Lync is an instant messaging client with a lot of nice features.  Lync will be replacing Microsoft Office Communicator in May of 2013.  Lync will be automatically installed on your university owned computer in May of 2013.

If you are currently using Microsoft Communicator your contacts will be migrated to Microsoft Lync and there would be no need to rebuild your contact lists.

Microsoft Lync has multiple new features including screen sharing, video chat, and support for  mobile devices.
Top Lync Features:

• Use Lync on Windows Phone, iPad, iPhone, and Android to stay connected no matter where you are.
• Chat, Voice, and Video communication options
• Lync Meetings
• Desktop/Application Sharing abilities

To find more information on Microsoft Lync and all of its features visit

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/lync/communicator.aspx

How do I use Lync?

Microsoft has a lot of documentation and videos on their website.  Please go to the following link for more information:

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helphome.aspx?lcid=1033&NS=COMM14&pc=oc&ver=4&subver=0&bld=7577&bldver=4356

You may also access this help page from Lync.

• To access this help on your windows computer
  • Press F1
• To access this help on Mac OSX
  • Open Lync
  • Click Help at the top of the screen.

If you have further questions please feel free to contact the ITS Helpdesk.

ITS provides limited support for this quicknote.  It is provided for informational purposes and questions regarding this quicknote will be answered to the best of our knowledge but are out of the scope of the ITS Helpdesk training.

Basics:

This is the second article of an article series detailing the basics of the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 application. This article will give a detailed walk-through with composing new emails in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

Composing a new Email:

1. Click New in the top left corner of the screen.
2. Compose the new message in the New Message window.
   • With the release of Microsoft Office 2007 comes the new ribbon interface. In the New Message window, the three primary tabs that will be used will be both the Message and Options tab.
     
   • Message Tab
     • This tab provides all of the basic text formatting functionality for altering the font/colors/etc.
     • The first highlighted section provides access to the Address Book/Contact list of Microsoft Outlook.
       • To search for a particular person, click Address Book.
       • If the name of the person is known, simply type their last name followed by a comma and then the first name in the To field. Multiple names can be separated by a semi-colon. Once the names are typed, click Check Names. Microsoft Outlook will automatically retrieve the email addresses for those persons in the Address Book.
     • The second highlighted group allows you to add attachments to your emails along with applying a signature to your emails. To attach a file, click the Paperclip. If you wish to add a signature, click the Paper and Pencil icon. [Signatures are explained later in the article].
     • The third highlighted group provides you with the ability of changing the priority and importance of the email. These are just simple ways to bring greater attention to the email when the recipient receives it.
       
   • Options Tab
     • The first highlighted region allows you to set the visibility of a few hidden fields. By default the “From” and “BCC” fields are invisible with new email messages. The options tab provides the ability to make them visible.
       • From- this is only used if you have permission to send as if you were from another email account. This functionality can only be obtained under certain circumstances by network administrators.
       • BCC – Blind Carbon Copy emails can basically be described as invisible emails. When a person is BCC-ed then neither the To Recipients or CC Recipients will know that the email was also sent to the BCC-ed recipient.
     • The Second highlighted region lets you specify the type of format for the email message.
       • Plain Text – Smaller email size and is strictly text only, no images.
       • HTML – The text is encoded with HTML which provides the capability of images, tables, advanced formatting, etc.
       • RichText - Provides more functionality than HTML emails, however RichText emails often can lead to emails with a much larger size.
     • The third highlighted region provides the functionality of voting in email messages, as well as requesting delivery/read receipts.
       • Voting can only be done by other email accounts that are configured to use Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. When the recipient receives a voting request, they will have the option to vote using the vote buttons in the Message tab. Once the recipient votes, then an email will be sent to the original sender with the response.
       • Delivery/Read receipt email will be sent to your account as soon as the email has been read/delivered by the recipient.
     • The fourth highlighted region buttons open the Message Options window which is explained later in this article.

Signatures:

A signature can be set to automatically show on new/replied/forwarded emails from you. Through this window, you are able to configure multiple signatures and assign them to different types of messages. To open this window, click Edit Signature from any window that has the Insert tab in the ribbon.

The Messaging Window can be shown by clicking any of the three buttons in the Messaging Options group of the Options tab. Through this window you are able to set the basic options of an email message such as importance and sensitivity. Along these more basic features, this window provides advanced options including when a message will be delivered, whom replies to the message get sent to, and how the emails are encoded.

This quicknote has two sections.  One section is for Windows based computers and the other section is for Machintosh computers. Please contact the Helpdesk for any assistance beyond that which is provided in the Helpdesk.

