Difference between revisions of "Office Productivity Hacks"

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(→‎Google Apps: Google Apps | 3rd Party Resources | FastDocs ⚡: Shortcuts to create new Google Docs)
(→‎Using Bookmarks: Use Bookmarks to Repeat Text Within a Document)
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* [http://makeofficework.com/bookmarks_the_basics.htm Bookmarks: The Basics]
 
* [http://makeofficework.com/bookmarks_the_basics.htm Bookmarks: The Basics]
 
* [http://makeofficework.com/bookmarks_their_full_power.htm Bookmarks: Their Full Power]
 
* [http://makeofficework.com/bookmarks_their_full_power.htm Bookmarks: Their Full Power]
 +
 +
===== Use Bookmarks to Repeat Text Within a Document =====
 +
* [https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/word-repeating-text-within-a-document/ Word: Repeating text within a document]
 +
: Assign a bookmark to the text you want to re-use, then insert a cross-reference to the bookmark text. Whenever you change the original text, you only need to update the fields in the document for the changes to apply to the second (or third) instance of that text.
  
 
===== Use Bookmarks to Calculate Numbers in Tables Across Multiple Tables =====
 
===== Use Bookmarks to Calculate Numbers in Tables Across Multiple Tables =====

Revision as of 10:56, 22 June 2016

Cloud Storage & File Sharing Platforms

Learn about seven "amazingly awesome open source cloud storage engines that you can use to access and sync your data privately for security and privacy reasons."
Access your data from all your devices, on an open platform you can extend and modify.
  • Pydio - Master Your Universe of Files
Pydio (formerly AjaXplorer) is a mature open source software solution for file sharing and synchronization.
File synchronisation. Version control. Self hosted. Client side encryption. Free and Open Source.

Google Apps

  1. Create a Google Doc for each meeting
  2. Move the document to the right folder(s)
  3. Share the document with participants
  4. Create Calendar event: Invite guests and attach document(s)
  5. Edit during the meeting
  6. Share the document link after the meeting
Keyboard Shortcuts
Select what you want to strike and click Alt+Shift+5. (Option+Shift+5 for Mac).
Ctrl+? to see other such keyboard shortcuts.

Google Apps | 3rd Party Resources

Direct links to create new documents for Google Apps.

Google App Engine

A content delivery network, or CDN, is a system of servers spread around the world, serving files from the nearest physical location. Instead of waiting for a file to find its way from a server farm in Silicon Valley 8,000 kilometres away, I can receive it from London, Dublin, or Paris, cutting down the time I wait. The big names — Google, Yahoo, Amazon, et al — use CDNs for their sites, but they’ve always been far too expensive for us mere mortals. Until now.

Google Mail Merge

Yet Another Mail Merge

Google Drive

Google Docs

Want page number & count (eg: Page 2 of 4)?
- Insert > Page number to insert a page number.
- Insert > Page count to get the count of number of pages in document.

Google Sites

- k8oms: Yes, you can create a separate member's only site, make it private, invite your members as viewers and link to it from your main site.
- k8oms: You could (also) invite a Google Group to the site. All of your members would have to join the group. They would have to have Google accounts in order to join.

Google Voice

Instead of having to send out a conference number and access code to people calling in, you can now just ask them to call you at a preset time and you can conference them in as they call.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice in the Cloud

Collabora CloudSuite is a powerful LibreOffice-based office suite that works across platforms and devices. It enables you to access documents from any location, author new content, and share your work.
Request a Free Demo.
Collabora Productivity, the driving force behind putting LibreOffice in the Cloud, has released the first production grade version of Collabora Online, its flagship cloud document suite solution.
CODE is the unsupported, Development version of Collabora CloudSuite‘s commercial on-line component. It makes things easy for you to play with the latest unstable developments – of course at some risk of loosing your data, and with no strong upgrade or continuity guarantees. If it breaks – you get to keep both halves.
It's been years since The Document Foundation announced that LibreOffice would be ported to an online version. It looks like it will finally arrive... in 2016.

Regular Expressions & LibreOffice

Important Reminder When Working with Regular Expressions in LibreOffice:

With the Find & Replace window open, make sure to click on the "+" icon next to "Other Options" and check the "Regular expressions" tic box.

Do you want to add a blank paragraph after of each non-empty paragraph? Find .$ (dot-dollar) Replace with &\n (ampersand-backslash-n).
You need to click on the More Options button (bottom of Find & Replace dialog) and check the Regular Expressions box since \t is a regex code.

Keyboard Shortcuts

ShortcutWorld.com is an open, wiki-style Reference Database for Keyboard Shortcuts. Created and edited by Users like You.

