Guess what - you might be already!

Microsoft have released an extra section on Microsoft Office Online called Lighten up: Reduce your carbon footprint and workplace costs.

Obviously they left one tip for reducing your impact on the environment… instead of investing in all those Office 2007 self help books, why not just bookmark your favourite Office 2007 help, tips, tricks and tutorial site!

’till next time!

TNP

One of them is Alistair Speirs, a Office Technology Specialst at Microsoft Australia.  If you want to dive deep into everything office (beyond the tutorials from yours truely!) then you should check out his blog…

http://blogs.msdn.com/alspeirs/

Check out some of his posts on Business Desktop Deployment, Enterprise Search, Office Busines Applications, OpenXML, and one he stole from me… Random text in Word

TNP and Alistair go way back… he knows his stuff!

’till next time!
TNP

First step is to visit the 2007 Microsoft Office System Plan and Deploy with Confidence site.  This site includes Webcasts (from level 100 through to 400), Virtual Labs, and Podcasts to help you get you complete your deployment successfully.

Secondly, check out some of the articles on deployment from media outlets such as Computerworld.  These start to give you a real world perspective on the types of issues you might face during your deployment.

Thirdly, if you are ready to go now, check out articles from experts in the community, just like Aaron Parker’s post on Deploying Office 2007 with Group Policy Startup Scripts.

Finally, once your deployment is complete, make sure you let everyone in your organisation know about Thenewpaperclip.com - so they can get up to speed quickly with the new features of Office 2007!  Remember… the key to a successful deployment is not the deployment itself, but the training and adoption that takes place afterwards.

’till next time,
TNP

There are four different titles available, Planning and architecture for the 2007 Office release, Deployment for the 2007 Office release, Security for the 2007 Office release, and Technical reference for the 2007 Office Release

You can download each of them from the Microsoft Office System site on Technet

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

For those of you new to web design, “Master Pages” allow you to have a consistent layout throughout your entire project, without having to do some fancy coding!  I guess the best way to think of master pages is as a template for the way your whole site looks.

How do I create a Master Page in SharePoint Designer 2007?

1. Click “File” -> “New” -> “ASPX”.  This will create the file that we are going to work with
2. Click “Table” -> “Layout Tables”.  This will allow you to build a layout of your master page (what your website layout will look like!) using tables.
3. Look towards the bottom right hand corner of the screen.  You should see a “Layout Tables” pane.  Down the bottom of that pane there is a section called “Table Layout”.  In this section there are a variety of common layouts that are used on professional websites.  Have a look through each of the layouts and select your favourite.
4. Add the standard content you want to be in each part of the Master Page.  For example, you might want to put a copyright message in the footer, a page title at the top of the page etc.
5. Now we want to set up a content region.  Click where you think you will have most of your content on your page… most likely the middle cell of your layout table.  Click “Format” -> “Master Page” -> “Manage Content Regions”.  Type the name you would like to call it (in the screenshot example, I called it “middle”, but you could call it main, or content, or whatever you like!).  Click “Add”, and then click “Close”

    

6. Click “Save”.  When saving, you need to make sure that you are saving it as a master page.  To do that, click on the “Save as type” drop down box, scroll down a little, and click on “Master Page”.  Then give your page a file name and click “Save”

There you have it - your first master page in SharePoint Designer 2007!  If you want to add more content that you would like to be consistent across your entire website or intranet site - simply continue to add that content to your master page!  How easy is that!!!!

’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

But… exclusively to The New Paperclip… THERE IS A SOLUTION!  Just like the “Colonels Secret Herbs and Spices”… this is one of the closest held secrets in the IT world

You can access the secret (totally legal) solution by clicking here.  Feel free to spread the word, it will take ages for Microsoft to close this loophole down!

’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

You can pre-order your copy of Windows Vista or Office 2007 now on Amazon.com!  They can even gift wrap it for you!

Over the next three weeks I will be in overdrive making sure that you have all the tips, tricks and tutorials you need to hit the ground running as soon as you take off the shrink wrap on your own copy of Office 2007.

Make sure that you subscribe to the feed, and if you have any areas that you would like me to focus on… make sure you leave a comment!

’till next time

TNP