What are Tracking Catgories? It is an optional tool in Xero to allow users to further analyse their business income and expenses. You can have up to two tracking categories,
Microsoft Office Certification
Want to PROVE your Microsoft Office skills? Then become Microsoft Office certified! Microsoft Office Specialists are a part of a global community of distinguished achievers. This Microsoft credential tells the
Get control of your mailbox 6: Reminders and Flags
These days we get bombarded with emails. According to research, in 2010, we are each receiving an average of 74 emails per day, 61 of which are legitimate emails, and
Visually analyse data with Conditional Formatting
Applying conditional formatting allows you to change the format of the cells in your spreadsheet, depending on certain conditions. For example, you could highlight cells in a particular colour when
Get control of your mailbox 5: View settings
You can add and remove columns in your mail folder screen (each email folder can be set individually) so that you can view the information that is relevant to you. For example, if you do not categorise or follow up your emails then you would not need to view these columns. Similarly, if you have more than one email address you may need to have a column that shows which email account the email was sent to.
Get control of your mailbox 1: Junk Email
These days we get bombarded with emails. According to research, in 2010, we are each receiving an average of 74 emails per day, 61 of which are legitimate emails, and we are sending an average of 34 emails per day. That’s 756 emails per week or 39,312 per year !!
So, we need to get organised…!
This article is the first in a series of 10 articles that will give you tips for helping you keep your mailbox under control when using Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010.
Get rid of your junk
Approximately 18% of the emails that we receive are junk. There are ways that we can filter or delete those junk emails immediately.
The Junk E-Mail folder
The Junk E-Mail folder is displayed in your folder list on the right hand side of the Microsoft Outlook Mail screen. Any emails that the system thinks is spam will automatically go in to this folder instead of the Inbox. It is important to monitor the junk e-mail folder in case any legitimate emails are being captured in there.
If all legitimate emails are removed from the junk email folder, then all emails in this folder can be permanently deleted by right clicking on the folder and selecting “Empty Folder”. This should be done regularly as it will help reduce your mailbox size, keeping your computer running more efficiently.
The best way to control your junk email is to get Microsoft Outlook to automatically remove it for you, but minimising the loss of legitimate emails. Here’s how…
Set junk e-mail protection level
MS Outlook 2010: Home tab > Junk > Junk E-mail options > Options tab
MS Outlook 2007: Tools > Options > Junk E-mail options > Options tab
MS Outlook 2003: Tools > Options > Junk E-mail options > Options tab
The system default setting is “Low”. At this level you may find that you receive a large number of junk emails in your inbox. Here’s how to get them into the junk folder instead…
One way to ensure that you receive no junk in your inbox at all is to set your protection at the “Safe Lists Only” level, which means that any emails coming from those not in your Safe Senders list (see below for more information) will go straight to your Junk E-mail folder. This often results in many legitimate emails going in to your junk mail.
Another way is to set the protection level to “High”. This may result in some legitimate emails going straight in to your junk mail. It is recommended, if you choose this option, to keep a close eye on your junk email folder for a period of about a month, for any legitimate emails that may be in there. Any that you find should then be added to your safe senders list to ensure that they do not go into your junk mail in the future. After a month, if you are not seeing any more legitimate emails in your junk folder, then you could select to “Permanently delete suspected junk email…”.
Safe Senders List
MS Outlook 2010: Home tab > Junk > Junk E-mail options > Safe Senders tab
MS Outlook 2007: Tools > Options > Junk E-mail options > Safe Senders tab
MS Outlook 2003: Tools > Options > Junk E-mail options > Safe Senders tab
It is recommended that any emails from your contacts, including any emails from those other people you have sent an email to should be prevented from going in to your junk mail folder. In MS Outlook 2007 and 2010 there are 2 tick boxes towards the bottom of this screen:
- Also trust e-mail from my Contacts
- Automatically add people I e-mail to the safe senders list
These should both be ticked.
In MS Outlook 2003 you will only see the first option. Tick this.
Blocked Senders List
MS Outlook 2010: Home tab > Junk > Junk E-mail options > Blocked Senders tab
MS Outlook 2007: Tools > Options > Junk E-mail options > Blocked Senders tab
MS Outlook 2003: Tools > Options > Junk E-mail options > Blocked Senders tab
If you receive emails in your inbox that you consider to be junk, firstly look at the email to see if you can “unsubscribe”. You should be able to unsubscribe if the email is from a legitimate business. If this option is not available, or you continue to receive these emails, then you can mark them as a Blocked Sender. Right click on an email, select Junk, then Block Sender.
Get control of your mailbox today…!
