Getting Help

In Excel 2003, help is just a click away. On the far right end of Excel's menu bar is the question box (the box that contains the text "Type a question for help"), where you can type a question or one or two key words to quickly track down the help you need. Whenever you need help, take the following steps to ask your question:

1. Click in the question box.

2. Type one or more words to describe what you're trying to do or what you would like to learn more about.

3. Press Enter . This action opens the Search Results task pane that displays links to several topics that match your search entry, as shown in Figure 2.11.

   Figure 2.11. Use the question box to get help.

   

4. Click the desired topic. This action opens Excel's Help window, which displays the requested information, as shown in Figure 2.12. (See the next section, "Navigating Excel's Help Window," for details on how to navigate the Help window.)

   Figure 2.12. Excel's Help window provides answers to your questions.

   

Navigating Excel's Help Window

You can access Excel's help system at any time by asking a question, as explained in the preceding section, or by opening Excel's Help menu and clicking Microsoft Excel Help, or by pressing the F1 key on your keyboard. Whichever method you employ , Excel displays the Microsoft Excel Help or Search Results task pane that enables you to search for specific help topics. When you click a topic, the Help window appears, as you saw in Figure 2.12.

Near the top of the Help window are several buttons that control the size and orientation of the Help window, enable you to print helpful information and instructions, and let you set preferences. The following list describes these buttons :

Auto Tile/Untile automatically resizes the program and Help windows to keep them side by side. Use this button to turn Auto Tile on and off.

Back displays the previous Help screen, if you advanced from one Help screen to another.

Forward displays the next Help screen, if you backed up to a previous Help screen.

Print prints the currently displayed information or instructions.

Note

If you press F1 or open the Help menu and choose Microsoft Excel Help, and an animated character appears onscreen instead of the Help window, the Office Assistant is activated. See "Obtaining Context-Sensitive Help," later in this chapter, to learn how to use the Office Assistant and how to disable it, if it becomes too helpful

Browsing Excel's Help System

Excel comes with comprehensive documentation that you can access from within Excel. This documentation acts as a built-in user 's manual. To access it, simply display the Microsoft Excel Help taskbar (by pressing F1 or choosing the Help , Microsoft Excel Help command), and then click the Table of Contents link, as shown in Figure 2.13.

Figure 2.13. Click Table of Contents to access Excel's online documentation.

The Microsoft Excel Help task pane displays a table of contents for using Excel, as shown in Figure 2.14. The table of contents consists of several volumes of help topics, each of which has a tiny book icon next to it. Click the desired volume to display a list of help categories or available topics. Continue clicking help categories until you find the desired topic, and then click the topic's name . The Help window appears, displaying information relating to the topic or instructions on how to perform the selected task. (When a volume or help category is expanded, you can condense or hide the expanded list by clicking the volume or help category again.)

Figure 2.14. Excel Help's Table of Contents displays a complete list of topics.

Tip

If the Help window has the Tiled option turned on, you can drag the bar that separates the Help window and the Excel program window to the left or right to change their relative dimensions.

If you're lucky, the first Help screen you see provides the help you need. In most cases, however, you need to probe a little further. Many Help screens display a bulleted list of topics, with the bullets appearing as right-pointing arrow heads. You must click the bullet or the topic's name to expand the information below the bullet, as shown in Figure 2.15. Some Help screens contain links to other related topics, as well. These links typically appear as blue text; when you position the mouse pointer over a link, the pointer transforms into a pointing-hand icon, and the topic's name appears underlined . Click the topic to display its information.

Figure 2.15. Many Help screens contain additional, hidden information.

If you probe too deep into the help system and want to go back to a previous screen, click the Back button, near the top left of the Help window.

Viewing ScreenTips

Toolbar buttons and other objects can seem as cryptic as Egyptian hieroglyphics to a novice user. To help, Excel features screen tips that pop up whenever you rest the mouse pointer on an object. ScreenTips appear in their own tiny boxes and display the name of the selected object, as shown in Figure 2.16.

Figure 2.16. Rest the mouse pointer on an object to view its ScreenTip.

Obtaining Context-Sensitive Help

Excel's help system features an animated tutor, called Clippit, who can help answer your questions. In previous versions of Excel, Clippit was a central character, popping up whenever you needed help and sometimes when you didn't. In Excel 2003, Microsoft chose to make Clippit a little less intrusive .

If you feel comforted by having Clippit on hand, you can activate this Office Assistant by performing the following steps:

1. Open the Help menu.

2. Click Show the Office Assistant . Clippit pops up, as shown in Figure 2.17.

   Figure 2.17. Clippit provides context-sensitive help and answers your questions.

   

As you work in Excel, Clippit occasionally asks whether you need help performing a task. Simply give your okay, and Clippit jumps in to lend a hand. You can also ask Clippit questions. Click Clippit, type your question, and press Enter . Clippit displays the Search Results taskbar, listing possible topics of interest, just as if you had typed your question in the question box. Click the desired topic. To make Clippit go away, right-click Clippit and choose Hide . To bring him back, open the Help menu and click Show the Office Assistant .

Tip

If you choose to hide Clippit, he may pop up again without your asking for assistance. To disable Clippit, right-click Clippit, choose Options , and remove the check mark next to Use the Office Assistant . You can also use this dialog box to select a different animated character and to set other options for the Office Assistant.

Obtaining Help in Dialog Boxes

Dialog boxes can be packed with confusing options and preferences. Fortunately, help is just a click away. In the upper-right corner of most dialog boxes is a button with a question mark on it. To get help, click that question mark button. Excel opens the Help window, which displays a description of the various options available in the active dialog box.