Editing Your Article

Once you have created a document in Microsoft Word you will likely want to edit that document to ensure that it not only says what you want it to, but also has the look and tone that will deliver your message with both clarity and impact.

The two most important menus on the navigation bar for editing tasks are Format and Tools. This may seem counter intuitive since there is also an Edit menu. Although the Edit menu is useful, the majority of Microsoft Word users tend to edit their documents by changing things controlled under the Format and Tools menus. As you gain more experience with editing your Microsoft documents you will likely discover that the Edit menu has rather basic options.

The Edit menu will allow you to find a word or phrase in your document. This is particularly handy if you have repeatedly used a word and later decide you need to change it. Other useful features are the Copy and Paste commands. If you have written a document and realize you have an entire chunk of information in the wrong place, simply highlight the paragraph or sentence, select Cut from the Edit menu. The sentence will be cut out of your document. Next place the cursor on the spot where you would like the sentence or paragraph to appear. Select Paste from the Edit menu and your item will be placed in the new location. You can use the Copy feature instead of Cut, if you are nervous about losing the content. Once you have copied the items to the new location you can then delete the information from the original location.

The best feature under the Edit menu is the Undo feature. If you have done something and immediately regret it, select Undo from the Edit menu and your last action will be restored. The Undo button for many users is better than an eraser because it not only removes what you just did, it will also restore what you did earlier.

All the fun and creative editing actions are located under Format. This pull-down menu will allow you to make changes to the font and the style you used to create your document. Clicking on the Font option will open a window of choices. You can change the look and style of the font as well as adding effects like strikethrough or superscript. Under format you can also change the direction of the text. This is a handy feature when labelling diagrams or when you want to record vertical information in a chart or table.

The actual layout of your document can be modified by line spacing and paragraphing as well as by presenting the information in columns. If you want to create a magazine or newspaper layout select the Columns feature from the Format menu before you begin typing your document and the information will be configured in the number of columns you select. In addition, you can add borders or shading around words or create coloured bars to make your titles stand out.

The Tools menu is arguably one of the most sophisticated and indispensible options available in Microsoft Word. Under Tools you can engage the Spelling and Grammar checker, determine the word count of your document, and if you aren't a wordsmith, use the thesaurus for alternative words. A feature that many people consider to be handy is the Protect Document option. When sharing a document that might be edited by several individuals, this feature will limit the changes that can be made. This may help the collaborators focus on content rather than features of the text, if that is the objective. Another helpful device for those working in a networked environment is Online Collaboration. Colleagues can all have access to a document and work on it simultaneously. This not only saves time, it also enhances the collaborative experience of co-creation.

Advanced editing features can also be found under the Insert menu. You can add page numbers in a variety of different styles and locations. Page breaks can be added when you want to control the amount of information presented on a page. The Insert menu will also allow you to add pictures from your files, or Microsoft clipart, diagrams, symbols, charts, tables and graphs. The Insert menu can make a significant difference on the visual impact of your document.

When you begin editing your document remember there are two critical pieces of information to keep in mind: use the Undo key if you are feeling nostalgic and want to return to the way things were and don't ever forget to SAVE! Located under the File menu the Save button is extremely important. Give some thought to what you want to name your document so that you can retrieve it quickly when required. Use the Save As feature if you want to keep different versions of your document.

Finally, remember to be creative and experiment. There are a lot of menus on the navigation bar so go ahead and try a little something from each.