Tips
& Tricks
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Section
1:
Automating documents
and tasks
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- [Sticky>>] See the Library's
Section 1 for macros that help automate documents
and tasks.
- Create a
vertical toolbar with text buttons (instead of graphic icons;
see screenshot) to quickly access your favorite
folders, templates, and files. See
Vertical Toolbar.pdf
(a PDF document; 09/17/07, 150Kb).
- Using the merge
(a/k/a "mail merge") feature.
- Insert 'boilerplate'
and other repeating items with QuickWords, styles, macros, floating
cells, and (in WP10+) text variables, and the Corel ClipBook.
- Automatically associate
a personalized keyboard or menu with a template so that the
keyboard or menu will appear automatically when you open a new
document. You can even have it appear only when you use a specific
feature, such as a Header, Footnote, Outline, etc.
- If you want to easily print a document or
an envelope to a different printer from the one normally used
to print your document, then return the printer setting to the
default, see this
thread on WordPerfect Universe. It demonstrates a couple
of macros for the purpose. (The macro code can be copied into
WordPerfect; see here for instructions.
Or see the final download post
here by Klaus Pfeiffer for the ready-to-use
expanded version for WP8+.) See also "How
to quickly change printers (WP8+)
back to the default after printing to a different printer or
faxing the document."
- The standard Find and Replace dialog has
to be dragged from its position in the center of the screen if
you want to see the item found or the item to be replaced. Moreover,
it does not provide an easy way to replace (or format) just certain
instances of an item. Finally, having to repeatedly open the
F&R dialog (Edit, Find and Replace, or <F2>) to find
or replace the same item is tedious. Here's
a way to enhance the Find and Replace feature.
- Automate your current session tasks with
a QuickMacro.
- How to stamp
a document with "Draft," "Copy," or other
identifiers.
- Convert mailing addresses
to upper case without punctuation.
- Here's how to quickly fill
up Avery® sheets to make duplicate return address labels,
shipping labels, business cards, etc.
- Using two printer trays: Print
or merge your letterhead from
one printer tray and the second sheets from another tray, and
keep the same formatting from record to record.
- Filling in forms
using WordPerfect.
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Section
2:
Automating templates
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- [Sticky>>] Automating WordPerfect Templates.pdf - Revised 02/19/2010; 584,843 bytes, 36 pages. For
WordPerfect 8 and later versions. Left-click on the link to read
it online, or right-click to download it, then choose "Save
Target As..." or similar browser command. [See Table
of Contents. This file is also included with an automated
letterhead template in the Library, here.]
- Automating
WordPerfect Templates is a very comprehensive
Adobe PDF document about creating prompts (with WordPerfect's
Prompt Builder), bookmarks, and template macros
(optional) in a WP8 or later version template to help you automate
templates. It is particularly useful as a "How To"
guide on creating letterheads or other automated documents such
as invoices, fax cover sheets, memos, orders, etc., that are
based on a custom template.
Even if you don't need to employ all the features covered in
the article, it can serve as a reference for future use.
- Note that the word "template"
has a specific meaning in WordPerfect.
See the first section of Automating
WordPerfect Templates, "What is a template?" Many
users often mistakenly believe a template is any file
they use over and over. This can lead to confusion -- especially
when seeking help from advanced users, who know it is a separate
file on disk. Quoting from the article:
In WordPerfect, a template is a document
on your disk with a special filename extension, ".wpt,"
where the "t" stands for "template". Think
of it as a stencil or model that you can use to make copies of
the original. ... Like other word processors, every document
you create in WordPerfect is based on a template. Even new, empty
documents with names like Document1 are based on a special template,
called the default template.
... Templates—whether default or custom—define formatting
and program options for a document such as margins, tab settings,
styles, menus, toolbars, and keyboard definitions. ...
- Jim Shackelford has written a basic tutorial
on templates, posted here.
- For more information about templates -- both
the default template and custom templates -- see
this page.
- How some of WordPerfect's predefined templates
(i.e., included in File, New from Project) can automatically
fill in your personal information (name, address, telephone number,
etc.):
- The first time you open a predefined template
that requires it, WordPerfect will ask you for your "Personal
Information." This will be stored in your Address Book (usually
accessed with Tools, Address Book) just like any other address.
Generally, this is a one-time procedure.
- You can have only one such default address
entry for your Personal Information, and if you change it (with
File, New From Project, Options, Personal Information; then after
the change use the Options button again and click Refresh Projects),
the change will affect all new documents that use personal information
prompts.
- For this reason, those who need different
names on a document (such as a letterhead) may be better off
creating copies of the template without any personal information
prompts (i.e., type personal information directly on the template
itself without using prompts). Each such custom
template can be used to load
documents using a toolbar button or menu.
- To see more about this feature and how to
automate your own custom templates, see the previous
tip.
- Automatically
insert the current date as (unchanging) text (not as a code) in a letterhead or other template.
- Load a letter (or any other template document) with a mouseclick.
- "Trigger"
a macro from inside a template to
play automatically when specific events occur as you use the
template, such as when you print the document. For example, you
could automatically run the spell
checker before printing a document. [If the macro doesn't
play in such an automated template or WordPerfect Project, see
the Notes
section on the "Trigger
a macro..." page.]
...Browse
an alphabetical list of all related (linked) pages...
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Section
3:
Formatting and structuring
text
Here's an easy to read and entertaining reference
for those of us who are not professional designers of cards,
stationery, brochures, and similar items. (You can also look
inside the book on the Amazon site.)
