Searching your online search results

Have you ever clicked on a link from a Google search and arrived at a page that has so much text you can’t find the word or phrase that you searched for?

Well, here is a quick tip to help you cut through the extra text and zero in on what you need.

In both Internet Explorer and Firefox you can search the page you are viewing for the word or text you are looking for.

1. Click Edit

2. Click Find, or Find on this page
IE will open a dialog box in a new Window
Firefox will open a search field in a new bar at the bottom of the screen

3. Enter the word or phrase you are looking for
IE will let you enter the whole thing – then click on Next to look for a match on the page
Firefox will start to search as soon as you start typing – it will turn red when there is no match or highlight the first match it finds

4. Click on Next or Previous to continue to search the page either up or down – for both IE and Firefox

Using the Find function will help you quickly confirm if the text you want is on the page, so you can read what you need, or return to the original search and pick a different link.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

May 31, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: Firefox, Google, Internet Explorer  No Comments

Capital Letters in Excel

I continue to get questions about capital letters in Excel so here are some more formulas to help you out.

The only way to change the font “case” of a cell using a formula is to put the formula in a difference cell. This is because there is already text in the cell with the font “case” issues. Having said that, the steps below include inserting a new column for the formula, then doing a special paste to change the formula to the text in the correct font “case” and then deleting the original text.  It is really much easier to do than to say, or read, so here we go…

1. Insert a column next to the column of text you want to change. We’ll say the column with the font “case” issue is column A. Inserting a column to the left of column A will move all the data in column A to column B, and column A is now blank.

2. Enter the formula in column A on the first row that holds data, which we’ll say is row 1. So, in cell A1 you enter the following:

to change the text to upper case, the formula is      =UPPER(B1)
to change the text to lower case, the formula is       =LOWER(B1)

3. The result of the formula is the text in B1 is now either all all upper or all lower case text in A1. Copy the formula all the way to the bottom of the data.

4. Select column A, all of it, by simply clicking on the letter A at the top of the column. Click Edit, Copy – or in Excel07, it is Home, Copy.

5. Leave column A highlighted and click Edit, Paste Special, then select Paste Values, OK – or in Excel07, it is Home, the word Paste to open the pull-down menu, and then Paste Values. Now all the formulas are simply text.

6. Press the ESC key to remove the selection around column A. Now you can delete column B. Select column B by clicking on the letter B at the top of the column, then Edit, Delete – or in Excel07, Home, Delete.

If you want to change existing all upper or all lower case text to the “proper” upper and lower case combination, such as, ELLEN to Ellen, then click here.

Now everyone will have control over the text in their Excel spreadsheets.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

May 5, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Excel  One Comment

Create your signature in any email client

How many times do you type your name on emails every day? And not just your name, but your title, company, phone, email address, and anything else you want to list? My answer is ZERO! What’s yours?

Email programs allow you to create custom signatures that will automatically appear at the end of all your emails. The process is quick and easy and will save you time over and over again.

1.  In Outlook 2007, you create a signature from within a new email.
2.  Simply click on the Signature button, then Signatures from the pull-down menu.
3.  Click New, enter the name for the signature, click OK.
4.  Type your signature in the empty text box, then click OK.

Here is how to find the Signature option in other popular email software:
In Gmail and AOL email, the Signature option is found in the Settings area.
In Yahoo email use the Mail tab/Options/Mail Options.
For Mozilla Thunderbird go to Tools/Account Settings.
And for all you Mac users, in Entourage click Tools/Signatures.

You can usually enter a multi-line signature that has, well, whatever you want on it. Some of these email programs offer font formatting, hyperlinking, and the ability to attach an image, such as a logo (but remember, these email programs also scan incoming emails with attachments, so be sure you really need your logo before you include it). You also want to keep you signature to a reasonable size. No one likes to receive a one or two line email with a signature that goes on forever.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

April 28, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Email, Outlook  2 Comments

Fine tune your Google search results

Everyone uses Google to find what they are looking for on the Internet. The funny thing, is that not everyone actually finds what they are looking for.

Here are a couple quick tips that will make your Google searched more effective.

To define a specific term and not have Google look for individual words, use quotes. For example, “Small Business Association” vs. Small Business Association.

To add words to your search that are outside of your phrase, use the plus sign before the “additional” words. For example, “Small Business Association” +event.

