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Microsoft Word Toolbars, ScreenTips and Toolbar Buttons

The ToolbarA toolbar is a bar containing buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. With toolbars, commands become just handy and easily accessible to users. The buttons contained in them are used to access commands more quickly than by opening the menus and the respective dialog boxes.

ScreenTips
I mentioned earlier that toolbars contain smart icons serving as shortcuts to the main menu commands. However, these toolbars offer too many buttons of various looks and shapes for a user to easily remember their names or their functions. You might well ask: 'What is the use of a toolbar button if its name or function is not known?' Well, the ever-creative programmers at Microsoft also once contemplated this problem. So they fashioned a tool known as ScreenTip. ScreenTips, also known as Tooltips, are little pop-up descriptions that appear when you rest the mouse pointer over a toolbar button. They appear on the screen to provide certain information about a toolbar button, tracked change, or comment or to display a footnote or endnote.

So, any time you are at a loss as to the name or use of a toolbar button, simply rest the mouse pointer over such button and immediately, you'll see a little text pop-up below the pointer, saying something. This is a ScreenTip or ToolTip.

In case the ScreenTips don't appear when you move the pointer over a button, it is possible the feature has been disabled/turned off. You can turn it on by doing the following:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options and then click the View tab.
  2. Under Show, select the ScreenTips check box.
That's all. Those are the steps you'll also take to deactivate the feature, for one reason or another, though not advisable.

HOW TO DISPLAY/INVOKE A (MISSING) TOOLBAR
Suppose a toolbar you need very much to hasten your work (e.g., the Formatting Toolbar) is not currently visible on screen, what would you do to invoke such 'missing' or 'hiding' toolbar from its hiding place? Well, anytime you face a situation like this, simply use any of the following methods to bail yourself out.


Displaying A Toolbar Using the View Menu
  1. On the Menu bar, click View. This displays the View menu.
  2. Then, on the View menu, point to Toolbars item.
  3. This now displays the Toolbars sub-menu, in which the names of certain toolbars are shown. Here, you'll find that some of the toolbar names have a check mark to the left of them, while some have none. The check mark indicates the toolbar bearing it is already displayed on screen.
  4. Select and click the name of the desired toolbar from the Toolbars sub-menu.The toolbar you selected will then appear on screen.
Fig: Showing or hiding a toolbar using the View menu

Those are the steps you'll also follow to hide a toolbar you no longer want on screen at a particular moment.

    NOTE:
    If you can't find the particular toolbar you are really looking for on the Toolbars sub-menu, click Customize, and then click the Toolbars tab in the Customize dialog box that appears. In the Toolbars list, click the checkbox next to the name of the toolbar you want and then click Close. See figure below.
    Fig: Showing or hiding a toolbar using the Customize dialog box

    To Display a Desired Toolbar Using a Shortcut
    Simply right-click an empty space on any toolbar, and then click the name of toolbar you want.

    TIPIf you do not see the toolbar you're looking for on the  shortcut menu, click the Toolbar Options arrow, point to Add or Remove Buttons, click Customize, click the Toolbars tab in the Customize dialog box, and then, in the toolbars list, click the checkbox next to the toolbar you want and click Close when you are through.
    Fig: Displaying the Customize dialog box via the Toolbar Options button


    At this juncture, I'm quite confident to a reasonable extent that how to determine the name of any toolbar button/icon should never be a problem to you, since the ScreenTips are there to "tell-tale". Right now, your problem, I guess, should be: "What exactly is the function of each of these toolbar buttons/icons?" Well, if you have asked that question, it simply shows you are bright and ready to learn. The good news is, you are not helpless: I have dedicated the following sections to expatiate a little on the Standard toolbar, Formatting toolbar, and the Drawing toolbar, since you will be using them constantly.


    Standard Toolbar
    You have learned that the Standard toolbar is, by default, docked directly below the Menu bar, and that it contains buttons used for performing tasks similar to the commands available in the Menu bar. Let's now take a moment to identify the name and purpose/use of each of the buttons on the Standard toolbar.


    NAME

    ICON

    USE
    New
    Creates a new blank document based on the
    default or current template.
    Open
    Opens a document previously created and saved in
    Word.
    Save
    Saves new changes to the current document or
    file, with its filename, location and document format.
    E-mail
    Sends the content of the current document as the
    body of an E-mail message.
    Search
    Finds files, Web pages and Outlook items based
    on the search criteria you enter.
    Print
    Prints the active document or selection.
    Print Preview
    Shows how a document or file will look when you
    print it.
    Spelling
    Checks spelling in the active document, file or
    item.
    Cut
    Removes the selected item from the active
    document and places it in the Clipboard.
    Copy
    Copies selected text or object to the Clipboard.
    Paste
    Pastes the item you cut or copied into (the
    position of the insertion point) the document from the Clipboard.
    Format Painter
    Copies the format from a selected text or object
    and applies it to the text or object you click.
    Undo
    Reverses the last action or deletes the last
    entry you typed. Click the arrow next to this icon to select and reverse
    multiple actions at a time.
    Redo
    Reverses the action of the last Undo command.
    Click the arrow next to this icon to select and reverse multiple Undo
    command actions.
    Insert Hyperlink
    Inserts a new hyperlink or edits the selected
    hyperlink.
    Tables and Borders
    Displays Tables and Borders toolbar, which
    offers tools for editing/formatting a table and its content.
    Insert Table
    Inserts a table in the document. Click and drag
    to specify the number of rows and columns.
    Insert Microsoft Excel
    Worksheet
    Inserts a new Microsoft Excel worksheet at the
    insertion point. Click and drag to specify the number of rows and columns.
    Use the Excel tools on the toolbar to edit the table.
    Columns
    Changes the number of columns in a document or a
    section of a document.
    Drawing
    Shows or hides the Drawing toolbar.
    Document Map
    Used to turn on or off the Document Map.
    Document Map shows the outline structure of a document so that you can
    quickly navigate through the document and keep track of your location in it.
    Zoom
    Used to "zoom in" to get a close-up view of a
    document or "zoom out" to see more of the page at a reduced size.
    Show/Hide
    Shows or hides non-printing characters, such as
    tab characters, paragraph marks and hidden text.
    Office Assistant
    (Microsoft Office Help)
    Opens Help or invokes the Office Assistant to
    provide help topics and tips to help you accomplish your task.



