No Fragments Archive 10: Diskmags/nf_archive_10.iso/MAGS/ST_PLUS/STP18.MSA/STP_WORDP.STP

Text File | 1997-06-30 | 18KB | 470 lines

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                            FIRST WORD+ v3.20 TT UK
                         A complete beginners tutorial

                                   By Dave.

  Welcome  to  this,  possibly the EASIEST and most  understandable  1st  word+
tutorial you'll ever come across, I don't say this to inflate me ego, quite the
opposite, I say it because I'm going to explain EVERYTHING as I understand it.

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  Word processing can be easy or hard,  depending on what manual  you've  read,
some people confuse word processing with DTP [Desk Top Publishing],  this is  a
common mistake and, as you'll see whilst using 1st word+, it's also an easy one
to make.

 WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
 ----------------------

 As far as I can tell,  the main difference between word processing and DTP  is
graphics and layout,  a word processor [WP] will quite adequately allow you  to
type  out  a letter,  add graphics and print it out it can be  a  hellish  task
trying to get everything to fit and look right,  DTP on the otherhand has  much
more advanced tools to aid you in manipulating the images and text to suit your
personal preferences.

 WHICH IS BETTER?
 ----------------

 This is very much up to the individual, if your occasionally producing the odd
document  that you need to look stunning then DTP may hold a lot of  things  in
store for you but only if you've got the time to work out what all the  options
are  for however,  if,  like me you need to churn out letter after letter on  a
regular  basis  [be it anything from a small note to a 4-5 page  life  history]
then a WP is what you need.

 SO WHAT DO YOU USE THEN?
 ------------------------

 As if the title didn't give you enough information,  I use First  Word+,  it's
getting  long  in  the tooth,  in fact the latest version is now  6  years  old
nevertheless, it's the easiest and most reliable WP I've found to date.

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  It's  becoming obvious that many more people share the same  affection  as  I
about  Word+,  this is what this file is all about,  a little helping  hand  to
guide you through the many options that Word+ offers,  some of the  information
contained in this file may, or may not be included in the manual, all I can say
is this.  A combination of time,  reading and practical work has led me tot  he
following conclusion,  Word+ is versatile yet a little unforgiving,  if a small
investment of time is thrown forward you can achieve some stunning results that
are not solely dependent on your printer.

  The  original 1st Word is now public domain,  the copy I  received  with  the
cheaters digest  was  v1 thus,  quite a few of the options below  will  not  be
present however,  because this is, as well as a tutorial, a mini-review as well
I  opted  to include the extra features as an incentive for  those  wishing  to
upgrade to a later version.  Also, the original 1st Word may be PD but the copy
I received with TCD came with no documents at all, hence, this file was born.

  This  tutorial is intended to be a slightly robotic 'this does  this'  guide,
with a few graphics thrown in for good measure,  I'm always on hand if you have
any questions you feel I've not covered,  please do write in,  feedback is most
welcome... on with the show.

                               LET'S GO THEN....

  When you first load Word+ you'll be presented with a file selector,  this  is
your first task, choose a filename for your letter or document.

 Once you've input your filename Word+ will then open a new window and dispatch
an alert box asking you if you want to create a new file as the program  cannot
find  a file with the given name you've just input,  this is normal,  click  on
O.K. to continue.

 The next step is to decide on the layout,  if you input your filename as *.DOC
then Word+ will automatically place you in WP [Word Processor] mode,  any other
file extension [i.e.  *.TXT *.ASC ect.] will open a window in NON-WP mode, that
is  to  say  you  will  type  as normal  but  Word+  will  NOT  take  over  the
'housekeeping'  tasks such as word wrap and/or justify.  Using *.DOC  for  your
file  extension  is usually the best idea if only because it will  save  you  a
little time,  also,  when you have completed your text file you have the option
to  turn  OFF  the WP mode and save your file as  a  standard  ASCII  [American
Standard Code 'for' Information Interchange] file.

 WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE ACCESS TO?
 ---------------------------------

KEY - ^  = Press and hold the CONTROL key.
      "  = Press and hold the ALTERNATE key.
      Sh = Press and hold the SHIFT key.

  Let's  have a look in methodical order at all the options on the  Word+  menu
bar, starting with:

                                     FILE:

  Anything file related is in direct conjunction with the GEM [or  alternative]
file selector, loading, saving ect. can all be done from this point.

Open...  ^O = Open a file, you may open a new or existing file.

Print...  ^U = Print an existing, pre-saved file ONLY.

Print Current... ^P = Print the file that is currently being edited/displayed.

Save and Close  ^C = Saves the file and closes the current window.

Save and Resume...  ^V = Saves  the current file but does NOT close the  window
thus allowing further editing, a little like a game save position

Save as... ^M = Allows you to save the current file with another filename.

Read...   ^R  = This allows you to 'tag on' another file onto the present  file
making one complete and larger file.

Write Block...  ^W = Save a marked block to disk.

Delete...  ^D = Deletes currently marked block from document.

Quit...  ^A = Exits the current window only.

