How to Download

So, you've found a piece of software you want to download but aren't sure how to go about the whole process. Well, here's a step by step guide:

#1 - Click the download link.

# 2 - Choose to save to disk and hit the OK button.

# 3 - Choose where you would like the file downloaded to. I normally use the desktop because after the download I can find it without hunting around my hard drive for a half an hour.

You may choose a location other than the desktop of course. You can create a folder on the C: drive named "Downloads". Then you can keep all your downloaded software in that location.

If you wish to place a download folder on your C: drive as mention above do the following:

First, double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop. Next, double-click the "C" drive. Select File, New>>, Folder. A folder icon will appear with the words New Folder highlighted. Type in the name you would like for the folder (i.e. "Downloads"). That's it, you now have your very own download folder!

Anyhow, once you decide on a good location, press the "Save" button.

NOTE:
Possibly the best way of doing this is to download the software to your desktop and transfer it to a download folder after you have installed the software.

The reason being is sometimes the downloaded file name isn't very descriptive. If you have 40 different files in a folder named "downloads" it may be a little difficult to determine what file you just downloaded.

On the other hand, if you download it to your desktop you can easily figure out where the file is and then later transfer it to a "downloads Folder".

If you want to take this a step further, you could even re-name the file in the little Save As dialog box. That's what I normally do. In fact, I've even been known to re-name the file and add a couple comments to the name so I knew what was what later on.

For example, if I was downloading a program called "Cool Clock", I may name the file:

Cool Clock - keeps computers time right

Sure, it's long, but I would know what it the file was when I went to install it.

The sample picture below shows just the original name of the file. Not very descriptive huh?



# 4 - Watch the file download (it's really exciting). When the downloading finishes, a message box will pop up telling you that the download is complete (or you may just hear a little "ding"). The file will reside wherever you told the computer to put it in the step above.

# 5 - Finally, double-click the file you just downloaded. If it's an " exe " type file, the setup program will run and you can install the software.

Zip Files

If it's a "zip" file, that's not too bad either. If you're using a program like WinZip , it can automatically extract the compressed files and start the install for you.

Personally, I like to right-click the file and select an "extract to" option from the resulting menu (yeah this is the hard way, but I'm stubborn). Now, the availability of this option depends on your "unzipping" software, but most zip-type programs will add an option to that menu when you install them.

Normally, you can choose not only to extract, but to extract to a specific location (some programs will even create a folder for you). Once the files are extracted, just double-click the setup program to install.

XP users , if you right-click a zip file, you'll get an option to Extract that will create a new folder in the same location as your zip file (i.e. if your zip file is on your desktop, you'll get a new folder on your desktop with the extracted files).

No Setup Program?

OK, you've unzipped and don't see any program called Setup.exe (or similar). What happened? Did your unzipping program miss something? Is Bill Gates out to get you for using that pirated copy of Windows?

Ahh, don't worry. Some software is very basic and doesn't require any setup program. You can just double-click the program to run it. No support files, no documentation, just the program itself is zipped.

The bad thing with this situation is that you don't get a shortcut and need to go to the folder where the file is each time you want to run it. Or do you?

So, here's the last trick of the day:

If you need a shortcut, just right-click and drag the program to your desktop. When you release, you'll get an option for creating a shortcut from a little menu. Actually, by default, you should get a shortcut with a left-click drag and drop, but you know how Windows can be :-)

~Steve

PowerPoint Key Combinations

For all my keyboard enthusiasts I thought I'd include a short list of key combinations that are for MS PowerPoint.

Editing Shortcuts (In addition to the regular shortcuts for copy, paste, bold, Italics, etc...):

• Ctrl + Shift + D will make a duplicate of the current slide.
• Ctrl + M will insert a new slide, allowing you to select the slide layout.
• Ctrl + K will open the window to insert a hyperlink.
• Page Up will move you back one slide.
• Page Down will move you forward one slide.

Shortcuts While Running Your Slideshow:

• Enter, Shift or N will advance your slideshow one slide.
• Backspace or P will go back one slide in your slideshow.
• Esc will end your slideshow.
• B will display a black screen. (B again will return from the black screen.)
• W will display a white screen. (W again will return from the white screen.)
• A number then Enter will go to that slide number.

Well that's quite a few—enough to learn for now.

Q: What are .pdf files?

A:
If you've been using the internet for any amount of time, you've probably run across these little buggers. They're Adobe Acrobat files. Normally, you download them and use Adobe Acrobat Reader to read them. You can get Adobe Acrobat Reader for free at Adobe's web site...

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

People use PDF files for everything. The most common use seems to be documents (both interactive and regular), but I've also seen PDF files used for maps, catalogs, presentations, and even e-books. Additionally, I've seen it used for non-web applications as well, including stuff like software help files.

Some Adobe products such as Pagemaker and Illustrator let you save a file as a PDF file. The only other ways are to fork out the big bucks for the Acrobat program, or create PDF files online (5 times for free or subscribe to use). To turn your documents into pdf files online, follow this link...

https://createpdf.adobe.com

Another option is a neat little program called Primo PDF Creator . It is a printer driver that allows you to create a PDF file from any program by selecting Print and sending it to the PDF Creator instead of printing a hard copy. Best of all, it's freeware...
http://www.primopdf.com

~ David

Comments Anyone?