For those interested in type at the individual
character level, here's a combined edition of The Non-Designer's
Design Book (above) and The Non-Designer's Type Book:
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- [Sticky>>] See the Library's
Section 2 for macros that help format and structure
text.
- [Sticky>>]
What is Reveal Codes? See
here for brief overview and see
here for a short article on getting the most from Reveal Codes
(the latter article applies to versions 6.1 and later).
- Most long-time WordPerfect users, who have
also used other products, would probably tell you it is one of
the most important reasons -- if not the main reason -- they
use WordPerfect. Once you learn the power of Reveal Codes (<Alt+F3>)
you'll never want to be without it. [Also see Understanding
the fundamental difference between (Microsoft) Word and WordPerfect.]
- If the actual codes seem cryptic, a list
of code descriptions can be found here: Answer ID 756420
at Http://support.corel.com.
However, the next tip might be more useful:
- In WordPerfect 11 and later versions you
can print a formatted document, then print it again with File,
Print, Advanced tab, "Print Reveal Codes." You can
then compare both documents and see which codes are active and
what they do to the text. For even more fun: With Reveal Codes
open, delete a code (use the <Delete> key or simply drag
the code from the Reveal Codes window) to see the effect it had
on the document; then use <Ctrl+Z> to restore the code
before deleting the next code, and so on. [Thanks to Roy "lemoto"
Lewis for the latter tip.]
- Beside allowing you to see what is going
on, another good reason to keep Reveal Codes open (you can minimize
the size of the Reveal Codes window pane by dragging downward
on the bar that separates it from the main document) is this:
Some macros that move the cursor item-by-item (characters and/or
format codes) require that Reveal Codes be left open during the
macro's execution. If a macro doesn't seem to work properly,
try opening Reveal Codes. [N.B.: Macro writers should add code
to their macros to open Reveal Codes if their macros must perform
such operations. A recent thread on WordPerfect Universe contains
a snippet that will do this and restore things to the user's
preference after the macro is finished: See here.]
- [Sticky>>] Want to replace
underlines with italics? Redline with bold? Or
augment an attribute -- a text format code pair -- throughout
the document (e.g., change italics to bold italics)?
Or even remove all text to which an attribute (or combination
of attributes) has been applied? See the Replace Codes macro
here,
which can do these things from a single pop up menu.
- Do you want to import a web page into WordPerfect
with formatting and images intact? In WPX4 (and perhaps earlier
versions) you can copy the web page's address (the URL)
in your browser's Address field to the Windows clipboard, then
paste that address into WordPerfect's File, Open, File name field.
click Open and the program should then convert it to an ordinary
WordPerfect document. [Thanks to Roy "lemoto" Lewis
for this tip.]
- Do you use full justification and
also use two spaces at the end of a sentence? In WordPerfect
X4 (and perhaps other versions), the printed pages might
show some lines that are not fully justified -- even though
they appear to be fully justified on your screen. This seems
to be due to using two spaces between sentences (which can be
done automatically by WordPerfect as you type with an option
in Tools, QuickCorrect, Format-As-You-Go). A solution is to use
just one space to terminate sentences in such documents, unless
there is an real need for extra spaces at that location.
- Related tip: The DeSpacer
macro can help remove all existing extra spaces in a document.
- Note: WP11/12/X3 had a problem with the "Change
two spaces to one space between sentences" setting (in Format-As-You-Go)
previously mentioned; see here for
the solution.
- Line Breaks: If you need multiple paragraphs
inside a given paragraph style
-- including WordPerfect Headings, outline
and bullet lists, automatically
numbered lists, and paragraph borders (see the Format, Paragraph
menu) -- press <Ctrl+Shift+L> to begin each new
paragraph. This gives the same effect as pressing <Enter>,
but it is interpreted as a line break, not a paragraph break.
- The Shadow Cursor feature can be enabled/disabled
from the View menu. You can also right-click in the Application
Bar at the bottom of the WordPerfect window, and choose Settings;
enable the checkbox for the Shadow Cursor. Then you can click
the new icon on the Application Bar to toggle the Shadow Cursor
on and off.
- Here's a thread on WordPerfect Universe about
using the Table
of Authorities feature.
- Ever wonder what those items in Format, Line,
Other Codes do? See here.
- Numbering
table rows, wrapping text around a table, sorting tables, and
other WordPerfect table tips.
- Outline fonts: If you select text and click
Format, Font, Outline the text will be printed in outline
form (i.e., with borders around the characters and with no fill
in the characters' strokes). However, unless you use a font that
was designed to display on acreen in outline form, such as the
Corel-supplied Swiss721 BlkOul BT, it will show on screen only
as a normal font. You will need to print the page to see the
outline font. [Note that, more often than not, Publishing to
PDF will not reproduce the outline font, except for those fonts
that can display the outline form on screen. Workaround: Use
something like PDF995 to
produce a PDF with the outline font.] [Thanks to Charles Rossiter
for these tips.]
- Need help with page
numbering? See here.
- Need to create a Table of Authorities? See
Corel's support site, Article ID 753748.
- What are those [Ignore...] codes on my page?
Why won't my formatting take effect? Answer: Usually, when you
get an [Ignore...] code it means that WordPerfect cannot do something
at that point because it is either not allowed, superfluous and
not needed, or some other code is interfering with or taking
precedence over your manually entered codes. Open Reveal Codes
(<Alt+F3>) and check all format codes that precede the
current location to see if there are any that might be taking
precedence.
