Tips on this page:
Mark's Corner: From the Office Expert
Internet:  The world's easiest Internet search!
FrontPage: Inserting bookmarks on long pages
Multimedia:  Posting video on the web

Tips from the Ambrose Office Expert

Mark has gone video! We have included Mark's tips in the usual format, but there are also links to see Mark in the new video-streaming instructional environment!

QUICKIES:

In Excel, create a QUICK CHART by doing the following steps: 

1. Highlight DATA and HEADINGS on Worksheet. 
2. Press the F-11 key on your Keyboard. 
3. A new sheet is added to your workbook named Chart. 
4. On the Chart sheet will show your Bar Chart.

In Word, create a QUICK LINE by doing the following steps: 
1. Position the cursor on your page. 
2. Press either the HYPHEN, UNDERLINE or EQUAL sign three times from your keyboard. 
3. Press ENTER. 
4. You will see a line automatically drawn from margin to margin.

In Word, create a QUICK LINK by doing the following: 
1. Insert multiple clipart in the usual manner: Insert/Picture/Clipart. 
2. Convert the pictures into graphic objects by right-clicking, selecting Word Wrap, and clicking on "Tight." 
3. With the objects inserted on a page, hold down the shift key and then click on each object. 
4. All of the object are now linked! 
5. Click, hold and drag to move all of the objects at once. 
6. Try resizing all the object at once by clicking on a corner handle, and then dragging in or out to resize.

For most Microsoft Products: QUICK KEYSTROKES: <CTRL> + "B" bolds selected text, <CTRL>+"I" italicizes selected text <CTRL>+ "U" underlines selected text.

Simply type your search key words or short sentence directly into the "Address" window ("Go To" in Netscape), and hit <Enter>. Voila! An Internet search is started!

 [Note: Young Internet surfers should use kid-safe search engines such as Yahooligans or Ask Jeeves. Instance searches work on IE 5.0 or Nestcape 4.0 or higher, and use Microsoft's search engine (IE) or Google (Netscape).]

If you've ever tired of scrolling through a long web page, then "bookmarks" are for you. When authoring a long page, inserting a bookmark places an electronic marker at a particular point on the page. It can then be referenced from somewhere else on the page, usually at the top.

Here's an example: Suppose you have a list of 1200 books (Accelerated Reader Test List) that you've included on a web page so that students may decide on the books they'd like to read as part of their Accelerated Reader program. The list runs to something like 20 pages, all connected on one web page. Rather than have students scroll up and down the list to select the book title, why not set up an alphabetical index across the top of the page and let them simply click on the "T" for Tom Sawyer, taking them directly to the "T's."

For an actual example, you might take a look at the following URL:

/trt22/Pages/schedule.htm#Top

How to do it:Place your cursor at the point you'd like to bookmark in your document. Then go to the "Insert" menu in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Click "Bookmark." Give the bookmark a name that you will later recognize. Establish other bookmarks on the page as you desire, again giving them descriptive names.

Now comes the fun. Go to the top of the page and type a reference for the first bookmark. If you're doing an alphabetical index, type a letter of the alphabet. Highlight the reference, or letter, that you'd like to connect with the bookmark. Click the "Insert hyperlink" icon at the top of the page.

Select the appropriate bookmark and click "OK." Repeat as necessary for your other bookmarks.

To check and see how it works, go to the "Preview" form of the page and click one of the references that you established at the top of the page. The page should move so that the part you bookmarked now shows in the window.

Now you're an experienced bookmarker. The more you do the easier it gets.

Unlike posting pictures, showing video files on the Web is no small project. There are only two still-picture formats in common use on the Web (JPG and GIF), and they work in very predictable ways. Not so with video! The common video formats are AVI, MPG, MOV (QuickTime) and RM (RealMedia), and each has its problems. Since this month's TIPS contains several video offerings in RealMedia format, here's hints as to how they were produced:

1. Download RealProducer:

   You'll need a digital video. Use a QuickCam (or other simple computer video camera), or video capture with Pinnacle Systems or other video capture software. Save the video in standard AVI format (in Pinnacle, use one of the Indeo codecs).
2. Download and install RealProducer Basic - it's free. Right-click the icon above, select "Save target as..." and save the installation file somewhere. Run the install.

   The above RealPlayer window should appear in your preview when the HTML code below is installed.

3. You'll also need RealPlayer Basic to view your final projects. Follow the instructions on my RealPlayer Basic Installation Page to avoid common problems with that install.
4. Start up RealProducer. It will give you the ability to browse to the AVI file you produced above, and name the target file. 56K is a minimum for video of any quality.
5. Upload the file to your website.
6. You now have two choices: either provide a simple link to your file (RealPlayer will start up and handle playback), or you can cut and paste the HTML code below directly into the HTML of your web page (which "embeds" the video, and eliminates the client running separately).
7. Examine Through a Student's Eyes for suggestions on what to put on the page to help folks with problems. Be sure to provide a link to my RealPlayer Basic Installation Page!

<embed src="[your video file pathway goes here, e.g., images/yourvideo.rm]" width=320 height=240 controls="ImageWindow" Console="player1">
<embed src="[your video file pathway goes here]" width=320 height=70 Console="player1" controls="ALL">

• If you have problems, email me at jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us