The computers at the Essa Centennial Library run a wordprocessing program called Corel WordPerfect 8. This tutorial is aimed at teaching patrons the basics of this program so that they may utilize their computer time more efficiently.

Starting WordPerfect8 in Windows95

After Windows has been booted up, start WordPerfect8 by doing the following:

1. Click on Start located on the bottom left part of the screen on the task bar
2. move the mouse cursor up to Programs, which should then cause a list of programs to appear to the right of the mouse cursor
3. move the mouse cursor over and down to Corel WordPerfect Suite 8 which should cause another list to appear to the right of the cursor
4. next, move the cursor down to Corel WordPerfect 8 and click the left mouse button. This should then start the program loading.

The Program and Document Window

Like other Windows95 programs, opening WordPerfect8 automatically opens a program window and one or more document windows. Each window has a title bar with the program name and the name of the document you are currently working with. As with other Windows programs, you can manipulate the size of these windows using the minimize, maximize, and resotre buttons (these are represented as a bar, a box, and a double box located on the upper right hand part of the window. You can also close the WordPerfect8 program at any time by clicking on the "X" button at the very top of the window, while clicking on the "X" that is just below the top one will close the document window.

Parts of the Screen

The Menubar

This feature lists all the general command lists that WordPerfect8 allows. It is located at the very top of the program window just underneath the title bar. By clicking the left mouse button on any of the words located on the menu bar, a small list, or "menu" will appear below it. From this list you may choose further options to help in the creation of your document.

The Toolbar

This feature, which gives shortcuts to commands you use repeatedly, is located just below the menu bar. If you're not sure what a particular button is supposed to do, leave the mouse cursor on it ("hovering") for a few seconds and a caption box describing the button will pop up beneath it. Note that the shortcuts available on the toolbar will change depending on what part of WordPerfect8 you are in.

The Ruler

The ruler shows you tabs and allows you to change left and right margins by dragging the small, black margin markers on either side.

Page Up and Page Down Buttons

In WordPerfect8, using the and keys on your keyboard will move you up or down one screen at a time respectively. If you want to move to the next actual page, you need to use one of the buttons located at the bottom of the up and down scroll bar on the right of your screen (again, you can "hover" the mouse cursor over these buttons to verify their function.)

Creating a New Document

What you see

When you start WordPerfect8, the program opens a new document window. The title bar will indicate its name as "Document 1" until you save it. Note that the screen will not move further down than the last line of text. The blinking vertical bar is the cursor or "insertion point," which tells you where your keystrokes will appear in the document. The mouse pointer, normally an arrow in Windows, becomes an "I-beam" withing the margins of your document. When you position the I-beam in the document and click the left mouse button, the text-cursor moves to the new location.

Typing Text

You enter text in a new document using the keys on your keyboard. If you make a simple mistake, you can use the key to remove one character at a time to the left of the cursor. In a similar manner, you can use the key to remove one character at a time to the right of the cursor.

Wordwrap

Unlike a typewriter, text in WordPerfect8 automatically wraps to the next line as you reach the margin. You should hit the key only when you want to start a new paragraph. In many cases, unnecessary returns can cause problems if you later decide to change a document's formatting. Hitting on a line without text will leave a blank line in the document.

Creating a New Document

While in WordPerfect8, you can open a new document by clicking on the toolbar's New button (a picture of a sheet of paper) or by selecting the "New" command from the File menu. The document will open automatically if you use the toolbar, but you will need to click the Select button if you went through the menu. Each new document window has the name "Document x" where x is a sequential number assigned for each new document you create in your current session.

Using the Menus

The menus at the top of the program allow you to choose options that affect your document's appearance and design. You can select or pull down these menus in several ways. In some cases, there are keyboard shortcuts that are equivalent to the menu selections and are listed to the right of the menu options.

You access the menus with a mouse by pointing at the name of the menu and clicking on it with the mouse. The menu will remain open, and you can then click on the option you need. To close an open menu, click once outside the menu.

Keyboard Shortcuts

In addition to selecting from a menu, some options have keyboard shortcuts attached to them. These shortcuts are essentially macros that execute the menu commands. The shortcuts are always found to the right of the menu option. This is the first version of WordPerfect that does not support the old WordPerfect for DOS keyboard commands by default. Instead, this version opts for the more standard shortcut keys that other Windows programs use. Hitting saves your document while opens an existing document.

Mouse Shortcuts

One of the best features in WordPerfect8 is the right mouse button shortcut. By clicking your right mouse button you can pull up a menu that offerst the most likely shortcuts for where you are in the current document.

Unavailable Menus

Some menu names or options within menus may appear grey instead of black. These options have been "greyed out," which means you cannot select that feature from where you are. For instance, the Cut option under the Edit menu is greyed out if no text is highlighted and becomes black when text is highlighted.

Getting Help

You can get onscreen assistance in a number of ways from the Help menu.

Perfect Expert

If you are just starting out with WordPerfect8, then you might not know exactly what an option is called. One of the better ways to remedy this problem is choosing PerfectExpert from the Help menu. This option gives you quick, accurate instructions on how to carry out common tasks. You may also choose the Ask the PerfectExpert option which will bring up a search program in which you may enter a key word about which the PerfectExpert will look for instructions.