- [TIP: You might also have to edit the initial
[Open Style: DocumentStyle] code at the top of the document
(double-click it in Reveal Codes) to check for hidden formatting
that might be causing the problem. This style code contains many
of the current document's formatting codes from the default
template or custom template, and it might have been edited
or changed from its usual setting.]
- Need to convert numbers or currency to their
text equivalent? For example, you can convert $123.45 to One
Hundred Twenty-Three and 45/100 Dollars ($123.45) with Mike Koenecke's
ConvNum macro. You can
convert normal numbers, dollars, pounds, euros, yen, etc.
- It is possible
to set decimal font sizes in WordPerfect: 11.5 point, 12.7 point,
etc., and even font sizes larger than 72 points. There are two
ways to do it:
- Method A. From the Text property bar in
your document: For such fractional font sizes, click inside
the font size field, type the desired decimal size (in tenths
of a point), then press <Enter>. (You must press <Enter>
and not use <Tab> or mouse-click out of this field; if
you do, the setting won't "stick.")
- Note that if you are working inside a Styles
Editor, this method might not work; see Notes below for a
solution.
- Method B. From the Format, Font, Size
submenu in your document: Click inside the font size field,
type the desired decimal size. Here, you can use <Enter>
or just click on the OK button.
- Tip:
- For larger font sizes (up to 1199 points),
click inside the font size field, type the larger font size,
and press <Enter>.
- Notes:
- If you are working inside a Styles Editor
dialog, such as when modifying the initial style at the top
of the document (perhaps to set the default template's style)
or some other style such as a footnote style, you might find
that using the dialog's property bar's font size field to set
a decimal size does not work.
- Solution: With
the Styles Editor dialog open, use the Format, Font submenu
at the top of the Styles Editor (not at the top of the
main WordPerfect wiindow) to set fractional font sizes.
- Using the property bar in that Styles Editor
dialog for whole number font sizes -- or other formatting
available on that bar -- works as you would expect. It is just
fractional font sizes that should be entered via the dialog's
menu, not via the property bar.
- In the main document, however, you can use the text property bar's
font field to set a decimal size. Again, just be sure to confirm
the newly entered size (i.e., the size you type into the font
field) by pressing <Enter> in that font field. If you <Tab>
or mouse-click out of that filed, the new size won't "stick."
- Here are several methods that create check
boxes with an "x" or check mark inside them.
- Can you set a "default font" for
all documents -- existing and new -- or just for new ones?
See this
thread at WordPerfect Universe (see also the other suggestions
at the end of the thread -- especially those about NOT using
File>Document>Default Font).
- Need to create a horizontal bar symbol (an
"over bar" or "overline") over a letter,
such as an "X-bar"? Click Formatting, Typesetting,
Overstrike and type the letter in the field (e.g., "x").
Then press <Ctrl+W>. Look for symbol 1,21 and choose it.
Click Insert & Close, then OK. The symbol should appear in
your document. In Reveal Codes you'll see an [Ovrstk] code which
can be selected and turned into a QuickWord
for easy access later. (Thanks to Kenneth Hobson for this tip.)
For another method, see "Continuous Overbar on Multiple
Characters" in this
thread on WordPerfect Universe.
- Using styles in
WordPerfect. (What's the difference between styles and templates?
See here.)
- Need to create page
numbering for Chapters or Sections like that found in many books?
That is, do you need to create a page number at the bottom
of the first page of a chapter or section with remaining page
numbers at the top of subsequent pages? Here's
how.
- WordPerfect's Publish
to PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format)? Here are some
tips.
- Saving custom styles to your default (or
other) template; importing custom styles from other documents
(even ones you didn't create); and removing new styles from your
template when you don't need them anymore: See here.
- Adding emphasis to text: How to create custom paragraph/page border or fill
styles.
- Automatic paragraph numbering, outlines,
and numbered lists.
- Need to create numbered paragraphs or item
lists automatically so that numbers change when you add or delete
items? Tired of WordPerfect turning automatic paragraph numbering
on whenever you type a "number-plus-tab" (e.g., 1.<tab>)
to create a list? This is a QuickCorrect feature, called "QuickBullets."
Here's how to quickly turn this
feature on/off, along with several
other tips to remove them, change them, create new outline
styles (such as checkbox lists), or convert them to ordinary
text.
- Here's how to create
or modify outlines [e.g., create fixed-width paragraph numbers
and other custom-formatted paragraph numbers and styles (001,
002, etc., or [1], [2], etc.)]. Also, see the PDF document (from
the University of Iowa Colleg of Law Library), "Creating
an Outline Using WordPerfect."
- Need a new bullet outline 'style'?
Create custom bullets for your
outlines.
- Mark a Paragraph heading style or Character
style for automatic inclusion in
a Table of Contents.
- Reduce spacing
between a paragraph heading and the
following body text.
- Need "upside-down" text on the
same page as normal text? (For example, for 1/2- or 1/4-folded
cards or mailers.) You can rotate text 90, 180, or 270 degrees
if it is placed inside a text box.
- Create the "upside-down" portion
by selecting the text and clicking on Insert, Text Box.
- Left-click on any of the box's eight drag
handles to resize it.
- When the mouse pointer changes to a four-headed
arrow over a drag handle, left-click to drag the box to positon
it.
- Click outside the box to de-select it, then
right-click on top of the box again and choose Content, Rotate
180 degrees, OK.
- (Other right-click options let you change
the border to <none>, anchor the box to the page, specify
a position, etc.)
- Here's how to replace
multiple instances of one font type with another font type.
