Author: Julie Stiles Mills

I can’t save autotext!

Do you create autotext entries or buttons in Microsoft Word 2002, 2003 or XP but can’t seem to find them later?

If you also have Adobe Acrobat Professional or Standard loaded on your computer, you’re not imagining things or doing anything wrong! There’s a conflict between Word and Acrobat 7.0 which prevents autotext, macros, preferences and custom setting (like buttons) from saving in MS Word. For those of you who care or understand – Word ‘s “normal.dot” can’t save changes.

The good news is that Adobe knows about this problem and has issued an update! For detailed info and the download link, CLICK HERE to visit the “Tech Note” in the Adobe Knowledgebase.

WordPerfect Auto Numbering Made Even Easier!

Let’s break this up into three parts, shall we?

1. How to use a custom outline/auto paragraph numbering macro I may have written for you.
2. Tips for working with the WordPerfect auto numbering/outline feature.
3. Issues with using auto numbering when allowing MS Word users to edit your document.
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Part 1: Using Pragmatic Macros

To format any document with a custom auto numbering style using a WordPerfect macro written by me:

1. Place the cursor where you want the numbering to begin or at the top of the document. (I always put it at the top of the document so it’s easy to find later.)

2. Play the macro. Depending on your preferences, I’ve either given you a shortcut key (ALT+O) or placed a button on your toolbar which shows a I.A.1. descending top left to bottom right of the button. So either type your shortcut key or click your button. The screen will flash a few times and insert the first number at the location of the cursor. If you don’t need a number in that exact spot (like at the top of the doc), turn it off with “CTRL+H”

3. Once the macro has been played in a document and the document has been saved, the macro never needs to be run in that document again. (Unless you accidentally delete it – another reason I place it at the top of the document instead of placing it at the first numbered paragraph).
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Part 2: TIPS for Working with Auto Paragraph Numbering: Continue reading “WordPerfect Auto Numbering Made Even Easier!”

Sweeet New Corel Product for Collaboration!

Corel WordPerfect Lightning!

I’m still exploring this new software to discover everything it can do, but one of the sweetest things is this:

It opens any PDF, Word or WordPerfect document for viewing, printing and . . . copying into a note – which can be easily edited and then automatically inserted into an email. Continue reading “Sweeet New Corel Product for Collaboration!”

Converting Between WordPerfect and Word.

Want to edit a Word document using WordPerfect?
If you have the latest version of WordPerfect, just open the Word document and WordPerfect will convert it automatically, no matter what version of MS Word was used to save it.

Don’t have the latest version of WordPerfect (WP13 aka WPx3)? Then you need “The Know How.” Keep reading (or scroll down to skip the explanation and get right to it.)

Want to edit a WordPerfect document using MS Word?
Just open the WordPerfect document in any version of MS Word. Since WordPerfect’s document format has remained the same from version 6 through 13, this method should always work when opening any WordPerfect file in any version of MS Word.

Why can’t any version of WordPerfect open any Word file?
Nearly every version of MS Word produces a unique document format, so attempting to open a Word document in a previously released version of WordPerfect produces the message “Unknown File Format.”

(That’s okay, some previously released versions of MS Word had/have trouble opening newly released MS Word file formats – without a patch.)

Each version of WordPerfect produces the same document format – so MS Word has been able to read it since Word 6.0. Did WordPerfect just get it right the first time? Novell and Corel think so. Continue reading “Converting Between WordPerfect and Word.”

Amortization Schedules in a FLASH!

Check out Quattro Pro, Corel’s spreadsheet program! And yes. Excel has amortization templates and maybe I will blog about them – but not it is not this day! (I just watched Return of the King) With Quattro, this is WAY too easy! Check it out!

(In Quattro 9, 10, 11 and 12) From the menu, select Tools, Numeric Tools, and then Analysis Tools. The second item is Amortization Schedule. Select it and a dialog box will be displayed:

Output Cells: This automatically fills in, so leave it & see if it works for you before you modify it.

Interest Rate: you know what to do.

Term: (years): yet again, you are smart – go for it.

Original: Enter the original loan amount.

Ending Balance: what? I’m thinking zero?

Last Year: Enter last year you need to see.

Choose “Finish” and in a FLASH, you see your results!

cool beans.

Should your firm switch from WordPerfect to Word?