Instead of several emails with ideas, you're looking to get back the presentation with everyone's comments right on the slides. So, you email it to one person and as they finish their ideas it goes to the next person then eventually lands back in your mailbox.

Makes sense, but where are the ideas?

Well, in the file, of course.

Now all you need is the "know how" for inserting comments.

Ready?

Good. Then let's get started.

I'm sure you've guessed by now, the first thing to do is open the presentation.

Next we need to open the Comment toolbar. You can either use the Insert menu, Comment choice - or - Alt then I then M.

The Comment toolbar will open.

To insert a comment you're looking for this button:

Click it once and a little yellow sticky note will appear in the upper left-hand corner of the slide.

You may have noticed that your name is inserted automatically in the note—this allows several people to create notes and you can tell who each one is from!

To change the name you need to go to the Tools menu, Options choice. On the General tab you're looking for the User Information section.

Make changes to the name and initials as necessary and click OK.

Anyway, back to the Comments.

Next you would type your ideas into the comment.

When you're done you can drag the comment around the slide to position it elsewhere—if necessary.

So, the first person completes their ideas, saves the file and passes it on to the next person. They add their comments and along it goes.

Eventually, you get the file back and you can see what each person thought, exactly where they thought it.

When you're ready to remove a comment simply select it and hit the Delete key. (You could also use the Backspace key, Ctrl + X or right click and choose Cut from the pop-up menu.)

Look at that—a meeting of the minds without the time-consuming meeting!

~ April

Input, Input — Too Much Input

It seems to me that more often than not PowerPoint presentations are created and / or presented by many people. While one person may have done most of the actual computer time, the content and presentation are often a shared responsibility.

So what's the process?

Let's see... there might be a discussion about content (maybe not) and then someone goes back to their computer and puts together the presentation.

Once it's "done" the group has to look it over again. If they can meet to do it all at once that's good, everyone's ideas can be brought together at once, but what if they can't meet?

Ok, no meeting. So the next thing you know you're emailing the presentation to every member of the group for their individual ideas.

Sounds like a workable answer until you get back all the emails with different references about this slide or that and what they each think should be changed, etc.

And lucky you! You get to sit down and try to make some sense of it all and to create a presentation that represents the consensus.

Now, my question is, what are you thinking as you create this consensus? Yep—me too. You just know this isn't the end of the revisions and you're going to do this all over again soon—too soon for your liking.

Well, I can't help with everyone else and their opinions but, what if we had a way to clearly communicate revision ideas right on the slides? Maybe we could find a way for everyone to offer input without you coordinating all those emails over and over again.

One solution might be in the way they submit their "comments".

Instead of random emails, let's try using PowerPoint's Comment feature to let everyone submit their input.

By now you may be asking "What exactly are these Comment things you keep mentioning?".

Well, basically, they're electronic sticky notes that can be applied right to a slide. This is good because each input item is right where it needs to be—comments right with the slide—no coordinating ideas, they're already together ready for you to make necessary adjustments.

Desktop Web Shortcuts

Do you have a web site you visit often? Wouldn't it be cool to have a shortcut on your desktop for it? Here's a quick way to do it:

First, head to the web page with either Explorer or Netscape.

~ With Internet Explorer:

You'll see next to the site's URL (address) a small icon with a blue "e" on it. Drag that to your desktop. Instant shortcut!

~ With Netscape:

Next to the URL (address) box, you'll see the word "location." Next to "location" there's a small icon. If you drag it onto your desktop, you'll make an instant shortcut to the page.

When you click on the shortcut(s), it will open your default browser and take you to the web site. Cool huh?

~ Steve

Q:
What do all those error codes (like 404) mean?

A:
It happens to all of us. We're surfing along, and up comes an error. What do all those error codes mean? Here's a quick rundown of the most common:

400 - Bad Request - You probably typed in a URL wrong, the server has no clue what you're looking for, or you aren't allowed to have access. Usually, it's a matter of the URL being typing in wrong. Maybe you mixed upper and lowercase letters or something.

401 - Unauthorized Request - you tried to get to something on the web server you're not allowed to play with. In other words, you ain't on the party list.

403 - Forbidden - You can't access the page. You may not have access (it may require a password), or it may be blocked from your domain.

404 - Not Found - The page you were trying to look at was not found on the server. This is probably the most common error you'll come across. What has probably happened is that the web page you were going to has been removed or re-named.

500 - Internal error - Usually caused by a CGI error. You fill out a form, but the script used to process it is not working properly.

503 - Service Unavailable - The server may be overloaded, down, or have other similar problems. Try later.

~ Steve

Custom Shows In MS PowerPoint

Well, if you've come this far than you've decided that MS PowerPoint's custom shows might be the thing for you and I bet you're ready to dig right in.

So let's get to it.

The first thing you need to do is to open your presentation.

Now you're looking for the Slide Show menu, Custom Shows choice. (Alt then D then C will get you there too.)

The Custom Shows window will open allowing you to Edit, Copy and Remove an existing custom show or to create a New show.

(You also might want to notice the Show button in the bottom right corner. This allows you to view your custom shows—a good thing if you have quite a few created and you're naming system just isn't working for you anymore!)