(See also the Replace macros from Ron Hirsch on that
page that can replace, remove, or augment font attributes
(bold, italics, etc.), or change font sizes.
- Here's how to create text labels outside
a document's page margins, along the edge
of the page(s).
- Convert lower case words to UPPER case, or
vice versa: You can click on Edit, Convert Case... on the main
WordPerfect menu, but there are easier ways to do this:
- You can convert case with the click of a
toolbar button. There's a "Case Toggle" button available
you can add to a toolbar or property bar, which will convert
the current lower case word (or selected words) to upper case,
or vice versa. Here's how to add it:
- Right-click on the main toolbar, then click
Edit from the context menu. Under 'Feature categories,' choose
the Edit category, and then choose the Case Toggle feature from
the Feature list. Click 'Add Button,' drag the new button if
desired to a new location, then click OK.
- You may want to also do the same thing with
some text selected first, to have the button available
on the Selected Text property bar as well as the main toolbar.
Select some text, then right-click the (now visible) Selected
Text property bar (not the main toolbar), and follow the same
steps as above.
- Note that there's an Initial Capitals button
available, too, which you might want to add in the same manner
to both bars.
- If you use the default Windows keyboard,
pressing <Ctrl+K> will toggle the current word or selected
text. If you use the DOS keyboard, you can assign
the Case Toggle feature to <Ctrl+K> (or any other available
keys).
- Footnotes and Endnotes: Setting or changing margins, numbers, font sizes
and other formatting. Includes a method to hide all note numbers.
- Place endnotes
at the end of each chapter, subdocument,
or other section (or any place you want them), instead of at
the very end of the document.
- How to create even
page and odd page identification using the two types of headers
and footers (A and B). You can even create a third
type of header or footer (Header C or Footer C) with this
little trick.
- Indent a paragraph with dot
leaders.
- Need to reset
page margins on page 2 (if there is a page 2) back to the one-inch
default or some other setting? Here's
how to do it in either the current document or in a template.
- Need to make specific words bold (or
italicize them, etc.) throughout the current document? Click
Edit, Find and Replace. Type (or copy) the text in the Find box.
Then click inside the Replace With box and type (or copy) the
text in the Replace with box. While inside the Replace With box,
click Replace, Font [on the Find and Replace menu] and then click
Bold and OK. Then click Replace (or Replace All). That'll change
the original text to bold or replace the original text with some
other text that is bold. [Thanks to "Robin" at WordPerfect Universe for
this tip.]
- Related tips -
- To highlight words based on words stored
in a master list of words/phrases, or typed into a pop-up menu,
see the HiLiteDoc macro.
- Text formatted with bold, italics, highlighting,
etc., can be replaced or augmented with other format attributes
using Ron Hirsch's Replace
Codes macro on the Other Authors
page.
- Are your quotation marks "straight"
and not "curly" (typographical)? If Tools, QuickCorrect, SmartQuotes
settings have been turned off (e.g., "Use double quotation
marks as you type" is unchecked), this may be the problem.
Editing macros or performing some merge operations can turn SmartQuotes
off, and the new setting can remain in effect for future sessions.
You can turn SmartQuotes back on manually or with a macro such
as the one in QC.ZIP (which archive
also contains a macro to convert existing regular double
or single quote marks to typographical quote marks, or vice versa).
- Need
a different look in your document's headings (not to be confused
with page headers)?
- Copy the "Stepped" styles directly
from the documents in Headings.zip
(which demonstrate these styles) into your default template,
or use the manual procedure explained in the documents to create
your own versions.
- For automatically numbered Legal-, Standard-,
and Roman-style Headings, see here.
- To set up headings to the left of the page's
body text (such as found in many non-fiction books and manuals
-- and simulated here on this website page), you can use WP's
columns feature:
- Click Format, Columns. Choose 2 columns,
then click the "Parallel" radio button. Set the first
column's width (e.g., 1.5"), and the middle space between
coulmns (e.g., 0.25").
- With the cursor in the first column, enter
your formatted section heading (e.g., use Heading 2 style from
the Styles drop list on the property bar). Jump over to the second
column with <Ctrl+Enter> and enter the body text for that
section, using hard returns between paragraphs as usual.
- When you are finished with that section's
body text, jump to the next section's first column with <Ctrl+Enter>,
enter a new heading (or graphic image), jump to the second column
and enter body text, etc.
- To discontinue ("stop") columns
-- for example, to add a full-width heading such as a chapter
title (perhaps using Heading 1 style) between such sections of
columnar body text -- click Format, Columns, Discontinue.
- See also: Styles
(general information and links to other pages on this site concerning
styles).
- Page numbering techniques: See this
thead on WordPerfect Universe.
- Using hyphens,
hard hyphens, soft hyphens, and hyphenated soft returns.
- Convert the mailing
address on envelopes or labels to UPPER case.
- Customize the return
address on envelopes with graphics and font attributes.
- How to prevent
long web URLs from moving to the next line as a block (or
text such as e-mail addresses, text separated by dashes, etc.).
- Converting text
into a table and vice versa.
- How to create a Question-and-Answer
style.
- Problems with formatting text after copying
it from a web page or other internet source? If it's a name and
address, does WP's envelope feature miss it? Does it have many
strange codes in it? Use this simple Paste
Special trick to help solve the problem by pasting the material
as unformatted text.
- Mixing landscape
and portrait pages: How to maintain
headers, footers, and page numbering at the top and bottom of
all pages when you mix landscape orientation with portrait.
- Rotating text
to intermediate angles (e.g., 33 degrees).
