My shameful secret

[swoll1980]

I received an assignment today at school, the assignment it's self is easy enough,but requires the use of a word processor.We were told we could use open office, or word, and they even provide a copy of ms office 2003 if you need it. Here's the shameful part, I have absolutely know idea how to use them. They say use a, or b assuming you have some idea how to use them. You would think that a class that teaches these skills would be a prereq to classes that require there use, but that's not the case. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :(

[cariboo]

If you managed to install Ubuntu, something simple like typing text ina word processor shouldn't be to hard. :) Remember it is against the C of C to help with home work. :)

Jim

[chucky chuckaluck]

just use nano.

[swoll1980]

If you managed to install Ubuntu, something simple like typing text ina word processor shouldn't be to hard. :) Remember it is against the C of C to help with home work. :)

Jim

I've installed Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch more notably, set up networks for me, and other friends, and family, set up virtual machines, taken apart, and put together my computer, and all this w/o ever touching a word processor.

[swoll1980]

just use nano.

nano I know how to use, but I have to make fancy-smancy bullets, and all that pretty stuff. Word has so many buttons, and menus it's very intimidating to me for some reason.

[Therion]

... all this w/o ever touching a word processor.
I, for one, have faith in you.

[Svensk023]

my 8-year-old cousin can start up a word processor.
im about 30000% sure that you're more than capable

[will1911a1]

You'll be fine, they aren't hard to figure out.

[bobmatino17]

hey, if the stupid kid in my class can use it, well, i'm positive you can.

[kpatz]

It's easy.

1. Launch word processor.
2. Click on the big blank area to give it focus (if not already there). You'll see the blinking caret/cursor where you'll be typing.
3. Start typing.
4. Type some more.
5. Type some more.
6. Keep on typing. Finished yet? If not, keep typing until you're done.
7. Go back and fix your mistakes. If you've ever typed text into a text box, such as when you post stuff here, you'll know how to do this already.
8. Save, and/or print your document. (Hint, the File menu usually has these options).

[Redache]

It's simple.

Start typing and all you'll ever really use is the Formatting Toolbar which is basically the functions you see in the reply boxes on the forum. B is Bold I is Italic U is Underline and so on. Recommended Fonts are Arial if you're using MS Office as it's probably the easiest to read for most people. Deja Vu Sans is nice in Open Office. Bullets can be accessed by clicking on the Icon that shows 3 Dots next to 3 lines, numbers are the 1-2-3 next to 3 lines and so on.

Word Processing badly is easy and anybody can do it.

If you want to make a decent document then use proper heading and paragraph declerations (Read the Manual!).

[swoll1980]

my 8-year-old cousin can start up a word processor.
im about 30000% sure that you're more than capable

Not saying I can't learn just that I haven't, and doubt that I can in a day. When I was 8 I could play a guitar, does that mean that it's common sense, or something everyone magicly knows? Kind of insulting post

[Therion]

How to Use Your Word Processor (http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/wp/index.asp)

Sorry, it's Windows based ( :( ), but I think you'll find it helpful.

[RiceMonster]

Not saying I can't learn just that I haven't, and doubt that I can in a day.

You can, don't worry about it. I rarely have to do anything other than set double space, bold or underline text, change the font, and make bullets. All those things are very easy to do, some things the word processor will even do for you.

[aaaantoine]

When in doubt, Google it.

[swoll1980]

It's easy.

1. Launch word processor.
2. Click on the big blank area to give it focus (if not already there). You'll see the blinking caret/cursor where you'll be typing.
3. Start typing.
4. Type some more.
5. Type some more.
6. Keep on typing. Finished yet? If not, keep typing until you're done.
7. Go back and fix your mistakes. If you've ever typed text into a text box, such as when you post stuff here, you'll know how to do this already.
8. Save, and/or print your document. (Hint, the File menu usually has these options).

Well I think the actual typing is pretty strait forward obviously, it's the formatting spacing, bullets, and such that I'm worried about. I'm afraid of turning this in, and looking like a total douche.

[RiceMonster]

Oh, and about the guitar comment you made: I play guitar too, and trust me, the amount of time, patience and practise it takes to learn guitar is nowhere near comparable to a word processor.

[swoll1980]

It's simple.

Start typing and all you'll ever really use is the Formatting Toolbar which is basically the functions you see in the reply boxes on the forum. B is Bold I is Italic U is Underline and so on. Recommended Fonts are Arial if you're using MS Office as it's probably the easiest to read for most people. Deja Vu Sans is nice in Open Office. Bullets can be accessed by clicking on the Icon that shows 3 Dots next to 3 lines, numbers are the 1-2-3 next to 3 lines and so on.

Word Processing badly is easy and anybody can do it.

If you want to make a decent document then use proper heading and paragraph declerations (Read the Manual!).


How to Use Your Word Processor (http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/wp/index.asp)

Sorry, it's Windows based ( :( ), but I think you'll find it helpful.