Aligning and Spacing shapes in Visio
Aligning shapes
When you place shapes on to a drawing page, it is not always easy or possible to line them up accurately. In Visio, there are tools that allow you to automatically align shapes along their edge or centre point, both vertically and horizontally.
It is important how, and in what order, you select your shapes before you try to align them. All shapes that you select will be aligned with the Primary shape (the one with the thick pink border around the outside when you have more than one selected).
If you select your shapes individually using the Ctrl key, then you will need to ensure that you select the primary shape first, followed by all others.
If you make your selection by dragging a box around them or using Ctrl + A the primary shape will be the one that was placed on to the drawing page first. This may not be necessarily the one you want to align to.
To align go to Shape > Align…
You will have the choice as to whether you want to align horizontally or vertically and if you want to align down the left, centre or right side of the shape. If you are using connectors to join them (as in a flow chart), you will need to align throught the centre or middle.
Space shapes evenly (distribution)
Visio allows you to automatically space shapes evenly, using Distribution. You can only perform this action with a minimum of 3 shapes. Distribution keeps the 2 outer shapes in place and moves the ones in between to create an equal space between all of the shapes.
To distribute go to Shape > Distribute…
You will have the choice as to whether you want to distribute horizontally or vertically and if you want to measure the space equally from the outside or the midpoint of the shape.
It is recommended that shapes are aligned prior to distribution and that the 2 outer shapes are in the correct position.
Selecting shapes in Visio
Selecting shapes
You may need to select one or more shapes on your drawing page so that you can modify them, move them or copy them.
Selecting a single shape
To select a single shape, simply click in the middle of it once. You will see a green box appear around the outside of it.
Selecting multiple shapes
To select more than one shape, click on one then hold down the Ctrl key whilst clicking on all the other required shapes.
When you select more than one shape you will notice that a box appears around both shapes and that the individual shapes also have a pink border around them. One will have a thick pink border (this is known as the primary shape), the other(s) will have a thin pink border. The importance of the primary shape becomes clear when using the alignment tool (not discussed in this article).
Selecting a group of shapes
You can select all shapes on the drawing page at once using the shortcut key, Ctrl + A. To select several shapes which are adjacent to each other, you can drag a box with your mouse around the outside of the them. This will select every shape inside that box. Ensure that you select the entire shape within the box.
Moving shapes
To move a shape, you can drag it around the drawing page using your mouse, but this doesn’t always get it exactly where you want it!
If you need to be more precise about the position of a shape, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to nudge it in any direction on the drawing page. If you zoom in to 400% on the page and the ruler and gridline divisions are set to fine (Tools > Ruler and Grid), then you can move a shape 0.067mm at a time using the arrow keys!
You can also use the Size and Position window (View > Size & Position Window) to specifiy the X and Y coordinates on the page.
Working with data in Excel…
Entering data in a cell
To enter any data in Excel, whether it is text, numbers or formulas, you first need to select the cell in which the data is to be entered. Using the mouse, click in the required cell to make it active (a thick, black border will appear around the edge of the cell), then type the data directly into the cell. Notice how the data also appears in the Formula bar as you type. When you have finished typing the data, press Enter. Until you press Enter, the cell is still active and any subsequent typing or action will be entered into the cell.
Editing data in the formula bar
If you need to amend data in a cell, you do not need to retype the data again. You can edit the text within the Formula bar.
1. Select the cell you want to edit by clicking on the cell using the left mouse button
2. Click in the Formula bar to the right of the character(s) you want to change
3. Use the Backspace key to delete the existing unwanted characters, then type any new characters (if required)
4. Press Enter to complete editing that cell
Selecting cells
Selecting a single cell only requires the user to click somewhere on that cell with the left mouse button Selecting more than one cell is a little trickier. If you move your mouse around the screen, you will notice that the mouse pointer looks like a large white cross. However, if you hold your mouse over an active cell (i.e. click on the cell first), the mouse pointer can be one of 3 different shapes:
Large white cross – Select – hold the mouse over the centre area of the cell
Small black plus sign – Fill / Copy – hold the mouse over the bottom right corner of the cell
Cross with arrows – Move – hold the mouse over the edge of the cell
The shape of the mouse pointer determines what will happen when you hold down the left mouse button. You must ensure that the ‘Select’ mouse pointer is displayed when trying to select one or more cells, otherwise you may find yourself moving data around the worksheet by accident.
Entering a range of data
If you want to enter data in a contiguous range of cells, i.e. cells that are adjacent to each other, a quick method is to select the whole range of cells, then enter the data, one cell at a time, using the Tab key to move between the cells. The active cell, within a range, is the white cell. To select a range of cells, drag your mouse from the top left corner to the bottom right corner of the required range. To deselect a range of cells, left click once elsewhere on the screen.