At any rate, to create a custom show click the New button.

The new window that opens is for defining the custom show.

At the top you should name your show. Be sure to use a name that will make sense later—useless names will make your life more difficult in the future.

On the left side of the window in the "Slides in presentation:" list you can choose the slides to be included. Simply click on the slide(s) to be included. (To select multiple slides you can use the old Shift or Ctrl key standbys.)

When you think you're ready click the Add button in the middle.

The slide names will be moved to the "Slides in custom show:" list on the right.

If you forgot a slide then select it and Add again.

Should you find that a slide in the custom show doesn't belong there then select it and click the Remove button.

The next step will be to put the slides in the correct order.

On the very far right of the window you should have noticed the up and down arrows.

You can use these to move a selected slide up or down the list one place at a time.

When you have every thing in its place click OK.

You'll be returned to the Custom Shows window where you will click Close to return to your presentation.

So, we're most of the way there—you can make a custom show of your master presentation including only the slides needed for your current audience.

But I bet by now you're wondering how you're going to show this custom show to them—after all, you were just returned to the complete presentation and if you start the slide show you will see all slides. (Defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it?)

The question begs to be asked: "How do we present only a custom show?"

Good question—and I've got a good (and quick) answer.

You need to go to the "Set Up Show" window.

(Try the Slide Show menu, Set Up Show choice.)

In this window you're looking for the Slides section. (In the middle on PowerPoint 97 and on the right in newer versions.)

Select the Custom Show choice and use the pull-down list to find the one you need.

Set any other preferences as necessary and click OK.

Now play the show.

Much better!

Only those slides in the custom show are displayed.

Wondering about handouts?

Same deal.

In the Print dialogue window (File menu, Print choice or Ctrl + P) choose Custom Show in the Print range list and use the drop-down list to get the right one.

Then continue with your handout printing as usual.

Never fear, a cure for those hide/unhide nightmares is here.

~ April

One Slide Show—Many Uses

What do you do when you have to take an MS PowerPoint presentation tailored for one audience and alter it for a slightly different audience?

I mean, the bulk of the presentation material will be the same but you've got to accommodate some differences.

Maybe the presentation is two hours long and you've got to do the job in just one hour.

Or... maybe you've got sensitive materials in the presentation that aren't for the eyes of the new audience.

Or... what about the situations where you need to put audience-specific slides in?

What do you do?

If you're like many people you keep creating a whole lot of extremely similar presentations that quickly become a file management mess.

Ugh!

You could also choose to change the presentation each time by marking some slides as hidden before you begin. (See the MS Office Tips issue from May 6, 2003 in our archives at http://www.worldstart.com/archives/ms-office-tips/ to take a look at hiding slides.)

While this option works well for a once-in-a-while deal, it probably isn't the best solution for constant changes.

Let's face it, the routine of hide some slides, give the presentation, unhide some slides and hide others, give the presentation, unhide and hide, give the presentation... (you get the idea) is a process overflowing with opportunities for mistakes.

You could easily overlook the addition or removal of a crucial slide and blow the entire presentation on any given day.

Ok, so you see the dilemma.

Looking for a better solution?

Yes.

Well then, you're in the right place at the right time because today we're going to take a look at custom shows in MS PowerPoint.

A good definition for a custom show comes from the Office Assistant himself.

"When you create a custom show, you group slides in an existing presentation so that you can easily show that section of the presentation to a particular audience and omit it for other audiences."

I couldn't have said it any better.

Q:
I installed a pop-up blocker, but now I can't get my web-based email. Do I need to uninstall the program?

A:
This is one of those cases of something working "too good". A popup blocker kills any javascript that tries to open, and will prevent new windows from opening, for instance, when you click on a link that comes up in a new window. Sometimes it can even prevent you from logging on to your ISP (a few CompuServe users have mentioned this to me) or cause Netscape not to open if Internet Explorer is up.

The good news is that you can temporarily bypass most popup blockers by holding down the Shift or Control key when you click a link. I usually hold down Shift anyway because I like to open links in new windows.

As for this email problem: with AOL, CompuServe, and other web-based email, when you click to read a message it opens a new window or performs a JavaScript to open the mail. Your popup blocker interprets this as a hostile action and prevents it. All you can really do is disable the popup blocker until you are done reading your email.

With most PU blockers, this can easily be done from your System Tray . Since I use iClean (as do the thousands of you who bought it recently), I will use it for my example—your program may work differently, but there should be a way to disable.

The iClean icon looks like a little broom and dustpan. Right mouse click this and you will see a list of choices: Close Popups, Clean Now!, Show, Hide, and Close. If "Close Popups" is checked, just select it to uncheck.

Now you can check your email without any problem, except for any popups that your ISP sends when you check your mail.

To reactivate the popup blocker, just follow the same procedure to re-check "Close Popups".

~ David

Time For A Font Change-Up

It's beautiful!

You're MS PowerPoint presentation is "picture perfect".

Well... almost.

You just happen to be looking it over and realize that maybe your choice of font wasn't the best decision.

But then you think of all the time it could take to make a change. Yeah, too much. This font will just have to do.

Too bad—now that you've gone down this mental road the presentation isn't quite so "perfect" after all. (And you just know that's what will run through your mind every time you give the presentation!)

