Outlook Tips - Create Email Template

Sometimes, you may find that you will be sending emails of the same content again and again (maybe to send monthly report, etc...) and you'll find that you have to type same sentances for these emails again and again.

If that's the case, try saving the email message as a template and later you can reuse it.

1. Compose new email as you usually do with normal emails. Put in the subject and if you are going to always send to the same receipient, you can put the receipient email addresses in the To, CC or BCC field.
2. Once complete, click the Office Button and select Save As.
   
   
   
   
3. In the Save As dialog box, change the Save as type: to Outlook Template.
4. Name the file and select your file location if you want to save it in different location or just leave it in the default template location as it is.

For earlier version users, you must first disable the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages feature found in Tools > Options menu under the Mail Format tab of the Options dialog box.

Follow the steps 2 to 4 as stated above (slight difference in step 2 where you should click File menu instead of Office Button).

To use the template (same process for Outlook 2007 or earlier):

1. From Tools menu, go to Forms and select Choose Form... .
   
   
   
   
2. In the Choose Form dialog box, select User Templates in File System from Look In: combo box.
   
   
   
   
3. Select the template listed or click the Browse button if the template is in other location.
4. Click Open.

Now you can continue to add attachment(s) or amend the template as required.

- MRBAR

PowerPoint Tips - Create Your Own Shape

Lets create our own shapes by changing standard shape with PowerPoint 2007.

1. Select a shape and place it on your slide (I selected an oval). Resize it as you want.
2. With the shape selected, go to Drawing Tools ribbon, Format tab.
3. Click Edit Shape from Insert Shapes group and select Convert to Freeform.
   
   
   
   
4. Repeat step 3 but this time select Edit Points. You will see the shape will have multiple points for you to adjust.
   
   
   
   
5. Now you can drag any edge of your shape to form a new shape of your own.
   
   
   
   
   (Sample of a new shape made of two circles. One as the body and the other as the head, grouped together as one shape)

- MRBAR

Word Tips - Upgrading Equation Editor for Word 2003 to MathType

MathType by Design Science is the powerful, full-featured version of Equation Editor. If you frequently include equations in your documents, you will find MathType is much better suited to your needs.

MathType is as easy to use as Equation Editor and has many extra features to help you work faster and create better-looking documents.

MathType includes:

• Euclid™ font set with hundreds of additional math symbols.
• New templates and symbols for geometry, chemistry and much more.
• Professional color support.
• Create equations for World Wide Web documents.
• Translators that output equations to other languages such as TeX, AMS-TeX, LaTeX, MathML and custom languages.
• Special commands for equation numbering, formatting, and converting Microsoft Word documents.
• Customizable toolbars to hold hundreds of your most frequently used symbols, expressions and equations.
• Customizable keyboard shortcuts.
• A comprehensive printed user manual, loaded with tips and tutorials.
• Much more…

Design Science continuously enhances MathType, implementing the latest technology to make equation writing easier and compatible with all your favorite software.

Visit MathType on the World Wide Web, or call Design Science to receive complete and current information about MathType.

Design Science, Inc.
(800) 827-0685 (United States and Canada only)
(562) 433-0685 (outside the United States and Canada)
(562) 433-6969 (fax)

E-mail: sales@mathtype.com

World Wide Web: http://www.mathtype.com/msee

- MRBAR

Word Tips - Create Complex Equations in Office Applications

Creating complex formula is hard but things get easy with the equation builder in Microsoft Word.

Word 2007 users can easily find the function from Symbols group under the Insert tab.



You can click on the upper part of the Equation button to create your own equation or click the lower part to select any of the built-in equations.



You can also combine your equation with the built-in equations from the Equation button under Tools group in the Design tab.

For earlier Word version users, you will have to add the Equation Editor button onto any of your existing toolbars (you can create a new toolbar if you want to) or menus.

1. From View menu, go to Toolbars and select Customize.
2. Click Commands tab.
3. Select Insert under Categories:.
4. Drag the Equation Editor button found under Commands: into any toolbars.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Close the Customize dialog box and now you can add your equation by clicking the Equation Editor button you've just added. You will see the Equation toolbar and an empty placeholder is ready to put your equation.
   
   
   
   
6. Same for Word 2007 or earlier version, just click in the dotted boxes and replace with any symbol, number or alphabet you wish to use.
   
7. Once complete, click anywhere outside of the equation placeholder.
   
   
   (Sample of equation... Do you think you can easily create this equation without the equation builder?)

