Microsoft Word is Office’s word processing program, tasked with anything from single-page memos and letters to multi-hundred page manuals full of pictures and diagrams. It’s powerful and flexible, but it’s also got its own peculiar ways—chances are pretty good that if you use it for anything other than short documents, you’re not using it the wrong way. If you find that Word “fights” you when you use it, consider taking one of Computer Help’s Word courses.

Introduction
Starting at the basic level you can use Word for short documents. Here the emphasis is on the foundations of setting up and formatting a document that is going to be used once, printed out, and then likely never returned to unless something goes wrong. These are the skills that many people can learn on their own, but as is often the case with Microsoft software there’s any number of little tricks and tips that can be learned to increase your efficiency.

Intermediate
Once the basics are under control, the next step is to work on documents of greater length. Now the problem becomes one of setting up items that carry from one end of the document to the other (such as page numbering) while also allowing certain parts of the document look different—common examples being pages that alternate in “mirror image” for photocopying back-to-back or setting up a cover page.

Advanced
After that stage, students will want to learn how to make their documents maintainable. You’ve probably had more than one project where the changes after the fact took longer than the original creation of the document, and that’s where Computer Help’s more advanced Word course will help. Using short-document techniques on a long document can radically increase the work you have to do the longer the document gets, but if you know the right techniques it makes no difference if you’re working with a five-page flyer or a five-hundred page manual.

Upgrade to 2007/2010
Upgrading from an Earlier Version? Note that if you’re a Word user of whatever level of skill who is moving from version 2000/2002/2003 to version 2007 or the latest version 2010, you will also be interested in some training. The two newer versions of Word have eliminated old-style menus and button bars in favour of the Ribbon. Even the most sophisticated user of Word finds the transition disorienting, and can benefit from breaking things back down the basics in the new environment. Coming to understand the newer, more efficient ways of approaching old tasks can make a radical difference in the amount of time it takes to do your work.