Oh well, next time, right?

Wrong.

MS PowerPoint has a little feature called "Replace Fonts" that will solve our problem.

You can quickly tell PowerPoint which font type needs to go and exactly what to replace it with.

Here's the deal...

You'll need to go to the Format menu, Replace Fonts choice. (Alt, O then R will work too!)

The Replace Font window will open.

In the "Replace" field use the drop-down list to pick the font that's getting the boot from your presentation.

Below that, in the "With" field, use the list to select the font that's to take its place.

Click Replace.

Poof!

Throughout the entire presentation the old font is out and the new font is in.

You should also happily notice that font size and formatting is retained—just the font itself is replaced.

So, is your presentation "picture perfect" yet?

Full Screen Fun

If you would like to see more web page and less web browser toolbars, here's a little trick you'll like. Hit the F11 key. It will put you into "full screen" mode. Hit F11 again to go back to normal mode. This works with IE, Netscape, and Opera.

OK, many of you are sitting there thinking, yeah, I know all about that one. Well, here's a bonus!

One complaint people tend to have with full screen mode is that you don't have stuff like your address or menu bar. Well, with Internet Explorer, you can actually have your digital cake and eat it too!

Just right-click a blank area of the toolbar. A menu will pop up that lets you add your address bar, menu bar, and any other Explorer bars you feel the need to have.

Since it's in full screen mode, you won't be able to squeeze too many of these extra little bars in, but at least you can get the essentials.

The above is all well and good, but what if you want even less Explorer toolbar at the top of your page?

Simply right-click the toolbar and select Autohide from the resulting menu (same one as mentioned above). Now, when you move your mouse away, the toolbar disappears. Move your mouse back to the top and the toolbar re-appears. Kinda like magic.

~ Steve

From One to the Other

Have you ever found yourself recreating a slide for a PowerPoint presentation?

When I say "recreate" I mean actually creating a slide identical to one you have in some other presentation.

What were you thinking as you went through all the hassle?

Aggravation? Frustration?

Yeah, you bet.

Even if you're doing the old copy / paste thing, it's still time consuming and irritating that you have to go through all the flipping back and forth between presentations to get everything transferred.

Looking for a quick way to have PowerPoint do all the work?

Maybe even have PowerPoint simply copy the complete slide from one presentation to another in one swift move?

Yes?

Good — then let's take a look.

First, open the presentation where you want to insert the copied slide.

Next you're looking for the Insert menu, Slide from Files choice.

The Slide Finder window will open.

Click the Browse button, navigate to the presentation file that contains your slide(s) and click Open.

You'll be returned to the Slide Finder window.

Click the Display button to load the slides from the selected presentation.

In the bottom section of the window you'll see each slide.

See the buttons just below the Display button?

They look like this:

The one on the left will display just the slides. (Shown above)

If you choose the one on the right the display will change to a list of slide titles and a preview box.

Clicking on a slide name will display it on the right.

At this point you're ready to select the slides that will be inserted into the presentation.

If you've got all slides displayed you can simply click on the image of each slide to be copied.

Accidentally click on the wrong slide?

No problem—click on the slide again and it will be deselected.

If you have the list of slide titles displayed you'll need to hold down the Ctrl key to select more that one slide at a time.

When you've got all the slides you need click the Insert button.

Here's a few other tidbits you might want to know.

Next to the Insert button is the Insert All button—a one stop place to put all slides into the presentation with no delays.

Also, back at the top of the window (just below the file name) there's an Add to Favorites button.

Clicking this one will put the selected presentation into your favorites list. By having a presentation listed in favorites you no longer have to go through all the navigation stuff to locate the file.

To access your favorites list click the List of Favorites tab at the top.

You'll find yourself looking at pretty much the same stuff with one big difference.

You don't browse the computer to find files, you simply pick the file you need from the list you've created.

So, if you've got a presentation containing slides that will be used frequently you'll want to consider putting it on the favorites list.

When you've finished copying everything click the Close button to return to your current presentation.

Poof!

Slides inserted—no copy / paste required!

Quickly I'd like to mention a couple of other things that I think might be useful.

First, I found that the inserted slides followed the Slide Master of the new presentation—not the old. Meaning that background colors, fonts, etc… set in the Slide Master of the old presentation do not come into the new one.

Second, I also found it more efficient to insert all slides at once and then use the slide sorter to put them in the correct location within the new presentation. To insert a slide, close the Slide Finder window, move to the next location, insert a slide, close the Slide Finder window, move to the next location… is a pain! Just insert them all at once then use the "handy dandy" slide sorter to drag and drop them into their new "homes".

~ April

Welcome back to our ongoing header and footer discussion! The previous two issues covered the two big MS Office Suite programs (Word & Excel). Now it's time to wrap up our discussion by addressing PowerPoint.

You will get to the header and footer window in the same way you did in the other two programs: View menu, Header and Footer choice. (This is one of the good things about working with a suite of programs—they tend to be somewhat consistent within the suite.)

Once you open the Header and Footer window, you should find two tabs at the top: the Slide tab and the Notes and Handouts tab.

Two? Two? Why two? You see, in PowerPoint, you have two different types of header and footer sets.

One set is displayed on the slide(s) during the slide show. While, the second set of headers and footers are for the printed notes and/or handouts you may choose to use along with your slide show.

