before you get started on your first
document you might want to take a moment
to familiarize yourself with the word
environment and make sure it's set up in
a way that works for you
luckily everything you need can be found
on or near the ribbon which is the
collection of tools and features at the
top of the screen the ribbon is divided
into a series of tabs to help you find
the commands you need quickly and easily
similar commands are kept together in
groups for example here on the Home tab
in the font group we have the commands
for working with text including things
like color and size in my current view
the ribbon is maximized but if you don't
see the ribbon it's likely minimized you
can minimize or maximize the ribbon by
clicking the small arrow in the upper
right corner we can also customize the
word environment to include the tools
and features we want look closely at the
upper left corner for example and you'll
find the quick access toolbar the quick
access toolbar can be used to make
certain tools more convenient by default
it only displays save undo and redo I
personally use more than these three
commands on a regular basis so I'm going
to add a few new ones just click the
tiny arrow next to the toolbar and a
list of commands appears I want to add
the Quick Print and the spelling and
grammar' commands another feature we can
customize is the ribbon itself
specifically the tabs just right-click
the ribbon and select Customize the
ribbon not only can you customize any of
the main tabs seen here on the right you
can also create your own tabs click new
tab and a new custom tab will appear on
the list this also creates a new custom
group which is the part of the tab that
will house and organize your commands
you can add commands to any of the main
tabs - like the Home tab as long as you
create a custom group in that tab now
make sure your new group is selected
then look to the list on the left for
the commands you'd like to add I want my
custom tab to have a group devoted to
bullets and number
so I'm going to choose the bullets
command and then click Add alternatively
you can drag and drop commands directly
from the list into your group now I'd
like to give my tab a name something
personalised that will help me find it
on the ribbon just select the tab click
rename and enter it here I'm going to
name mine my custom tab next do the same
for your group bullets and numbering
would be a good name for this one you
can even choose a symbol to represent
your group the symbol will be used when
the ribbon is resized when you're done
click OK there's one more thing I'd like
to change I like to use the ruler
because it really helps me with my
formatting if the ruler isn't on when
you start your document click the view
ruler icon on the right side of your
screen above your scroll bar and the
ruler will appear finally if you're
familiar with Word 2007
you may have noticed that the office
button is missing it's actually been
replaced by the file tab the file tab
takes you to the new backstage view
where you can explore all the options
related to your current document
including things like new print and save
and send it's everything you would have
found in the old office or file menu
except now you have a nice full page
view for example I like the convenience
of being able to see all my options on
one page like the fact that I can save
my document to the web or email it as a
PDF just depending on what I need that
covers the basics of the word
environment now that we know how to use
and customize the different features
including the ribbon the quick access
toolbar and the backstage view we're
ready to get to work
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