Learn MS Word 2003 - Main Menu Overview – Part II – Insert and Format

As it was mentioned, Microsoft Word, first introduced in the early 90-ies, currently is, without all doubt, the most popular text-editing program. Millions of people around the word use Word in their everyday life. It is also believed that the number of program options and features are so large that it is nearly impossible to cover them all. However, there are several useful features which are not known to most users. Even though latest version, MS-WORD 2007 was released along with the Office 2007, many are still using the 2003 version, which is, by all means, quite sufficient for most common tasks.

As it can be easily observed, the main menu consists of several drop-down options:

• File
• Edit
• View
• Insert
• Format
• Tools
• Table
• Window
• Help

File, Edit and View menus were covered in previous article. Let's move on!

Besides the text itself, many things can be added to your document. Some of them were already created for you by the Word development team. You just need to use them. The insert menu allows you to add Page and Column Breaks, Page Numbers, and Date Time (in several formats). If you need Symbols which are not present in the English alphabet (such as Greek and Cyrillic letters, math symbols and more), you can use the Word symbols collection, accessible through Insert -> Symbol option.

You can create references throughout your document, making navigation easier – these include Captions, Table of Contents and more. Different Objects can be inserted as well – several of them predefined (Picture, Chart, WordArt) - and some are just common "objects" recognized by Word (such as Microsoft Equation). Hyperlinks can be added to your documents – either to a site, another file or just a certain part of your document.

If you are reviewing the work of others (or yours), you are invited to leave Comments – which can be easily seen by the creator.

This, may I say, is the most important of the Word's menus. After your text is entered, you can create an exciting document with a very attractive look. It may be very important, when presenting your file to a potential customer or an employer. The Microsoft team has really given their best – producing different Fonts, pre-defined and user-defined Styles. Word 2003 gives you the complete control over your document look with Paragraphs, Columns formatting, Bullets and Numbering. You can apply a background and border to your page, making the document even more attractive and user-appealing. Of course, you should not over-design your file – it is generally believed 2-3 styles are sufficient even for a 30-page Word file. The only thing required from you, considering the styles, is to choose the ones that you find the most pleasing.