Windows Based Computers

What is the Microsoft Office 2007 File Format Converter?

• • MS Office 2007 File Format Converter is an application that lets you open, edit, and save documents workbooks, and presentations in the file formats new to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.
  • MS Office 2007 File Formal Converter should be used by computer users with Microsoft Office 2000, 2003 or earlier editions.

How to download MS Office 2007 File Format Converter?

On Campus

• Simply go to this link on the L drive L:\ITS Recommended Applications\MS Office 2007 File Format Converters and Run the application.

Off Campus

• The official Microsoft link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

How to use MS Office 2007 File Format Converter?

You do not have to do anything to use this application.  Just open the file and the application will convert it by itself and open it with the Microsoft Office version that you have on your computer.

Mac Computers

What is the Microsoft Office 2008 File Format Converter?

• MS Office 2008 File Format Converter is an application that lets you open, edit, and save documents, workbooks, and presentations in the file formats new to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2008.
• MS Office 2008 File Format Converter should be used by Mac users with Microsoft Office 2004 or earlier.

How to Download MS Office 2008 file Format Converter?

• This should automatically be installed if you have updates enabled.  If not, the Mac version can be found at:
  http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=&fid=2A8D9A3B-B8A4-43B6-82A6-A2E7D16AE11D#viewer
• The direct link to the English Version of the Mac Conversion: http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/E/7/8E7B9BB9-62EB-40E9-A135-D6AB5A991851/OpenXMLConverter102.dmg

How to use MS Office 2008 File Format Converter?

You do no have to do anything to use this application.  Just open the file and the application will convert it be itself and open it with the Microsoft Office version that you have on your computer.

ITS provides limited support for this quicknote.  It is provided for informational purposes and questions regarding this quicknote will be answered to the best of our knowledge but are out of the scope of the ITS Helpdesk training.

Basics

This is the first article of an article series detailing the basics of the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 application. This article will give a brief overview of the new interface and how to navigate to some of the most common features.

Interface:

The fundemental use for Microsoft Outlook is most definitely the ablility to convigure it for various mail accounts. As such the interface is primarily catered to this use. The basic interface for Microsoft Outlook is divided into 6 panes.

• The first pane relates to the entire organization for a particular email. Through this pane you can gain access to mutliple email accoutns that have been configured for Microsoft Outlook as well as folders within each of the email accounts.
• The second pane is the primary navigation tool between Microsoft’s various utilities. Microsoft Outlook provides the following utilities.
• Mail -a robust email messaging system that can be used with a pre-configured email account.
• Calendar- the calendar is integrated in all of the utilities to provide the most efficient methods for scheduling appointments and events.
• Contacts- this is the address book that provides easy access to either a Global Address Book or the personal address book. Individual contact items can store address, phone, email, business information
• Tasks- a very simple utility that can be considered like a ToDo list.
• Notes- Instead of having Post- Its all over your screen, this utility will put electronic notes on your screen.
• The third pane provides the mail listing for the currently selected folder in pane 1. By right- clicking the column headers in this pane, you can sort the emails based on a variety of criteria.
• The fourth pane is the preview pane. When an email is selected pane 3, pane 4 will display a preview of the email. To fully interact with the email you will have to open the email by double-clicking on the mail item in pane 3.
• The fifth pane shows how the calendar is integrated into various parts of Microsoft Outlook. Pane 5 shows a full calendar along with appointments for the current day.
• The sixth pane displays all the tasks that are stored in the previously mentioned Task utility.

ITS provides limited support for this quicknote.  It is provided for informational purposes and questions regarding this quicknote will be answered to the best of our knowledge but are out of the scope of the ITS Helpdesk training.

Basics

Headers allow you to put your name and the page number of every page without having to type that information on every page.  Using headers gives your papers a more polished, professional look and you can revise the body of the paper without worrying about retyping the header.

Inserting Headers

To insert almost anything, including headers & footers, in Microsoft Word 2007, you need to use the Insert Ribbon.  By clicking either the Header or Footer button in the Insert Ribbon, a listing of suggested headers & footers will show.  If you want to just edit the header, click Edit Header.

Header & Footer Tools Ribbon

Whenever the header or footer is activated or inserted in a Microsoft Word 2007 document, the Header & Footer Tools ribbon.  This special ribbon will disappear when the header & footer is not active.

Navigation – Through this section of the Header & Footer Tools ribbon you will be able to navigate between the header and footer for an individual page or navigate between headers of different pages.  The other option to this is to just use the scrollbar for the document and goto whichever header/footer is desired.
Different First Page – When this is selected, the first page will have a header that is completely independent of the other headers/footers in the document.
Different Odd & Even Pages – When this is selected, the odd and even pages will have headers/footers that work independently of one another.  Odd pages will have similar header/footer and even pages will have a different header/footer.

