Microsoft 365: Word Advanced (2023): Creating Custom Elements

Name: Microsoft 365: Word Advanced (2023): Creating Custom Elements
Author: Catherine Smith

Learn to refine your documents with custom elements

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 5 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Catherine Smith, and in these lessons, we will be taking a look at non-breaking spaces and advanced paragraph settings which control the way a paragraph will break between pages. We'll look at the Find and Replace Formatting options and pay specific attention to special characters and finding formatting options throughout a document. We'll use a cross-reference, we'll create a table of authorities, and we will explore the Compare and Combine features within Word which are useful when working with multiple versions of long documents. We're going to use the Microsoft Word 365 desktop version since many of these features are not currently available in the online version. Let's start by defining the term widow and orphan within the context of Microsoft Word. I've set up an example on the screen of a widow. You'll notice I have a paragraph which begins with the Word video. The paragraph displays five lines of text and then the system executes an automatic page break leaving a short line by itself at the top of the next page. This is referred to as a widow. An orphan is similar. I'm now demonstrating an orphan. It's the same paragraph however just by virtue of some extra lines I inserted, the paragraph begins and then the system executes an automatic page break and the remaining lines within this paragraph appear at the top of the next page. Well there's a feature which will control this and prevent widows and orphans from occurring within your document. I'm going to select the paragraph that we're working with from the Home tab on the ribbon within the paragraph group going to choose the paragraph settings option. Within paragraph settings under the line and page breaks tab I'm going to turn on widow and orphan control. Now I do need to mention that in order to demonstrate what a widow and orphan is I actually had to go in and disable this feature. It's on by default. So while I want you to understand widow and orphan control in the context of Microsoft Word you won't really need to worry too much about it because by default this setting is on. Let's see what happens when I click OK. You'll notice it pulled the paragraph together so that it will not leave a widow or an orphan within this example. Let's move on to a few other settings. Let's say that I'm working within this document and I would like to list a few items on the page. Going to type the word apples. Now pressing the Enter key will break that one word into its own separate paragraph. Using Enter creates a paragraph break. In this situation I'm going to list apples, oranges, grapes and pears and I would prefer for those four items while they will be represented on different lines I would like them to actually be treated as if they were one paragraph so that some of my controls will be in effect. So instead of pressing Enter I'm going to hold my Shift key down and press Enter. You'll notice the spacing is a little bit tighter because I'm not including the paragraph spacing which occurs by default and instead I'm doing a line break and creating an additional line within the same paragraph. Going to type oranges, Shift Enter, grapes, Shift Enter and then pears. Now for the purpose of this example on the Home tab of the ribbon I'm going to enable my Show Hide button. You'll notice the symbol appears differently. A line break symbol displays the arrow with an elbow whereas the paragraph break clearly shows the paragraph symbol. Since these four lines will be one paragraph my widow and orphan control will handle the problem that I demonstrated earlier. But what if it is important to me that these four lines always stay together in my document? I'm going to select the four lines which is one complete paragraph and I'm going to enable the Keep Lines Together option. The reason I'm doing that is so that my system will never split these items and perhaps display apples and oranges on one page at the bottom and grape some pears at the top of the next page. Let's demonstrate that. I'm going to Shift Enter, I'm going to type bananas, Shift Enter again and you'll notice it brought everything together onto the top of the next page. Since after selecting this paragraph and again these multiple lines are one paragraph. Since I enabled Keep Lines Together I'm not going to have a problem with the system splitting the lines. Let's look at one more option which is similar to what I am demonstrating. Let's say that within my document I've entered some text perhaps like a date. Notice after the word October there's a regular space which I pressed and after the comma a regular space. Let's say that throughout my document I'm using dates often and it's important that I never split these three pieces of the date and have them represented on different lines within the document. For example I would not want the word October to be at the end of a line with the 30 comma 2023 at the next line. So instead of a typical or regular space I can choose to insert a non-breaking space. If I hold my Shift key, my Control key and press the space bar you'll notice the symbol appears to be different than the normal space. So in both cases I'm going to replace the regular space with a non-breaking space. Now that I've done that word will never under any circumstances split this entire group of words and numbers and separate them on different lines within your document. You may need to do that with company names or perhaps phrases or certain quotes. There could be some unique situations where you would like to use a non-breaking space. Stay tuned for the next lesson. We will be taking a look at some advanced features which relate to using the Find and Replace options. Thanks for watching.

Advanced Provider : Catherine Smith 5 Lessons · 38m in English

Course Description

Microsoft Word offers plenty of options for incorporating custom elements into your documents. Using the show/hide button to examine non-printing characters and their overall effect can assist users as they develop and edit documents. Cross-reference hyperlinks create seamless navigation, while a table of authorities is often required for legal documents. And while revision history and cloud storage has made it easier to compare different versions of a document, Word’s compare and combine features can still provide a useful alternative when used in certain circumstances.

In these lessons, we’ll begin with an explanation of widows and orphans within Microsoft Word. We’ll contrast spaces with non-breaking spaces, and paragraphs with line breaks. Using the Replace feature, you’ll learn how to replace and format text, along with how to add special characters. We’ll also explore the Cross Reference and Table of Authorities features, concluding with the Compare and Combine features. While a few features presented in this course are available within the online version of Microsoft Word, a larger number will require the use of the Microsoft Word Desktop version.

What You'll Learn

Replace and format text, including formatting and special characters, using the Find and Replace feature
Examine non-printing characters with the show/hide button to support document development and editing
Apply non-breaking spaces and line breaks, and manage widows and orphans in a document
Improve online documents with cross-reference hyperlinks for seamless navigation
Create a table of authorities for legal documents
Use the Compare and Combine features to work with different versions of long documents

Key Takeaways

Microsoft Word provides options for incorporating custom elements into documents, with many features requiring the Word Desktop version rather than the online version.
The show/hide button lets users examine non-printing characters and their effect when developing and editing documents.
Cross-reference hyperlinks create seamless navigation, while a table of authorities is often required for legal documents.
Word's Compare and Combine features offer a useful alternative for comparing document versions even alongside revision history and cloud storage.
The course covers distinctions such as spaces versus non-breaking spaces and paragraphs versus line breaks, along with widows and orphans.

Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does this course cover?

It covers widows and orphans, non-breaking spaces versus spaces, paragraphs versus line breaks, finding and replacing formatting and special characters, using a cross reference, creating a table of authorities, and using Compare and Combine for long documents.

Do I need the desktop version of Word for this course?

While a few features are available in the online version of Microsoft Word, a larger number require the Microsoft Word Desktop version.

What will I learn to do with cross-reference hyperlinks?

You will learn how to improve online documents with cross-reference hyperlinks, which create seamless navigation.

Does this course cover features useful for legal documents?

Yes. It demonstrates how to create and use a table of authorities, which is often required for legal documents.

How does the course approach comparing document versions?

It concludes with Word's Compare and Combine features, presented as a useful alternative for comparing different versions of a document in certain circumstances.