microsoft: 2009-05-31

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Daily Tips and Tricks Special Delivery

Create SmartArt Diagrams
Microsoft SmartArt graphics make it easy for you to create high-impact, professional diagrams. Instead of spending hours designing your own diagrams, you can use Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to focus on the visual message that you want to communicate.
1. On the Insert tab, click the SmartArt button.
2. In the list of diagram categories, select the type of diagram that you want to add to your presentation.
3. Under Type your text here, type a list of the information that you want reflected in your diagram.
4. Click the Design tab, and then select colors and styles from the available galleries to make your diagram look great.

Insert and Format Charts
In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, you will find many new professional-looking charts to help you visualize your data and communicate it more effectively. To insert a chart:
1. On the worksheet, arrange the data that you want to use in a chart.
2. Select the cells that contain the data that you want to use for the chart.
3. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click the chart type, and then click a chart subtype that you want to use.

To see all available chart types, click a chart type, and then click All Chart Types. Excel will select the default formatting layout, but you can quickly modify it:
1. On the contextual Design tab, select a chart layout from the gallery to display the legend, axis, and title the way you want.
2. Select a chart style to modify color and effects.

•	Tips and Tricks Web site
•	Microsoft Office Online
•	Help

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Friday, June 5, 2009

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Daily Tips and Tricks Special Delivery

Fill In the Blanks in Spreadsheets the Easy Way
1. Select all the rows in your Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet data set.
2. On the Home tab, in the Editing section, click Find & Select, click Go To, click Special, click Blanks, and then click OK.
3. Click the equal sign (=) on the toolbar, select the cell above, and then hold down the CTRL key while you press ENTER. Blanks in the spreadsheet will be filled automatically.
4. Copy all the data, click Paste Special, and then click Values. This will overwrite the formulas and enable you to sort the data by filling in each empty cell with the same information as the one above. This tip will work on any size of data set.

RSS Feeds
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds are an easy way to subscribe to interesting information like world news, sport scores, or blogs. With Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, it's easy to start adding and reading RSS subscriptions.
1. Click the mail folder called RSS Feeds.
2. Choose a feed that interests you from the RSS Feeds content directory.
3. Outlook prompts you to add this feed to your list. Click OK.
4. Outlook creates a specific RSS subscription folder for this feed below the main RSS Feeds folder.
Note: When using Office Outlook 2007 with Windows Internet Explorer 7, you can keep a synchronized list of subscriptions between the two programs.

•	Tips and Tricks Web site
•	Microsoft Office Online
•	Help

[+/-]

Daily Tips and Tricks Special Delivery

To Change the Color of a Sheet Tab
1. Right-click the sheet tab.
2. Click Tab Color.
3. Click the color from the palette that appears.

Collecting Data via E-Mail
Microsoft Office Access 2007 simplifies the process of collecting information from others. It builds the data collection form automatically by using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 or HTML in the body of an e-mail message. Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 processes the incoming forms and helps you save the data in your Office Access 2007 data store—effectively updating the database without retyping.

To collect new information via e-mail:
1. Open or select the table containing the fields that you want to collect.
2. On the External Data tab, click Create E-mail.
3. Follow the wizard to create an e-mail form.
a. Select HTML or InfoPath form (if you select the latter, the recipients must have Office InfoPath 2007 and Office Outlook 2007 deployed).
b. Select Automatically process replies and add data to Table if you don't have to approve each entry before it is saved in the database.

Returned forms will go to a newly created folder named Access Data Collections in your Inbox in Office Outlook 2007. Each time you receive a filled form, it will be flagged as a task for you to review.

To export collected data to Access:
1. If you have not selected automatic processing, right-click the returned e-mail message, and then click Export to Access. Or you can open the message and click the same command from the Ribbon.
2. Green or red icons will flag whether the export was successful or not.

After sending a data collection e-mail message, you can use the Manage Replies command on the External Data tab of the Ribbon to change some of the message options and resend the message.

•	Tips and Tricks Web site
•	Microsoft Office Online
•	Help

Thursday, June 4, 2009

[+/-]

Daily Tips and Tricks Special Delivery

Prioritize with Note Tags
Note tags help you to know and find what's important in your notes (such as ideas or actions), to indicate what level priority or type each item is, and to recall these items easily. Names and icons associated with note tags can be customized to meet your needs.

To add a note tag:
1. Click the content that you want to tag.
2. On the Insert menu, click Note Tags.
3. Choose from the list of note tags.

Schedule Meetings for a Whole Team of People
If you frequently schedule meetings with the same team members, finding a free slot in everyone's calendar can be challenging. It can also be irritating to keep adding all of your team members to the To line of your meeting request.

Defining and using a group schedule makes this task easier. Here's what to do:
1. Define a group schedule.
a. In your Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar view, click Actions, and then click View Group Schedules.
b. Click the New button, assign a name to the new group schedule, and then click OK.
c. Add your teammates in the Group Members column (just as you would in a meeting request).
d. Click Save and Close.

2. Use your group schedule to create a meeting request.
a. From your Outlook Calendar view, click Actions, and then click View Group Schedules from the menu bar.
b. Click the group schedule that you defined from the list, and then click Open. Now you can see the free/busy information from all your teammates without having to select them individually in a meeting request.
c. Find a free slot and select it.
d. Click Make Meeting, and then click New Meeting with All. A new meeting request opens, prefilled with all your teammates on the To line.