Using AutoFill and custom lists
Filling a text series
Certain data can be completed automatically using the AutoFill function. This automatic completion of a data list is based on certain rules in Excel and any custom lists of data that you specified. Certain words are identified by default in Excel as being ‘list’ words such as days of the week and months of the year.
For example, if the word ‘January’ is typed in Excel then further data can be AutoFilled, i.e. Excel can automatically fill in a series of text with February, March etc..
Go to Tools > Options > Custom Lists. Here you will see a few lists of words that have been identified as being list words in Excel. You will see a list January, February etc and also days of the week: Monday, Tuesday etc. To fill a list of data, one of the words contained in the list must be typed in a cell. Then, hold the mouse over the bottom right corner of the cell until the mouse pointer turns to a small cross (like a plus sign). Holding the left mouse button down drag in the direction you require the remaining list items to be filled.
Creating a new custom list
New custom lists can be added to existing ones. For example, if you regularly create worksheets containing a list of your companys’ offices within Australia, you could set up a custom list of those offices. Then you can type one of the names in the list and use the AutoFill function to automatically complete the adjacent cells with the remaining office names (either going down or across the spreadsheet). In the Custom Lists tab (see above), click in the List entries box and type in your list of data, separated by a comma. Then click on Add.
Filling a series combining text and numbers
When you combine text and a number in a cell, you can use AutoFill to create a series, where it copies the text, but increases the number with a step value of 1.
Filling a numerical series
You can also use the AutoFill function to fill a series of numbers in a contiguous range of cells. As a number is not identified in any custom list, the AutoFill function does not automatically create a series, but instead copies the data from one cell to the next. For example, if the number 1 is entered into a cell, and the AutoFill is used on that cell, the number 1 will be copied into all of the selected cells. Excel assumes that you just wish to copy the data, rather than filling a series.
However, if you enter the number “1” in one cell, then the number “2” in the cell to the right, you can then select both of the cells, then AutoFill to the right. This will fill a series of numbers, increasing with a step value of 1. Excel assumes that because you have entered 2 different numbers with a difference of 1 you want to fill a series rather than copy. You can also create a series where the number increases by 10, for example. Entering 10 in the first cell, 20 in the next, than AutoFill the 2 cells together along a range.
Copying and moving data
As you have already seen, data can be copied by holding the mouse over the bottom right corner of the cell and dragging the mouse to adjacent cells. However, you may need to copy data to a cell that is not adjacent or you may want to copy text that is contained in a custom list. To do this, you use the Copy function from the Edit menu.
Data can also be moved from one place to another by using the Cut function, also found on the Edit menu. There are 2 steps to remember when using either the Copy or the Cut commands:
Steps:
- Select the cell(s) to copy (Edit > Copy) or move (Edit > Cut) from
- Select the cell(s) to copy or move to (Edit > Paste)
Data can be moved or copied in the following ways:
- one cell to one cell
- one cell to many cells
- range of cells to range of cells
Clipboard task pane
This task pane can display (up to) the last 24 items that have been copied or cut from anywhere within Microsoft Office applications thus allowing data to be pasted one or more times, without having to recopy the data.
The clipboard keeps a record of those items that were copied or cut and allows you to paste the data in any order and as many times as required. This clipboard is the same clipboard viewed from any Microsoft Office application. Therefore, if you opened Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Word, for example, you will see these items on the clipboard in those applications, allowing you to quickly and easily paste items from one application to another. These items will be stored on the clipboard until all Microsoft Office applications have been closed.
Other editing functions
There is no toolbar specifically for the editing functions. Many of the functions are displayed on the Standard toolbar and can also be found if you right mouse click when data in your worksheet is selected. The most commonly used functions on the Edit menu, some previously described – are:
- Undo
- Cut
- Copy
- Paste
- Fill
- Delete
- Find
- Replace
Undo
Undo is a very useful function indeed! This function enables you to cancel the last action you performed. In later versions of Excel, it allows you to undo a maximum of 16 actions (although this default number can be changed). However, you cannot undo an action if you have saved the document since you performed that action.
Delete
The Delete function allows you to delete a particular cell, row or column. You can choose in which direction cells are deleted and where the remaining data is shifted.
Find and replace
The Find command allows you to find specific data (text or numbers) or formatting within a worksheet. You can even search within formulas and functions. The Replace command allows you to first find specific data or formatting, then to replace it with other data or formatting. For example, you could find all of the red text in a spreadsheet and change it to green, or you could replace the word “costs” with the word “expenses”. Rather than having to find each instance and change these manually, the Replace command allows to make all of the changes at once.
