Word 2007[c] The Missing Manual

2.3. Moving Around Your Document

Using that nice blue scrollbar on the right side of your document is the most obvious way to navigate your document. And if your mouse has a wheel on it, then using it to scroll is pretty speedy too. But when your document's more than a few pages long, trying to scroll to the exact point you're looking for is just plain inefficient.

Word's most powerful ways of boogieing around your document don't involve scrolling at all. You can use the keyboard to hop from place to place. For really long documents, as with long journeys, the best way to get around is by using landmarks . For example, you can check all the graphics in a document by jumping directly from one to the next . Or you can go directly to a specific heading in a 400page business report by telling Word to find it for you. You can even create your own landmarks using Word's bookmarking feature. Word's got the tools, and this section tells you how to use 'em.

You've heard it before: You lose time every time you take your hands off the keyboard to fumble for the mouse. For short jaunts especially , get in the habit of using these keyboard commands to move the insertion point:

• Move left or right . Left/right arrow keys.

• Move to the beginning or the end of a line . Home/End. (On most keyboards, these keys are just above the arrow keys. On most laptops, the Home and End keys are either along the right side or in the top-right corner.)

• Move up or down a line . Up/down arrow keys.

• Move up or down a paragraph . Ctrl+up/down arrow.

• Move up or down one screenful of text . Page up/down.

• Move to the beginning or the end of a document . Ctrl+Home/End.

2.3.2. Using the Scroll Bars

If you've used Word or any of the other Microsoft Office programs in the past, that skinny bar down the right side of your document should look familiar. In the center of the bar is a box that you drag to move up or down your document. The bar also has some arrow buttons at top and bottom for finer control (shown in Figure 2-8). Click the buttons to scroll just a line or two at a time. To cover big distances, click in the bar above or below the box, and the document scrolls one screen at a time.

Easier still, you can scroll without using the scroll bar at all; see Figure 2-9 and Figure 2-10 for instructions.

2.3.3. Browsing by Headings and Other Objects

For longer documents, the most interesting controls are at the bottom of the scroll bar: two double arrows separated by a round button. What makes these Browse buttons so handy is the fact that you can customize their behavior to match your needs. The round button puts you in control. Click it, and you see the Browse Settings menu (Figure 2-11).

At first, the icons in the "Browse by" toolbar may seem a little cryptic, but never fear, you can get help. Hold the cursor over the icons, and their function is explained in the text box at the top. The "Open the Go To box" and "Open the Find box" options open the dialog box where you can search for specific text and jump to a certain location in your document, as described later in this chapter (Section 2.5). The rest of the options determine what happens when you click the double-arrow Browse buttons. For example, when you click Browse by Headings, clicking the Browse arrows then takes you forward (or back) through your document, jumping from one heading to the next and skipping everything in between.

As you learn to use more advanced features like end notes and comments, described later in this book, you'll find it very convenient to use them as your landmarks, as well.

2.3.4. Browsing by Bookmark

The bookmarks that slip between the pages of books are elegant in their simplicity, even decorative , but they're kind of primitive. They only do one thingmark a point between two adjacent pagesand if they fall out, well then they don't do anything at all. Word's electronic bookmarks let you get much more specific. You can use them to mark the exact word where you left off. And since there's no limit on how many you can put in a document, you can use them to help organize a long document as you work your way through it. Bookmarks don't show up when you print the document; they're just reference points that let you jump instantly to places you want to return to most often.

2.3.4.1. Creating bookmarks

You can create as many bookmarks as you want in a document with just a few mouse clicks. Bookmarks are invisible in your documents, but that's just Word's factory setting. You can change your Word Options to show bookmarks in your text. (Maybe Microsoft turns them off because the bookmarks are sort of unattractivethey appear as brackets around the bookmarked text.)

To see bookmarks in your text, choose Office button Word Options Advanced. (The Word Options button is at the bottom of the Office menu, near the Exit button.) Scroll down to the options under "Show document content," and then turn on the "Show bookmarks checkbox.

Here's how to insert a bookmark in your Word document:

1. Select the text you want to bookmark .

   The selected text is the location of the bookmark. If the text moves as you edit, the bookmark stays with the text.

   You can also create a bookmark without selecting text: Word simply places the bookmark at the insertion point. However, it's a little easier to keep track of your bookmarks if you select text.

2. Go to Insert Links Bookmark .

   The Bookmark dialog box opens (Figure 2-12).

3. In the "Bookmark name" box, type a name for the bookmark .

   Use a descriptive name, one that describes the location in the text, or perhaps the work you need to do at that spot. For example, if you're marking a place to come back and add something about guillotines, name it LaGuillotine.

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   Note: For its own computerish reasons, Word doesn't let you use spaces in your bookmark name. To separate words, you can use dashes or underscores instead.

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4. Click Add .

   When you click Add, the dialog box disappears, and your bookmark is set and ready for use.

2.3.4.2. Jumping to bookmarks

Using bookmarks is even easier than creating them. The quickest way to use a bookmark is to hit F5 key to bring up the Go To dialog box (Figure 2-13). From the "Go to what" list, select Bookmark. When you've done that, the drop-down list at right shows all the bookmarks in your document. Select one, and then click the Go To button. Your document scrolls to put the highlighted, bookmarked text at the top of your screen. Click Close to hide the dialog box. After you've searched for a bookmark, you can use the Browse buttons below the scroll bar to jump to other bookmarks (Section 2.3.4).

2.3.4.3. Deleting bookmarks

About the only reason you'd want to delete a bookmark is if your list's getting cluttered and it's hard to find the bookmark you want. In any case, it's easy to delete a bookmark using the same dialog box you use to create them (Figure 2-12). Just pick the soon-to-be- terminated bookmark from the list and click Delete. It's a goner.