Microsoft Office

Linking Data Between Files

Microsoft Word

Do you need to create a dynamic link to a specific list number/letter of a list item in your Word document? The above tutorial will help. In a nutshell, to the following:
  1. Select the "References" menu tab.
  2. In the "Captions" group, select "Cross-reference". A new little window pops up.
  3. Under "Reference type:" (in the new little window) choose "Numbered item". Make sure the little "Insert as hyperlink" tic-box is check, just below.
  4. Under "Insert reference to:" choose "Paragraph number".
  5. In the "For which numbered item:" section, choose the paragraph you want to reference.
  6. Click the "Insert" button.
Do you want "hover text" when mousing over a word or number? Try the above tip.

Field Codes

Fields in Microsoft Word are used as placeholders for data that might change in a document and for creating form letters and labels in mail-merge documents.

Every time you save a document in Word, some of the document properties information is automatically updated. Part of the information is the date on which the document was last saved. You can insert this date into your document using a field code so that it will update automatically.
Do codes like { FORMCHECKBOX } or { =SUM(C29,F30) \# "#,##0.00" } or { FILENAME \p } all of a sudden start showing up when you open a Word document? If so, and you want to fix it, the above tutorial is for you.

Calculating Numbers in Word

Because Microsoft has buried the calculator so thoroughly, you’ll need to resurrect it before putting it to use. That means sticking it on a toolbar. In Word 2007, you’ll have to put it on the Quick Access toolbar:
  1. Right-click the Quick Access toolbar and select Customize Quick Access Toolbar from the pop-up menu.
  2. Make sure For All Documents is selected in the Customize Quick Access Toolbar drop-down box.
  3. In the Choose Commands From drop-down box, select Commands Not In The Ribbon. (Side note: Perusing this list is highly educational for old-time Word users pining for lost commands.)
  4. Locate Calculate in the list and double-click it to add it to the list of Quick Access commands, then click OK.
Among Word's many undocumented features are some legacies from previous versions. One of these is the ToolsCalculate command.
Use To Example Expression Result
-
or
( )		 Subtract Budget for the rest
of the month		 1500-976
or
1500 (976)		 524
/ Divide Cost per month $7000/12 $583.33
* Multiply Rent per year 12*$583 $6996.00
+
or
space		 Add Joint income 19,000+16,500
or
19,000 16,500		 35,500
% Calculate percentage Taxes due $155.79*6% $9.35
^ Calculate power Six squared 6^2 36
^ Calculate power Cube root of eight 8^(1/3) 2

Calculating Numbers in a Table Using Formulas

You can add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers in Word table cells. Also you can calculate averages, percentages, and minimum as well as maximum values.

Examples
=SUM(C28,F28)
=(F30-F28)
=SUM(C29,F30)-(C28)
=SUM(ABOVE) Adds the numbers in the column above the cell you’re in.
=SUM(LEFT) Adds the numbers in the row to the left of the cell you’re in.
=SUM(BELOW) Adds the numbers in the column below the cell you’re in.
=SUM(RIGHT) Adds the numbers in the row to the right of the cell you’re in.
You can perform calculations and logical comparisons in a table by using formulas. The Formula command is found on the Table Tools, Layout tab, in the Data group.
To add up a column or row numbers in a table, use the Formula command. (A stripped-down version of the above tutorial.)

Using Bookmarks

Useful Bookmarks Example: Use bookmarks to refer to the prices of multiple products in your Word document. Bookmark each price, then display the sum of the bookmarked prices using a formula field to calculate the total.

Use Bookmarks to Repeat Text Within a Document
Assign a bookmark to the text you want to re-use, then insert a cross-reference to the bookmark text. Whenever you change the original text, you only need to update the fields in the document for the changes to apply to the second (or third) instance of that text.
Use Bookmarks to Calculate Numbers in Tables Across Multiple Tables

Do you want to calculate numbers located in one or more tables in your Word document and display the results outside of the table(s)? Here's how:
1. Bookmark each of the tables you want to refer to.

- Highlight your first table.
- Word > Insert Tab > click on "Bookmark" (icon in "Links" section).
- Enter name of bookmark (eg: "table1") and click "OK".
- Do the same for each table you want to bookmark.