To prevent words that are unrelated to your search, use a dash before the word. In effect, it “minuses” the word from the search. I have a personal example of this one. There is a popular concert violinist names Ellen DePasquale. So when I am checking for new pages with my name on them type the following:

“Ellen DePasquale” -violin -orchestra

This prevents a majority of the sites with the other Ellen DePasquale, but of course, not all of them.

Hope this helps you find more of what you are looking for, making your Internet search time more efficient.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

April 13, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Google  No Comments

Customize your Peachtree Accounting dashboard shortcuts

In 2007, Sage Software totally redeisgned the interface of Peachtree Accounting, and did a great job. Each area of the software, such as Customer, Vendor, Employee, etc., offers a wealth of information on the dashboard as well as much better navigation options to quickly and easily get to the report, list, or transaction you need.

One of my favorite additions is the customizable Shortcut list, yet when I first visit with a new Peachtree client I usually find that they are not using it. Since the shortcut list is user-specific, it is usually where I start and it always gets a Wow! It is just so much easier to launch a transactions, tasks, or reports with a single click than remembering which screen or menu it is located on.

The shortcuts are located on the lower left side of the screen and always stay there. Here are the steps to customize this list:

1. Click on the word Customize – this opens the Customize Shortcut window.

2. To delete a shortcut, click on it to highlight it, then click on the Delete button.

3. To add a shortcut, click on the Add a Shortcut button and a pull down menu will appear.

4. Select the section of the software you want, such as Customer, Vendor, Inventory,  etc. (If you choose Reports or Forms, you will choose from Customer, Vendor, Inventory, etc. from a second pull down menu.)

5. Now select the task or report you want to add to the list. Your selection gets added to the bottom of the list. To reposition it use the “Move Up” and “Move Down” buttons on the right side of the window.  You can also rename the item on the list. For example, if you have a long report name you could abbreviate it, or you could change some of the accounting jargon to more simple terms.

6. When you are finished with adding, deleting, renaming, and rearranging your shortcut list, click OK.

My clients have found that this shortcut list if very useful and saves them a lot of time because now they are not searching for reports or trying to remember where to find the option to launch the task.

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

April 7, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Peachtree Accounting by Sage  One Comment

Adding a new shortcut icon to your desktop

My clients are a mix of those with very few shortcut icons on their computer screen (desktop) and those that barely have any room for another one. I fall somewhere in the middle. My computer background is a beautiful mountain scene and I like to be able to see it.

However, I also want to work efficiently, so I like being able to double-click on an icon that leads me to where I want to be.My newest desktop icon is the logon screen of this blog. With a double-click I launch my web browser and am prompted to enter my user name and password. This totally bypasses my designated “Home” page, since the shortcut icon holds a specific Internet address (URL).

Here is how to make an icon on your desktop that will bring you directly to the webpage of your choice.

1. Right-click on an empty spot on your desktop. That will pop-up a menu.

2. Highlight New, which opens another menu, then click on Shortcut.

3. In the new window that opens you will be asked to “type the location of the item“. If you know the full URL, such as http://www.linkedin.com, then you can type it in. You can also copy the URL from window you have open, and then paste it into the shortcut window.

4. Click Next. Now you can name the shortcut that will be associated with the icon. To continue with my example, I would name it “Linked In” (without the quotes).

5. Click Finish.

Now you have a new icon. Double-click on it and you are ready to log in, or search, or whatever you want to do at the website you chose.

This is the same procedure for creating a shortcut icon for any program on your computer. Instead of entering a URL you could select the Browse button and then search your computer for a specific file ending in .exe.

Having a few Internet icons on my desktop is easier for me than opening the web browser and then going through my list of favorites, which is just WAY too long! But that’s another story.

Try a few shortcut icons and let me know how they work out for you.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

March 31, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Windows  No Comments

Create your own menu in Microsoft Word 2007

When I first started using MS Word 2007 I hated it. I could not easily find the features I used most. Sure, I could hunt for them, and to be honest, the “ribbons” hold everything and more than I ever used, but I was not happy with the fact that I had to re-learn my software. Who has time for that?

So, to make things easier, I created my own menu.

Now, I am not a programmer, nor do I have any special skills that allowed me to create my own menu. I simply read how to do it. Now I am going to share it with you.

