It's always proper to have headings and subheadings to be formatted the same throughout a document. Sure, you can use the AutoFormat button to accomplish this - even when you make a change to them down the road, it's easy to use over and over (especially on smaller documents.) But experienced Word users know and apply the popular Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles to their headings and subheadings, making life a lot easier (especially on larger documents.)

There are two reasons for this. First of all they are easy to apply to text; I use the dropdown on the Formatting toolbar. Secondly, when you need to make a change on any of them - modifying the format of the style changes all the headings in your document automatically. Basically, it's what they were originally created for. But is this all that these styles are good for? Of course not.

They're called built-in heading styles (by the way, there's actually 9 of these), and they are the foundation for setting up other documents and scenarios in Microsoft Word. Shauna Kelly, Microsoft Word MVP, post an article on her FAQ site called "Why use Microsoft Word's built-in Heading styles?", where she outlines 15 reasons (other than the one I explained above) to use them.

I've used them for creating Table of Contents pages (Reason #3) for several years; but even I learned a few other reasons for using them - like Reason #10, creating bookmarks in a PDF. The best reason, according Shauna, is Reason #15, the Outline View:

You can use other styles in Outline View, and you can choose the Level at which they'll appear. But it's easiest to use the built-in Heading styles, because they're already set up ready for you. Outline View is probably the most useful, and least used, resource in Word. See How to save yourself hours by using Outline View properly at the MS Word MVP FAQ site for a full (and enthusiastic) description of what Outline View can do, and how to use it.

This is more than a worth while read for any Microsoft Word user, and you will learn a great deal about its capabilities other than built-in styles. Thank you, Shauna.

Happy Labor Day!

When businesses (especially small businesses) market their products and services, tri-fold brochures are and will remain a popular choice. They are for easy to give and to receive, effective in organizing your content into small, precise chunks of content, and they're inexpensive to create (particularly if you can make them yourself.) In a previous post about tri-fold brochures, I referenced an article that I found a long time ago that details how to create one in Microsoft Word when desktop publishing software (like Adobe Pagemaker or Microsoft Publisher) is not available.

This week, I found another article on tri-fold brochures, only this time it gives pointers on how to properly design it. It also references a sample tri-fold brochure template that you can download, along with several other links to get more help on them. Though this article focuses on "educational" brochures, the suggestions given can still be applied on all types of brochures.

I just ran across a great Yahoo! Groups discussion. A user posted the following question to the Word_DocDesign group:

"I'm creating a document where my client wants to be able to fill in his client's name on the first page of the document and then have that information automatically inserted into the header of any subsequent pages. Is there something already set up to do this type of thing or do I need to use some VBA coding?"

This may seem impossible to some, but this user was presented with several ways to tackle this. The first reply was from Dian D. Chapman, MVP, MOS who refers the user to an article she wrote to accomplish this task. It says this:

"Actually, the solution is pretty simple. You just need to record a macro that unlocks the form, goes into the header, selects the content, updates the fields, closes the header and re-locks the form. Then you add that macro into the Run Macro on Exit option in the form field."

I encourage you to check out these things to give you a better understanding of macros, and the flexibility you have with headers and footers in Microsoft Word.

In my view, the templates that come with Microsoft Word (or any other program for that matter) were always provided to get ordinary tasks done quickly. They also serve as great examples of how you can produce great looking documents. However, I think Microsoft Office users in general have taken templates too far. I don't think they were ever supposed to be used as a part of a company's corporate identity.

Take fax cover sheets. How many times have to seen this one?

Probably over a thousand times, right! If it were up to me, this one would be outlawed from further use. However, with 2 simple changes; you can use this template to create a look of your own. First, replace the black block with your logo, and then simply change the font face to something different that goes with your logo.

Small changes like this can be done with all of the templates provided in Microsoft Word to give yourself a unique identity that stands out from others and makes a good impression on your clients. Some take some work to figure out because they're laid out differently than you're used to, but you should be able overcome them with some effort. Besides, you can also just use the templates as a guideline to create your own from scratch.

To make your templates in even more unique, go to the Microsoft Office Online site and use the updated templates there to start with.

