Word Processing Basics

the Ruler

Mouse Pointer

Navigation with Cursor Keys and Keyboard

Selecting Text

Shift-Click Procedure

Scroll Bars

Deleting Text

Undo/Redo

the Ruler

• Controls the format of paragraphs (tabs, margins, etc.)
• Any changes to the ruler will affect:
  • the paragraph the cursor is currently in
  • the paragraphs currently selected
  • and/or any new paragraphs typed
• Visibility of the ruler is controlled by
  • VIEWRULER

Mouse Pointer

• the pointer's appearance varies depending upon where it is positioned on the screen
  • it appears as the I-BEAM CURSOR when positioned over a text area
    • when you click in text, you reposition the INSERTION POINTER (aka “toothpick cursor”) at the point of the click.
  • it appears as an ARROW pointing northwest when positioned over any “nontext” areas (menus, tool bars, etc.)
  • it appears as an ARROW pointing northeast when positioned in the left margin and can now be used to select text
    • click once to select the physical line
    • click twice to select the paragraph
    • click thrice to select the entire document

Navigation with Cursor Keys and Keyboard

Arrow (cursor) keys

• and
  • move the insertion point one character in the direction of the arrow
• and
  • move the insertion point one line in the direction of the arrow
• Ctrl+ and Ctrl+ (Windows) or Cmd+ and Cmd+ (Macintosh)
  • move the insertion point one word at a time in the direction of the arrow
• Ctrl+ and Ctrl+ (Windows) or Cmd+ and Cmd+ (Macintosh)
  • move the insertion point one paragraph at a time in the direction of the arrow
• END
  • moves the insertion point to the end of the current line
• HOME
  • moves the insertion point to the beginning of the current line
• PageUP / PageDOWN
  • moves the insertion point up or down one screen
• Ctrl+PageUP / Ctrl+PageDOWN (Windows) or Cmd+PageUP / Cmd+PageDOWN (Macintosh)
  • moves the insertion point to the top of the previous page (UP) or to the top of the next page (DOWN)
• Ctrl+Alt+PageUP / Ctrl+Alt+PageDOWN (Windows)
  • moves the insertion point to the beginning (UP) or end (DOWN) of the text on the current screen
• Ctrl+HOME / Ctrl+END (Windows) or Cmd+HOME / Cmd+END (Macintosh)
  • moves the insertion point to the beginning (HOME) or end (END) of the document

Selecting Text

text must be selected first before it can be changed, copied, moved, etc.

To select:

• a word
  • double-click on it or
  • “drag” the mouse over it
• a sentence
  • press the Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Macintosh) key while clicking anywhere in the sentence or
  • “drag” the mouse over the sentence
• a line
  • move the mouse to the left margin and click when the mouse pointer changes to an arrow pointing northeast or
  • “drag” the mouse over the line
• a paragraph
  • move the mouse to the left margin and double-click when the mouse pointer changes to an arrow pointing northeast or
  • “drag” the mouse over the paragraph
• the entire document
  • move the mouse to the left margin and triple-click when the mouse pointer changes to an arrow pointing northeast
  • or choose EDIT Select All
  • or press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Cmd+A (Macintosh)

To select using the cursor (arrow) keys

• if you press the SHIFT key as you perform any cursor movement (see section above) you will select text at the same time you move the insertion point!

Shift-Click

You may also use the Shift-Click procedure to select text. Whenever you hold down the Shift key and then click the mouse button, all text from the point of the cursor to the position when you “shift-click” will be selected. For example, try this: click to the left of the word You at the beginning of the first sentence of this paragraph. Now hold down the shift key and then click at then end of the second sentence. The first two sentences will now be selected. The Shift-Click procedure is “SOP” (standard operating procedure!) for both Macintosh and Windows systems for all programs!

Using the Scroll Bars

• the vertical scroll bar is used to move your document up or down
  • if you click on the UP scroll arrow, the text will scroll one line at time toward to beginning of the document
  • if you click on the DOWN scroll arrow, the text will scroll one line at time toward to end of the document
  • if you click on the UP double arrow, the text will scroll to the beginning of the previous page
  • if you click on the DOWN double arrow, the text will scroll to the beginning of the next page
  • the “elevator car”
    • the position of the elevator car (box in the scroll bar) indicates where you are positioned (relatively) in your document
    • click in the scroll bar above the car and you will move your text one screen at a time toward the beginning of the document
    • click in the scroll bar below the car and you will move your text one screen at a time toward the end of the document
• the horizontal scroll bar works in a similar fashion to scroll your document left/right

Deleting text

• the <Backspace>/<Delete> key on the alphanumeric portion of the keyboard performs a “delete left” one character at a time
• the <DEL> (or <Delete>) key above the cursor keys performs a “delete right” one character at a time
• blocks of text may be deleting by pressing either <Backspace> or <Delete> after the text is selected

Undo/Redo

Undo command

• the Undo command may be used to cancel (“undo”) your most recent editing changes
  • Edit Undo
  • or Ctrl+Z (Windows) or CMD+Z (Macintosh)
• starting with Word 6.0, Undo is a multiple-level command, that is, you can repeatedly select the Undo command to completely reverse your actions

Undo button, Standard Toolbar

• you may also click this button to undo an action, and you can click it repeatedly for a multiple-level undo
• if you instead click on the down-arrow next to the button, a drop-down list shows all of the edits that you have done
  • simply highlight through the point in the list you want to return to, release, and your work will be restored to its status at that point

Redo command

• once you have performed an “undo”, the Repeat command becomes “redo” and may be used to cancel an “undo”!
  • EditRedo
  • or Ctrl+Y (Windows) or CMD+Y (Macintosh)
• starting with Word 6.0, Redo is a multiple-level command, that is, you can repeatedly select the Undo command to completely reverse your actions

Redo button, Standard Toolbar

• you may also click this button to redo an action, and you can click it repeatedly for a multiple-level redo
• and there is a down-arrow next to this button to show all of your “undones”

Copyright©2003
last updated August 12, 2003