- Align endnotes
on the period (a/k/a/ "full stop")
following the endnote number.
- Do you want to remove
blue s in e-mail addresses and web site URLs from your printouts?
Get rid of the hypertext links. Here are some ways to do it in
WordPerfect.
- Mixing text
justification on the same line without
using tabs or spaces, like this second page header:
|
Dec. 14, 2003 |
XYZ Company |
Page 2 |
- How to create "Continued
on Page x" footers where "x" is the number
of the following page.
- Need to create custom
inserts for CD jewel boxes? WordPerfect 9 has a project template
for this, but if your version does not, here's the procedure.
(8/23/99) Also, if you use Avery CD-ROM
labels on the CDs, here's a way to format them. (12/23/99)
And you can get a free utility, ClickBook
Jr CD Case Creator., to create these inserts.
- Using two footers
simultaneously (one for page number, the other for separator
line and filename, etc.) so that items do not overlap.
- Creating vertically
formatted business cards or labels in WordPerfect.
- Consecutively
numbered labels, tickets, cards, etc.
...Browse
an alphabetical list of all related (linked) pages...
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Section
4:
Menus, toolbars, property
bars, and keyboards
|
- Some menu tips:
- Customize
your top menu - how to add new menu choices, rearrange existing
ones, or delete them from the menu.
- Use a "menu macro" to play other
macros. See Mike Koenecke's MacroMenu.Zip at http://www.macros.koenecke.us/.
It uses a push-button display to make it easy to play any of
your macros.
- Some toolbar and property bar tips:
- If one or more toolbars or context-sensitive
property bars are not visible, ensure that View, Toolbars,
<toobar name>, is enabled (i.e., cheked). Normally, you
will want these enabled at the very least: Property bar, Application
bar (sometimes called the "status bar," located at
the very bottom of the WordPerfect window), and the main (or
customized) WordPerfect toolbar.
- Users sometimes accidentally right-click
on the Property bar and choose to "Hide Property Bar."
This setting will be retained until you re-enable all Property
bars with View, Toolbar, Property bar. If your Property bars
are missing this might be the cause.
- How to create a new toolbar button to play a macro or use a built-in WordPerfect feature.
- How to add buttons to the context-sensitive property bars.
- How to create a new, custom toolbar (along with several tips, such as how to copy existing
toolbars, move or copy existing buttons, have the new toolbar
appear only when certain documents are loaded, etc.).
- You can drag
shortcut icons from your desktop to your toolbar.
- For an easy way to set up a custom vertical
toolbar with text buttons see the "Create a vertical
toolbar..." tip above.
- How to change
(edit) the default toolbar "audiocassette" icon images
on the macro buttons on your toolbar.
- Too many styles? You can rename your personal
styles by editing them with Format, Styles, Edit, and include
something like a "!" or "_" or space "
" as the first character in the Style's name. This will
sort them at the top of the Styles list and on the drop list
on the Text property bar.
- You can set the vertical order of
your toolbars by choosing the order in which you activate
them with Tools, Settings, Customize, Toolbars (tab). You may
have to deselect existing toolbars, then reselect them in the
proper order (the first you enable with a checkmark will be topmost,
the last will be bottommost) so that their positions relative
to one another will "stick" when you close WordPerfect.
(Note: Not tested in all versions of WordPerfect.)
- Some keyboard tips:
- Assign a macro, feature, program, or string of keystrokes
to a key or key combination (i.e., a "shortcut" or
"hot key" such as <Ctrl+1> or <Alt+Shft+m>).
The tip includes a simple method of inserting accented letters
(e.g., é, ô).
- After typing in ALL CAPS
with the <Caps Lock> key enabled -- or if you hit <Caps Lock>
by mistake -- you might find that the next sentences lOOK sOMETHING
lIKE tHIS. In WordPerfect, you can click Tools, QuickCorrect,
Format-As-You-Go, and enable the Caps Fix checkbox. To set Windows XP
computers to work this way in all programs, see here.
- Tired of hitting the <Insert> key by
mistake and toggling Typeover mode "on"? Here's how
to reassign the Typeover function
on your keyboard to another keystroke combination -- and keep
the <Insert> key in Insert mode in WordPerfect.
- Force WordPerfect to save the current
file as you type,
without having to press a special key or click a button or menu
item. The method can be used along with WordPerfect's automatic
file backup feature.
- "Two-key"
macros can help organize macros under a common keystroke combination.
Press one to play the macro, then another to perform some action.
Useful for inserting accented letters, simulating WordStar double
keystroke commands, etc. (See also the tip
about inserting accented letters without a macro.)
- Make a key do "double
duty" by assigning a macro to it, and make the macro
play only if the key is struck twice.
- Looking for a list of shortcut keys?
- For a reference list of navigation
and text selection keys that are used by default in WordPerfect's
Windows (CUA) and DOS keyboards, you can read (left-click) or
download (right-click, then Save Target As) CUA-DOS.pdf, a three-page
Adobe PDF file.
- For WordPerfect 11 and later versions you
can print a list of current shortcut key assignments; see Step
2 here.
- For WordPerfect 9, Corel's KnowledgeBase
provides a list here.
Also see the Function Key template, WP9FKEYS,
here in the Library.
- Move back to a previous cursor location with
the blue arrow icon buttons on the main toolbar. If you don't
have them, right-click on the toolbar, choose "Edit,"
then under the Feature Categories list in the Toolbar Editor,
choose Edit, then Back (or Forward). Finally, click the Add Button
button. (The newly added button can be dragged to a new position
while the Toolbar Editor is still open.)