Saving a Document

A WordPerfect8 document is stored only in the computer's active memory until you save it to disk. The first time that you save a file, you must give it a name and save it to either a hard or floppy disk (it has to be a floppy if you are using the campus computer labs). After the first time, WordPerfect will re-save it with the same name in the same place.

Saving a File for the First Time

To save your document for the first time, click on the Save button on the toolbar (a little picture of a disk) or choose Save from the File menu. Better yet, use the shortcut. Then, enter the desired information in the Save As dialog box which will pop up. Choose the drive or disk where you want your file saved from the Drives box. Then double click on the folders in the Directories box until you get to the desired directory location. Next, enter the name you want to call the file in the File Name box. After you have typed the filename, click on [OK] in the dialog box or hit to save the document.

Saving a File after the First Time

If you edit your saved document and save it again, the document will be saved without prompting you for the filename or location. WordPerfect8 will save that document with the same name and in the same place every time you save it.

Renaming a Document or Saving To Another Disk

After a document is saved, you often need to edit the document under a new name or save a backup copy on another disk.

Renaming the Document

To give an old document a new name, open the document and choose Save As from the File menu. When the Save As dialog box pops up, type the document's new name and click on [OK].

Saving to Another Disk

Open the document and choose Save As from the File menu. Choose the appropriate disk drive from the Drives box and click on [OK].

Opening and Closing Documents

Opening an Existing Document

To open an existing document, click on the toolbar's Open button or select Open from the File menu. Either of these actions will bring up the Open dialog box, which works just like the Save As dialog box. Manipulate the drives and directories until the filename you are looking for appears in the box under the Filename box. Then, select the filename by clicking on it and click on [OK] or double-click on the filename to open it. You can also select and open the four most recently edited documents by selecting the name at the bottom of the File menu.

Closing a Document

You can close the document you have been working on without exiting WordPerfect by choosing Close from the File menu. If there have been changes since your last save, WordPerfect prompts you to save the changes. Select the appropriate option from the resulting dialog box. If you choose [Yes] or [No], the document will close and the next document will become the active window. If no other document is open, the menu bar will show only the File and Help menus. You can also close a document by exiting WordPerfect.

Editing a Document

Inserting Text and Moving the Insertion Point

You insert text into a document by typing at the point where your cursor is blinking. As you type, new text will be inserted at the new location of your cursor. To insert text in another location, you must first move the cursor to the new location. To move the cursor, place the I-beam over the new location and click once.

Using Scroll Bars

If you cannot see the location where you want to place the insertion point, then use the appropriate scroll bar to move there. You can drag the scroll box to move a proportional amount through your document. You can also click on the up or down arrow to move a single line at a time or click in the scroll channel just above or below the arrows to move one screen at a time. You can use the Page Up and Page Down buttons below the scroll bar to move a full page at a time. Once you see the location you are looking for, be sure to click on the location to move your cursor there.

Adding Text by Overtyping

If you want to type over text, hit the key before you start typing. Be sure to make certain that you do not want the text immediately after your insertion point because typing over it replaces the old text with new. You turn off overtyping by hitting the key a second time.

Highlighting Text to Be Changed

Before you make changes such as deleting and formatting blocks of text, you must highlight the text to be formatted or deleted. Place the I- beam at the start of the text you want, press and hold the mouse button, and drag the I- beam over the desired text. When the highlight covers the text you want selected, release the mouse button. If you have made a mistake, click anywhere on the screen to release the highlight.

Deleting Text

You can delete highlighted text by clicking the toolbar's Cut button or by selecting Cut from the Edit menu. You can also hit the or key. If you use Cut, you can put text back with Paste.

Moving Text

Drag and drop: The easiest way to move selected text to a nearby location is to drag it to the new location. Just point and click on the middle of the highlighted text and drag it to a new location. (Note that the arrow has a gray box at its base and a gray insertion point at its tip when dragging text.) Cut and paste: To move highlighted text, click on the toolbar's Cut button (or select Cut from the Edit menu). The original text disappears from the document and goes on the Clipboard. Move the insertion point to the new location and click on the toolbar's Paste button (or select Paste from the Edit menu).

Copying Text

Drag and drop: The easiest way to copy selected text to a nearby location is to "drag" the text to the new location. To drag, just point and click in the middle of the highlighted text, hold down <<Crtl> and drag to a new location. (The arrow has a gray box at its base and a gray insertion point at its tip when dragging text.) Cut and paste: To copy highlighted text, select Copy from the Edit menu. The original text remains in the document and a copy goes on the Clipboard. Move the insertion point to the second location and select Paste from the Edit menu.

Formatting Text

Buttons on the toolbar and power bar allow you to quickly format characters and paragraphcs. For example, clicking once on the toolbar's B button will make selected text bold. Similarly, the I button is used for italics, and the U button for underlining. Clicking the button a second time will turn bolding (or italics or underline) off.

Printing a Document

Clicking on the toolbar's Print button (picture of a printer) will print one copy of the entire document as will selecting Print from the File menu. Either action brings up a dialog box where you can enter the number of Copies you want or how much of your document to pring. Click [Print] or hit <<Enter> to start printing.

Quitting WordPerfect 8

Select Exit from the File menu or click on the X on the top right corner of the program window. If you have documents open that have not been saved, WordPerfect8 will ask if you want to save them. Click whichever button is apporpriate to exit the program.