Virtually all of us have been guilty of sending too much e-mail at point or another (some on the verge of spamming), especially when one is exposed to it for the first time. I suppose that it's only natural since e-mail is so easy to send. When you start collecting e-mail addresses from friends and family, you have to find out if it really works; so you send stuff.  And when you actually get a reply, you get that rush of excitement; and then you get addicted. Soon, you forward almost everything in your inbox that you feel is of any significance (yes, you remember now ... don't you?)

The cure? Getting bombarded with a ton of e-mail, of course; which then makes you question whether or not the messages you send are really necessary. A post from Melissa Macbeth gives us a great checklist of questions we should all ask ourselves before send out anything. The moral of her post is this:

"If you empathize with your recipients, your e-mail etiquette will improve and you just might send less e-mail. (The tone one takes in an e-mail also makes a world of difference - but that is a whole other topic.) And when you are the recipient of unnecessary e-mail, delete it! Don’t let someone else’s bad habits cause you to have too much in your inbox."

I also believe that the principles learned here will also help us in our decisions on the necessity of creating a document. The point of any document is to provide information efficiently. Unless you're writing a novel or something else that entertains, unnecessary content of any kind masks the important points that your document needs to relay, and thus will pollute it - even a simple flyer or brochure.

Does that mean we should also refrain from creating a document under the same circumstances? I think so. Many of us have received documents via e-mail that get opened one time and then sits on our hard drive for years until we delete it (or until our computer crashes!) But now I get some that I don't even bother opening, because I never needed it in the first place.

My advice in regards to these documents are the same as Melissa's: empathize with your recipients. Do they really need the document you're sending them, or should it be discarded on arrival?

Using the Drop Cap feature in Microsoft Word is a great way to add a little something special to documents that need more elegance. It's very easy to do, you simply click inside the paragraph where you'd like to have a drop cap (dropped capital letter), and then select Drop Cap from the Format menu. From there, you'll be able to select the type you want, how many lines to drop the capital, and the font for it (I always change it to a pretty script font

What you may not know is that you can drop more than just the first character of a sentence, but actually an entire word. To do so, simply click your cursor right behind the drop cap you created (but inside the frame of it), type the rest of the word, and delete the duplicate in the paragraph itself.

The Drop Cap can also be found in Microsoft Publisher; however, you won't be able to drop an entire word like you can with Microsoft Word.

Maybe it's the little kid in me, but I always enjoy the chance to add colors to anything that I'm working - whether its Word documents, websites, walls, or even my mailbox garden. With so many colors to choose from, it's a great way to express your personality; but it's also easy to get carried away and to be irresponsible in your color selection, which results in a loss of effectiveness in what you’re doing.

It's probably the reason why I end up correcting the same mistakes whenever I look at someone's brochure, a flyer, a newsletter, or any document that has color text. The following article represents the basic guidelines I follow in regard to color documents:

The Right Way to Use Text Colors

When I wrote this article, I was tempted to add one more guideline in relation to color selection; but I decided not to at the last second. In my many years of using colors on the computer, it seems that there are certain colors that I stay away from simply because they never work in any of the documents I create; but that doesn't mean that they won't work for other documents, so I left that part out.

I sure I could submit a post on someday; for now, I think it's important to point out that just because you like a particular color that doesn't mean it's going to work for a document. As I've mentioned before (and will again), the goal is to make it work for the reader, not you. Keeping this in mind should lead you to the color scheme that's right. That, my friend, is what it means to be responsible in your document design.

Well, alright, that's not fair. Of course you can touch the spacebar; we all need it to insert spaces between words when we type sentences. But that's where I draw the line! If you're using the spacebar for anything else other than that, this post has your name written all over it.  You know who you are! The ones that are still using spaces to line up your text in your documents.

If this is you, then I strongly suggest that you either take a Microsoft Word class, or buy a Microsoft Word book and learn it on your own - it's definitely worth the time. However, to address your spacebar problem immediately, I'd like for you to read this article:

Why Using Spaces To Line Up Text Is A Bad Idea

Those of you that have this habit, don't despair - you're in good company! I was inspired to write this article by someone with the same habit ... my wife. For as long as we've been married, I've been the proofreader of her documents. Spaces everywhere! After about five years of replacing her unnecessary spaces with tabs or tables, I finally had enough.