2. Refer to the table name you used in your bookmark (eg: table1, table2, etc.) like shown in the code examples below.

Code Examples:
  • { =SUM(table1 B2:B3) }
The above example SUMs two numbers located in table1.
  • { =SUM(table1 B2,table2 C2) }
The above example SUMs two numbers – one located in table1 and another located in table2.
PLEASE NOTE
Word's Formula (fx) function (Table Tools > Layout > Data > Formula) is extremely finicky. When inserting a formula using this tool, make sure to insert the entire formula at one go. Subsequent edits seem to generate error messages.
If you are NOT using Word's Formula Function: Don't type in the curly braces ({}) yourself. For your code to actually work, you must insert curly braces into your Word document by pressing CTRL+F9 on your keyboard.
This tutorial is a subsection of the Use a formula in a Word or Outlook table tutorial. It describes how to bookmark specific objects on a Word document, then refer to those bookmarks in a formula. You can use this technique to calculate across multiple tables.
Use Bookmarks to Calculate Numbers in Specific Cells Across Multiple Tables
  1. Highlight the number in first table.
  2. Word > Insert Tab > click on "Bookmark" (icon in "Links" section).
  3. Enter name of bookmark (eg: "first_total") and click "OK".
  4. Do the same for each value in each table you want to bookmark.
  5. Place cursor where you want to sum the totals you just bookmarked.
  6. Press CTRL+F9 and type in an = character.
  7. Go To: Insert Tab > select "Quick Parts" > (icon in Text section) > Pull down to "Field".
  8. Scroll down the list of "Field names" and choose "Ref".
  9. Select the first bookmark name you created, then click the "OK" button.
  10. Type "+" next to the value you just inserted, then select the second bookmark and click "OK." Do the same for each bookmark you want to add.
  11. Right-click on the field set you just created by going through the above steps and choose "Update Field".
  12. To view and/or edit the formula for the number you just updated, right-click on the number and choose "Toggle Field Codes".
Sources for above steps:

Formatting Section-Specific Header & Footer Info (Section Names, Page Numbers, Etc.)

Goal: Set header/footer labels, file paths, X of Y formatted page numbering and other properties so they apply only to a specific section within a word document.
Applies to Microsoft Word 2007.

Add section breaks to a document
If your document is not divided into sections, you can insert section breaks where you want the header or footer to vary.
  1. Starting at the beginning of the document, place the cursor at the beginning of the page where you want to start varying the header or footer.
  2. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks, and then under Section Breaks, click Next Page.
  3. Place the cursor at the beginning of the next page where you want to vary the header or footer, such as the first page of a new chapter.
  4. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks, and then under Section Breaks, click Next Page.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for every section break that you want in the document.
Use a document's section breaks to vary the header or footer
If your document is already divided into sections, you can use the section breaks to configure headers and footers.
  1. Starting at the beginning of the document, click in the first section for which you want to vary the header or footer.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.
  3. Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.
  4. On the Headers & Footers tab, in the Navigation group, click Link to Previous to break the connection between the header or footer in this section and the previous section.
  5. Change the existing header or footer, or create a new header or footer for this section.
  6. In the Navigation group of the Design tab (Header & Footer contextual tab), click Next Section to advance the cursor to the header or footer of the next section.
  7. On the Headers & Footers tab, in the Navigation group, click Link to Previous to break the connection between the header or footer in this section and the previous section.
  8. Change the existing header or footer, or create a new header or footer for this section.
  9. Repeat the previous three steps for all of the sections in the document.[1]
Mini Course: Using Word 2007, create headers and footers in a document that has several parts, such as a cover page and table of contents, followed by chapters. Includes a Quick Reference Card at the end of the tutorial.
Good tutorial for adding section-specific single page numbers (ie. Page 1), but not Page X of Y formatted page numbering.
  1. Click at the beginning of the page where you want to start, stop, or change the header, footer, or page numbering.
  2. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks.
  3. Under Section Breaks, click Next Page.
  4. On the page that follows the section break, double-click in the header area or the footer area (near the top of the page or near the bottom of the page). This opens the Design tab under Header & Footer Tools.
  5. On the Design tab, in the Navigation group, click Link to Previous to turn it off.
    IMPORTANT: If your page number is in the header, be sure that you turn off linking for headers. If your page number is in the footer, be sure that you turn off linking for footers. Headers and footers are linked or unlinked separately.
  6. Follow the instructions for adding page numbers or for adding a header and footer with a page number.
    NOTE: Choose an alert and enter text here. You may also set it's AlertPosition property.
  7. To choose a numbering format or the starting number, click Page Number in the Header & Footer group, click Format Page Numbers, click the format that you want and the Start at number that you want to use, and then click OK.
  8. To return to the body of your document, click Close Header and Footer on the Design tab (under Header & Footer Tools).
Good tutorial for simply adding Page X of Y formatted page numbering.
Use these tutorials to configure Page X of Y formatted page numbering that is specific to each document section.
SectionPages
The SectionPages field inserts the total number of pages in a section. When using this field, you should restart page numbering from 1 in each section after the first section.
NOTE: A field code tells the field what to show. Field results are what’s shown in the document after having evaluated the field code. To toggle between viewing the field code and the field code results, press Alt+F9.
Example: To print text such as "Page 4 of 29." on each page of a document you've divided into sections, insert the following fields and text in the header or footer:
Page { PAGE } of { SECTIONPAGES }.
  1. Place your cursor where you want the { PAGE } field code.
  2. Go To: Insert (tab) > select "Quick Parts" > (located in Text section) > Pull down to "Field".
  3. Scroll down the list of "Field names" and choose "Page".
  4. In the "Format" window, choose the numbering format you want to use (eg: 1, 2, 3, ...).
  5. Repeat the steps above to place your { SECTIONPAGES } field code (but choose the { SECTIONPAGES } field code instead of { PAGE }).

