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Yvonne Bisk of the Long Island Business Networking Group asks:

Why does my WordPress blog have a problem with Microsoft Word documents, while Microsoft Works always works??

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I’m assuming that you are referring to pasting text from Microsoft Word into WordPress when adding a new post. If I’m wrong, send me more information on what you’re douing when you encounter problems between Microsoft Word and WordPress. (WordPress, for those unfamiliar with the program, is a web based blogging platform, that is, software that is used for publishing blogs. Skylarking, for one, is published using WordPress.) FYI, WordPress is not a Microsoft product.

Microsoft Works versus Microsoft Word

First, I’d like to mention that Microsoft Word is a more elaborate word processing program than Works is. I refer to Works as Word’s kib brother. Works is more family oriented, while Word is more business oriented, so Word has more features and capabilities than Works. Some versions of Works include Microsoft Word as the word processing application.

Pasting from Word to WordPress

When you copy text from Microsoft Word you are also copying a lot of invisible code that Word uses in order to identify the fonts, bolds, italics, quotation marks, dashes, “&” or ampersands, and other information about your text. This code, invisible to us, is specific to Word, and as such, WordPress will not interpret this code properly.

Works, on the other hand, being a less elaborate program, doesn’t have as much of this invisible code, so you have less troubles when you copy and paste from this program into your WordPress blog.

Before you decide to stop using Word when copying to WordPress, read on, WordPress has some tools to help you avoid these problems.

WordPress Tools

When you use WordPress, you may notice this single row of tools when adding a new post to your blog.

If you point at the last button on the right hand side you will see a pop-up appears telling you this button is called the “kitchen sink”. Clicking this button will reveal a second row of tools, like so:

You’ll see that I’ve circled two of the tools on the toolbar. The one on the left is called “Paste as Plain Text” and the second is called “Paste from Word”. I prefer to use the “Paste as Plain Text” tool when working with Word and WordPress, but you can experiment on your own and see what results you get.

For example:

1. I can copy some text from a Word document.
2. Then I go to my WordPress application on my blog
3. Then, while editing or adding a post, I can click the “Paste as Plain Text” tool, and pop-up window (shown at right) will appear that instructs me to “Use CTRL + V on your keyboard to paste text into the window”
4. So now I hold the “CTRL” key — it’s on the lower left and right of keyboard, it doesn’t matter which you use — with one hand and tap the letter “V” with the other hand. Now my copied text from Word will appear inde the box.
5. Then I click the Insert button onscreen.

Voila! My Word text has now been pasted into my WordPress post. Any special code and characters from Word that may have been bothersome to WordPress should have been stripped away.

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I received a request yesterday on how to add photos from your scanner into a Microsoft Word document. They said they had Word 2003, and they were interested in creating family newsletters for their friends. They were also considering starting a newsletter for their building association.  Many of the photos they had were hard copies, so they were going to have to scan them.

Here’s the method I offered:

Scanning Pictures into MS Word

1. Start Word
2. Type message or text first (optional)
3. Click where you would like to place a picture
4. Put photo into the scanner
   1. Click “Insert” >> “Picture” >> “From scanner or camera …”
   2. Click the “Insert” button. The scanner will scan the photo, when the scanner stops the photo will automatically be added. You may need to scroll down to find the photo in your document.
5. Find the photo in your document, and then double-click the photo to adjust the size. The “Format Picture” dialog box should appear.
   1. Click the “Size” tab.
   2. Adjust the “Height” or the “Width” in inches.
   3. Click the “Layout” tab.
   4. Click the square above “Square”
   5. Choose to have the photo go to the “Left” or the “Right” side of the page.
   6. Click the “OK” button
   7. Click on another location on the page other than the photo.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5g for each additional photo.

Notes:

• After all photos have been added, if you need to resize photos, repeat steps 5 through 5g
• To reposition photos:
  • Place the mouse on the center of the photo
  • Hold down the left mouse button
  • Drag the mouse to a new location to move the photo. A dashed outline will show the photos new location.
  • Release the left mouse button when the outline is properly located.

Post Comments or Questions with the link below. Keep up-to-date with Skylarking: By Email or RSS Newsfeed or on Twitter. You can also send questions with my email form.

I’ve been receiving a lot of question about printing address labels and envelopes using a contact list or address book. So I’ll be starting a series of articles today on various printing methods relative to the questions I’ve received.

One of the simplest methods for maintaining an address book or contact list is with Microsoft Word.  The two most commonly found versions today are Word 2003 and Word 2007, though some people are still using Word XP (2002).  Word XP (2002) and 2003 are very similar to one another and their preceding versions, but Word 2007 is very different, and will most likely “put off” anyone familiar with the older versions. If you’d rather stay with the familiar, plenty of used and new copies of Word 2003 can be found online through Amazon or eBay.

Simple Contact Management with Word 2003

There are several methods you can use for storing addresses in Microsoft Word. The easiest method works best if you only print one address label or envelope at a time.

To store your contact information just type a list of addresses as you would if you were addressing an envelope. Place the first and last name on one line, the street address on the next line, and the city, state, and postal code on the thrid line.  Additional information such as phone numbers and email addresses can be entered beneath that.

Skip a line between each individual person or business on your list.

Some may ask, “How do I sort this list?” Well, there’s no easy way to do that with this method, you have to do your sorting by hand, either by cutting and pasting to rearrange items, or by dragging and dropping.

The easiest way to make your way around a long list of names is to use CTRL +F on the keyboard, or select “Find” on the “Edit” menu. Then you can type a name or some piece of information that you’d like to find.

Printing Single Labels or Envelopes

This contact list is very easy to use when printing single address labels or envelopes. All you have to do is highlight a name and address in the list. Then click Tools > Letters and Mailings > Envelopes and Labels.

• If you’re printing a single address label, click the Labels tab, then click the “Single label” option. If you’re reusing a sheet of labels, specify the “column” and “row” for the label to be printed on. You can use the “Options” button to specify which label product and size you are printing on.
• If you’re printing an envelope, click the “Envelopes” tab, fill in a “Return Address” if you wish, and specify the envelope size with the “Options” button.

Envelopes and Labels Tool

Come back tomorrow for more methods on managing address lists and printing envelopes and labels. We’ll be working our way up to mail merges for mass mailings, and I’ll show you some other printing tools and software packages along the way.

Post Comments or Questions with the link below. Keep up-to-date with Skylarking: By Email or RSS Newsfeed or on Twitter. You can also send questions with my email form.