Let's begin with the slide headers and footers.

As you begin to explore this tab, you will find that the only things you can set here are in the footer of the slide. You are allowed to set the date and time, slide number and a field known as the footer.

For each option you select, you will see in the preview pane a black box showing the placement of the data you've entered. If you deselect an option, you will notice that the box is outlined but not filled in.

First option up is the date and time. Once you select this option, you will need to choose between a form that is updated automatically or a fixed format.

Should you choose automatic updates you need to select one of the options from the drop-down list.

If you want fixed information in this field, you should type something into the data box. (The box becomes available after you select fixed.) The data is displayed in the bottom left of the slide.

The next check-box is to choose slide numbering. If you uncheck the box, your slide(s) will not be numbered. (If you have a show that is non-linear, that is, it jumps around through buttons and is not shown sequentially—you may want to consider turning off the slide numbers. After all, it confuses most people when they jump from slide 3 to slide 9 then back to 6.) This data is displayed in the bottom right of the slide.

Footer data is the third option you can choose to use. If you choose this option you can type whatever data you choose into the data box. This will be displayed in the center bottom of the slide.

Finally, at the bottom, be sure to check the box if you do not want the footer information on the title (first) slide.

Now that all the data decisions are made you've got one more.

You have to decide where to apply the data.

If you click on the Apply to All button, then all slides, including the master, will have the data you've chosen.

The button labeled Apply will put the data on the currently selected slide(s) only. (For a method of selecting some, but not all, slides see the Office 101 tip above.)

The Cancel button will take you out of the Header and Footer window without saving any of your changes. If you use this one, make sure you mean it. How aggravating is it to reset the same data again and again?

The Notes and Handouts tab is pretty much the same as the Slide tab.

You'll find four data options for these printed pages: Date and Time (fixed or updated automatically), Header (data you type in), Page Number and Footer (data you type in).

Notice that the choices you've selected are outlined darkly and any choices you've deselected will have a thin outline.

(You'll find that it all works pretty much the same as the slide footers.)

Once the data decisions are complete you only have two choices. First you can choose Apply to All, which puts the data on all printed pages. Second, you can choose to cancel, loosing all the data.

Choices, choices, choices! So many choices, so little time...

Well, there it is! Now you can become a header and footer expert.

~ April

Multiple Slide Selections In MS PowerPoint

Have you ever been working in MS PowerPoint and wished you could select more than one slide at a time?

Maybe you have several slides for which you're going to set the slide transition the same.

Wouldn't it be nice to set these things all at once instead of over and over again, one slide at a time?

Of course it would—who wouldn't want to save the time and energy?

So, as you knew I'd say, here you go...

To begin, go to the Slide Sorter view.

Select the first slide you wish to change.

In PowerPoint 97, you will need to hold down the shift key and select all the slides you wish to simultaneously change.

In the newer versions of PowerPoint, you have two options for multiple slide selection.

For sequential slide selection, click on the first slide in the sequence. Then hold down the Shift key and click on the last slide to be changed. The Shift key will select the first slide, the last slide and all the slides in between.

To pick non-sequential slides you need to use the Control key. When you hold this key down and click, slides from any location will be selected. Continue to hold down the Control key until you've selected all the slides to be changed.

That's it—multiple-select to your heart's content!

Q:
My area requires ten digit dialing, so every time I try to make an internet connection I have to type in my area code for it to dial. Is there a way to fix this?

A:
As more numbers are needed for cell phones area codes are being broken up and ten-digit dialing is becoming the norm. So, how to get your modem to dial up correctly...

With Windows 98/ME go to Control Panel/Modems and click on your modem. Choose Dialing Properties / Area Code Rules / Always dial the area code.

In Windows 2000/XP head over to Control Panel / Phone and Modem Options then click on "Dialing Rules". Choose "Edit" and go to the "Area Code Rules" tab then select "New". Type in your area code and place a check mark next to "Include the area code".

That should make your dialing a little easier.

~ David

A "Polished" Finish

You've seen it hundreds of times. You're in a workshop or meeting and the presenter, who's using MS PowerPoint, gets to the end of their slide show.

What happens?

They click on the last slide and poof!

Up on the screen is the PowerPoint program window—file menu, standard toolbar and all. Something like this ring any bells?

Now it's your turn to present and you're looking for a way to avoid this ending—looking for something that's just a bit more "polished".

How about a blank black slide?

Sounds good to me. But do we really have to create a black slide at the end of each presentation?

(Seems like a waste of time to me too.)

What if we could get PowerPoint to automatically add that black slide to the end of all presentations?

I'd say it's just the thing we're looking for.

Here's the scoop on PowerPoint's black slide ending.

Start with the Tools menu, Options choice, View tab.

You're looking in the Slide Show section for the "End with black slide" option.

Make sure the check box is selected and then click OK.

And that's it.

Now whenever you run your presentations you can end with that "polished" look of a black slide.

~ April

Q:
I'm switching ISPs and want to take my contacts with me. Is there a way to do this?

A:
There is, of course, the tedious method of printing out your address book and re-entering all the info, but I like to save time whenever I can.

Many web-based email address books have the option to import/export contacts into an Outlook (.CVS) or Netscape (LDIF) address book file. But if yours does not, or if you are migrating to another web-based email, here is an easy little trick.

NOTE: Since every web-based email site is unique, these general procedures may need modification.

Go to the address book of your web-based email account. Choose all of your personal contacts as the recipient of an email then click COMPOSE .

Highlight and CUT (CTRL+X) addresses from the TO box, then PASTE (CTLR+V) into body of the email. Put each address on its own line (in other words, delete the commas and hit ENTER ). Change the recipient to your NEW email address and you are ready to SEND .

Seconds later you will receive an email containing all of your contact email addresses. There are as many ways of transferring these addresses as there are programs and web-based email sites.

In Outlook, you can just right click each address and add to your new address book.

You may need to play around to find out how to add contacts from the body of an email to your new web-based email address book. You might need to copy each address from the body of the email then paste into the address book. Whatever the process, at least you have the address list to work with.

~David

Give It A Break

You're in the middle of a PowerPoint presentation and you need a break in the show... maybe you've got this great discussion breaking out and it's time to wander from the presentation to explore the new ideas... or maybe it's just plain old coffee break time.

Whatever your reason, you need a break in your presentation—what do you do?

(If you'd known that you needed the break at this very point you would have put a slide in to entertain and suggest a break, but who knew?)

Anyway, you're here now and you need a solution.

If you're in the vicinity of the projector, and know where the lens cap is, you could use it to black out the screen.

You could simply leave the current slide projected but, if you're in a discussion it could be distracting to the audience.

Looking for a quick, insert it anywhere, blank slide to create a presentation break?

Seems to me that would be just the solution you need.

Fortunately, PowerPoint has that option built right in—you just have to know where to find it!

You actually have the choice between a white screen and a black screen at any point in your presentation.

And you're not going to believe how easy it is.

All you need to do for a black screen is to touch the B key.

Want a white screen?

Try the W key.

Need a break?

Touch a key—take your break—then simply click the left mouse button to return to your presentation.

I love it when things are logical and easy!

PS: I did find that some keys would return me to the presentation—the most obvious one being the Enter key but I also found that the Enter key would advance me in the presentation as I returned. Not what I was looking for.

After some more exploring I found that the period key would toggle between a black screen and the current slide while the comma key would toggle between the while screen and the current slide.

Whatever method you choose, it's an instant break in your presentation any time you need it.

Rearranging PowerPoint Slides

Have you ever finished a PowerPoint presentation and realized that the slide order needs to be redone?

What do you do to quickly rearrange? Do you need to re-do the entire presentation?

Don't worry, the rearrangement can be complete in just a few clicks. (Whew!)

When you realize that you need to tweak the order of your slides simply go to the Slide Sorter view. You can get there through the View menu, Slide Sorter choice or you can click the Slide Sorter button located in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Once you're into the Slide Sorter view you will see all your slides laid out in rows. The first slide is labeled as #1 in the upper left corner. The order of the slides is from left to right, top row to bottom row. Each slide is numbered.

(You may have to scroll down to see all your slides if you have a large presentation.)

Moving a slide can be accomplished by a click and hold on the slide to be moved. Then drag the slide to its new location in the presentation.You will see a vertical line between the slides showing you where it will go.

Release the mouse button and the slide to be moved into its new place. You will find that the slides are automatically renumbered.

To return to slide editing simply go to the View menu, Slide choice or use the Slide View button in the bottom left corner.

That's it! Slides are now in your new preferred order. But, you'll change your mind again, won't you?

~ April

Search Engine Tricks

Having a hard time finding something online? Does it seem like you type in your search term but don't get anywhere near what you're looking for?

Well, here's a couple tricks that seem (almost) universal between search engines.

Let's say you're looking for sports cars and all you're getting is information on baseball and football (sports). What can you do? Try some of the following:

1. Try:

sports +cars

Most search engines will interpret this as meaning you only want results that have both the word "sports" and "cars" in them. Some search engines let you us the word "and" to do this as well (i.e. sports and cars).

2. You can also try to exclude terms. Let's say you still aren't getting what you want with sports cars (you still keep getting baseball info). Try something like:

sports +cars -baseball

The "-" sign tells most search engines to exclude results that have whatever word it is that has the "-" in front of it. (Don't put a space between the - and the word to be excluded though!)

3. If the above seems too confusing, most search engines have an "advanced search" option that gives you a web-style way to help you accomplish the same thing. Instead of using "+ / -" they use drop down boxes and option buttons. It is usually easier to search this way, although it's probably faster to use steps 1 & 2.

4. The next thing you might try is being more specific. Instead of just sports cars , maybe use exotic sports cars . Try different combinations of search terms until you get what you're after. (Careful with that word "exotic" though!)

5. Also, you may want to try using quotes. If you type in:

"sports cars"

You should only get results that match that exact phrase in that exact order. Sometimes that can narrow things down considerably.

6. If all else fails, try a different search engine. We have a selection of what we feel are the best search engines on our homepage:

http://www.worldstart.com

Of course the favorite is Google , but there are thousands of search engines out there and not all of them support the tips I have shown you today. If you're having trouble, look for a link for search tips, search help, advanced search, or how to search. Most search engines have lots of information on how to use them successfully.