Quit  All...  ^Q = Exits Word+ and returns you to the desktop,  USE WITH  CARE,
many  files  have been lost in the past by the misuse of this option  over  the
above.


                                     Edit:

 A very powerful function,  at first it might seem a little daunting to use but
once mastered, you'll never want to be without it.

Find...   "F  = Search current text for a specific set of  characters  [i.e.  a
word].

Replace...  "R = Here are two parameter lines, the first is for the word/string
you  want o replace and the second is the line in which to insert the text  you
would like to replace the above WITH [i.e.  I could type in .ST+ and replace it
with .STP,  you can choose whether to replace on or ALL occurrences as well  as
whether to match the search and replace with upper/lower case.

Repeat Find...   "A = Word+ will show you the first matched 'find',  after this
you have to request the search be continued by using repeat find.

Statistics...  "I = Provides information on the current file such as  Kilobytes
used, amount of words ect.

Set Spill File... "? =

√ WP Mode...  = Whilst on you'll have access to ALL of Word+'s options,  whilst
off you won't however, you will be able to save the file as ASCII.

√ Hyphenation... = Allows [if selected] sentences to be wrapped in 'mid word'.

√ Insert Mode...  = You can INSERT a character before another,  the opposite of
OVERWRITE, overwrite is automatically selected if Insert Mode is deselected.

√  Word Wrap...  = With word wrap enabled your text will never go  beyond  your
specified RULER length [see layout].

Set  Marker..."K  = Word+ gives you useful marker feature,  if your  reading  a
large 10k+ file you might want to leave a  marker in a specific place, once set
you  can  recall the marker at anytime,  this will take you  directly  to  your
chosen  position,  very  like a bookmark only with Word+ you can set  up  to  4
markers.

Go To Marker...  "J = Used to find markers set using the above instructions.

Go To Page...   "G = much like the search function only 'go to page' takes  you
to the first line of your selected page.


                                    BLOCK:

 To use most of the following functions you must have first marked out a BLOCK,
to  do this see below for the keyboard shortcuts or use the mouse  [by  holding
down  the  LEFT mouse button DRAG  the cursor until you've marked  your  chosen
block].  It's  best  to  use the mouse for marking blocks less  than  15  lines
MAXIMUM, more than this you must using the keyboard shortcuts.

Start...  "S = Marks the start of your block.

End...   "E  =  Marks the end of your block[Your specified block  will  now  be
highlighted by inverting the screen colours].

Cut...  "D = Cut's marked block and removes it completely.

Copy...  "C = Save marked block to memory and leaves block in document.

Paste...   "U  =  Places marked block on the screen starting from  the  current
cursor position.

Delete...  "Q = Completely erases marked block for good - use with caution.

Move...   "M  =  Mark your block,  position the cursor to where you  want  your
marked block to be moved, pressing move block will then move the block.

Copy  To Scrap...   "W = Copy's your marked block to the SCRAP area [a part  of
your Atari's memory]

Add To Scrap...  "N = Adds any more marked blocks to the SCRAP area.

Paste Scrap...  "P = Pastes the entire scrap area to your current screen.

Find Start...  "T = Takes you to the start of your currently marked block.

Find End....  "B = Takes you to the end of your currently marked block.

Unmark...  "H = Deletes ALL block markers completely.

Note that many of these options are available to you via desktop 'windows' like
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the following:





                                    LAYOUT:

  Here you have access to all the tools you'll need to edit and manipulate  the
layout of your files,  you can have a large font that uses twice the paper or a
small one that uses less than a quarter, everything is user definable...


√  Show Ruler...  "L = If selected Word+ will place a ruler at the top of  your
current window, ideal for formatting text.

√ Show Position...   "X = Shows you current Page number, line number and column
number for the cursor.

√ Flashing Cursor...  = Toggles between a flashing or not flashing cursor,  the
former is better and makes it easier to find your cursor after a search ect.

Page  layout...   "Y = Selecting this option brings up a sub-menu comprised  of
the following:

          Head L _________
          Head C _________
          Head R _________    These  are to  set your letter Head Left,
                              Center or Right.


          Foot L _________
          Foot C _________
          Foot R _________    These are to set  your letter foot  Left,
                              Center or Right.


          Head/Foot on first page  YES|NO - Do you want your header and
          footer on your first page?...

          Paper Length <> Alter the size of your paper length.

          TOF Margin - Top of Form margin,  how much space do you  want
          at the top of your pages.

          Head Margin - Set size of your header margin.

          Foot Margin - As above but for the bottom of your file.

          BOF - Bottom of Form margin, as per TOF but for the bottom of
          your file.

          Lines/Page - Set how many lines per page you would like.

          LineFeed - 1/1.5, set your linefeed for best results.



Add Ruler... Another sub-menu comprising of:

          PITCH: This is to set a default ruler length.

          Pica - Standard Ruler length.

          Elite - Allows for longer line length.

          Condensed - Prints text in a VERY small font,  similar to  Sub
          and Superscript.

          Expanded  -  Opposite  to  Condensed,   prints  characters  at
          approximately twice the size, useful for headers ect.


