When I described how to replace Microsoft Word's smart quotes with straight quotes to keep the HTML versions of documents from breaking, several people objected, claiming that straight quotes make the docs more difficult to read. I agree completely, which is why I decided to tell you about the quickest way I know to convert from one quote style to the other. In just a few seconds you can optimize a document for the Web, or for readability in print or onscreen.
Suppose you want to put a Word document that's full of smart quotes--both the double quotation-mark style, and single apostrophes--onto a Web page. You know the HTML will break the smart quotes, rendering them a nonsensical series of characters. To get the file ready for the Web in Word 2003, click Tools*AutoCorrect Options*AutoFormat As You Type; in Word 2007, choose the Office button in the top-left corner, click Word Options at the bottom of the window, select Proofing in the left pane, and click AutoCorrect Options*AutoFormat As You Type. In both versions, uncheck "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes," and click OK (twice in Word 2007).
Uncheck "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" in Word's AutoFormat As You Type options to get your document ready for the Web.
Next, click Edit*Replace in Word 2003, or the Home tab and then the Replace button to the far right in Word 2007 to open the Find and Replace dialog box. Type " (the double-quote mark) in the "Find what" field, and the same character in the "Replace with" field below it. Click Replace All*OK (or press Alt-a and then Enter). Now type ' (the apostrophe) in the "Find what" field, and the same character in the "Replace with" field, and click Replace All*OK again (or press Alt-a and then Enter again). Your document's quotes are now as straight as a school marm's posture.
Now suppose you want to switch back to smart quotes to make the text easier to read. Simply follow the same steps again, checking rather than unchecking the "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" option in the AutoFormat As You Type dialog.
A question of readability
When I took a class in Web design back in the late '90s, we were taught that sans serif fonts (such as Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, and others without the little finishing strokes at the ends of each character) were easier to read on computer screens than serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, Garamond, and Century. Researcher Alex Poole conducted a literature review of serif vs. sans serif readability, finding that such characteristics as the "x-height" (the height of the lower-case "x"), letter spacing, and stroke width had a greater effect on a font's readability than whether or not it uses serifs. Poole concludes that aesthetics have more to do with the selection of serif or sans serif fonts than legibility. (I was also intrigued by the researcher's explanation of how "legibility" is distinguished from "readability.")
Tomorrow: My 10 favorite Web-search shortcuts.
You use your browser a lot. You use your e-mail program a lot. But the chances are better than even that you spend a big chunk of your workday in Microsoft Word. There's no way any application used by so many people for so many different tasks is going to be set up just right for you. Here are the five settings I changed to make Word work my way, more or less.
I say "more or less" because Word isn't quite the paragon of flexibility. You can make serious changes to the program's look and operation by editing its normal.dot template (it's called normal.dotx in Word 2007), or by creating a new template with the settings you prefer and telling Word to use that one by default. But I'm the impatient type, and this takes more time than I'm willing to spend on these tasks. I'd rather take the quick-and-dirty route. (I may describe the template-change approach in a future post, if I ever have the time to spare.)
Get rid of smart quotes
Many of the documents I create in Word end up on the Web. Word's curly quotes tear up HTML and make the text around them tough to read. To revert to good ol' straight quotes and apostrophes in Word 2003, click Tools*AutoCorrect Options*AutoFormat As You Type, uncheck "Straight quotes" with "Smart quotes", and click OK. In Word 2007, click the Office button in the top-left corner, and choose Word Options in the bottom right. Select Proofing in the left pane, and AutoCorrect Options in the right pane. Click AutoFormat As You Type, uncheck "Straight quotes" with Smart quotes", and click OK twice.
Set Microsoft Word to use straight quotes instead of smart quotes, and not to convert Web addresses to hyperlinks.
Keep your Web addresses unlinked
Most of the Web addresses I put in Word docs are intended as notes to myself or someone I'll be sharing the file with. They will eventually be cut from the document and pasted into another program that needs the whole URL, including the "http://". But as soon as I type them, Word strips off the URL prefix and makes them live links (though you have to press the Ctrl key as you click). The program also makes any e-mail addresses you type Ctrl-clickable, which opens your e-mail program with the address in the To: field. To retain URLs, network paths, and e-mail addresses as plain text in Word 2003, click Tools*AutoCorrect Options*AutoCorrect As You Type, uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks, and click OK. In Word 2007, click the Office button in the top-left corner, select Word Options, choose Proofing in the left pane, click the AutoCorrect Options button in the right pane, uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks, and click OK twice.
Change your default font
Some people are satisfied with Times New Roman, Calibri, or whatever font Word chooses for them. Personally, I bounce between Arial and Book Antiqua, but you've probably got your own preference. To reset the default font in Word 2003 or 2007, press Ctrl-d to open the Font dialog box, select your preferred font, style, and size, click Default, and then Yes at the warning.
Change your default document folder
I'm forever moving from PC to PC, so I keep my Word documents and other files on a USB thumb drive that I bring with me and plug into whatever system I'm using. For backup, I zip the folder and e-mail it to myself about once a month. I'm sure I'm violating several security "rules," but the process works for me.
Even if you prefer to store your files on your hard drive, you may want to put them somewhere other than XP's My Documents or Vista's Documents folders. To change the folder Word 2003 stores documents in by default, click Tools*Options*File Locations, select Documents (it should be highlighted by default), and click Modify. Navigate to and select your preferred storage location, and click OK twice. In Word 2007, click the Office button and choose Word Options in the bottom-right corner. Choose Save in the left pane, click the Browse button to the right of Default file location, navigate to and select the folder you want to store your documents in, and click OK twice.
Change the folder Word 2007 stores your documents in by default.
Get a new view
My eyesight isn't what it used to be, so I like viewing Word 2007 documents in Draft view (the equivalent of Word 2003's Normal view). Draft view does away with the blue borders on the left and right sides of Word 2007's default Print Layout view. To open Word files in Draft view, click the Office button and choose Word Options in the bottom-right corner. Click Advanced in the left pane, scroll down to the General section, check Allow opening a document in Draft view, and click OK. From now on, if you close Word in Draft view, your files should open in the same view when you restart the app and reopen them.
This option under Word 2007's Advanced Options dialog lets you open documents in Draft view.
Tomorrow: A simple solution for pasting plain text.
- prev
- 1
- next