~ Steve

Hey Internet Explorer users—you aren't stuck using MSN as your search engine when you search from the address bar or when you click "Search" to bring up the sidebar.

For NON XP SP2 Internet Explorer just click View / Explorer Bar / Search (or click the "Search" button in your Toolbar) to bring up the side panel. If you have a side bar with a little dog at the bottom, then click "Change Preferences" then "Change Internet Search Behavior" to bring up a list of search engine you can use.

Highlight the one you want then click OK.

If you have Win XP with Service Pack 2 installed then you have a newer version of Internet Explorer (6.0.2900...) which makes changing the search engine easier.

Click the Search Button then "Customize" in the upper right of the sidebar search window. You'll see a list of services. Notice that Google is strangely missing from the list.

This new default setting will only apply to searches done in the side bar. If you type a word into your address bar, it still goes to MSN.

Non XP SP2 users, before you go on with the next step, be really sure that you want to change the setting to "classic" because I have not found a way to change back to the newer style search sidebar.To change where the address bar search looks, select the radio button marked "With Classic Internet Search" before clicking OK. Close Explorer and reopen it. You'll notice that the sidebar looks different now. Plain text on white like the earlier versions of IE.

With XP SP2 IE you don't need to change anything, just proceed to the next step to change the address bar search engine.

The menu bar has a button at the top marked "Customize". Clicking it will open the "Customize Search Settings" box. Next, choose the "Autosearch Settings" button to bring up a box where you can change the default engine for address bar searches.

Once you pick the one you want, close the sidebar.

Now when you type a word in the address bar, it will bring up the results on the page of your favorite search engine.

~ David

Here's the situation... you're in the middle of your PowerPoint presentation and suddenly there's a question regarding a different slide.

Of course it's a question that's not about the previous or the next slide. As luck would have it, you've got to go "hunting" for the right place. So now what?

Fortunately, while there are lots of ways you could get to your new destination, there's a couple that can provide minimal disruption to your presentation. (Can't you just picture the presentation where someone goes back into the program and you see the slide sorter, toolbars, menus and all?)

Let's take a look at one of those "minimally disruptive" methods.

Next time you need to jump out of presentation sequence turn on the presentation menu. (The "a" key will do this and so will moving your mouse pointer across the screen.)

In the menu you're looking for the Go sub-menu, By Title choice.

This will bring up a list of all slide titles in the presentation.

Pick the title of the one you need and zip! You're instantly in the location of your choice—minus the usual disruptive search for the "right" slide.

Q:
How do I download Wave and MP3 sound files from the internet?

A:
Here's the problem. You go to download a sound file, so you click the link to it. Then Windows automatically plays it, but doesn't display a download screen (OK, this varies a bit depending on what flavor of Windows / Explorer you're using). What can you do? Easy! Right-click it.

When you right-click the link to the Wave file, you should get an option to " Save target as... " Select that and you'll get a dialog box that allows you to put the file wherever you like. (P. S. This also works for stuff like pictures, movies, etc.)

That's all well and good, but where do you put all of these little WAV files? Personally, I set up a folder on my C: drive for 'em

To do this, follow the procedure above, but when you get to the dialog box, navigate to your C: drive. Next, click the new folder button on the dialog box (it looks like a folder with a little star in the corner). Name the new folder Music , and put all your downloads in there. Win XP already has folders for "My Music", "My Movies" and "My Pictures" that you can use.

Oh, if you're really in the dark about all this downloading stuff, check out our downloading guide at:

http://www.worldstart.com/guides/download.htm

~Steve

Get Right to Business in MS PowerPoint

Are you using PowerPoint 97 or 2000 and find yourself tired of seeing this screen every time you start the program?

Looking for a way to bypass this altogether and just get right to business?

If this is you then here's the scoop.

Take another look at that Startup Screen... maybe take a look way at the bottom?

See it?

Yep, that's right, the answer has been right before your eyes the whole time.

Simply check the "Don't show this dialog box again" box, make your selections above and click OK.

Poof!

No more startup dialog box.

Now, before you feel any remorse about that decision (or aren't willing to make the change just in case you don't like it) there is a way to see the startup dialog window again.

Simply go to the Tools menu, Options choice.

On the View tab make sure that the "Startup dialog" option is checked and click OK.

That's it—you're back to the "situation normal".

AutoFit in MS PowerPoint XP

OK, so we're all here for the same reason—to learn to control PowerPoint's AutoFit feature. With that in mind, let's get right down to business.

You actually have two types of control over this feature.

One type is when you choose to turn the AutoFit feature on or off globally (at the overall program level so it affects all presentation elements).

Another point of control is for each individual text placeholder (this one only applies if the feature is left turned on globally).

Let's begin with the overall program level of the feature—that is to turn it on or off for everything.

AutoFit is a part of the AutoCorrect features so it's there that we'll have to go.

Try the Tools menu, AutoCorrect Options choice.

When the AutoCorrect window opens you're looking for the AutoFormat As You Type tab.

Towards the bottom, in the Apply as you type section, you'll find two AutoFit options.

"AutoFit title text to placeholder" applies only to the title text placeholders in your presentations.

"AutoFit body text to placeholder" applies to the non-title text placeholders in your presentations.

