Saving a Document

Until you save a document to a disk (either hard or floppy), that document exists only in your
computer’s memory. When saving a new document, you must name the file and also specify
you want it to be saved. Word 2003 can store files using any number of formats. The
most common are the .doc and .htm formats. The .doc format is the proprietary document
format used by Word, and .htm is the universal format used for Web documents.
You can edit an existing Word file and create different versions in different formats by saving
the file in a particular format—the original file will be untouched, so you’ll end up with two
separate files. This capability enables you to exchange files with others who are using different
word processors or HTML authoring programs.
To save a document, follow these steps:
1. Click the Save button, or choose File➪Save (Ctrl+S). The Save As dialog box appears
. By default, the File Name text box lists the first sentence of the document
in the text box.
2. Enter a name with as many characters as you want, within reason. The entire pathname,
including all the directories and the file name, cannot exceed 255 characters.
For ease of use and efficiency, however, keep your file names as concise as possible.
A Word document file name can include letters, numbers, and spaces, as well as the following
symbols: @ # $ % & ( ) [ ] _ { }. Word automatically adds the file name extension
.doc for you, so you don’t have to type it.
3. Click OK or press Enter to save your document. If you try to save a document with the
name of a previously existing file, Word displays a dialog box asking you to confirm that
you want to replace the existing document. Click No to type a different name for the
document being saved, or click Yes to replace (or overwrite) the existing document.
The next time you save your document, you won’t have to type a name, of course. Pressing
Ctrl+S will quickly save the file.

Helping WordPerfect users

If you are a WordPerfect user and new to both Word and Windows, choose Help➪WordPerfect
Help to display the Help for WordPerfect Users dialog box.In the Command
Keys list, select a function or WordPerfect command to display to the right of the list information
about how to carry out that function in Word. If there is an ellipsis after the selected item,
double-click the item or choose Help Text to display a submenu of related items (unfortunately
there’s no way to go back without closing the dialog box and starting again!). If an arrow is next
to the item, you can click the Demo button and have Word demonstrate that feature, though
you should read the text first because it’s not always apparent what is going on. If you click
Demo when you have not selected an item with a Demo attached, the dialog box simply closes
The Help Text button closes the dialog box and opens a message box carrying the help text
for the item you selected. This box stays visible while you are working in the document, so
you can follow the instructions as you work; if there’s a Demo associated with the Help item,
you’ll see a Demo button in this message box.

Using the Microsoft Word Help task pane

If you would rather use the Windows-style Help system instead of the Office Assistant, you can
turn off the Office Assistant, as previously mentioned. The Windows-style Help system uses a
Web-like interface. You can click on hyperlinks to go to related help topics. After you turn off
the Office Assistant, you can access the Microsoft Word Help task pane by
choosing Help➪Microsoft Word Help or pressing F1.
The Microsoft Word Help task pane includes three areas:
✦ The Search area, where you type a search phrase and press Enter or click the Table of
Contents link to open, yes, the Help Table of Contents
✦ The Office on Microsoft.com area, with links to Microsoft’s Help Web site
✦ The See Also area, with a few additional links to more information
Browsing the Help Contents
The Table of Contents link displays a Table of Contents for Help topics. The
book icons that appear in the Contents tab are referred to as chapters. Click a book to show
all the Help pages in that topic. Click an entry with a ? icon to open a Help window displaying
information about that subject.
Searching for Help
Type a search term into the Search box at the top of the task pane, and then click the green
arrow or press Enter. You’ll see the results. Click on one to open a window containing text
about that topic . Or you can click the category below an entry to display the
Table of Contents, already open to that category, where you can browse similar subjects.
Accessing Microsoft Office Help on the Web
Word includes an option to connect automatically to an entire menu of online Help sites by
clicking Help on the menu bar and then scrolling down to Office on the Web. This way, you
have access to the entire wealth of the Internet in getting assistance with Word 2003 and with
your document itself. Click Microsoft on the Web, and select an option from the submenu.
These options connect you with a particular Internet site. You can load these sites through
any Internet browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator