Controlling Widows and Orphans

http://wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T001149_Controlling_Widows_and_Orphans.html

Summary: You can format paragraphs so that Word doesn’t leave a single line of the paragraph at either the top or bottom of a page. This tip explains the controls in the Paragraph dialog box that allow you to control that level of formatting. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

In typographical terminology, widows and orphans are closely related (no pun intended). These terms refer to one (and sometimes two) lines of a paragraph left by itself on a page. A widow is the last line of a paragraph left by itself at the top of a page; an orphan is the first line of a paragraph left by itself at the bottom of a page. You will want to avoid both widows and orphans in your documents, as they break up the flow of the text and tend to distract the reader.

Word allows you to automatically control single-line widows and orphans in your documents. To control widows and orphans in your documents, follow these steps:

1. Select Paragraph from the Format menu. Word displays the Paragraph dialog box.
2. Click on the Line and Page Breaks tab. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Make sure the Widow/Orphan Control check box is selected.
4. Click on OK.

Topics: Controlling Widows and Orphans

Repeating Table Rows with Manual Page Breaks in Word

http://wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T000289_Repeating_Table_Rows_with_Manual_Page_Breaks.html

Summary: Do you have a table that extends more than a page in length? If so, you may be frustrated in making the table break where you want it to and having repeating rows at the top of each page. This tip examines ways you can get the tables to break properly, all while including the repeating rows as you need. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

Word includes a great table editor that allows you to create and edit tables to present all sorts of information. You can format your tables so that a number of the rows will be repeated at the top of a page, if the table should happen to extend onto multiple pages. This allows you to designate certain rows as headers, and those rows will appear at the top of each page of the table. (Exactly how you format a table row to repeat at the top of each page has been discussed in other issues of WordTips.)

If you examine Word's Help system, it explains how to format your table so that some of the rows repeat. It also is very careful to explain that if you insert a manual page break in a table, so that you control where the table breaks between pages, the rows won't repeat any more. The reason is very simple--when you insert a manual page break, you are manually breaking the single table into two tables. Thus, the rows in the first table are independent of the rows in the second table. If the first table was actually extending to the second page, then the rows would repeat. But this is not the case; the first table is entirely on a single page, and the second table starts at the top of the second page, so no rows repeat.

The problem here is how, exactly, to get a single table (not two tables) to break across pages where you want it to break. If this can be done, then Word will take care of repeating the rows, as desired. There are a few ways you can accomplish this task.

One way to force page breaks in a table without using a manual page break is to insert a new row below the point of the desired break. While in Print Layout view, drag the bottom line of the table row so that it is nearly at the bottom of the page. This should force the next row onto the next page. If the new row goes onto the next page, shorten the row slightly until it ends the previous page. Then select the new row and choose Format | Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab (Click here to see a related figure.) remove the three vertical lines and the bottom line and set the Apply To drop-down list to Cell. After clicking OK, the new row should appear invisible, and your table appears to break as you want it.

Perhaps the most satisfactory solution is to use Word's paragraph formatting to determine where the table will break between pages. Identify the row that you want at the top of the new page, and then select that row. Choose Format | Paragraph to display the Paragraph dialog box. On the Line and Page Breaks tab (Click here to see a related figure.) , choose Page Break Before. What you've just done is to force Word to start all the paragraphs in the row at the top of a new page. Word automatically does this when you click OK, and the row now begins on the new page--with any repeated header rows that you specified for the table.

The above solution works great if you are doing the "final tweaks" on a table and simply want to specify where the breaks should occur. If you are still editing your table extensively by adding additional information to it, then the "Page Break Before" solution may not be the best because adding new table rows before the formatted row may result in Word extending your table across more pages than you really want. For instance, if you add a couple of rows before the formatted row, then you might end up with the first-page part of the table, a couple of rows on the second spill-over page, and then the balance of the table forced onto a third page because of the "Page Break Before" formatting. The solution is to make sure that you don't apply the "Page Break Before" formatting until you are just about done with the table.

If your only reason for applying "Page Break Before" formatting is to make sure that Word doesn't split a row so that part of it is on one page and part on the next, then a better solution is to follow these steps:

1. Select all of the rows in your table.
2. Choose Table Properties from the Table menu. Word displays the Table Properties dialog box.
3. Make sure the Row tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Clear the Allow Row to Break Across Pages check box.
5. Click OK.

Now you have instructed Word to make sure that none of the rows in the table will straddle a page break. This may provide more satisfactory results if your only desire is to make sure that rows aren't split.

Topics: Repeating Table Rows with Manual Page Breaks

Changing Text Case in Word

http://wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T000249_Changing_Text_Case.html

Summary: If you need to easily change the upper- and lower-case configuration of your text, Word has you covered. All you need to do is use the Change Case feature, as described in this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

You've probably had it happen to you: You get a document from the new temp down the hall (or the technically illiterate mid-level manager), and you need to get it ready for a presentation in ten minutes. When you open the document you see that EVERYTHING IN THE DOCUMENT IS SCREAMING AT YOU. All the text is in capital letters. Aaagghhh! You can't distribute the document in this format. Quick—what do you do?

Fortunately, Word allows you to quickly and easily change the capitalization (case) of text. All you need to do is follow these steps:

1. Select the text you want to alter.
2. Press Shift+F3. Word changes the case of the selected text.
3. Continue pressing Shift+F3 until the case is the way you want it.

