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✔ The largest portion of Word’s screen is used to compose text. It's blank and white, just like a fresh sheet of paper. If you choose to use a template to start a new document, this area may contain some preset text.
An important part of Word’s interface is the Ribbon. It's where a majority of Word’s commands dwell and where settings are made. These items appear as buttons, input boxes, and menus.
The Ribbon is divided into tabs, as shown in Figure 1-3. Each tab holds separate groups. Within the groups, you find the command buttons that carry out various word-processing duties.
Figure 1-3: The Ribbon.
To use the Ribbon, first click a tab. Then locate the command you need by scanning the group names, and then hunting down the button. Click the button to activate the command or to display a menu from which you can choose a command.
✔ Some items on the Ribbon let you input text or values, or make other settings.
✔ Galleries on the Ribbon display a smattering of tiles. To see them all, click the Show Gallery button in the lower-right corner of the gallery, as illustrated in Figure 1-3.
✔ Use the dialog box launcher icon in the lower-right corner of a group to open a dialog box relevant to the group's function. Not every group features a dialog box launcher.
✔ The amazingly frustrating thing about the Ribbon is that it can change. Some tabs may appear and disappear, depending on what you're doing in Word.
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The good news is that you can hide the Ribbon if it bothers you. That way you see more document and less junk. The bad news is that you might accidentally hide the Ribbon when you don’t want to.
To control the Ribbon, use the Ribbon Display Options menu, located in the upper-right part of the Word window and illustrated in Figure 1-3. Choose an item to determine how to display the Ribbon. Your choices are
Auto-Hide Ribbon: The most annoying choice, the Ribbon appears only when you hover the insertion pointer near the top of the document.
Show Tabs: With this choice, only the Ribbon’s tabs appear. Click a tab to summon the rest of the Ribbon.
Show Tabs and Commands: This option shows the entire Ribbon – tabs and commands – as illustrated in Figures 1-2 and 1-3.
To temporarily hide the Ribbon, click the Hide the Ribbon button, labeled in Figure 1-3. To bring back the Ribbon, click a tab and then at the spot where the Hide the Ribbon button appears. Click the pushpin icon to make the Ribbon stick.
Just to keep you on your toes, Word offers multiple ways to view your document. The blank area where you write, which should be full of text by now, can be altered to present information in a different way. Why would you want to do that? You don’t! But it helps to know the different ways so that you can change them back.
The standard way to view a document is called Print Layout view. It’s the view shown in this book and it’s how Word normally starts. A virtual page appears on the screen, with four sides and text in the middle. What you see on the screen is pretty much what you’ll see in the final results, whether printed or published as an electronic document.
The other views are
Read Mode: Use this view to read a document like an eBook. The Ribbon and pretty much the rest of Word is hidden while in Read mode.
Web Layout: This view presents your document as a web page. It’s available should you undertake the dreadful possibility of using Word as a web page editor.
Outline: This mode helps you organize your thoughts, as covered in Chapter 25.
Draft: The Draft view presents only basic text, not all the formatting and fancy features such as graphics.
To switch between Read Mode, Print Layout, and Web Layout views, click one of the View buttons, found in the lower-right corner of the Word program window (refer to Figure 1-2).
To get to Outline and Draft views, as well as to see all View modes in one location, click the Views tab and choose a command button from the Views group.
When the information in Word’s window just isn’t big enough, don’t enlarge the font! Instead, whip out the equivalent of a digital magnifying glass, the Zoom command. It helps you enlarge or reduce your document, making it easier to see or giving you the Big Picture look.
Several methods are available to zoom text in Word. The most obvious is to use the Zoom control found in the lower-right corner of the Word window on the status bar. Adjust the slider right or left to make the text larger or smaller, respectively.
To make the text appear on screen as close to actual size as possible, click the 100 % button on the status bar.
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✔ For more specific zoom control, click the View tab and use the commands found in the Zoom group.
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Cajoling Word to help you
Like most Windows programs, a Help system is available in Word. You can summon it by pressing the F1 key, which displays the Word Help window. There you can type a topic, a command name, or even a question in the box to search for help.
The F1 key also