Page Numbers

Through the page numbers button, you can choose from a variety of different pre-configured numbering styles.  If you wish to just insert a regular number, then you will want to click Current Position and then Plain Number.  If you wish to alter the numbering style to roman numerals for example, then click Format Page Numbers…

Windows Update is the online extension of Windows that helps you to keep your computer up to date. You can use Windows Update to choose updates for your computer’s operating system, software, and hardware such as system files, device drivers, service packs, and new Windows features. This should only take a few minutes to do on campus; however, if you are using a dial-up connection, the process may take longer.

What are Product Updates?

Product updates are a catalog of fixes, updates, and enhancements to Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office Products. Look at the catalog and download any and all security updates and software patches that apply to your installed software. You can download all of these security patches and updates from the Web and install them to your computer.

Updating Your System Files Using Windows Update

Updating your system files through Windows Update is a relatively simple process. Below you will find instructions on how to do this in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Note that if  you are using a Windows 2000 or XP machine, you must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure.

Updating Windows XP via Windows Update

1. Using Internet Explorer, go to the Windows Update web site at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. If you get an error message, try again later as this means that the web site is too busy.
2. Click Scan for Updates directly on the homepage. A catalog of Windows Updates will appear after you have scanned.

Updating Microsoft Office

1. Click the Office Update link at the top of the page.
2. Click the Check for Updates link on the Office Update Page. After scanning is completed, you will be presented with a catalog of Office updates.

Updating Windows Vista/Windows 7

1. Click the Start Orb in the taskbar.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Depending on your Control Panel layout, you will either need to click Check for Updates under the Security category or click Windows Update and then Check for Updates.
4. Click Install Now to install any available updates.

What Do I Need to Do?

Product updates make it easy to download updates and enhancements to the software on your computer. We recommend that you do this on a monthly basis and every time you install any new software. The following steps apply to updating both Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.

1. Browse the catalog of updates.
2. When you decide you want to update a certain component, click the box next to it. A check mark will then appear in the box. Before you choose to download a component, click the Read this first link for important information including a more detailed description of the component, how to begin using the component, instructions for uninstalling, and the support policy.
3. When you have selected all the components you want (you may un-check any selected components you don’t want), click Download.
4. A page will then appear with a list of all the updates to be performed. If there are any components you want to update but aren’t on the list or if there are any you want to remove, click the Back button.
5. Click the Start Download button to begin downloading and installing.
6. When you see the Installation Complete message, you are done updating. Note that some components may require you to restart your computer after installation.

Important Notes

• Be sure to download any Critical or Important updates that are recommended for your system. Critical updates will fix known problems (such as security issues) specific to your computer.
• The first time you go to the Windows Updates page, click Yes when prompted to install any required software or controls.

Please note that this guide is meant for use with Outlook 2007 and may not be completely compatible with other versions of Outlook.

Steps for Outlook 2010 will be available soon.

Creating and Using a Distribution List:

1. In Outlook, click File, go to New, and then click Distribution List.
   
2. Click the Select Members button. A list of university users and departments will then appear on screen. Double-click on the members you wish to add to your distribution list and click OK.
    
3. Enter a name for the distribution list. Click Save and then click Close. The new list should now appear in your Contacts folder.
4. If you wish to add an email address which is not on the university email list, click Add New (located to the right of Select New Members). Enter the display name and an email address and click OK.
   
5. To send to the newly created distribution list, go to your Contacts folder. Right-click on your distribution list, go to Create, and then select New Message to Contact. This will create a blank email message address to your distribution list.

ITS provides limited support for this quicknote.  It is provided for informational purposes and questions regarding this quicknote will be answered to the best of our knowledge but are out of the scope of the ITS Helpdesk training.

Basics:

Leading dots and advanced tabs are used in the technical writing process to create both tablet of contents’ and organized information that is not straining on the eyes. See the picture below for an example of leading dots.

Configuring Tabs

In order to configure tabs for a document, you must be able to see the ruler at the top of the word document. If the ruler is not visible, then click on the View Ruler icon which is located above the right scrollbar and just underneath the the ribbon.

Tab Types

Before you actually create the tabs, you must decide what type of tab you want. Microsoft Word 2007 comes with 8 different types of tab styles, all of which have a unique purpose. The left and right tabs are the most commonly used tabs. You can click on the tab type icon on the upper left corner of the screen underneath the ribbon in order to toggle through the different types of tabs.