Thank you this will be useful.

[Vince4Amy]

Well I think the actual typing is pretty strait forward obviously, it's the formatting spacing, bullets, and such that I'm worried about. I'm afraid of turning this in, and looking like a total douche.

Well I know what you mean, if you can't run an app that most I'll use the term n00bs know how to use, they will just consider you stupider than they are.

I know how it is, I really don't know Spreadsheets too well because It's not something I ever bothered to learn and probably will never need. But if someone has a problem with one say at school for example they'd ask me, It really doesn't look good when I say I don't know, as they just assume from then on that I can't do anything, completely ignoring the fact I fixed the computers in are 6th Form area for example.

Another example is that my web design isn't too good, sure it's doable but I don't do as good as most people professionals would do. We can't all be good at everything. For example not every Mechanic would necessarily be able to fit a stereo into a car.

[yther]

Very basic OO Writer basics: http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/wordprocessing.html

I suggest that at first, you don't worry too much about formatting as you go. Just get all your text into the page. When you're done typing, then go back and apply bullets, indenting, etc. I have found it saves time and reduces errors. :)

[tazz4vr]

@Swoll1980- first off, relax... it sounds like you are making this project much more harder than it's going to be. The great thing about not having experience, is your learning fresh and will not be in need of being un-taught another persons version of how to do it. You will be able to find at some point what makes it work for you.
Google is also a great resource, believe me. An ex was a pro at taking computers apart, and as much as I tried to follow along, could never happen on my end, however I did learn enough to get me where I am today, as well as with the help of google. OpenOffice.org also has some good info on formatting assistance, you just have to look for it.
The best advice I could give, same as I did with my own daughter, just open it, start writing something, click on the different buttons and see what you come up with, you'll be surprise how much you'll learn. Also, there is an 'undo' button, and restore on the computer!
Good luck.

[kaldor]

Surely someone who can install Linux can do something as simple as using a word processor.

It is not hard, you can do it.

[Corfy]

I've installed Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch more notably, set up networks for me, and other friends, and family, set up virtual machines, taken apart, and put together my computer, and all this w/o ever touching a word processor.

That isn't entirely accurate. You have made posts on this forum, which uses a specialized, stripped down, and dedicated word processor. Ok, it lacks some of the more advanced features, but essentially, if you can create a post on a forum, you can use a word processor. The biggest difference is, instead of saving as a post online, it saves as a file on your computer.

[fenian]

Open Office has pretty good instructions for beginners.The word processor instructions can be found here (http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/wordprocessing.html).

[swoll1980]

The thread wasn't intended as a cry for help, though it may have come across that way. I'm merely making conversation as I am also teaching my self to type, and this is a fun way to practice, fun for me anyway. Any, and all advise is greatly appreciated though. I will look through the tutorials, and figure this out the best that I can.

[kaldor]

The thread wasn't intended as a cry for help, though it may have come across that way. I'm merely making conversation as I am also teaching my self to type, and this is a fun way to practice, fun for me anyway. Any, and all advise is greatly appreciated though. I will look through the tutorials, and figure this out the best that I can.

Well, my suggestion is to open OpenOffice.org Writer and play around :)

Also, how could you have not known how to use one? I have needed to quite a few times.

[Simian Man]

Make sure that you save a copy of your files as plain text format now and then. Word processors are capable of corrupting everything and that can be a pain. If you have a plain text backup, you can screw around with the formatting safely.

Honestly when I have to use a word processor, I just write my paper in vim and then copy & paste it into OO for formatting.

[swoll1980]

Well, my suggestion is to open OpenOffice.org Writer and play around :)

Also, how could you have not known how to use one? I have needed to quite a few times.

I only finished the 8th grade, droped out after I failed the 9th grade because of discipline, and attendance problems, and took the G.E.D. test. never got to learn the stuff in high school

[Maheriano]

It has a spell checker you might find especially useful.

[swoll1980]

It has a spell checker you might find especially useful.

Does it help to correctly place punctuation, like commas?

[Zlatan]

Abiword is much more simple than Writer:)

[bapoumba]

Openoffice help (F1) is really intuitive. When I do not know something (lately, I've being playing with formulas, had not in a long time and the syntax had changed), I rarely need to ask google or search the openoffice forums.

[apmcd47]

Just learn troff (groff) or TeX - predefined paragraph formats, no temptation to fiddle rather than write, and when you do make changes to the formatting, no surprises!:lolflag:

Andrew

[kpatz]

When in doubt, hit F1 (Help).

The toolbar and menus in today's word processors make those things crazy easy to do. To add bullets, just highlight the text and click the bullet button on the toolbar. Right-click for more options, such as changing the type of bullet, changing to a numbered list, etc.

The best way to learn how to do it is to just DO it.

Fire up a word processor, type some text, and then play with it. See what the formatting commands in the menus/toolbar do. You'll get the hang of it in no time. You'll find that when you post on this forum, you're basically just using a simplified word processor. There are tool buttons to underline, bold, do bullets, and stuff like that.

