Bullet points do exactly that!

Bullet points allow you to quickly structure information so your audience can easily interpret exactly what you are going on about!

So how do you use bullets in Word 2007?

1. Select the text you want to apply bullets to (you can do this by clicking and dragging across the text you want)
2. On the “Home” tab of the ribbon, look for the “Paragraph” group
3. In the top left hand corner of the paragraph group, you will find a button that looks like three lines with bullets.  Click on it

   

That’s the easy way to use bullets in your document.  But what if you don’t want to use the standard black dot bullet?  Maybe you want to use something with a little more flair?

How to use custom bullets in Word 2007…

1. Again, select the test you want to apply bullets to, then find the bullets button in the “Paragraph” group on the “Home” tab of the ribbon
2. Instead of clicking on the bullets button, click on the little down arrow beside it.  This will display a library of different bullets you can use.  Feel free to use any of those, or….
3. Click on “Define New Bullet…”.  This will allow you to create any bullet you like, whether it be based on a letter, a number,any character out of any font you have installed on your computer, or even any picture that you have on your computer!!!
4. Select the style of bullet that you want… then click ok.

There you have it… the quick and easy way to include bullets in your Word 2007 document!

’till next time,
TNP

If you, or someone you know is learning Word 2007 and does not know where to start, I suggest checking out “Getting started with Word 2007 - The Ultimate Guide” today!

’till next time
TNP

A transition is what happens when you move from one slide to another.  The transition could be as simple as a fade or a dissolve… or it could be much fancier using  a “push and cover”, stripes and bars, or something totally random!

To insert a transition into your presentation, on the Ribbon in PowerPoint 2007, select the “Animations” tab, and then look for the very big “Transition to This Slide” group.

The easiest way to add a transition is to move your mouse over one of the dozens of transitions that appear in the transition gallery, and see what it look like (thanks to live preview!).  If you like it, then click on that transition!

Here is an example, where I have put my mouse over the “Newsflash” transition, and I am seeing a live preview of it in the background.  Very cool

So there you have it - an introduction to using transitions in PowerPoint 2007!

’till next time,
TNP ;) 

Do you have questions about Word 2007, Excel 2007 or Outlook 2007, but don’t know who to ask?  Are you stumped by something in Access 2007, OneNote 2007, or Visio 2007?  Do you know what to do with SharePoint Designer 2007, Publisher 2007, Groove 2007 or Communicator 2007?

If you have answered yes to any of those - you need to start asking your Office 2007 questions at The New Paperclip forums - http://forums.thenewpaperclip.com.

Not only are their forums for all the desktop programs that are in Office, there are also forums for the server programs that make up the Microsoft Office System - SharePoint Server (MOSS), Performance Point Server, Project Server and Groove Server. 

I will be on hand when I can to answer your questions - and most importantly members of the community will also be there to help out.

I look forward to answering all your questions in the near future - start posting them today! http://forums.thenewpaperclip.com!

’till next time,

TNP

But there is a much easier, faster, and less painful way to try out each of the Microsoft Office 2007 system products - even those niche ones like SharePoint Designer 2007,  OneNote 2007, Visio 2007, Project 2007, and even InfoPath 2007!  It is called the 2007 Microsoft Office Test Drive.

The Test Drive is a virtual environment that you can view from your web browser! (delivered via Citrix for those who want to know the technical side of it).  Using the Test Drive is exactly like using the trial software if you had installed it on your own machine - only you don’t have the hassle of installing (and eventually uninstalling) all your favourite Microsoft Office 2007 programs.

The best part about the Office 2007 Test Drive is that it comes packed with tutorials for each of the products that you can evaluate.  This feature alone is fantastic because you can get up to speed very quickly on each of the Office 2007 products, and make a fair and informed decision as to the benefits that the products will have to your productivity, your business, or your employees.

You can find the 2007 Office System Test Drive on Office Online.  And remember when you have played with the products, come back to The New Paperclip to dive deeper into each of them

’till next time

TNP

Get onto Amazon.Com, pick up your copies of Office and Vista, and check out all the Office 2007 Books that have been released in the last few months.  Hopefully over time I will review a few of them and publish here - if you purchase a book, let me know your thoughts and I will share with the rest of the world

For all of you interested in following the consumer launch of Microsoft Office 2007, and Windows Vista, there is a great site on Microsoft.com which outlines all the details, including a webcast by Bill Gates… at 1:45PM PST Monday 29 January.

As all the advertising says… the WOW starts NOW!  It is going to be a very exciting couple of days!

’till next time!

TNP

I would start with the first couple, and as you build your confidence, start tackling some of the more advanced tutorials.

When you first start using Word 2007 - read…

1. What happened to the File Menu? Help with the new user interface in Office 2007
2. Screencast: Introduction to the New Ribbon UI in Word 2007
3. Word 2007: Undo
4. What are Galleries in Office 2007?
5. Printing in Word 2007

Once you are comfortable, move on to…

1. Need more Clip Art in Word 2007?
2. Inserting a Table in Word 2007
3. Find and Replace in Word 2007
4. Word 2007: How to add page numbers to your documents
5. How to Change your Page Orientation (Portrait vs Landscape) in Word 2007
6. Breaks in Word 2007 - Page, Column, Text Wrapping and Section Breaks
7. Word 2007: Page Layout Deep Dive Tutorial
8. Word 2007: What is the Prepare Menu? Deep Dive
9. How to Superscript text in Word 2007
10. Show and Hide Codes in Word 2007
11. Insert a Drop Cap in Word 2007
12. Track Changes, and Comments in Word 2007
13. How to save your Word 2007 document as a PDF
14. Word 2007 - Send your Document, Share it with the World!

And once you are an absolute power user of Word 2007…

1. Word 2007: Start Word 2007 without the Splash Screen
2. Shortcut keys in Word 2007
3. Word 2007: Minimise the Ribbon (Minimize the menu)
4. More than just word count - All the document statistics you want in Word 2007 using Status Bar Configuration
5. Word 97 Look and Feel, with Word 2007!
6. Lorem Ipsum and other random filler text in Word 2007, PowerPoint 2007, and Excel 2007
7. Screencast - Extending the Office 2007 UI with a Custom Ribbon

And to keep track of the latests posts on Word 2007 at The New Paperclip, simply check out the Word 2007 Category 

So there you have it - remember if you have trouble with anything in Word 2007, post a comment and I will try to write a tutorial especially for you! 

Or you could purchase one of these books from Amazon.com

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (along with all other Microsoft Office suites, and individual products) will be available in late January, and will cost around USD$150

TNP

Well let me save you the hassle and let you know exactly what you are getting when you purchase Microsoft Office Professional 2007:

• Word 2007
  For all your word processing / document reading and creation needs
• Excel 2007
  For crunching the numbers
• PowerPoint 2007
  For presenting information to your peers
• Outlook 2007 (with Business Contact Manager)
  To keep in touch with your colleagues through email (and keep track of customer details using the Business Contact Manager)
• Access 2007
  To build databases to store your important business data
• Publisher 2007
  To produce professional looking documents, marketing collateral, reports, business cards, banners, signs, websites etc.
• Accounting Express 2007
  To make managing the finances of your small business (or your EBay empire!) easy

There are two different versions of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 that you can buy.  The first is a full version of the product, which you need to buy if you do not currently have a version of Office on your computer. 

If you currently use Office on your computer, then you can purchase the UPGRADE version, which is a lot cheaper!