You can also copy this equation into PowerPoint or Excel if you want to use the same equation in these applications.

- MRBAR

Visio 2007 Top 10 Benefits

Microsoft Office Visio 2007 drawing and diagramming software makes it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. Go from complicated text and tables that are hard to understand to Visio diagrams that communicate information at a glance. Instead of static pictures, create data-connected Visio diagrams that display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity. Use the wide variety of diagrams in Office Visio 2007 to understand, act on, and share information about organizational systems, resources, and processes throughout your enterprise.

Office Visio 2007 is available in two stand-alone editions: Office Visio Professional, and Office Visio Standard, which has the same basic functionality as Office Visio Professional but includes a subset of its features and templates. Office Visio Professional 2007 includes advanced functionality, such as data connectivity and visualization features, that Office Visio Standard 2007 does not.

1. Visualize, explore, and communicate your systems, resources, processes, and the data behind them.
   Effectively visualize, explore, and communicate your processes, resources, systems, and the data behind them with the wide range of diagram types in Office Visio 2007. Find recently used templates and documents quickly using the new Getting Started window. Easily determine which template to use by viewing enhanced thumbnail previews. With Office Visio Professional 2007, open sample, data-connected diagrams from the new Samples category in the Getting Started window to get ideas for creating and designing your own diagrams.


2. Be more productive by integrating diagrams with information across sources.
   Integrate data with diagrams to combine disparate sources of complex visual, textual, and numeric information. Data-connected diagrams provide visual context for data and create a complete picture of a system or process. More easily link diagrams to data from a variety of data sources by using the new Data Link functionality in Office Visio Professional 2007. Associate all the shapes in a diagram with data using the new Automatic Link Wizard.


3. Reduce manual data reentry by letting Office Visio 2007 keep diagrams up-to-date for you.
   No need to worry about data in Visio diagrams being out of date. Using Office Visio Professional 2007, easily refresh data in diagrams by using the new Data Refresh feature, or schedule Office Visio 2007 to automatically refresh the data in the diagram at fixed intervals. Easily deal with data conflicts that may arise when data changes by using the new Refresh Conflicts task pane.


4. Visualize and act on complex information by displaying data in diagrams.
   Visualize data in diagrams with Office Visio Professional 2007 so you can easily understand the data and effectively act on the results. Display data in any diagram as text, data bars, icons, and color-coding—all using the new Data Graphics feature in Office Visio Professional 2007.


5. Explore data and easily track trends, identify issues, and flag exceptions with PivotDiagrams.
   Visualize and explore your business data in hierarchical form showing data groups and totals by using the new PivotDiagram template in Office Visio Professional 2007. Drill down into complex data, display data using Data Graphics, dynamically create different views of data, and better understand complex information. Insert PivotDiagrams into any Visio diagram to provide metrics and reports that help you track the progress of a process or system. Connect to a variety of data sources—including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Office Project 2007, and Microsoft Office Excel 2007—to generate PivotDiagrams. More effectively track and report on resources and projects managed in Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office Project 2007 by generating visual reports from those programs in PivotDiagram form.


6. Create diagrams faster by letting Visio connect shapes for you.
   Using new AutoConnect functionality, let Office Visio 2007 automatically connect, distribute, and align shapes in diagrams for you—all in one action. Just drag a shape onto the drawing page and position it over one of the blue arrows that appear on a shape that is already on the drawing page; Visio does the rest.


7. Communicate complex information with new templates and shapes.
   Visually communicate in more ways with new and enhanced templates and shapes in Office Visio 2007. For example, in Office Visio Professional 2007, diagram IT service processes with the new ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) template, or create diagrams based on Lean Methodology and visualize more-efficient manufacturing processes with the new Value Stream Map template. And, more easily find information on working with new and existing Visio diagram types in the new Office Visio 2007 Help window. Use it to easily search the entire Microsoft Office Online Web site directly from within Visio for answers to your questions, tips and tricks, and more templates.


8. Effectively convey information with professional-looking diagrams.
   Design professional-looking Visio diagrams by choosing a color or effect (text, fill, shadow, line, and connector formatting) for an entire diagram by using the new Theme feature. Choose from the built-in themes included with Visio, or create your own custom themes. Office Visio 2007 uses the same built-in themes as other 2007 Microsoft Office system programs. So, if you apply the same built-in themes in your Visio diagrams that you use in your Microsoft Office Word documents and Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations, they all match, making it much easier to use the files with one another. Also, design more dynamic workflows with the enhanced 3-D Work Flow shapes that were designed with the new built-in Visio themes in mind.