[shazbut]

Just learn troff (groff) or TeX - predefined paragraph formats, no temptation to fiddle rather than write, and when you do make changes to the formatting, no surprises!:lolflag:

Andrew

+1
WYSIWYG word processors teach bad habits, anything longer than a letter should be done in a proper text processor. Having said that, I never did make it all the way through the tutorial for Lyx. ;)

[swoll1980]

Openoffice help (F1) is really intuitive. When I do not know something (lately, I've being playing with formulas, had not in a long time and the syntax had changed), I rarely need to ask google or search the openoffice forums.


When in doubt, hit F1 (Help).

The toolbar and menus in today's word processors make those things crazy easy to do. To add bullets, just highlight the text and click the bullet button on the toolbar. Right-click for more options, such as changing the type of bullet, changing to a numbered list, etc.

The best way to learn how to do it is to just DO it.

Fire up a word processor, type some text, and then play with it. See what the formatting commands in the menus/toolbar do. You'll get the hang of it in no time. You'll find that when you post on this forum, you're basically just using a simplified word processor. There are tool buttons to underline, bold, do bullets, and stuff like that.

F1 is extremely helpful thanks for the tip.

[t0p]

Just learn troff (groff) or TeX

"Just"? "Just"??

[apmcd47]

"Just"? "Just"??

Just as in Only;)

[Eisenwinter]

If you're up for it, I guess you can also "cheat" and use HTML. Open up the finished product in Firefox (or whatever browser you use) and just print it out.

HTML can be used to add images (<img src>, etc tags) and overall make a page laid out in a way that they'll think you did it with a word processor.

But it's more difficult and annoying to do it this way, since you always have to launch the page to see the result, all that.

[forrestcupp]

It's not really much harder than typing a post.

Bullets are easy in OO & Word; they're automatic. Just type a * with whatever you want by it, press enter, and it turns it into a bullet point and starts the next bullet for you. It's the same with numbering, lettering, or any outlining. It's all pretty much automatic.

Just try it, and you'll probably end up loving it. It's nothing to worry about.

[andamaru]

I'm in the same boat as you, what I do is avoid some of the more advanced features and just stay with the basic stuff.

[suitedaces]

How did it go for you?

[lisati]

How to Use Your Word Processor (http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/wp/index.asp)

Sorry, it's Windows based ( :( ), but I think you'll find it helpful.
Don't sweat the "Windows based" stuff: Open Office on Ubuntu is pretty much the same to use as Open Office on Windows, and once you get the hang of it, you'll find that many of the skills you "learn by doing" with OO have their equivalents in other word processors.

Well I think the actual typing is pretty strait forward obviously, it's the formatting spacing, bullets, and such that I'm worried about. I'm afraid of turning this in, and looking like a total douche.
Don't sweat it! It gets easier with practice. And remember it's not a typewriter where you have to push "Enter" at the end of the line or whack the keyboard enthusiastically to control how dark the letters are. As for the formatting, others have already mentioned some ideas.

I only finished the 8th grade, droped out after I failed the 9th grade because of discipline, and attendance problems, and took the G.E.D. test. never got to learn the stuff in high school
So what? Dropping out of school, for whatever reason, doesn't equate with "dummy" - it might even be a sign of untapped brilliance!

[swoll1980]

How did it go for you?

I think it looked pretty nice. I wouldn't call myself an expert, or nothing, I think I was able to wing it pretty well. We'll see when I get the results back, I guess.

[swoll1980]

I'll add that now I have to use excel to make a time line, so I will once again have my hands full. I never knew you could do stuff like that with excel, it's pretty cool actually.

[50words]

Recommended Fonts are Arial if you're using MS Office as it's probably the easiest to read for most people. Deja Vu Sans is nice in Open Office.

No. For crying out loud, no.

Onscreen, sans serif fonts are generally easier to read. On paper, serif fonts are far easier to read.

If you are printing the assignment, use a font with "book" in the name. Do not use Times New Roman unless someone forces you to use it at gunpoint. It is a newspaper font, meant for two-inch columns, not full-width text.

If you are not printing the assignment, Arial is okay, but Segoe or Candara (new MS font) are better options.

[Lux Perpetua]

If you're up for it, I guess you can also "cheat" and use HTML. Open up the finished product in Firefox (or whatever browser you use) and just print it out.

HTML can be used to add images (<img src>, etc tags) and overall make a page laid out in a way that they'll think you did it with a word processor.

But it's more difficult and annoying to do it this way, since you always have to launch the page to see the result, all that.I had this same idea recently. Unfortunately, Firefox (3.0.7) can't print properly; it screws up letter spacing. So I ended up just using openoffice.org.

[Sinkingships7]

just use nano.

Chuck, don't be so cruel. :p

[phaze_1]

Remember f7 ( spell check ) it's everyones friend haha