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To make changes to the way Word looks and works, experiment with the choices in the Options dialogue box. From the Tools menu, choose Options to display the dialogue box. The best way to familiarize yourself with the options available to you is by browsing through the ten tabs in the Options dialogue box. You will probably leave most of the settings set at their default values, but there are some settings you may want to change to make Word work better for you.
The View Tab
The View tab offers options for changing the way things are displayed on the screen.
The General Tab
The General tab contains options for configuring various Word program operations. From here, you can turn background repagination on and off. You can change the background of the page to blue and the text to white. You can choose to have sounds added and the movement of your mouse animated for certain actions performed. You can decide if you want a confirmation dialogue box displayed when opening a document in another format, and if you want any links in a document updated when opening the document. You can choose to automatically send your document as an e-mail attachment, and set the number of files displayed in the recently used file list (under the File menu). You can turn the Word Perfect Help and Navigation keys on and off, and choose the units you want displayed on the rulers. The Web Options and E-mail Options buttons display other dialogue boxes with more options.
The Edit Tab
The Edit tab includes options for enabling various editing features. You can decide if you want to be able to automatically type over a selected box of text and use the mouse to drag-and-drop text from one location to another. You can set the Insert key on your keyboard to paste whatever is on the clipboard into your document, and turn overtype mode on and off. If Use smart cut and paste is checked, Word deletes the extra spaces on either side of text that is cut from the document. You can choose if you want to be able to indent paragraphs by using the Tab key, and if you want to allow accents to be placed on uppercase letters. If the When selecting, automatically select entire word box is checked, Word will highlight more than one entire word when you manually select parts of those words. You can choose the picture editing software you want to use, if you have other picture editing software installed on your computer. You can turn on and off the Click and type feature. (When this feature is checked, the cursor changes to one of the Click and Type Pointer Shapes when the mouse is over a blank area.) You can also choose the default paragraph style from the drop-down box.
The Print Tab
To change printer configurations, go to the Print tab.
- PRINTING OPTIONS: From here, you can choose to print a rough draft of your document, which prints quicker than a "good" copy. You can choose to have Word automatically update any fields and links in your document. You can allow for A4 / Letter paper resizing and printing PostScript over text. If Background printing is checked, you can continue to work in Word even though the document you sent to the printer is still printing. You can change the print order of the pages in your document (print the last page first).
- INCLUDE WITH DOCUMENT: In this section, you can choose what other elements of the document (document properties, field codes, comments, hidden text, drawing objects) you want printed with the document text.
- When the Print data only for forms box is checked, Word will only print the user-entered data when printing forms, and not the actual text of the form. You can choose the default paper source from the Default tray: drop-down box.
The Save Tab
The Save tab contains options for saving your files. In this section, you can choose to always create a backup copy of any document you save and to have Word perform a fast save when saving documents. You can decide to have the document properties box displayed the first time you save a document, and have Word "ask for permission" before saving changes to the Normal template. If the Embed TrueType Fonts box is checked, any TrueType font used in the document will be displayed correctly on all computers, even on those on which the font is not installed.
When working with a form template, you can tell Word to only save the user-entered data. The Allow background saves and Save AutoRecovery info every: features allow Word to automatically save changes to your document in a special file, so that they will not be lost if your computer freezes up or shuts off unexpectedly while you're working on the document. You can choose how you want your files saved, and can set passwords to open and/or modify your document to prevent others from reading or making changes to it. If the Read-only recommended box is checked, each time the document is opened, a box is displayed recommending that the document is opened in read-only format (which means that no changes can be made to the document).
The Spelling & Grammar Tab
The Spelling & Grammar section contains options for setting Word's proofing tools.
- SPELLING: When the Check spelling as you type box is checked, Word checks the document for potentially misspelled words, and underlines them with a red squiggly line. If the Hide spelling errors in this document box is checked, the red squiggly lines will not appear. You can decide if you want the spell checker to always suggest corrections for misspelled words, and which dictionary the spell checker should use to check spellings. You can choose to have the spell checker ignore any words typed in uppercase letters (i.e. acronyms, state abbreviations, etc.), any words with numbers included in them, and Internet addresses. You can also select a custom dictionary from the drop-down box. (To see a list of dictionaries, click on the Dictionaries… button.)
- GRAMMAR: When the Check grammar as you type box is checked, Word checks the document for grammatical errors, and underlines them with a green squiggly line. If the Hide grammatical errors in this document box is checked, the green squiggly lines will not appear. You can choose to have the grammar checked when performing a spell check, and to have statistics (word count, number of words per sentence, reading ease and grade level) displayed after a grammar check is complete. You can set the grammar checker to check for a specific writing style from the drop-down box, and can turn specific grammar rules on and off by clicking on the Settings button to view the options. If you click on Check Document, Word will run spell and grammar check on your document.
The Track Changes Tab
If you're co-writing a document with other people, you can use the Track Changes tool to keep track of changes made during the writing of the document. This tool allows others to make changes and/or comments to your document without changing the original text. In the Track Changes tab, you can set the marks and colors you want to use for inserting and deleting text, and for changing the formatting of the text. You can also decide how to draw attention to any changes made to your document. Changes made to the document using the Track Changes feature can be accepted or ignored by the others involved in creating the document.
The User Information Tab
In the User Information tab, you can enter or change the Name, Initials and Mailing address that Word recognizes and associates with your documents. This information is included with the file properties of your document, and is used for various templates and automated documents.
The Compatibility Tab
The Compatibility tab allows you to configure Word to work with older versions and other word processing programs. A list of the compatible programs can be viewed from the drop-down box. You can turn on and off a variety of different settings listed in the Options: box. When you click the Font Substitution button, you can select which fonts you would like used on computers that don't have the font you're using in a document already installed.
The File Locations Tab
The File Locations Tab allows you to set default locations for specific types of files. You can change a file location by clicking on the Modify button, and selecting a new location from the Modify Location dialogue box.