9. Communicate using diagrams and share them with a broad audience.
   Provide cost-effective access to valuable organizational data by making it available through secure diagrams that are easy to share using Office Visio 2007, view in Windows Internet Explorer when you have the free Visio Viewer installed, or preview in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Adjust security and privacy settings for all 2007 Microsoft Office system programs, including Visio, at the new Trust Center. And, for audiences who don’t have Visio or Visio Viewer, save diagrams as Web pages, JPG files, or GIF files. Even save Visio diagrams in PDF format and in the new Microsoft XPS file format to make them more portable and reach broader audiences.


10. Customize Office Visio 2007 programmatically and create custom data-connected solutions.
    Easily extend Office Visio 2007 programmatically or by integrating it with other applications to fit your industry-specific scenarios or unique organizational requirements. Develop your own custom solutions and shapes, or use those from Visio solution providers. Visualize your custom solutions with Visio diagrams, such as data flow and Windows user interface diagrams, by using templates in the Software and Database category of Office Visio Professional 2007.
    With Office Visio Professional 2007 and the Visio Drawing Control, create custom data-connected solutions that make it easy to connect to and display data in any context. You can control several new features in Office Visio 2007 programmatically, including connecting to a data source, linking shapes to data, displaying linked data graphically, connecting shapes to one another automatically (AutoConnect), monitoring and filtering mouse-drag actions, and applying theme colors and theme effects. You can find more information on all new developer-related features in Office Visio 2007 on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and in the Visio 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK).

- Siti Suriani

Publisher 2007 Top 10 Benefits

Microsoft Office Publisher 2007, also available as part of Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 and Microsoft Office Professional 2007, makes it easy for business users to create and distribute impressive marketing materials in-house.

1. Efficiently create high-quality publications that reflect your brand identity.
   The new Getting Started experience provides dynamic previews so you can easily create and apply your brand elements to all Office Publisher 2007 templates. First develop your brand identity using custom color schemes, font schemes, your logo, and your business information. Then apply your branding with one click by choosing from an extensive library of customizable design templates or blank publications, including newsletters, brochures, flyers, postcards, Web sites, and e-mail formats.


2. Preview and access high-quality Microsoft Office Online templates from within Office Publisher 2007.
   Get more Office Publisher 2007 templates free from Office Online. New capabilities in Office Publisher 2007 help you easily locate, preview, open, and save Publisher templates from Office Online right within the Publisher Catalog. View Office Online templates from within Office Publisher 2007 categories, or use the new Search tool to find just the right template quickly, whether it’s located on Office Online or included in Office Publisher 2007. You can also efficiently categorize, preview, open, and save your templates within My Templates for fast retrieval.


3. Connect with customers by personalizing your publications.
   Use enhanced Mail Merge, Catalog Merge, and new E-Mail Merge to create personalized publications for print or e-mail distribution. Merge task pane options guide you through the process of selecting lists, adding text and image fields and personalized hyperlinks, or previewing and completing your mailing. Improvements in e-mail distribution and viewing, including support for sending multipage publications as a single page message, make it easier than ever to create and send publications as e-mail messages.


4. Convert your publications to PDF or XPS format.
   Convert your publication to Portable Document Format (PDF) or XML Paper Specification (XPS) format.1 With Office Publisher 2007 you can share and print publications in PDF and XPS without additional third-party tools. PDF settings within Office Publisher 2007 include options for creating PDF documents suitable for online viewing, desktop printing, and commercial press.


5. Simplify the process of creating publications with Office Publisher Tasks.
   Get assistance with common Publisher procedures and simplify the process of creating and distributing publications and marketing materials using new Publisher Tasks. Publisher Tasks include tips for personalizing your publication, preparing your mailing lists, preparing publications for commercial printing, reusing content, working with images, and more.


6. Combine lists within Office Publisher 2007 for targeted mailings.
   Using improved Mail Merge, you can create, manage, and store a single customer list in Office Publisher 2007 by combining and editing customer lists from multiple sources, including Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager, Microsoft Office Access, and more.


7. Save time by reusing your work.
   Several new and improved features help you make the most of the time you invest in your work. Save time and effort by storing frequently used text and graphics in the new Content Library to use in other Publisher publications. Or, quickly reuse content from one publication type, such as a multipage newsletter, by placing it into an e-mail template or Web layout for online distribution. Use the improved Save as Picture feature to save publication elements for reuse in other programs. You can also insert your existing text and graphics from other programs into your Publisher publications.


