About Toolbars
A relatively new concept, the toolbar has become synonymous with Windows applications of today. More and more applications sport more and more complex toolbars and the result can be a confusing mess! Look at some screens and there seems to be more toolbars than work area. It doesn't need to be that way and rather than "switching on everything" it is best to be choosy as to what you use.
There are some important points to remember with toolbars:
· The same command(s) as offered by a toolbar are usually available as menu option and/or a keyboard shortcut
· It doesn't matter which you use - toolbar, menu or keyboard - the commands are the same
· You can move toolbars around - sorting them into a logical order with which to work - more on this in a moment
· In Word (as with other applications), toolbars can appear at the top AND bottom of the screen. Some applications - particularly graphics programs offer toolbars at either side.
· Toolbars can also "float". This means that you can detach them and move them around the screen - again, very common in graphics packages.
Toolbars offer commands in that they will carry out a function - usually a single function such as "make text bold" or "save". This means that no one tool is that complex to use. What is confusing is the shear number of them on screen! It is also worth noting that not every tool will be available all the time. Only when carrying out certain options will certain tools be available. For example, Table tools will be "greyed out" (unavailable) unless your cursor is placed inside a table.
Try to remember this as it makes the whole process much simpler. Although there are a lot of tools available, when you look, you will find that you can ignore many of them. Only those tools that are in colour are active.
Using Toolbars
Fortunately, tools are grouped together, based on their function. You will find the "file" tools such as "New", "File Open", "File Save" etc, grouped together. Groups like these make up a complete "toolbar" which can be further broken down with dividers. In Word, at the beginning of each toolbar, you can see a double vertical line. This is the toolbars handle, and as such, can be used to move the toolbar around - either to another location in the toolbar area or, if you drag it away from the tools, it can become a "floating" toolbar.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Chris Cruickshank's PC Support topic, please visit the Discussions page.