Getting Help


PowerPoint includes several ways to get help, one of which should suit your needs and the way you use information. Options include the Ask a Question box, the Office Assistant, a full-search Help window, and help on the Web.

NOTE

At times, PowerPoint might not behave as expected, or it might deliver an error message when none is needed. To find and repair these problems automatically, choose Help, Detect and Repair.


Using the Ask a Question Box

The Ask a Question box (see Figure 1.26) puts help at your fingertips, always available on the menu bar.

Figure 1.26. Use the Ask a Question box for fast and easy help.

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Type a question or keyword in the box and press Enter. The Search Results task pane opens, listing help topics. Click the one that best matches what you need to know. The Microsoft PowerPoint Help window opens with specific information on the topic you chose, shown in Figure 1.27.

Figure 1.27. The Help window displays detailed help on your selected topic.

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To learn more about the Microsoft PowerPoint Help window, see "Using Microsoft PowerPoint Help" in this chapter, p. 35 .


Using the Office Assistant

The Office Assistant lets you ask natural language questions, such as "How do I insert WordArt?" It provides help topics that answer these questions. To see the Office Assistant, choose Help, Show the Office Assistant. Click the Assistant when you need help, and a balloon appears that asks you what you want to do (see Figure 1.28).

Figure 1.28. The Office Assistant can answer your PowerPoint questions.

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Type your question ”or just a word or phrase if you like ”and click the Search button. The Search Results task pane opens, listing relevant Help topics. Click the most relevant topic to open the Microsoft PowerPoint Help window.

NOTE

Click See More at the bottom of the Help caption to view additional help topics.


You can change to a different Office Assistant if you don't like Clippy, the default. Click the Options button in the Assistant balloon and choose the Gallery tab on the Office Assistant dialog box, shown in Figure 1.29.

Figure 1.29. Make Rocky your Office Assistant, if you like.

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The Gallery offers a few other Assistant images, including Rocky, Mother Nature, and the Dot.

Turn off the Office Assistant by choosing Help, Hide the Office Assistant or by right-clicking on the Assistant and choosing Hide.

NOTE

The Office Assistant settings you make in PowerPoint, or another application such as Word or Excel, are used in all Office applications.


Using Microsoft PowerPoint Help

You can access the Microsoft PowerPoint Help task pane through the Ask a Question box, through the Office Assistant, or directly by pressing F1 or clicking the Microsoft PowerPoint Help button. Figure 1.30 shows this task pane.

Figure 1.30. The Help task pane is the portal to all the ways Microsoft helps you learn PowerPoint and use it more effectively.

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The Help task pane offers you these ways to get help:

  • Type a question or keyword in the Search box to find answers. Press Enter to launch the search. PowerPoint opens the Search Results task pane and lists the matching Help topics, training modules, and other content at Microsoft Office Online. Click an item to open it.

  • Click the Table of Contents hyperlink to see an organized list of all PowerPoint Help topics. Click a purple book to see its contents. Click document icons to see Help topics, or click globe/question-mark icons to see information at Microsoft Office Online. Figure 1.31 shows the table of contents, a portion of it expanded.

    Figure 1.31. The table of contents organizes PowerPoint Help by subject.

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  • Click the Office Online graphic to open Microsoft Office Online in your browser. There you can get help and training as well as download templates, clip art, media, and software updates. To go straight to help, training, or software downloads, click the hyperlinks at the bottom of the Office Online area. There's also a Communities hyperlink that takes you to Office discussion groups where you can post questions for others, including PowerPoint experts, to answer.

NOTE

Another way to open the Microsoft Office Online Web site is to choose Help, Office on Microsoft.com.




Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
ISBN: 0789729571
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 261

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