Computer Info – May 21 2003

 

This Week’s Meeting

We will look at RootsMagic – a genealogy program.  We will also try to cover the items that are in this handout – Bookmarks in Internet Explorer – Data validation in Excel – Watermarks in Word – and other miscellaneous topics.

The next meeting will be June 4th.

 

 

RootsMagic

            RootsMagic is the genealogy program that has replaced Family Origins.  It is written by the same person who first wrote Family Origins.

            The program has retained all of the nice features of Family Origins – but added many new ones.  Instead of having just two tabs – one for a pedigree view and one for a family view – they have added a third tab – this one displays the descendants of the highlighted person.

            Double clicking on a persons name – brings up all the information you have on that individual – and the ability to add or edit from it.  Look at the multimedia tab and you will find that has been improved also. 

            And there have been many good reports added or updated.  Take a look at all of the lists that you can create.  You can get a report (Multimedia list) of the picture files (which includes the name of the picture and where it is stored on your computer) for individuals or groups of people.  The report – Place List – is great for listing all events that occurred in a given location.  They also have a Calendar for listing all of the birthdays – anniversaries – or both for all living people.  The Relationship Chart is very nice also. 

 

Internet Explorer 6 – Bookmarks

            You can export your list of Favorites in Internet Explorer 6 and then use them as your home page.  To do this, click on FILE – IMPORT AND EXPORT – follow the wizard’s instructions.  It is exported as an HTML file. – Of course, save it in a location where you can find it again and give it a name that you will recognize.

            Now, click on FILE – OPEN – locate the file you just saved.  Your bookmarks will now show.  From  TOOLS – INTERNET OPTIONS – for HOME PAGE – choose USE CURRENT.  This will now be your home page every time you open Internet Explorer.

 

Excel – Data Validation

               A list option lets you provide users with limited choices for their entry in a cell.  You usually create this list away from the main worksheet – type the entries that will be allowed.  Then pick the cell where you want the users to be entering this data.

               Choose DATA – VALIDATION, and on the Allow drop-down menu, choose LIST.  In the Source box, click the grid to the right.  This lets you go to your spreadsheet and highlight the range of cells you want to make up the list.  When you press ENTER, the range is entered into the Source box.

               Click OK to close the Data Validation dialog box.  Users will now see a drop-down arrow in the designated cell.  They can click it and choose the correct item from the list.

 

               If you wish to hide the source list from the user – you can select the cells that contain the list, choose FORMAT – CELLS and click on the Number tab.  Choose Custom from the Category list.  Delete the words in the Type box and type ;;; (three semicolons).  To make the information in the cells visible again, select the area that this information is in, choose FORMAT – CELLS and click on the Number tab.  Select the General format from the Category list.

 

Watermarks in Word 2002

 

               To display a watermark, you must be in the PRINT LAYOUT view.

Text Watermarks

               To add a text watermark to your document, from the FORMAT menu, select BACKGROUND – then PRINTED WATERMARK.  Click the radio button for Text Watermark.  Type in your own message – set the font – font size – color – horizontal or diagonally – then click OK.

Image Watermarks

               Again, from the FORMAT menu, select BACKGROUND – then PRINTED WATERMARK.  Click the radio button for Picture Watermark.  Click Select Picture and locate the file you want to use.  You may or may not wish to activate the Washout checkbox.  Even without it, Word gives the image enough transparency to prevent it from interfering with the text.  Washout tends to turn an image so faint that it’s ghostly, more a suggestion of the picture than the picture itself.

WordArt Watermarks

               Place your pointer where you want the watermark to be. From the VIEW menu, chose TOOLBARS – WORDART. Click on the Insert WordArt – enter your text. Click on the Text Wrapping button and select Behind Text. Click Format WordArt and increase the transparency.