Wordwallah

 Helping you communicate more effectively

Quick tips

How do I set up shortcut keys to speed up tasks such as changing font or inserting symbols?

 

Click here to learn how.

 

Food for thought

Grammar is a piano I play by ear. All I know about grammar is its power.

Joan Didion

 

 

 

Where did I put that file?

How often have you needed information, which you know is stored somewhere on your computer, but you just don't know where you put it? It may have been an email someone (you can't remember who) sent you in the last six months. Or was it a Word document or Excel file? Maybe you just read it on the internet. All you remember is that it had some vital information about a widget supplier in Guangzhou, and you need that information NOW!

If you have the Google desktop toolbar, you simply type in the words 'widget' and 'Guangzhou' and it will instantaneously bring up everything on your computer with the words 'widget' and 'Guangzhou'. You can even choose to display only emails, only files or only web history. Imagine the time this can save you - and it's free!

You are given the option of three display styles:

1.   Within the Google sidebar (a bar you can install that sits vertically on one side of your screen)

2.     Within the taskbar (at the bottom of your screen)

3.   Hidden - you display it by pressing the 'Ctrl' key twice (this is my preferred option).

When you first install it, it requires a couple of hours to index your computer, but once that's done, you have instant access to any information you need. Brilliant.

One proviso - if you want to download this for your office computer, check with your IT department first.

Download the program from: desktop.google.com

How readable is your document?

Did you know that Microsoft Word has a built-in readability feature, which uses the Flesch Reading Ease score. It rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier the document is to understand. For most documents, you should aim for a score of around 60 to 70.

To activate this feature, do the following:

1.   On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab

2.   Select the Check grammar with spelling check box

3.     Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK

4. Open the document you want to check, then press F7.

When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it displays the Readability Statistics. Voila!

Word of advice          Issue 2          [back to archives list]