          Tab Size = This line has a tab width of 10,  you may set  your
          own Tab width or choose from the pre-defined one's.

          Tab Fill - Merely aesthetic, toggles ruler 'look'.

          Ruler  Length - allows you to set how long you want each  line
          to be, ALL ST+'s files use either 79 or 80 Characters Per Line
          [CPL].

          Line Spacing - Default is 1, choose 2 and you have a line line
          gap between each sentence,  3 and you have 2,  4 and 3 and  so
          on.

          Justify  Right  margin YES|NO - This allows your  text  to  be
          aligned with both the left and right hand side of your screen,
          again, ST+ ALWAYS uses Justify right margin.

          Proportional Spacing - This is made obsolete if you choose the
          above option, if not this ensures only 1 space between words as
          opposed  to  'padding out' the line with spaces  to  allow  for
          Justification.


Delete  Ruler = Delete's from memory any of the above settings you  might  have
altered and reverts back to the default PICA setting.

Read Ruler...  = Reads a preset ruler from another file, you can set up 'blank'
files with pre-set ruler lengths,  this allows you to load in a completely  new
ruler  configuration  thus saving on time setting up one within the  Add  Ruler
option.

Footnote  format...  - Allows you to edit the line length,  size  ect.  of  any
footnotes you might add.

Add  Footnote...   Sh  F2 - Adds a footnote to  your  document,  footnotes  are
printed  at the bottom of your printouts [to view a footnote from within  word+
double click on them].

Save Defaults...  "V - This will save all information regarding paths (to  look
for files),  ruler length and any and all other options you've set,  every time
you  load Word+ these new defaults will be loaded and used until you alter  and
save them yourself

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                                    STYLE:

 This part covers all the text options that you might want to use.

The following effects...

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...are  all  available  to you only in WP mode,  Bold  is  useful  for  drawing
attention to a particular word or sentence.

  As well as the text effects you can also define where on the screen you  want
your text to be places, for example...

                             This line is CENTERED!

                                               This line is tight to the right.

     And this one is simply indented.

 All these positions can be obtained by pressing the following:

Centre  Sh F3

Right   Sh F4

Indent  F9

F10 gives you the most powerful of options,  the REFORMAT option, here, you can
transform  even the most untidy file (as long as it's in Word+ format)  into  a
nice, tidy and easy to read file.

                                   SPELLING:

Word+  does  have  a few pitfalls however,  the spell checker  being  the  most
obvious,  it's hardly comprehensive however,  once you've typed your files  you
can  use an alternative spell checker or even a completely new  word  processor
with possibly a newer, better spell checker.

Selected  the LOAD DICTIONARY option,  once loaded you simply choose  from  the
following options:

Check Spelling  ESC

√ Continuous Check (toggle on|off)

Browse...  "Z = Let's you 'browse' through the dictionary.

Add  Word    "O = Adds a word that is not already in the 'main'  dictionary  to
your own, personal dictionary.

End Spell Check = Use ONLY when you've finished using Word+.

Word+  has  a  dictionary MERGE program,  once you've built  up  a  good  sized
personal  dictionary you can MERGE it with the main word+ dictionary to make  a
larger, more comprehensive one.


                                   GRAPHICS:

Although  Word+  is NOT a DTP program you can,  nevertheless load in  gem  .IMG
files  into your document(s) although you'll have to edit your text around  the
pictures  yourself and as Word+ is NOT WYSIWYG [What you see is what you  get],
still,  some  pretty impressive letter heads can be created and  imported  into
your documents.

Note  however that you can only use this function whilst in WP mode as a  small
piece of information is stored in the file for Word+ to find and interpret.

Graphics Mode  ^F - Tells Word+ to be ready to import a file.

Read Picture   ^I - Import a gem .IMG file.

Delete Picture  ^X - Deletes picture from text.

You can load in as many pictures as memory permits, at least I believe so, I've
successfully  used  2 pictures in one document to date,  I don't  see  why  more
cannot be used.

                                     HELP:

Word+ does have many redeeming features,  not the least of which is the on-line
help, nope, I don't mean you have to get a modem, I'm talking about 'as you go'
help,  from  the  menu bar clicking on help will bring  up  your  'aid',  every
time thereafter you select an option Word+ will tell you what it is your  about
to do, you then can choose to go ahead [O.K.] or cancel [Cancel]....

Let's take a look at the printer options that Word+ makes available.

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Clicking on the following line........

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...will bring up the file selector, you can then choose from the many available
printer  drivers,  there ought to be one for your printer,  if not,  there  are
thousands  of  drivers  in PD libraries around the  world,  in  the  U.K.  both
Goodmans  and  Floppyshop are an excellent source of  printer  drivers,  indeed
floppyshops new DTP + Graphics CD [reviewed this issue] is a goldmine of them.

To summarise, Word+ is an excellent, if dated WP, it's many functions are still
something to be proud of even up against today's monsters like Protext and  the
like,  if your on a budget and can't quite stretch to the 'big boys' then Word+
is the WP for you.


                                    Dave...

Just so you know, here is the full screenshot...

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