The interface of Word 2007 is made up of what Microsoft are calling “Ribbons” that have replaced the previous version’s (Office 2003) toolbars. Within these Ribbons are tabs which are commands grouped categorically.

The General Features
The general “file” menu has been replaced with the Office button. The Office button still contains the standard commands of Word such as New, Open, Save As, Save, Print, Email etc.

You will also find a list of recently accessed documents under the Office button which can be “pinned” to stay in this list for as long as the user wishes.

The Home Ribbon contains the most frequently used icons and basic formatting tools for Word ,such as font types, paragraph settings, styles and numbering.

A new function is the Clear Formatting icon which allows the user to highlight either all or part of the content of their document and by clicking on the Clear Formatting button it strips the text of all formatting.

The Insert Ribbon is where you would go to if you wanted to insert something in your document i.e pictures, charts, clipart, text boxes, Word art, and Hyperlinks etc.

The Ribbons will automatically change at the top of the window once something has been inserted e.g. a table, to give the user all of the required settings for that object.

There is a new command under this Ribbon called Quick Parts which replaces Autotext. To set this up, type your text, highlight the selected text, then from the quick parts menu select the Save to Quick Part Gallery option. To enter the Autotext type in the name you gave it when setting it up and simply press F3.

The Page Layout Ribbon concentrates on anything to do with the setup of the document i.e. orientation, size, breaks etc. Unlike going to Insert and Break as In previous versions of Word, now all you have to do is set your cursor as to where you want your break, click on the Break button, click on the type of break you want and the break is inserted.

The Review ribbon contains the track changes tools. Track Changes allows you to make amendments to a document in a different colour so it stands out. You can also change your user name when making changes so another colour by going to the drop down arrow on the Track Changes button and typing in another user name.

Saving Documents in Other Formats

When saving documents in Word 2007, you are given options as to which file format you would like to save a document as.

The Default file extension for Word 2007 is .docx, which is different to the previous version of Word which was saved as a .doc. You are still able to save in the Word 97-2003 Format) by selecting that option from the save as menu. It is wise to do this if sending documents by email as you may not know whether the recipients have Office 2007 or not. In which case if they didn’t and a document was sent to them in Word 2007 format, they would not be able to open it.

For online training courses to do with Office 2007 please click here.

By Kelly Foxhall