- Miscellaneous (related) tips:
- Three easy ways
to play macros, load programs, type keystrokes into the document,
or use built-in WordPerfect features.
- Navigating quickly to your favorite folders,
files, and templates from inside WordPerfect:
- For the current WordPerfect session (only)
you can force WordPerfect to remember the last folder accessed
by clicking on File, Open. Then on the Open File dialog's menu,
click on Edit and enable (i.e., tick) "Change Default Folder".
(N.B.: If you do not see a menu in the Open File dialog, click
the icon on the extreme right-hand side of the dialog.) For the
next WordPerfect session, the first folder opened is the
one that is set in Tools, Settings, Files, "Default document
folder".
- Add a new subfolder directly under the standard
Favorites folder in Windows and name it "WordPerfect". (For example,
in Windows XP it would be something like C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Favorites\WordPerfect,
where "Administrator" could be your own User Name on
your system.) Any shortcuts to often-used folders that you create
in that new subfolder will show up in the Favorites menu in the
File, Open and the Insert, File dialogs.
- Create a vertical toolbar with text
labels (instead of graphic icons) to quickly access your
favorite folders, files, and templates. See the "Create
a vertical toolbar..." tip above or click
here to directly open
the PDF file.
- Related tip: You can use a macro to
force the File, Open dialog to go to a specific drive and folder.
Play the macro from a menu, keyboard, or toolbar (see here
for instructions). The macro should contain code like this example
(change the code to use your own desired path and filename):
- OnCancel(Exit@))
FileChangeDir("C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My
Documents\Clients")
FileOpenDlg
Label(Exit@) Return
- Set the default folder where documents will
be saved (unless you choose another folder for a specific document)
with Tools, Settings, Files, Document tab, then specify the folder
in "Default document folder." This folder will then
be the one that displays when you first use File, Open/Save/Save
As or Insert, File during the session.
- Navigating quickly to your favorite folders,
files, template, etc., from the Windows Start menu:
- Want to remove the Yahoo! Search bar
from WordPerfect X3? Use the "Change" command from
the WordPerfect Office X3 Add/Remove Programs entry in your Control
Panel. Select the option to modify your install, and then within
the WordPerfect feature tree, de-select the Yahoo! Search entry.
(Or, during initial installation of WordPerfect X3, you can deselect
the option to install it.) If the button is still on the toolbar
after doing this, drag it off the bar while holding down the
<Alt> key, then restart WordPerfect.
...Browse
an alphabetical list of all related (linked) pages...
|
Section
5:
Miscellaneous tips and
tricks
|
- How to
select a rectangular block of text so you can delete it,
copy it, or cut it.
- Hyperlinks (a/k/a hypertext) can let you
jump between sections of a document with a mouse click.
- To learn how to use them: See WordPerfect's
online help (F1 key) and search under the Index tab for "hyperlinks").
- Hyperlinks can fail to work
under certain circumstances in WordPerfect documents (but not
in PDF files created from those documents).
- Do you want to remove
blue underlines in e-mail addresses and web site URLs from
your printouts? Get rid of the hypertext links. Here are
some ways to do it in WordPerfect.
- You can customize the Application Bar (the
very bottom edge of the WordPerfect program window) by right-clicking
on it and choosing Settings. In the dialog that appears, select
the items you want displayed (e.g., Date) in the checkbox list.
While the dialog is still open, you can double-click any icons
on the Application Bar itself to change them from an icon to
a text label (which can be resized by dragging the edge of the
label), and vice versa. You can also move an item by dragging
it.
- You can remove, or just temporarily clear,
the list of last opened files on the File menu (sorry,
you can't change the number of files displayed). Here's
how (WP8 and later versions):
- Click on Tools, Settings, Environment, Interface
tab; then disable (i.e., untick) the "Last opened document
on the File menu" checkbox; then click OK, Close.
- To enable this feature again, enable (tick)
the checkbox.
- If all you need to do is occasionally clear
the displayed list of last opened files, but you want to keep
the displayed list feature active, here's a small macro that
can untick/retick that checkbox whenever needed -- thereby clearing
just the current last file opened list.
- // Macro begins
PrefMenu (DisplayLastOpened: No!)
PrefSave ()
PrefMenu (DisplayLastOpened: Yes!)
PrefSave ()
// Macro ends
- The above macro can imported into WordPerfect
and assigned to a menu, toolbar, or keystroke. See the EasyPlay
page (see also the left sidebar there).
- The above technique and macro also clears
the file name ("history") lists in the File>Save
and File>Save As dialogs.
- If you use the Redaction Tool in the initial
release of WordPerfect X4, here
are some tips (click here
for the PDF version) when using normal highlighting (Tools, Highlight)
in the same document that is marked up for redaction (Tools,
Redaction).
- When
you open an existing document, and you know you have
not made any changes to it, does it change its status from
unmodified to modified (i.e., it has been reformatted in some
small way) -- and then ask you whether you want to save it when
you try to close it? There are several reasons why a document
might become reformatted by the program when opening or
printing the document on screen. See "Why
some documents seem to "spontaneously" change or reformat
themselves when they are opened, printed, faxed, or shared between
users".
- Does WordPerfect think your document is an
Avery label sheet instead of a "normal" document? This
is a known problem on some systems if you have previously used
an Avery label "page definition." See this
post on WordPerfect Universe.
- When saving a document, does the cursor move
to the bottom of the screen in WordPerfect 11, 12, X3 and X4?
Try disabling the "Auto generate" checkbox in Tools,
Reference.
