Chapter 2: Mastering Document Fundamentals

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Overview

If you've been using Word through its last few versions, you might have noticed that the program has been steadily growing beyond being a basic word-processing tool. If you haven't been using recent versions of Word, you might have heard through the grapevine (and be pleasantly surprised to find) that Word has evolved into a word-processing application that can be used to collaborate on documents with others on a network, create e-mail messages, create and manipulate Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, conduct mail merges, perform desktop publishing tasks, create Web pages, and on and on. All these features add value to Word's complete package, but the root of Word's power remains in its fundamental capability—document creation.

Fortunately, Word's functionality has expanded without diminishing its word-processing features. In fact, in Word 2003 you'll find word-processing features are abundant and more powerful than ever. You'll be pleased to see that you can find many standard word-processing features and tools available in predictable and comfortable places. For example, the Exit command is still located at the bottom of the Find menu; the Minimize, Restore, and Close buttons are still in the window's upper-right corner; and you can still press Ctrl+S to save your current document. In addition, Word 2003 provides a number of new tools and innovative twists on familiar features that extend Word's capabilities and ease of use, which are introduced in Chapter 1, "Gearing Up with Word 2003." Because document creation is Word's primary functionality, this chapter is dedicated to the process—from start to finish—of working with documents. Along the way, you'll learn about Word's new and revised tools, features, and procedures as well as review standard formatting fundamentals. Whether you're a new user or an old hand, this chapter enables you to master Word's fundamental yet oh-so-important document formation and management tasks. And as you probably know, mastering the fundamentals clears the way for successful use of Word 2003's more advanced features.

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