So I began teaching her how to fish, instead of always giving it to her. At first, it was a tough adjustment, as I kept finding spaces where they didn't belong; but with time, that occurred less and less. Not only has she broken the habit, and she has become to be very proficient in Microsoft Word - creating her own flyers, calendar, forms, and all sorts of things.

The moral of the story (and the article) is that learning the proper way to use Microsoft Word will lead to better document design and will open the door to accomplish more with your documents. There's a lot you miss out on if you don't know how to use what you have, which applies to just about anything.

Enjoy the article (I hope it's helpful!)

I can't stand Times New Roman! There, I said it. I hate Times New Roman ... habitually. I'm a habitual Times New Roman hater!

Don't get me wrong, I respect Times New Roman as a good basic font that's been around a long time; but the truth is that it's time to move on to something else. So why haven't we? Maybe because it's easier to stay with what worked in the past. The problem is ... if we stick with the past, we can never embrace the future. This article I wrote years ago attempts to address this problem:

One font that has grown in popularity since I wrote this article in both documents and websites is the Georgia font. In fact, I predict that it will become the new default font. Until then, it is my new recommendation for anyone who wants there documents to stand out amongst the others.

But if you decide not to use the Georgia font to replace Times New Roman, please ... replace Times New Roman with something.

When it comes to offering help on documents, advice and suggestions are always good to have; but nothing beats actually having samples of what you're talking about.  I'm excited about bringing back the ability to download free Microsoft Office documents (and other form and publication samples that you can actually use to create your own.

Therefore, I have added this entry where anyone could post a comment expressing what types of documents they would like to see available in the Document Gallery.  This will be a great benefit for me to know how I can best serve those that visit BetterDocuments.

I look forward to seeing an ever-growing wishlist of documents that will help all of us for years to come.

As I was digging through my web archives, I found a link to an article I found years ago that explains how to create a tri-fold brochure using Microsoft Word. However, the article is no longer found on ZDNet's website. Luckily, my web archive still had the text for it, and is now available here:

Creating A Tri-Fold Brochure In Word

There are other desktop publishing applications (like Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Pagemaker) that makes these type of publications easier to make. But if you don't have any of them, create a tri-fold brochure is now well within your reach. Furthermore, the principles taught in this article can also help you to create other types of publications and business forms in Microsoft Word.  In fact, it could end up being easier using Microsoft Word than learning how to use another desktop publishing application.

Microsoft Word can certainly do a lot more than most people think.

I never used to think that you could possibly go overboard when designing a document? I don't think it's too much to ask for a heading on page 3 to look the same as it does on page 26? Isn't it unacceptable to have a .25" top margin for a document that only takes up half a page? I always thought so; so when I see things that I feel are unexceptable, I feel it my duty to correct them ... everytime ... like clock work.

But an experience I had this morning makes me wonder when it become obsessive? In my company, I attend a developers meeting every week. One of my co-workers has created an agenda document that we've used the entire time that I've worked here. It is not an attractive agenda document at all; but since I wasn't in charge of it, I didn't worry about. Well, wouldn't you know it - he's on vacation for the next three weeks, and guess who got asked to be in charge of the agenda while he was gone?

I couldn't wait to open it! I changed the .25" top margin to 1" (yes, it was him!) I quickly removed the underline from the main title. Soon after, the font for the entire document was the same ... Arial - not Arial AND Times New Roman. I then proceeded to delete all the unnecessary spaces & returns, I fixed the table to look better, and I did a few other things to make the document look better. I spend about 5-7 minutes total on it. Once I was satisfied with the agenda document, I asked myself ... what all that really necessary? Is it going to make your developers meeting any better? Was that obsessive of me?

As I wrote previously, the important thing is that your collegues get the information that they need; but is that an excuse not to put forth a small amount of effort for a document? My mom always used to say "sometimes it's not value, it's the principle." The interesting thing about my co-worker is that he does the same thing with the applications; he's a good coder, but our testers always have to point out inconsistencies in his formatting. It's obviously not important to him; but that doesn't make him a bad person (the fact is that he's become a very good friend of mine). However it's important to me, and for now I consider it an asset.

So is it obsessive? Maybe, maybe not; but I don't think it ever hurts  anymore than someone who washes their hands over and over because of germs. I'm sure there's a technical term for it, a "phobia" for poorly designed documents even. Perhaps someone could enlighten me on what that word is; better yet, maybe we can come up with a new one!