8. Build custom publications from a database.
   Use the improved Catalog Merge to automatically build a publication by merging pictures and text from a data source (such as Excel or Access). Create custom publications of varying complexity, ranging from a datasheet to a sophisticated catalog.


9. Fine-tune your publications with powerful, intuitive design tools.
   Whether you’re starting from a template or a blank publication, you can further customize and refine your publication using the rich collection of intuitive design, layout, typography, and graphics tools available in Office Publisher 2007. You can adjust tracking and kerning, create and apply multiple master pages, adjust grids and guides, use baseline alignment, insert images from a scanner or digital camera, recolor and crop images, and more. Before printing, publishing, or distributing your publications, be sure to run the improved Design Checker to quickly identify and correct potential commercial printing, Web, or e-mail problems.


10. Effectively manage and track your marketing campaigns.
    Improved Office Publisher 2007 integration with Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager (available in Office Small Business 2007 and Office Professional 2007) provides new tools for managing and tracking Marketing Campaigns. Create your print or e-mail collateral in Office Publisher 2007 and use Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager to easily track marketing materials you send and the responses you receive.

- Siti Suriani

Project 2007 Top 10 Benefits

Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 gives you robust project management tools with the right blend of usability, power, and flexibility, so you can manage projects more efficiently and effectively. You can stay informed and control project work, schedules, and finances; keep project teams aligned; and be more productive through integration with familiar Microsoft Office system programs, powerful reporting, guided planning, and flexible tools.

1. Effectively manage and understand project schedules.
   Set realistic expectations with project teams, management, and customers using Office Project Standard 2007 to build schedules, allocate resources, and manage budgets. Understand the schedule with features such as Task Drivers for tracing the source of issues, Multiple Level Undo for testing scenarios, and Visual Cell Highlighting for automatically shading the tasks affected by a change.


2. Get productive quickly.
   The Project Guide, an interactive step-by-step planning aide, helps you quickly master the project management process. Customizable for different methodologies, this tool walks you through creating a project, assigning tasks and resources, tracking and analyzing data, and reporting results. Intuitive toolbars, menus, and other features enable you to quickly master project management fundamentals.


3. Leverage existing data.
   Office Project Standard 2007 integrates smoothly with other Microsoft Office system programs. Build projects with a few keystrokes by converting existing task lists in Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Outlook into project plans. Resources can be added to projects from Microsoft Active Directory or from a Microsoft Exchange Server address book.


4. Build professional charts and diagrams.
   Analyze and report Project data in professional reports and charts by using the Visual Reports engine, which generates templates for Visio diagrams and Excel charts based on Project data. You can share templates you build with other users. Or you can choose from a list of customizable, ready-to-use report templates.


5. Effectively communicate information.
   Easily present information in various formats according to the needs of stakeholders. You can format and print one-page schedules or other reports. Use the Copy Picture to Office Wizard to smoothly export Project data into Microsoft Office Word for formal documents, Office Excel 2007 for custom charts or spreadsheets, or Microsoft Office PowerPoint for crisp presentations.


6. Gain greater control of resources and finances.
   With Office Project Standard 2007, you can easily assign resources to tasks and adjust their assignments to resolve conflicts over allocations. Control finances by assigning budgets to projects and programs. Improve your cost estimates with Cost Resources.


7. Quickly access the information you need.
   You can group Project data by any predefined or custom field. This saves you time by consolidating data so you can quickly locate and analyze specific information. Easily identify changes between different versions of a project—thus, efficiently tracking scope and schedule changes.


8. Track projects according to your needs.
   A rich set of predefined or custom metrics helps you track data (percent complete, budget versus actual, earned value, and the like) relevant to your needs. You can track project performance over the project lifespan by saving project snapshots in up to 11 baselines.


9. Customize Office Project 2007 to your needs.
   Tailor Office Project Standard 2007 specifically to your project. Choose custom display fields that integrate with your project schedule. Modify toolbars, formulas, graphical indicators, and reports. XML, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Component Object Model (COM) add-ins facilitate data sharing and creation of custom solutions.


10. Get Office Project 2007 assistance when you need it.
    Office Project Standard 2007 provides a wealth of assistance to novice and experienced users. It includes a robust Help search engine, smart tags, and wizards.

- Siti Suriani