Word Keyboard Shortcuts

Alt-Shift-D + Backspace + Ctrl-Shift-F9

ONLYOFFICE™ - Cloud Office Applications

Free open source office suite with business productivity tools: document and project management, CRM, mail aggregator.
ONLYOFFICE Document Server is an online office suite comprising viewers and editors for texts, spreadsheets and presentations, fully compatible with Office Open XML formats: .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and enabling collaborative editing in real time.
Free Alternative to Microsoft® Office | Edit word docs, spreadsheets and presentations online.
Your Free and Open Source Web-Office | ONLYOFFICE™ is a multifunctional office suite that enables you to store and co-edit documents, manage projects, email correspondence and customer relations in one place.
Edit Documents with #1 Online Office Apps | Built using HTML5′s Canvas element, it claims to combine the best of Google’s online collaboration features with Microsoft Word’s high quality formatting.

Portable Document Format (PDF)

Need to add text to a PDF that doesn't support editing? No problem -- and no extra software required.
Free Online PDF Creators:
JotForm makes it simple to create PDF forms. Using JotForm’s easy drag-and-drop form builder, you can quickly generate a submittable PDF form that lets people send responses directly to your email and JotForm account. Create a form in minutes that can be used anywhere, regardless of device or internet access.
Free Online PDF Editors:
Edit, send & sign PDFs online for free.
Free Plan:
- View and edit unlimited documents
- Sign 5 documents / month
- Up to 3 signers / document
- Send 3 / month
- Email up to 3 documents / day
- Up to 3 recipients / email
- Faxes: $1.99 / fax
Pricing: Start Using PDF Buddy for Free. No credit card required.
FREE PLAN: 3 PDFs/month | 1 GB storage
Create, Edit & Convert up to 3 PDF Files a month for FREE! No sign up required.
Also See
Data Analysis#PDF Conversion

Quick Edit Sheets

EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet. Your data is saved on the web, and people can edit the same document at the same time. Everybody's changes are instantly reflected on all screens. No sign-up required; start writing instantly. Drag and drop a .csv, .ods, or a .xlsx file to import it.
Ethersheet is an open source tool to make collaborating on spreadsheets fast, easy and secure. You can also download the code on GitHub.
GelSheet is a free and open source web spreadsheet that allow users to create, edit and export in many formats your everyday work. It's intended to run either standalone or integrated within another web tool. It was born as a part of Opengoo web office.

Dearly Departed Quick Edit Sheets

Unfortunately, EditGrid's service is ending May 1, 2014.[2]

Other Edit Pads (Non-Spreadsheet)

Firepad is an open source collaborative text editor you can add to your own website.
Your notes. Protected. Enter any URL, e.g. protectedText.com/anything - you find it - its yours! Encrypt all your notes, access anywhere. Simple. Fast. Free. No ads. Secure - don't trust us, check the code yourself.
Sync.in is a web based word processor for people to collaborate in real-time. When multiple people edit the same document simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's screen. The result is a new and productive way to collaborate with text documents, useful for meeting notes, brainstorming, project planning, training, and more.
TitanPad lets people work on one document simultaneously. "We are rescuing EtherPad for your use." No sign-up required; start writing instantly.

Screen Grabs

SharePoint

Have you noticed that--when working in SharePoint--the URL in your browser's address bar pointing to any SharePoint file or folder is a super-long, ugly mess? Good news! You can get a shorter, prettier URL for that file or folder, as the above tutorial explains.
Despite all the typos in the text of this tutorial, it is a pretty good step-by-step guide for moving files and folders around in SharePoint.