The left tab is used for aligning text online a left margin

The right tab is used for aligning text online a right margin

Adding Tabs

Once you have decided which tab you would like to insert in your document, then you will want to click on the ruler at the desired location for the tab stop.

Configuring Leading Dots

Leading dots need to be manually configured for every tab that you wish to have leading dots for.

1. Click on the Home ribbon tab.
2. Click on the pop-out icon for the Paragraph group.
3. Click Tabs…

• The Tab stop position section provides a listing of all the current tab stops for your document. Click on individual tabs to change its settings.
• Alignment – Sets what type of tab stop should be used at that tab stop position.
• Leader – Sets how the tab stops are treated as far as a leading filler from where you pressed the Tab button on the  keyboard until the tab stop.

ITS provides limited support for this quicknote.  It is provided for informational purposes and questions regarding this quicknote will be answered to the best of our knowledge but are out of the scope of the ITS Helpdesk training.

Basics:

The calendar may be the second most used feature for most users, second only to the email functionality.    The calendar allows you to have a very detailed schedule that can be as basic or complex as you could want.

1. Mini Calendar – provides a basic view of the dates currently being viewed in the main portion of the Outlook calendar.  Depending on the size of the monitor being used, anywhere from one mini calendar to five may be visible.
2. View Settings  – The main portion of the Outlook Calendar can be viewed in one of three views: Day, Week, Month.
3. Main Calendar – Displays all of the appointments scheduled for all of the different days throughout the month.

1. Double-Click one of the days to create a new appointment
2. The current date is partially highlighted on the calendar
3. Individual appointments can be moved (through dragging of the appointment) to different dates, or the appointment can be expanded to multiple days.  This may alter the reoccurence, time, date of the events. 

New Appointment Appointment View

1.  Appointment View – This is the view that is automatically seen when creating a new appointment
2.Reoccurrence  – Allows you specify that the current appointment will reoccur at multiple instances on the calendar

 
1. Start/End Times – For a reoccurence, you must specify the start and end times for the appointment.
2. Duration – Another way to view the Start/End Times.

 
Bug: Altering the Start/End times automatically alters the duration, but altering the duration does not alter the Start/End times.  This can lead to appointments being misconfigured.

3. Reoccurence Pattern – In this section, you can specify how the reoccurence will occur.  Events can happen Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly; individual days of the week can be selected for most of the options.

4. Range of Occurrence – The reoccurrence will take place between the 2 dates specified.

3. Categorize – With outlook you can create categories that can be associated with emails, appointments, contacts, and tasks.  Each category is assigned a color.  By clicking on this button,  you will be able to configure all of your categories.

Scheduling View

This is another way to view your calendar for the day that the appointment will be occuring on.  It basically allows you to see if a conflict may occur with your scheduling.

ITS provides limited support for this quicknote.  It is provided for informational purposes and questions regarding this quicknote will be answered to the best of our knowledge but are out of the scope of the ITS Helpdesk training.

Basics

Although Microsoft Word 2007 comes with pre-defined settings that are good for general circumstances, many of the techniques do not abide by technical writing standards.  This quicknote will discuss how to set specific advanced settings for documents that are often required for technical writing standards.

Page Layout

Margins

Margins are used to provide any necessary gap along the edges of the paper.  The margins can make it easier to make documents into pamphlets or booklets which need wider edges so staples/hole punches/paper clips do not interfere with the reading of the text; they can also be used to extend/shrink the amount of text visible on the page.

In order to setup a document for Multiple pages such as for a booklet:

1. Click Custom Margins…
2. Under the Pages section, next to Multiple Pages, click on the combo-box
3. Click Book fold

Page Breaks

• At times it is necessary to add page breaks for figures, a table of contents, works cited, or bibliography.  When this is needed, simply click on the Breaks button and select Page.

Paragraphs

By clicking on the pop-out icon in the Paragraph group of the Page Layout ribbon tab the following window will show:

 Special Indentation

• (none)- New paragraphs are standard paragraphs; the first line is indented half an inch from the left margin.
• Hanging- Hanging paragraphs are used in Works Cited pages and Bibliographies; the first line starts at the left margin and the following lines are indented one-half an inch.
• First Line- Indents the first line of the paragraph.

Spacing

• With Microsoft Word 2007, a default setting for every document is that After, or in other words – spacing after every paragraph, is set to be 10 pt.  This will add extra space that will interfere with advanced line spacing such as Single, Multiple, or Double.

Line Spacing

• Changes the line spacing for the highlighted portion of the document, or if nothing is selected, the entire document.