- Are
underscores or underlines disappearing on your
screen in WordPerfect -- yet they print? Do the descenders
(i.e., the lower part) on some letters (g, y, q, etc.) appear
"cut off" on screen? What probably is happening is
that, in effect, the underlines and/or descending characters
are being placed between the pixels of the display screen.
- Try changing the zoom (View, Zoom).
- To more permanently solve the problem, you
could also create a new, modified Windows shortcut to WordPerfect
on your desktop containing a special WordPerfect startup switch.
(See WordPerfect Help <F1>, Index tab, for more on these
startup switches.) Then use that shortcut to start WordPerfect.
- Note: This
method is for WordPerfect 10 and later versions. Users of earlier
versions may be able to simply modify the "Target"
field (not the "Start in" field) of their existing
WordPerfect desktop or Start group shortcut, using a command
such as the one in dark
red below. Reason for the new method:
If you used the standard installation for WP10 and later
versions, the Microsoft Installer (MSI) will have created a shortcut
in your Start>Programs group. The Target field in this shortcut
will be grayed (greyed) out and inaccessible in the shortcut's
Properties dialog. It is the Target field (not the "Start
in" field) that you need to edit to add startup switches
to WP10+. So don't try to modify the standard WordPerfect shortcut's
Target field. You will need to create a brand new shortcut that
can be modified. Here's how to do it:
- Right-click on your Windows desktop. From
the context menu that pops up, select New, then Shortcut.
- When prompted to "Type the location
of the item:" copy and the paste the following command,
including the quote marks, into the field (this will become
the Target in the shortcut).
- "C:\Program Files\Corel\WordPerfect
Office X4\Programs\wpwin14.exe" : /dm=90
- This example path and filename (everything
in quotes) is to the WordPerfect
X4 executable program file on most Windows
XP systems. If you use a different version of WordPerfect, a
different setup, or a different version of Windows you will need
to modify the path. Just use the Browse button to find the wpwinxx.exe
file. (The "xx" in that filename represents a number that corresponds
to your version of WordPerfect.)
- Using /dm=90 should fix the underscore problem, and other similar
issues. /dm-90 sets the displayed character size on screen to 90%
of standard. Its effect is to increase the spacing slightly between
characters on your screen. It has no effect on formatting or
pagination, or your printouts.
- The colon (:) removes the splash screen (which is optional; see
WordPerfect's Help <F1>, Index tab, "startup switches").
Some users find that adding the /fl switch (which causes WordPerfect
to write directly to the screen, but which might cause some flicker)
solves some display problems.
- Use spaces between each startup switch.
- This tip may also solve the problem where
some characters appear bunched up or bolded on screen at some
screen settings, yet the document prints correctly.
- Note: If you
open documents from Windows Explorer, or My Computer, or Open
With, or by any means whereby you double-click the file's name
to load the file in WordPerfect, the shortcut discussed above
will not be activated since you will have bypassed it. You can,
however, use an alternative which involves adding the WordPerfect
startup switch(es) to the file's association in Windows
via My Computer or the Windows Control Panel (or Registry, if
you are comfortable with Registry edits). See this
thread on WordPerfect Universe (scroll down for the simple,
step-by-step instructions).
- [The following works in Windows XP. Other
operating systems should be similar.]
- For example, if you want to remove the WordPerfect
splash screen and also add the /dm=90 startup switch, as in the
example above:
- Open My Computer; click Tools, Folder Options,
File Types tab. Scroll down to WPD and select it; then
click the Advanced button, then (with "Open" selected
in the Actions pane) click the Edit button. You can add the startup
switches to the very end of the command in the "Application
used..." field. (Be sure to leave spaces between the command
and any switches, as well as between the switches you have added.)
- Need to compare two PDF documents?
Most editions of WordPerfect X3
and X4 can now import PDF files, and you then can use WordPerfect's
File, Document, Compare feature
on the imported (converted) documents.
- If you want to change the color of WordPerfect
Comments (i.e., created with insert, Comment), see this
post on WordPerfect Universe (WPU). If you want to automatically
create Comments and format the text in them, see Txt2Cmt
in the Library (which also contains the material in the referenced
WPU post).
- Need to sort words or paragraphs that begin
with quote marks but should be sorted by the first text character,
not the quote mark? Here's a tip posted by Noal
Mellot at WordPerfect Universe:
- "...Unfortunately, the alphabetical
sort is not purely alphabetical, since punctuation marks and
symbols at the start of a word introduce a degree of disorder.
Let's say quote marks are keeping you from obtaining the sorting
results you expect when sorting on the first word in a field.
A macro could search for the initial quote mark, delete it, search
for the final quote mark, delete it, space, then type a symbol
(such as a spade) as a signal that the preceding word should
be surrounded by quote marks. You could then sort normally on
the first word. Once the sorting is done, another macro could
search for the symbol, delete it with its space, back up to the
end of the preceding word, type a quote mark, then move to the
start of the word and type a quote mark."
- Want to find the longest sentence in a document?
For WordPerfect 10 and later, you can use a small macro by Kenneth
Hobson. See here
and also scroll down through the thread, which should explain
why you need to turn on "Use WordPerfect 9 text selection"
before playing the macro.
- When printing in WordPerfect 10 or later
version, do you get a warning message, "The document
page size is set to a custom form that may not be supported by
the printer. ..."? See Corel's support database Answer ID #753598
("Printing from WordPerfect® generates a 'document page
size' message").
- As the Corel article states, "This warning
is usually generated if your printer does not support the page
definition your [sic] trying to use. However, in some cases,
the warning may be generated regardless of what is being printed."
