Help Files

[MaryL]

My other Windows programs have Help Files with Contents, Index, and Search.
I can type in a term and often will be quickly taken to a probable solution
(which I then view by clicking on "display"). Word 2007 is different. So
far, I have not received good information from their Help Files. I am taken
to a list of links to the Internet, and many have nothing to do with Word --
they are often other MS programs, and sometimes not even that. It is more
time-consuming and usually not productive.

Is there any source of Help Files that is similar to what I described? Am I
doing something wrong? Even Help Files from an older version might be
useful. Incidentally, I don't even see the familiar "About" that would show
the exact version and updates.

I am using Office 2007 and Vista Home Premium.

Thanks,
MaryL

 

[Graham Mayor]

You will get better targeted help if you set the help viewer to display only
off-line help.
The About Word dialog can be found in Word Options > Resources

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[MaryL]

Okay, thanks...but how do I do that? I found Table of Contents in the Help
File, but it does not appear to be searchable and only shows broad
categories of topics. Is that what you meant, or is there a setting I
should invoke?

MaryL

 

[MaryL]

Duh! I said it does not appear to be searchable, but it is right there in
front of my eyes. What I should have said is that I don't see any way of
searching off-line only. Using Search in Table of Contents invokes a lob of
web information that is not related to Word.

MaryL

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In the bottom right corner of the Help window there's a green button that is
probably labeled "Connected to Office Online." Click that for a menu on
which you can instead choose "Show content only from this computer." The
button will then show "Offline."

 

[Terry Farrell]

I've always thought that that label did not make it clear that it was a
settings option button. It looks too much like a label saying that you are
connected on line rather than a settings button.

I've also never understood why the search from that dialog doesn't
automatically filter the help results to those providing help for the
application you actively used to access Help. (Why would I want to know
about any help not associated with Word 2007 if I open Help from Word 2007!)

Terry Farrell

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I'm perfectly willing to agree with anyone who says that Word 2007 Help
sucks. We complained about the HTML Help in Word 2000 and later, but it is
wonderful compared to Word 2007, which is just absolutely not ready for
prime time. I hope the PG is devoting a lot more resources to that for v.
14.