Using the Shift+F3 method allows you to cycle through three different case scenarios: ALL CAPS, all lowercase, and All Title Case. If you need greater control, then you need to use the menus. If you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007, simply select your text and then choose Change Case from the Format menu. Word displays the Change Case dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)

Note that the dialog box provides five different ways you can change the capitalization of your text. You can select the one that reflects what you want to do, and then click OK to have Word make the change. These are the choices in the dialog box:

• Sentence Case. This option capitalizes the first letter of each sentence in the selection.
• Lowercase. This option makes all the selected text lowercase.
• Uppercase. This option capitalizes each letter in the selection.
• Title Case. This option capitalizes the first letter of each word in the selection.
• Toggle Case. This option switches the case of each letter in the selection: lowercase becomes uppercase and vice-versa.

If you are using Word 2007, then you should select the text you want to affect and make sure the Home tab of the ruler is displayed. In the Font group, click the Change Case tool. Word displays a drop-down list from which you can select the same five options that used to be displayed in the Change Case dialog box. Make your selection, and Word cheerfully makes the change to your text.

Topics: Changing Text Case

How to Block Cellphone Spam

How to Block Cellphone Spam

by David Pogue

If I told you that today’s e-column would change your life, would you mind that it’s sort of short?

The story goes like this. A few weeks ago, in my blog, I wrote this:

    “OK, now I’m really, REALLY annoyed. Within a week, my wife and I have both started getting spam text messages on our Verizon cellphones. I know that this is nothing new, but it’s new for us, and it’s apparently getting worse.

    “According to Wikipedia, this sleazy practice is described as ‘mobile spamming, SMS spam or SpaSMS, but is most frequently referred to as m-spam.’

    “It’s actually far worse than regular e-mail spam, for three reasons. First, you generally can’t delete it without opening it first.

    “Second, you have to pay for it. (And, of course, the senders pay nothing, since they can send text messages from a computer’s e-mail program for nothing.)

    “Third, there’s no way to stop it. You can’t install an anti-SMS spam program on your cellphone.

    “If you’re not feeling helpless and livid already, if you’re not already storming your carrier and Congress, I can think of only one reason: you haven’t been m-spammed yet. But your time will come.”

Shortly thereafter, I heard from an AT&T representative who revealed the presence of an astonishing little-known cellular feature: you can block cellular spam.

“Our customers can get onto our Web site,” he wrote, “and set their handset so that it receives no messages from the Internet, the origin of the vast majority of wireless spam.”

He also said:

    “Text messages sent from the Internet are addressed as follows: [Your 10-digit wireless number]@txt.att.net.

    “What spammers try to do, of course, is attempt to guess your number, largely by trial and error. This brings me to the second capability we offer our customers. Let’s say you want to block spam, but still want to receive messages originating from the Net that you would actually find useful (airline schedules, hotel reservations, etc.). For this purpose, we let you replace your wireless number with an alias. It could be some quirky name, or whatever you like. [You share this address only with people you know.] This could disrupt the guessing game spammers play to try to discern your number and sent you their junk.

    “Though not perfect, our efforts have helped keep spam in the category of minor, though annoying, phenomenon. Thanks for listening.”

The beauty of this feature, of course, is that it blocks ONLY text messages from the Internet. Your friends, using cellphones, can still text you.

As it turns out, Verizon Wireless offers these features, too. Sprint and T-Mobile don’t go quite as far, but they do offer some text-spam filtering options. Here’s how you find the controls for each company:

* AT&T: Log in at mymessages.wireless.att.com. Under Preferences, you’ll see the text-blocking and alias options. Here’s also where you can block messages from specific e-mail addresses or Web sites.

* Verizon Wireless: Log in at vtext.com. Under Text Messaging, click Preferences. Click Text Blocking. You’re offered choices to block text messages from e-mail or from the Web. Here again, you can block specific addresses or Web sites. (Here’s where you set up your aliases, too.)

* Sprint: No auto-blocking is available at all, but you can block specific phone numbers and addresses. To get started, log in at www.sprint.com. On the top navigation bar, click My Online Tools. Under Communication Tools, click Text Messaging. On the Compose a Text Message page, under Text Messaging Options, click Settings & Preferences. In the text box, you can enter a phone number, email address or domain (such as Comcast.net) that you want to block.

* T-Mobile: T-Mobile doesn’t yet offer a “block text messages from the Internet” option. You can block all messages sent by e-mail, though, or permit only messages sent to your phone’s e-mail address or alias, or create filters that block text messages containing certain phrases. It’s all waiting when you log into www.t-mobile.com and click Communication Tools.

As soon as I heard about all this, I went to the Verizon Wireless page for my own account and turned on the “block” options.

And you know what? We haven’t had a single piece of cellphone spam since.

You’re welcome.

How to disable the confirm deletion prompt in Windows XP - Simple Help

How to disable the confirm deletion prompt in Windows XP

Each time you delete a file (move it to the Recycle Bin) - Windows asks if you’re sure you want to do it. If you want to get rid of that prompt, follow the steps outlined in this very brief tutorial.

1. Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties.

   

2. Remove the check from the box labeled Display delete confirmation dialog and click Apply then OK.

   
   click to enlarge

3. And you’ll never see this again

   

4. And if you accidentally delete something, you can always move it from the Recycle Bin back to its original location. Plus, you will still receive a prompt each time you empty the Recycle Bin.