Between the time and "a.m." or "p.m." (7:00~a.m.)

In addition, I often use a nonbreaking space to force line endings. I've seen people insert a hard return in the middle of a paragraph to force the line endings to look "right." However, my preference is to use a nonbreaking space to force a particular word to the next line. That way, if the text is later edited and the line endings change, the nonbreaking space won't necessarily have to be removed, but a hard return would definitely have to be found and deleted.

(I would have used a nonbreaking space between the words "hard" and "return" in the previous paragraph.)

Steve Hudson wrote:

I never use the non-break space. My Designer and I both agree that the examples we have seen it suggested to use don't actually add much to the readability and do interfere with justification. The main two examples are 75 percent and Dr Bob. To fully demonstrate the futility of the percent, what if one wrote seventy five percent, all with hard spacing? You could have half a line in nothing flat.

Semiautomatic Corrections

Over the past few weeks we've discussed corrections that editors can make automatically with Microsoft Word's Find and Replace feature. For more information, see these three issues of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708048908

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708127357

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708293844

In addition, editors can save time by making "semiautomatic" corrections--in other words, by using Word's Find feature to locate "indicators" of possible problems and then fixing those problems as needed. For example, the word "are" is such an indicator. If you use Word's Find feature to locate occurrences of the word "are," you'll run into sentences like this one:

"The editors are making corrections in the manuscript."

This can be edited to this:

"The editors are correcting the manuscript."

Or maybe even to this:

"The editors correct the manuscript."

In fact, any form of the verb "to be" ("be," "are," "was," "were") may indicate other problems (wordiness, passive voice, lack of a strong verb, unnecessary use of the present participle, and so on).

(Before I edited it, the previous sentence read, " In fact, any forms of the verb 'to be' are possible indicators of other problems . . . " See what I mean?)

Another indicator is the suffix "ly," which can be used to find sentences like this one:

"He ran quickly down the street."

Weak, weak, weak. How about "He bolted down the street" or "He charged down the street" or "He blasted down the street"? If you're a writer, you'll find this trick particularly useful.

Other indicators are the phrases "there is" and "there are," particularly at the start of sentences. "There are three writers working on the project" can be edited to "Three writers work on the project."

Next week I'll try to provide more semiautomatic corrections. (If you already have your own list, *please* send it to me so I can share it with other subscribers: mailto:editor [at symbol] editorium.com.) In the meantime, here's a list (slightly edited by me) provided by Microsoft Word expert Steve Hudson. Thanks, Steve! Some of the items are for technical editing ("check," "tick," "up," "down"). Most, though, can be used in any situation.

ATTEMPT TO KILL:

aforementioned

empowerment

take

make

were

was

has been

will

would

should

could

be

that

used/use/using

follow

get/got

put

way

did

*ly

CAREFULLY AND MANUALLY CHECK:

details (replace with "information")

check (replace with "set")

tick (replace with "set")

up (replace with "up arrow")

down (replace with "down arrow")

system (replace with something else if not being used generically)

say (replace with "show")

description (replace with "information")

explanation (replace with "information")

communicate (replace with "say," "tell," or "talk")

exponential (replace with "rapid")

feedback (does it mean anything?)

fortuitous (replace with "lucky")

input (does it mean anything?)

interface (replace with "connect)

paradigm (archetypal method? point of view? mindset?)

irony / ironic / ironically (implies the opposite of the literal sense)

linear (mathematical?)

synergy(increased energy through cooperative side-effects?)

and/or (rewrite to: ... and ... or ... or both)

that (restrictive & defining)

which (if nonrestrictive explanatory, set off in commas)

who (must be used with people)

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Several subscribers provided useful tips this week. Many thanks to them all!

Anne K. Bailey wrote about automatically replacing "%" with "percent":

"I would suggest that it is preferable to have the replacement be '^spercent' (putting a nonbreaking space bfore the word 'percent'). This would ensure that nowhere in the text would '75' (or whatever number) be dangling at the end of one line with the word "percent" at the beginning of the next.

"In my opinion, the nonbreaking space is extremely underutilized."

Where do *you* use nonbreaking spaces? Please let me know here: mailto:editor [at symbol] editorium.com.

Neil Hymans provided more information about the Window and Popup Menu keys on Microsoft-compatible keyboards:

"The two extra keys discussed recently can do much more than open the Start menu or simulate a right mouse click. When used in conjunction with a 'key combination manager' (such as the amazing--and *free*--Winkey from http://www.copernic.com/winkey/), they open up a world of possibilities for new hotkey combinations.

"Some examples: I use WIN+W to start Word, WIN+X to start Excel, and many others that suit my needs, secure in the knowledge that they aren't conflicting with default key combinations of any other application.

Mike Brown wrote:

"You can use the Windows key for shortcut key combinations, but I find it most useful as OS shortcuts to useful functions.

"My favorite functions are Windows + M to minimize all open windows to the Taskbar, Windows + R to display the Run dialog box (I like to run batch files from the Run dialog box), Windows + F to open the Find dialog, and Windows + E to open an Explorer window.

"I use Macro Express (a program to create macros throughout the system or for any program), and I find the Windows key to be a great mnemonic aid for system-level macros.

"If you have the Microsoft Natural keyboard or Intellitype software installed, there are tons of other combos:

"http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q126/4/49.asp"

Even More Automatic Corrections

A couple of weeks ago, we were discussing lists of corrections that editors can make automatically using Microsoft Word's Find and Replace feature. For more information, you may want to read these two issues of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708048908

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708127357

I'd like to thank Martha H. Bowes, Ned Humphrey, and Joel Rosenberg for sending more items for our "master list." (If I've missed anyone, I apologize.) I'm especially grateful to Microsoft Word genius Steve Hudson, who contributed most of the corrections in the list below. Steve has sent me some other nifty things, which I'll be discussing soon.

If you have other items you'd like to add to this list, please let me know. It will be a work in progress, and I hope to have the combined lists from this and the past newsletters--with additional entries--available on our Web site soon. I've set up this week's list with the pipe symbol (|) between entries so the list can be used with our MegaReplacer program, which you can learn more about here:

http://www.editorium.com/14843.htm

And now, here's the latest installment, with the items to find on the left, and the items to replace them with on the right. Remember, don't use these blindly. Choose the items that will be most useful to you.

, and| and

a lot of|many

ain;t|are not

ain't|are not

aint|are not

app|application

apps|applications

aren;t|are not

aren't|are not

arn't|are not

at this moment in time|now

by using|with

can;t|cannot

cannot of been|cannot have been

can't|cannot

char|character

click|select

comm|communication

comms|communications

coudln't|could not

coudn't|could not

could of been|could have been

could of had|could have had

couldn;t|could not

couldnt|could not

couple of|several

coz|because

degrade|slow

dept|department

detailed|described

dev|development

devs|developers

didint|did not

didn;t|did not

didn't|did not

didnt|did not

diff|difference

diffs|differences

do not no|do not know

doc|document

docs|documents

doens't|does not

doesn;t|does not

doesn't|does not

doesnt|does not

don;t|do not

do'nt|do not

don't|do not

dont|do not

dosn't|does not

double click|double-click

dox|documents

eg|for example

epicenter|center

epicentre|centre

esp|especially

et cetera|and so on

etc|and so on

explained|described

func|functional

hadn;t|had not

hadn't|had not

hasn;t|has not

hasn't|has not

hasnt|has not

haven;t|have not

he;ll|he will

here;s|here is

I;d|I would

I;ll|I will

I'd|I would

I'd|I would

I'll|I will

I'm|I am

ie|that is

in order to|to

info|information

isn;t|is not

isn't|is not

it' snot|it is not

it snot|it is not

it;ll|it will

it'll|it will

it's|it is

let;s|let us

let;s|let us

made up|consists

may|can

mgr|manager

millenium/millennium

necc|necessary

needs to|must

op|operation

ops|operations

ot|to

para|paragraph

perm|permanent

peruse|study

perused|studied

perusing|studying

pref|preference

prefs|preferences

presently|at present

prod|production

QA|Quality Assurance

rep|representative

reps|representatives

res|resolution

right click|right-click

she;ll|she will

shoudln't|should not

shouldent|should not

shouldn;t|should not

shouldnt|should not

single click|single-click

spec|specification

specs|specifications

std|standard

succ|successful

sufficient number of|enough

teh|the

that has|with

thats|that is

they;l|they will

they;ll|they will

they;r|they are

they;re|they are

they;v|they have

they;ve|they have

they'l|they will

they'll|they will

they'r|they are

they're|they are

they'v|they have

they've|they have

theyll|they will

theyve|they have

trad|traditional

triple click|triple-click

twixt|between

uncheck|clear

untick|clear

utilise|use

utilize/use

via|by way of

visa versa|vice versa

wasnt|was not

we;d|we would

we;ll|we will

we;re|we are

we;ve|we have

we'd|we would

we'll|we will

we're|we are

we've|we have

wern;t|were not

wern't|were not

wernt|were not

what;s|what is

what's|what is

with regards to|about

won;t|will not

won't|will not

wo'nt|will not

woudln't|would not

wouldn;t|would not

wouldn't|would not

wouldnt|would not

you;d|you would

you;re|you are

you'd|you would

you're|you are

you've|you have

youare|you are

youve|you have

yr|year

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READERS WRITE

Ellen Ellender wrote:

"If you are using Find and Replace to replace '%' with 'percent', you must specify that the replacement is '[space]percent', or you'll end up with text reading '75percent' instead of '75 percent'."

Thanks to Ellen for this useful reminder. If you're making your own Find and Replace list, there may be other entries that need similar treatment.

Ed Nelson (ednelson1@earthlink.net) wrote with some questions that many computer users may be puzzling over:

"My newish keyboard has some added keys. One pair, between Alt and Ctl on each side, carries the MS logo. Maybe its only function is to add a new order of potential key combinations, but that might be a worthy addition if true."

I responded:

"Pressing this key is the equivalent of clicking the Start button on the Windows taskbar. I use it a lot, since I hate reaching for the mouse all the time."

Ed continued:

"In addition, next to the right Ctl key is one with what looks rather like an icon(?). Looks like the representation of a sheet of copy with an arrow-cursor pointing toward the top."

I replied:

"This key opens a 'popup' or 'context' menu. It's the equivalent of clicking the right mouse button. I like it, too."

Thanks to Ed for his questions.