    Formatting Toolbar
    The Formatting toolbar offers shortcut buttons to help format a document quickly. From the Formatting toolbar, you can quickly apply formatting attributes such as Font; Font Color; Alignment; Line Spacing; Bullets and Numbering, etc, document text, to save time.

    The following table provides a list of Formatting toolbar buttons and a brief description of each.


    NAME

    ICON

    USE
    Style
    Opens a Style drop-down list from which you can
    select one.
    Font
    Changes the font of the selected text or number.
    Click the drop-down arrow beside the box and select a font from the list.
    Font Size
    Changes the size of the selected text or number.
    Enter a size value in the box, or select an appropriate size from the
    drop-down list.
    Bold
    Applies or removes bold formatting to or from a
    selected text or number.
    Italic
    Makes selected text or number italic, but
    removes italic from selected text or number if it's already italic.
    Underline
    Underlines (rules a line)  or removes
    underline formatting from selected text or number.
    Align Left
    Aligns the selected text, number or inline
    object to the left with a jagged edge.
    Center
    Aligns selected text, numbers or inline objects
    to the center.
    Align Right
    Aligns the selected text, number or inline
    objects to the right, with a jagged edge.
    Justify
    Aligns the selected paragraphs to both the left
    and right margins or indents.
    Numbering
    Adds numbers to or removes numbers numbers from
    selected paragraphs.
    Bullets
    Adds bullets to or removes bullets from the
    selected paragraphs.
    Decrease Indent
    Indents the selected paragraph to the previous
    tab stop or indents the content of the selected item to the left by one
    character width of the standard font.
    Increase Indent
    Indents the selected paragraph to the next tab
    stop or indents the content of the selected item to the right by one
    character width of the standard font.
    Outside Border
    Adds or removes a border around the selected
    text, paragraphs, cells, pictures or other objects.
    Highlight
    Marks text so that it is highlighted and stands
    out from the surrounding text.
    Font Color
    Formats the selected text with the color you
    click


    Drawing Toolbar
    The Drawing toolbar is located at the bottom of the window, between the Horizontal Scroll bar and the Status bar. Like every other toolbar, this also contains smart icons representing shortcuts to Main menu commands in Word.

    It holds buttons/tools used in creating drwaings, such as rectangles, ovals, lines, arrows, WordArt text, etc. It also offers tools for inserting organizational charts and ready-made pictures and Clip Arts from their different locations.

    Also included in this toolbar are tools for formatting inserted objects and for adding special effects such as shadow or 3-D to lines, rectangles, ovals, etc. Like every other toolbar also, the Drawing toolbar can be displayed or hidden.

    The following table shows a list of tools offered on the Drawing toolbar, and their functions:


    NAME

    ICON

    USE
    Draw
    Offers a number of options for defining the
    relative positions, arrangements, rotation, etc, of drawings in a document.
    It also offers tools for changing the shape of AutoShapes.
    Select Objects
    Changes the pointer to a selection arrow so you
    can click to select objects in the active window.
    AutoShapes
    Offers a group of ready-made shapes that include
    basic shapes, such as rectangles and circles, including a variety of lines
    and connectors, block arrows, flowchart symbols, stars and banners, and
    callouts.
    Line
    Allows you to draw a straight line where you
    click or drag in the active window.
    Arrow
    Draws or inserts a line with an arrow head where
    you click or drag in the active window.
    Rectangle
    Draws a rectangle where you click and drag on
    the active window. You can also draw a square using this tool by holding
    SHIFT while you drag.
    Oval
    Draws an oval where you click and drag in the
    active document. To draw a (perfect) circle, hold down SHIFT while you drag.
    Text Box
    Draws a text box with horizontal direction where
    you click and drag in the active document.
    Insert WordArt
    Creates decorative text by inserting a Microsoft
    Office drawing objects.
    Insert Diagram
    Creates an organizational chart or a circle,
    radial, pyramid, or Venn or target diagram in your document.
    Clip Art
    Opens the Clip Gallery where you can select the
    clip art image you want to insert in your document or update your clip art
    collection.
    Insert Picture
    Inserts an existing picture in your  active
    document at the insertion point.
    Fill Color
    Adds, modifies, or removes the fill color or
    effects from the selected object.
    Line Color
    Adds, modifies, or removes the line color from
    the selected object.
    Font Color
    Allows you to add, modify, or remove the text
    color of the selected text.
    Line Style
    Used to select a thickness for the selected
    line.
    Dash Style
    Allows you to control the appearance of the
    selected line.
    Arrow Style
    Allows you to select the style of arrowhead.
    Shadow Style
    Allows you to select the shadow appearance of
    the selected drawing object.
    3-D Style
    Allows you to add depth to drawing objects such
    as lines, AutoShapes, and freeform objects.















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