Usually, you can dismiss the message and print anyway, but the
message can be annoying. The article shows how to get rid of
it.
- Note: This appeared to have been fixed in
WordPerfect X3, but it might still exist in later versions, since
the above Corel article shows it to be relevant to WordPerfect
X4 as well as several earlier versions.
- Alternative:
Try creating a custom page size that is the same as the one provided
by WordPerfect and use it instead. Some users report that this
works for them.
- If you are using a macro to print
a document and you get this message, you could try adding a small
routine to the macro that simulates your pressing the <Enter>
key to dismiss the message. See Greg Turner's post
in this
thread at WordPerfect Universe. Below that post is another, which
contains an adaptation of his code that prints any document and
dismisses the message if it appears.
- How WordPerfect finds a mailing
address on your letter.
- WordPerfect locking
up? Strange problems with a document? Getting an "Unknown
Format" message? These could indicate a damaged or
corrupted document. See here.
- Having difficulty selecting blocks of text
with a mouse? Does the material "flash" by on screen
too fast to stop it? This is a problem with Windows on a fast
computer. Here are some ways to select text more accurately (thanks
to Charles Rossiter at WordPerfect Universe):
- "First, the mouse-click options: double-click
selects the word; triple-click the sentence; and quadruple-click
the paragraph.
- Second, for a small block of text, you can
click the cursor where you wish the selected text to start, do
F8 to switch on "select", and then type a character
at the end of the target block and that whole text will be selected
up to the first occurrence of that character. For this, you can
display the state of the Select option, by adding Select On/Off
to the Application Bar.
- Third, click the cursor where you wish the
selected text to start. Hold down the shift key and move the
cursor with the navigation keys (up, down, left, right arrows,
page up, page down, home, end, ctrl+home, ctrl+end, alt+pageup,
alt+pagedown). There is a full list in Help, Help Topics, Index
tab, type "Navigation, Keyboard shortcuts". [Or see
this small PDF: CUA-DOS.pdf.]
- Fourth, click the cursor where you wish the
selected text to start. Use the scroll bar only to display where
you wish the selection to end. Hold down the shift key and click
the mouse at that end point." [Quote]
- Does a document look smaller/larger than
normal, or appear very tiny on screen? Maybe you accidentally
set the program's Zoom level with your mouse. To change the View,
Zoom setting hold down the <Ctrl> key while you rotate
the mouse wheel. (Many other Windows programs work this way.)
- Need to calculate a new date from today's
date, or from some other date? Here
a several methods.
- To create a WordPerfect table that has a
"Continued" label in the header row on the second and
subsequent pages of the table:
- Copy the original repeating header row(s)
on the first page of the table to the Windows clipboard.
- For the original header row, de-select
“Header Row repeats on each page”.
- Paste (from the clipboard) the original header
row to the top row of the second page of the table. Type “Continued”
where appropriate. This row will now be the header for the second
and subsequent pages (“Header Row repeats” should still
be selected in this row). [Thanks to Maggie Holman at WordPerfect
Universe for this tip.]
- Do you get error messages about using Microsoft
Outlook as your "mail client" -- and you don't have
Outlook installed or don't want to use it for your addresses?
In WordPerfect 11/12/X3, try disabling (un-checking) the box,
"Use Outlook address book/contact list," in Tools,
Settings, Environment.
- Does your WordPerfect 11/12 Document Compare
feature not work properly (e.g., you get a program crash, or
the entire first page of the old document is marked as a deletion
even when no change to the page was made), with View, Page enabled
and the Zoom set to Margin or Page width? This bug has
workarounds: Turn on the ruler with View, Ruler and/or change
the Zoom before doing a Document Compare. (If your printer has
a problem printing inserted, redlined text after doing a Compare,
see here.)
- Inserting and using
graphic images and photos in a WordPerfect document -
Setting preferred
defaults for graphic images / Cross-referencing to figure boxes
/ Numbering some (but not all) graphics / How to install the
Clip Art catalog on a hard drive / Creating "sticky notes"
/ Adding a scanned signature to a document / [More...]
- Modifying, suppressing, or delaying legal
Pleading marks: See here.
- Missing a favorite WordPerfect Project (File,
New...)? Does a Project not work in your new version of WordPerfect
when it used to work in your earlier one (such as the WP12 Memo
Project)? You might be able to use older Projects in later versions
of WordPerfect. Here's the
trick.
- Where is your default
template [the template on which all new, blank documents
are based]"? See here.
- To find out which
template (default or custom) the currently open document
is based on, click on Tools, Template Macro, Edit. You can see
the template's filename in that dialog, or you can see it if
you click the Location button in that dialog.
- Using the merge feature: See Setting
Up a Mail Merge by Laura Acklen. And a few more merge
tips see here (merging multiple-page
letters using letterhead paper; merging multiple-page documents
so that formatting is identical from record to record; page numbering
in multi-page form documents). The Macros & Merges
Forum at WordPerfect
Universe can answer your questions.
- Having problems converting
a Microsoft Word document (.DOC) or other program document to
a WordPerfect document (.WPD) or vice versa? The following tips
were gleaned from Corel newsgroups.
- First, if you did a "custom" WP
installation rather than a standard installation make sure you
installed the word processing conversion filters. In WP11+'s
Custom Setup, conversion filters for Word (and others) are under
WordPerfect Office 11 > Filters > Word Processors. In WP10
they are on a separate screen when you click on Next during the
custom install. No filters, no conversions. