Although having many minds working on a project usually yields a much better product, one person is often left with the onerous task of pulling it all together.

Although having many minds working on a project usually yields a much better product, one person is often left with the onerous task of pulling it all together. Whether you are a contributor or an organizer, these tips will help you understand how software can help you collaborate.

Using Track Changes for Collaboration (Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

By David McQueary

Collaborating on a document can often become confusing and frustrating if it is not clear which changes have been made and by whom. Even worse, when you overwrite text in a document without indicating you have made a change, the original text is not recoverable.

Using Word’s Track Changes feature can eliminate these frustrations.

When Track Changes is enabled, Word assigns a different color to each of the individual editors of a document to show which editor made which changes. When text is deleted, it is not completely removed from the document; instead, a strikethrough effect is applied to show that the text was deleted. Editors can also use the Comments feature to type questions, answers, or general messages to other people working with the document.

Word 2007:

1. Click the Review tab.

2. Click the Track Changes button in the tracking section and choose Track Changes.

Word 2002 and 2003:

1. Click the Tools menu and choose Track Changes.

Word 2000:

1. Click the Tools menu, select Track Changes, and choose Highlight Changes.

2. Check “Track changes while editing.”

3. Verify “Highlight changes on screen” and “Highlight changes in printed document” are checked; if not, check them.

4. Click OK.

You can also enable the feature in all versions by using the key combination Ctrl+Shift+E.

For Word 2002, 2003, and 2007:

Tracked changes can be displayed two different ways. Deletions are either in line with the text or in balloons in the right margin of the document. Balloons are turned on by default for Word 2002 and 2003, and off by default for Word 2007. To change the behavior of balloons:

Word 2002:

1. Make sure the Reviewing toolbar is on. To do this, click the View menu, select Toolbars, and make sure there is a checkmark next to Reviewing. If not, click it to display the Reviewing toolbar.

2. Click the Show drop-down list and select Options.

3. Uncheck Use Balloons in Print and Web Layout.

4. Click OK.

Word 2003:

1. Make sure the Reviewing toolbar is on. To do this, click the View menu, select Toolbars, and make sure there is a checkmark next to Reviewing. If not, click it to display the Reviewing toolbar.

2. Click the Show drop-down list, select Balloons, then choose Never. You can also choose Always or Only for Comments/Formats.

Word 2007

1. Click the Reviewing tab, select the Balloons drop-down arrow, and choose Show Revisions in Balloons, Show All Revisions Inline, or Show Only Comments and Formatting in Balloons.

Accepting/Rejecting Tracked Changes in a Document (Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

By David McQueary

One of the most confusing aspects of Word’s Track Changes feature is how to remove the changes from a document. If you have ever wanted to send a “clean” version of a document to someone else, you may have tried the “Display for Review” drop-down menu on the Reviewing toolbar (Word 2007: the “Display for Review” drop-down menu in the Tracking group on the Review tab). This drop-down menu contains choices such as Final Showing Markup, Final, Original Showing Markup, and Original. Setting this to Final hides the changes, so you should be able to save the document and send it, right?

Wrong. The Final setting only hides the tracked changes, which means your recipient will still be able to display them again by setting the Reviewing toolbar selection to Final Showing Markup. The “Display for Review” drop-down menu simply offers different ways of viewing a document with tracked changes. The only way to remove the changes permanently is to accept or reject them.

Word 2007:

1. Click the Review tab.

2. In the Changes section, click the Accept button and choose “Accept and Move to Next” if you need to accept some changes and reject others, or choose “Accept All Changes in Document” if you want to accept all changes that were made.

3. To reject changes, click the Reject button (located next to the Accept button) and choose “Reject and Move to Next” or “Reject All Changes in Document” to return to the original document.

Word 2002 and 2003:

1. Make sure the Reviewing toolbar is enabled. To do this, click the View menu, select Toolbars, and make sure there is a checkmark next to Reviewing. If not, click it to display the Reviewing toolbar.

2. Click the Accept button (it looks like a check mark over a piece of paper) on the Reviewing toolbar.

3. Choose “Accept All Changes in Document” to accept all the changes, or click “Accept Changes” to individually review changes. Use the Next and Previous buttons to navigate through the changes.

4. To reject a change, click the “Reject Change” button, which looks like a red “X” in front of a piece of paper. You can also click the “Reject Change” button and select “Reject All Changes in Document” to return to the original document.

Word 2000:

1. Click the Tools menu, select Track Changes, and choose “Accept or Reject Changes.”

2. To accept all tracked changes in your document, click the Accept All button. You can also click the “Reject All” button to reject all changes in the document.

3. If you want to review individual changes, press the Find buttons to navigate from one change to the next, and press the Accept or Reject button for each change.

4. Click Close when done.

After you have accepted and/or rejected all changes, be sure to turn off Track Changes.

To do so, use the key combination Ctrl+Shift+E or simply click on the Track Changes button in the Tracking section of the Review tab so it is no longer highlighted (Word 2007). (For earlier versions, go to Tools | Track Changes, and click the Track Changes button so it is no longer highlighted.) You can then save the final document, which makes the changes permanent.

Insert Text from Existing Files into Another Document (Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

By MaryHazel McDermott

If it’s your job to assemble a departmental report that includes material created by others, you may wonder if there is an easy way to do it. Word contains several features to assist you. This tip will cover inserting an entire file into another file.

To start, open the file that will be your final product:

Word 2007:

1. Click the Insert tab

2. Click the Object drop-down arrow and select Text from File.

3. Place your cursor where the inserted material should go.

4. Browse to the file to be inserted and click the Insert button.

Word 2003, 2002, 2000:

1. Click the Insert menu and choose File.

2. Place your cursor where the inserted material should go.

3. Browse to the file to be inserted and click the Insert button.

Repeat as needed.

MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

Everyone wants to be more productive, especially in a time when some workers are being asked to “do more with less,” and to itemize or quantify what they’ve accomplished in a day.

The new Compare feature.

Help your employees out by sharing this list of nine things to know about Microsoft Word. By doing so, you may help enhance your help desk’s image. You could even improve employee performance and ultimately the company’s bottom line.

1. STYLES: With styles, you can create better-looking documents in less time. While the 2003 version enabled you to save a smidge of time with styles, 2007 includes a full gallery predefined styles, table formats, list formats, graphical effects, and more.
2. TEMPLATES (namely, Normal.dot and, in Word 2007, Normal.dotx): A common complaint about Word 2007 is its maddening default line spacing and Calibri font. Save time and grief by changing the defaults in your normal template (normal.dot in 2003; normal.dotx in 2007).
3. AUTOTEXT/QUICKPARTS: Also known as QuickParts in Word 2007, this feature is so undervalued, so underused. If you find yourself typing and re-typing the same text over and over again, in every document you create (your title, for example, or a company disclaimer, etc.), you’d be wise to learn how to use Autotext/QuickParts. It enables you to type entire words or phrases with one or two keystrokes and saves you time and unnecessary typing. Very handy.
4. ADDING A SPACE BEFORE & AFTER PARAGRAPHS: Everyone does it – adds the additional hard returns before and after a paragraph so the text doesn’t meld together into one block of gray on the page. Stop, already. It’s monotonous and it invites trouble into your document layout. Instead, use Format | Paragraph | Space Before/After (in 2007, go to Page Layout Tab| Paragraph Section | Spacing) for foolproof page design.
5. USE HARD SPACES TO KEEP NAMES TOGETHER ON A LINE: The more formal the document, the more important it is that names not break across lines. Checking for this can be tedious. You’d be better off using hard spaces from the get-go. Just hold down control + shift + spacebar. You can also add hard spaces to autotext/QuickParts.
6. IMPROVED COMPARISON FEATURE: If you rely on the Compare and Merge feature in Word 2003 when you forget to track changes, you’ll be delighted when you get a look at the 2007 version. (See image.) Instead of just showing you the changes in one document, Word 2007 shows you the deleted, inserted, and moved text clearly marked in a third version of the document.
7. CUSTOMIZABLE STATUS BAR: If you are working in a document with multiple sections and pages, like a contract or lengthy agreement, a customized status bar will do you good. Right-click on the gray bar and take a look at what you can show or hide. The status bar can also help you troubleshoot problems like misbehaving headers and footers. In previous versions, this feature was not customizable; it was either enabled or disabled.
8. MINI TOOLBAR: One of Word 2007′s standout additions, in my opinion. It’s a context menu that automatically appears when text is selected. It’s meant to provide easy access to commonly used formatting commands without having to right-click the mouse. Mini productivity-enhancer.
9. IMPROVED SPELL-CHECKING: Finally! Contextual spelling. Although it’s not foolproof, nor should it be substituted for good old -fashioned editing, Word 2007′s new spell check is smarter than its predecessors. It will politely let you know if you used “its” when you meant to write “it’s.”

Did we miss something? Send us an e-mail or post a comment to let us know about it.
MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | PC Helps eTraining | Contact PC Helps