SharePoint Workspace

Microsoft SharePoint Workspace, previously known as Microsoft Office Groove, is a discontinued desktop application designed for document collaboration in teams with members who are regularly off-line or who do not share the same network security clearance. It is no longer included with Microsoft Office 2013 or Office 365, the latter of which includes Microsoft's OneDrive for Business instead. The latter does not fully replace the former.

Slide Decks

Web-Based Slide Decks Done Right
http://luigimontanez.com/2011/web-based-slide-decks-done-right/
SlideGo - Interactive Slides
http://www.slidego.com/home/
Speaker Deck
http://speakerdeck.com/
"Speaker Deck is the best way to share presentations online. Simply upload your slides as a PDF, and we’ll turn them into a beautiful online experience. View them on SpeakerDeck.com, or share them on any website with an embed code."
Prezi - The Zooming Presentation Editor
http://prezi.com/

Text Editors

Whether you’re a developer or a writer, a good text editor is a must-have on any computer, in any operating system. The humble text editor is great for managing code, writing down quick notes, or just as a distraction-free writing tool.
Sublime Text is available for OS X, Windows and Linux. It is heavily favored among coders. It’s distributed as evaluation software (meaning it’s free to try, but there’s no time limit on how long you can use it for free) and a full license will cost you $70. A full license is per user, so you can use it on as many computers as you like once you have one.[3]

Text Editor Tricks

To get to the Find in Files function, open up the Find / Replace dialog CTRL-H and click on the Find in Files tab.

Text Readers

Screen Readers | Text To Speech
ResponsiveVoice is a HTML5-based Text-To-Speech library designed to add voice features to web sites and apps across all smartphone, tablet and desktop devices. It supports 51 languages through 168 voices, no dependencies and weighs just 14kb.
Copy text and past it into YAKiToMe!'s web site text box, then press the "play" button. A computerized female voice will read the text back to you.

Tools & Resources

Source Citation

Generate citations in MLA, APA & Chicago formats for your bibliography. Save time by making a Works Cited page automatically!
Citation Machine automatically generates citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian.

Email Validation Services

With this free email validation service, you can easily verify an email address and confirm if it is valid, properly formatted and really exists.
  • Verifalia (Online service that will check emails at about a penny a pop.)
Email address validation, email list cleaning, email list hygiene, email list scrubbing.
Validate single email addresses for free, or up to 100 email addresses with a trial account.

Reporting Tools

10 Tools for Creating Infographics and Visualizations
http://moz.com/blog/10-tools-for-creating-infographics-visualizations

Web Fax Services

Looks like it does not require account set-up for free fax service. Inserts ad on fax cover page.
Looks like it does not require account set-up for free fax service. Claims that it does not place ad(s) on fax. 2015-10-15 Update: The maintainer of this wiki has used GotFreeFax.com on multiple occasions. Service is free, and includes email verification after fax transmission completes successfully.
Claim's it's "Truly Free Internet Faxing." Also appears to not require account set-up to use. 2015-10-15 Update: It appears this service now requires an account; charges also now apply.
Further Reading

Miscellaneous Tools

File convert service between document, image, music, video, e-book, compressed and CAD formats. No account or signup required.
Zamzar Conversion Types

Web-Based Productivity Apps

(Scroll down the article a little ways to get to the discussion on productivity apps.)

Writing Resources

Bibliography | Cite | Citation

This media file contains a PDF with a side-by-side comparison of APA, MLA, and CMS styles.
The Purdue OWL: Citation Chart
How to format in-text citations.
Also See: Source Citation Tools on this wiki page.

Book Publishing

Booktype allows authors to create beautiful books for print and digital distribution. Publishers use Booktype to manage their entire catalogue in one place, providing authors, translators and proofreaders with all the tools they need. Open source Sourcefabric Booktype software gives you seamless publishing in EPUB format to all major sellers of e-books with one click.

Zip Codes

Map of the USA where you can specify a point and a radius to search within and return all the ZIP codes found inside that radius.

Quick Zip Code Lookups

Is the USPS Zip Code Lookup Tool a little too tedious for your tastes? Good news! There are less tedious alternatives.

Address verification, validation, and autocomplete. One of the nice features about this tool is you can toss an entire street address into the "street address" field (while ignoring the city, state and zip code fields) and still get a USPS-compliant address.

Zip+4 & Address Lookups

Input entire address (minus zip) into text field and Melissa Data will quickly generate a zip+4 code.
Limited to 25 lookups a day to non-registered users, and 100 per day to registered users.
Must register to use this tool. Delivers zip+4 and cleaned up addresses in multiple address batches.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Make the header or footer different in each section or chapter
  2. ↑ EditGrid service is ending May 1, 2014
  3. ↑ Five Best Text Editors: #1 Sublime Text
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