A Form is a prearranged document with spaces reserved for entering information. It is a means of collecting information. You are most likely already familiar with paper forms, such as customer surveys, employment applications, etc. Microsoft Word allows you to create electronic forms that you can distribute to those from whom you need information. These electronic forms can contain drop-down lists or check-boxes, making the gathering of data more accurate.

Electronic forms are usually based upon templates. This allows the user to enter data into the form, without changing the formatting of the form or the form text. It’s a good idea to lay out your form on paper first as this will make designing your form in Word much easier.

When you’re ready to create your form, you may wish to consider using a table. Tables allow you to easily align your text and form fields.

Note that the form tools are located on the Developer Ribbon. If the Developer tab is not visible, click the Microsoft Office button, click Word Options, click the Popular category and then click the Show Developer Tab in the Ribbon checkbox.

To Create a New Form

1. Create a new blank document.
2. Save the document as a template.
3. Enter the form text (i.e. title, form instructions, etc.)
4. Insert a table with the necessary number of rows and columns.
5. Click the Developer tab on the Ribbon to access form tools.

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The AutoFilter feature in Excel allows you to select only one specific value. However, you may at times want to search for records that meet multiple criteria. For instance, you may want to list products that are greater than $20 or display only dates that fall between a specific date range. Using the Custom AutoFilter dialog box, you can create complex criteria using comparison operators such as:

• Equals/does not equal
• Is greater than/is less than
• Is greater than or equal to
• Is less than or equal to
• Begins with/does not begin with
• Ends with/does not end with
• Contains/does not contain

You can also combine multiple criteria for a single column by using the logical operator AND or the logical operator OR. For example, you may wish to display products that are greater than $20 and less and $50.

To Create a Custom Filter

1. Activate any cell in your list area.
2. Click the arrow next to the field name to which you want to apply a filter.
3. Point to the Filter type (Text Filters, Number Filters, Date Filters) to display a menu of comparison operators
   Or
   Point to the Filter type and choose Custom Filter.
4. Click the leftmost combo box and choose the desired comparison operator from the list.
5. Click the rightmost combo box and type in your criteria.
6. To enter multiple criteria, click the AND or the OR radio button and repeat steps 4 and 5 for the next row.
7. Click OK when finished.

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Just a quick shortcut for Friday – if you wish to make selected text all caps, press the Ctrl + Shift + A keystroke combination. This saves having to retype your text should you forget to change the case.

Pressing the Ctrl + Shift + A again will toggle the case to what it was before.Similar Posts:

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Rather than using the Ribbon to apply a heading style to your text, you can accomplish the same thing using keyboard shortcuts. This can be a time-saver if you work with multiple styles. Plus you can apply heading styles to your text regardless of what Ribbon is active.

To apply a Normal Style, press the Ctrl + Shift + N keystroke combination.

To apply a Heading 1 Style, press the Ctrl + Alt + 1 keystroke combination.

To apply a Heading 2 Style, press the Ctrl + Alt + 2 keystroke combination.

To apply a Heading 3 Style, press the Ctrl + Alt + 3 keystroke combination.Similar Posts:

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By default, Word displays ruler measurement in inches. This may not be what you want however – or, you may need change ruler measurement depending on the type of document on which you are working. Other options include: inches, centimeters, millimeters, points and picas.

If your ruler is not visible, click the Ruler checkbox in the Show/Hide group of the View Ribbon.

To Change Ruler Preferences in Word

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button
2. Click Word Options.
3. In the left pane, click Advanced
4. Scroll downward until you see the Display heading.
5. Click the “Show measurements in units of” drop-down list.
6. Choose the desired measurement.

If your ruler is not visible:

1. Click the View tab on the Ribbon.
2. Click the Ruler checkbox in the Show/Hide group

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Many people don’t know that you can quickly resize columns in Excel with just a click of the mouse to accommodate the largest cell entry. Just position your mouse pointer over the right border of the column header and double-click.