1. Click on the “Office Button” – the round button on the top left of the window. Yes, here are the save and print features, but if you look on the bottom right side of this menu there is powerful button – Word Options.

2. Click the Word Options button. There is a ton of stuff you can do here, but for right now, just choose Customize.

3. Now, pick something you use most often from the list on the left, click the Add button in the middle, and the feature is now added to the bottom of the list on the right. To restructure the list, click on any of the items and then click on the up or down button.
NOTE:The list on the left will default to category called “Common Commands” but you can change the list by changing the category at the top. Other categories include a listing of all the tabs and more.

4. When you are finished adding items to the list on the right, click OK.

Now you have your own menu at the very top of the Word window, right next to the Office Button. All you favorite options are a single click away. No more hunting through the different ribbons to get your work done.

The more time I have spent with MS Word 2007, the more I like it. I eventually figured out all the ribbons, and can now easily find what I need when it is a feature that I don’t use often enough to add to my menu.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

March 29, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Word  No Comments

Changing cells with text in all CAPS in Microsoft Excel

Recently, one of my clients expressed her frustration with cleaning up lists in Excel. They export various contact lists from their CRM and much of that data was originally entered with the customer name all in capital letters. She hates the way that looks on their mailing labels, so their export goes through Excel to clean it up before the mail merge with Word.

The good news is that changing cells in Excel from all caps to normal upper and lower case text is a simple formula. Here’s how it works:

1. Insert a column next to the column of text you want to change. We’ll say the column in all caps is column A. Inserting a column to the left of column A will move all the data in column A to column B, and column A is now blank.

2. Enter the formula in column A on the first row that holds data, which we’ll say is row 1. So, in cell A1 you enter the following:

=PROPER(B1)

3. The result of the formula is the all caps text in B1 is now in normal upper and lower case text in A1. Then copy the formula all the way to the bottom of the data. Now you have two columns with the same information. However, column A is a formula, so if you delete column B, the formula no longer works. Here is the quick fix.

4. Select column A, all of it, by simply clicking on the letter A at the top of the column. Click Edit, Copy – or in Excel07, it is Home, Copy.

5. Leave column A highlighted and click Edit, Paste Special, then select Paste Values, OK – or in Excel07, it is Home, the word Paste to open the pull-down menu, and then Paste Values. Now all the formulas are simply text.

6. Press the ESC key to remove the selection around column A. Now you can delete column B. Select column B by clicking on the letter B at the top of the column, then Edit, Delete – or in Excel07, Home, Delete.

Example of the results of these steps:

ELLEN in cell A1 – then insert a column
ELLEN in cell B1 – column A is blank
=PROPER(B1) in cell A1 – the cell will show the text Ellen
copy formula down the column
copy column A and paste values into column A
delete column B
Ellen still in cell A1

As with many step-by-step written instructions, it looks like more work than it really is. Most of these steps are simple clicks that take only a second.

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

March 21, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Excel  No Comments

Welcome

Welcome to OldSoftware/NewTricks. My intention is to give you quick pearls of wisdom on how to make your everyday tasks a little easier. Once you start to combine the lessons learned here, you will start to feel the effects of being more efficient. Less stress, more time on your hands, maybe even breathing a little easier.

So, let’s start things off with something you can implement now – Right-Click. (My apologies to all you Mac users who only have one button on your mouse – but you seem to be a content computing group of people so I think you’ll be okay.)

The button on the right side of the mouse can be used just about everywhere to give you more options than are immediately available otherwise. Check it out. Right-click on a field in any database, or in the middle of a document, or in a spreadsheet cell. Ah-ha – shortcuts…

Here is one of my favorite places to use right-click – on the taskbar at the bottom of your screen. Right-click on a blank space on the taskbar, not on an icon or a window, or the Start button – at least not for now. In the options that appear, single-click on “Show the Desktop”.

Welcome back. Yes, that two click combination -

1. right-click on the taskbar
2. single-click on “Show the Desktop”

- minimizes all the windows you have open to reveal your desktop.

Now be honest, how many times have to minimized each window one-at-a-time just to get to your desktop? Well, now you won’t waste time doing that anymore! Congratulations on becoming more efficient! That is the name of the game around here – literally.

Efficiently yours,
Ellen
The Software Revitalist™

March 15, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: Windows  No Comments