Be warned, if you want a yes or no answer, you won’t find any bobble heads here. Rather than say “Yes! Switch!” and ride the gravy train through your conversion, I’m going to suggest you take a step back and objectively think this through with me.

Let’s start with your goals. What are you trying to accomplish by converting to MS Word? What do you want/need to do that you can’t do now? Why can’t you do it? Are you having trouble with document formatting? Is it that you just don’t know how to successfully convert your documents from Word to WordPerfect and back? When is the last time you had computer training? What version of WordPerfect are you currently using? Do you need to upgrade your software to WP13?

(If you switched to MS Word, it wouldn’t be to Word 97, Word XP or Word 2002, so why expect an outdated version of WordPerfect to work “perfectly” with the newer versions of MS Word your clients may be using?)

Why does any “WordPerfect Firm” consider switching to Word? Time and time again, the reason has been the same: To allow clients to revise their documents and . . . “everybody uses Word.” If that’s your answer, I have two responses:

1. If you regularly update your software, you have always had the ability to successfully convert documents from Word to WordPerfect and back.

Even if you have an outdated version of WordPerfect, there is a “trick” you can employ. For more information, see my post entitled “Converting Between WordPerfect and Word”

2. If you currently grant your clients the right to edit their own legal documents, consider a change in methodology to eliminate the risks associated with doing so, while eliminating extra work at the same time.

What do I mean by “a change in methodology?” Collaborate on document content instead of sharing editing rights. When I say that out loud, I’m often asked to explain the difference, so let me say it another way: Just because you collaborate on document content, doesn’t mean the document must be edited by all the collaborators. Doing so exposes you to risk.

(Risks? What risks? Sharing document revision with clients and outside attorneys puts law firms at risk. To better understand the risks, read my posts entitled, “Metadata, Shmetadata. It won’t happen to me.” and “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.”)

The following alternative should be considered: Continue reading “Should your firm switch from WordPerfect to Word?”

Hey WordPerfect! Where is "Advanced Find" in the Open Menu?

The Short Answer: You probably have a version of WordPerfect which doesn’t include the QuickFinder. Those versions are: OEM, Home, Family Pack, Productivity Pack or any WordPerfect product that came free with your computer.

Work Arounds:
1. Use the “Search” feature in Microsoft Windows Explorer. It is not nearly as robust as the QuickFinder, but it’s a fairly good second choice.
2. Purchase or download free search software. Check out some cnet reviews:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3684_7-5536376-1.html

Note: these are desktop search programs and may not work to search for files on a network.

Details, Details, Details: If your Open dialog box doesn’t display a “Find Now” or “Advanced Find” command button, the QuickFinder search utilitity either isn’t installed or turned on. Because the default setting for QuickFinder is “On” it probably isn’t installed.

On the slight chance the feature is turned off, you can enable QuickFinder by following these steps:

1. Launch WordPerfect
2. Click Tools, Settings, File
3. On the Document Tab, enable the option: “Use enhanced file dialogs”
4. Click OK
5. Click Close Now when you go to File, Open you should see: Find Now, Advanced, New Search.
If you still don’t see these command buttons, the QuickFinder is not installed. At this point, there are two possibilities:

1. You own a version of WordPerfect which comes with the QuickFinder search utility and can install it. Again, because the default settings for installation include the QuickFinder installation, this is probably not the case. However, if you own the Standard, Professional or Small Business version, you can install the QuickFinder and can find the direction for each release of WordPerfect in the knowledgebase on http://www.corel.com. The links sometimes change, so I hesitate to provide it here. Go to http://www.corel.com and click “Support” from the navigation bar along the top. Select the option to search the knowledgebase. Under “Products and Services” select “WordPerfect Office” and then, in the submenu, select your release of WordPerfect. I selected “WordPerfect X3” to get the latest information. In the “Search Text” box, I typed “OEM QuickFinder” because I suspected the OEM version was the reason my QuickFinder didn’t appear. I was right.

2. The second, and most probable possibility is that you do NOT own a version of WordPerfect which comes with the QuickFinder. As I’ve already mentioned, the QuickFinder search utility is NOT available in the OEM, Family Pack, WordPerfect Home Edition and Productivity Pack versions of WordPerfect®. This also includes any version of WordPerfect which were bundled with other software, or came with your computer.