This trick also works with multiple columns. Select the columns you wish to resize and double-click the column header right boarder of any of the selected columns. All of the selected columns will expand to accommodate the widest cell entry.

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When applying a right-aligned format to column labels in Excel, the text ends up being squeezed right against the borders, which does not make for easy reading. To fix this problem, you can add easily add some space between the border and your text.

To add a space between right-aligned text and border:

1. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon.
2. Click the Dialog Launcher on the Number group on the Ribbon.
   
3. Click “Custom” in the Category list window.
4. Click in the Type field and type the @ symbol, followed by a blank space. If you wish more space between the border and the end of your text, enter as many spaces as you like.
   
5. Click OK.

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Once you have entered data into a table, you can reorganize it in alphabetical or numerical order. For example, you may want to sort a list of customers alphabetically by last name or numerically by sales. Excel allows you to sort by in either ascending (A to Z for alphabetical data, smallest to largest for numbers and oldest to most recent for date) or descending (Z to A for alphabetical data, largest to smallest for numbers and most recent to oldest for dates) order.

To quickly sort a single column of data in a table, click anywhere in the column that you wish to sort and click the Sort Ascending or Sort Descending button on the Sort & Filter group on the Data Ribbon. Excel will sort all of the data in the selected column, as well as the other columns in your table so that all of your rows are sorted correctly.

To Sort a Table in Excel

1. Click anywhere in the column that you wish to sort.
2. Click the Data tab on the Ribbon.
3. Click the Sort Ascending or Sort Descending button on the Sort & Filter group on the Data Ribbon.

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You can quickly total data in a table using the new Total Row feature on the Table Styles Options group of the contextual Design Ribbon. Clicking the Total Row check box will add a new row at the end of the table, with the word Total in the leftmost cell. Clicking in any of the cells in a total row will display a drop-down list from where you can choose an aggregate function to apply to the data in the row, such as sum or average.

Typing a formula directly in the row beneath a table will automatically create a total row for you.

To Total Data in a Table

1. Activate any cell within your table.
2. Click the contextual Design tab under Table Tools on the Ribbon.
3. Click the Total Row check box in the Table Style Options group on the Ribbon. The total row will appear below the table and display the word Total in the leftmost cell.
4. Click in the cell in the total row for the column that you want to calculate.
5. Click the drop-down arrow in the cell and select the aggregate function that you want to use.

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In Excel, an organized, related consecutive collection of data in rows and columns is called a Table (referred to in previous versions of Excel as “Lists”). Entering your data in table format allows you to easily sort, analyze, format and manage your data later.

Excel uses column labels in the first row of your table. If you do not designate the first row as a column heading, Excel will insert a generic header row with the titles Column 1, Column 2, etc.

When your data is converted to a table, you can easily sort your table data any way you wish, filter your data to display only those records that meet a specific criteria, and quickly apply formatting to your table. As soon as your data is converted to a table, the contextual Table Tools tab is displayed, under which you can access the Design Ribbon. From the Design Ribbon, you can apply a formatting with one click from the Table Styles Gallery.

Some things to keep in mind when creating Excel tables:

• Each column should contain a column heading (field names)
• There should be no spaces between the column heading and the first row of data
• There should be no spaces between the rows or columns in the data range
• Separate other data not related to the list by blank rows or columns

To Create an Excel Table

1. Click anywhere within a range of consecutive data that is to make up your table.
   Or
   Select the cell range that is to make up your table.
2. Click the Insert Tab on the Ribbon and click the Table button
   Or
   Click the Format as Table button on the Home Ribbon and then choose a table style (don’t worry – you can change the style later if you choose).
3. If your table contains column headings, click the My Table has headers checkbox.
4. If the cell range indicated in the Format as Table or Create Table dialog box is not correct, click the collapse dialog box button, select the correct cell range and then click the expand dialog box button.
   
5. Click OK

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