A checked box means that a particular AutoFit feature is turned on - so uncheck a box to turn the feature off.

Click OK when you've made your choices.

Now, assuming that you've left the AutoFit features on, let's take a look at the way you can control it text placeholder by text placeholder.

When the AutoFit feature takes over and makes a font size change you should see the AutoFit Options button appear to the left of the text box.

If you've already clicked out of the text and don't see this button then click back into the text and it should appear.

Click the button and a short menu will open.

Basically you have two options and a shortcut to the AutoCorrect window.

The first two items are your choices for this particular text placeholder—either let AutoFit do its job here or stop it.

The last item in the menu will take you immediately to the AutoCorrect window where you can choose to turn this feature off at the program level.

That's it—simply choose to Stop fitting text to the placeholder and you will see the text go back to the original font size.

Change your mind?

No problem. The button is still available and you can choose to turn it back on at a later time.

And there you have it—shrinking PowerPoint text has been demystified!

~ April

Q:
What are cookies?

A:
When you hear the term cookies applied to the internet, it's generally not in reference to the gooey chocolate chip variety. A cookie used on the internet is basically a small text file that is placed on your hard drive by a web server. They are used to keep track of various aspects of your travels through the site in question.

They can be used to keep track of passwords, shopping patterns, what type of pages you like, your preferences for that particular site, and more.

For example, if you've ever "joined" any kind of site that requires a login and password, you've probably noticed a "click here to remember your login information" checkbox (not all sites have it, but most do). The site remembers this info by using cookies.

Another example would be a site that you can customize to your liking. If you have a site that "remembers" what type of news, sports ,weather or other preferences you like, they are probably using cookies to do this.

The disadvantage of course is that these sites get a little bit of information about you, especially how you are moving through the site. A cookie by itself can't read (or damage) your hard drive. They only way a site gets personal information about you is if YOU provide it.

OK, I may take a little heat for this (what else is new), but my personal recommendation is not to worry too much about cookies. In general they are more helpful than harmful. If you're worried about your privacy, don't give out any personal information. If you don't want to be tracked with these little cookies, here's a tip that can help.

~ Steve

I choose Blue... No, Orange! Wait, maybe Lime Green?

Have you ever found the perfect clipart for your presentation, document or worksheet only to find that it seems to clash with other elements (maybe the background or other clipart)?

Did you find yourself wishing you could change the clipart color scheme so everything would look "right?"

Well, you can... if you have MS PowerPoint.

When you insert clipart into an MS PowerPoint slide, a picture toolbar comes up and it's on this toolbar that we'll find a Recolor button.

But I get ahead of myself here—let's start at the beginning.

First thing you need to do (besides starting PowerPoint and getting into a slide) is to insert the clip art you need to recolor. You can do this several ways. You could select a slide type that contains clip art and then use the clip art box to insert or you could use the Insert menu, Picture choice, Clip Art from the sub-menu. (Or any other method you may know—the point is to insert a clip art picture.)

Once the clip art is in the slide you should notice a picture toolbar has opened.

On this toolbar we're looking for the Recolor Picture button.

Click on the button.

The Recolor Picture window should open showing you a list of the colors currently used in the clip art and a preview of the picture. It's in this window that you have the option of changing any or all of the colors in the clip art.

On the left is the list of colors. To change any color, simply click the down arrow to the right of the New color box.

The current color scheme for the clip art will pop-up. If none of those colors are what you're looking for then click on the More Colors button at the bottom.

See the difference between the two pictures? I already changed the green to pink.

This will take you to the Colors window where you can choose a color from the standard choices or pick a custom color (found on the Custom tab). (To pick a custom color move the white cross hairs through the color spectrum until the color in the New box suites your needs.)

Whether custom or standard, click OK once you've found the new color choice.

You should be returned to the Recolor Picture window where you should see your clip art with the color change.

Notice that all occurrences of the old color have been replaced with the new color. (Sorry—you can't replace just certain elements. Color changes affect all places where the original color existed.)

Change as many of the colors as you feel necessary. Any change you don't like can be reversed by un-checking the box to the left of the original color.

You can click the Preview button and the clip art in the slide will be updated with the new colors, allowing you to see exactly how it will look. You are then free to continue making color changes to get just the right affect.

When you have your clip art exactly as you want it, click OK.

(I'd like to re-iterate here that to restore your clip art to its original colors, simply un-check the boxes to the left of the original color bar.)

Now I looked in Word and Excel for a similar option and just couldn't find one. But, of course, that just wouldn't do. I frequently print documents and worksheets in color and I'm always trying to make the clip art match. So I set out in search of a way to use this little tidbit in Word and Excel too.

My first thought was a copy/paste from PowerPoint to Word or Excel. But that didn't work—it always returned the clip art to the original colors.

So I tried the Paste Special option and, BAM!, I had a useable solution.

To bring a re-colored clip art into Word or Excel simply select and copy the clip art in PowerPoint then switch over to Word or Excel. Once there, go to the Edit menu, Paste Special choice.

In the Paste Special window, choose (in the center of the window) to bring the clip art in as a type of Picture. I found that any of the picture options would paste the clip art with the new colors.

Click OK. You should now have your custom colored clip art at your disposal.

Whew! Glad we figured out that one. I just hate it when things don't match!

~ April