Multi-Tasking with Alt+Tab

This little gem is another one of those keystroke combinations I use EVERY day!

If you currently click on open programs in your task bar to display them, “Alt+Tab” is a great keyboard shortcut for you!

“Alt+Tab” is the is the more common name for Windows “Task Switcher” which is used to switch (or toggle) between open programs without using the mouse. Here are two ways you can use “Alt+Tab” to help you when working with multiple programs:

1. Pressing and releasing the “Alt+Tab” keyboard combination will alternate between the two most recently used (and currently open) programs.

2. Pressing and holding the “Alt” key, while continuously (and slowly) tapping the “Tab” key will display a floating menu showing all open programs. The tasks are displayed showing the most recently used programs at the front of the list.

Each tap of the tab key will advance the selection to the next program in the menu. When the “Alt” and “Tab” keys are released, Windows will display the program selected at the time the keys were released.

A more advanced version of this functionality, named Windows Flip, is built into Windows Vista.

Show Desktop [Windows+D] and Minimize All [Windows+M]

Show Desktop [Windows+D] and Minimize All [Windows+M]

What do these handy little keystrokes do? Well, if you press either one of them right now, the window you are reading right now will be minimized and . . .

Did you minimize the screen and have to open this window again? Welcome Back!

Maybe you stayed with me all along, mumbling, “Windows+D? What’s that?”

Either way, I’m referring to the “Windows” key, usually located on the bottom left of your keyboard, between the “Ctrl” and “Alt” keys. It looks like a little flying window. It often appears on the bottom right of your keyboard as well.

[Windows+M] is “Minimize All” and it minimizes all the windows which support the “Minimize” command. You can minimize a window by:

1. Clicking the system menu of any software program (usually the program’s icon, to the left or above “File” in it’s menu) and selecting “Minimize.”

2. Click the “Minimize” button on the right side of a program’s title bar. (It looks like an underscore and is usually the third from the right. The X is the farthest to the right. Hover the mouse over the buttons and you may see a “tool tip” indicating what each one does.)

So, the [Windows+M] keyboard combination “Minimize All” is the same as going to each open window and clicking the Minimize button.

Note: If a window doesn’t have a Minimize button, then it is still displayed. Minimize All won’t minimize windows like dialog boxes, some Control Panel windows or an application which has an open dialog box.

However, “Show Desktop” manages to get a few more windows out of your way than “Minimize All.” Enter [Windows+D] when you want to minimize everything on screen, even Control Panel and Properties dialog boxes. This shortcut leaves nothing but the desktop showing.

There’s one more difference between the two shortcuts: Like the Show Desktop icon, [Windows+D] serves as a toggle. Press it once to minimize everything, then press it again to restore everything as it was.

Check them out! Press and hold the “Windows” key and tap the “D” key. (Don’t forget to tap it again to come back!)

[TAB] [TAB] [TAB] [TAB] [TAB]

Default tabs are set at half inch increments, and while most people know they can change the tab settings in a document, there are countless people all over the world pressing:

[TAB] [TAB] [TAB] [TAB] [TAB]

to move their cursor and text to the desired spot on a page.

please stop. Tabs are EASY! Let’s change a few, shall we?

Before we begin, let’s review some Tab Rules:

1. Make sure your ruler is displayed (View, Ruler).
Setting tabs via the menu and dialog box is WAY too much work.

2. When you make a mistake, UNDO [CTRL+Z].
Trust me. Do not waste time trying to fix a tab. UNDO and try again.

3. Place your cursor where you want the new tab settings to take effect.
See the Blogs on WordPerfect Codes to understand why.

TO REMOVE A TAB, click and drag the little triangle down and off of the ruler bar. When you see the little garbage can, lift your finger off the mouse button.

TO SET A TAB, click the ruler bar, below the numbered line, EXACTLY where you want the tab to be set. If you make a mistake? UNDO and try again.

TO MOVE A TAB, click on the tab you want to move and drag it to another location on the ruler bar. Beware of the garbage can, if you see it, the tab will be deleted if you lift your finger off the mouse button. If you miss clicking on the tab and accidently set another one, right next to it? UNDO and try again.

Congratulations, you are now free from the drudgery of [TAB] [TAB] [TAB] [TAB] [TAB]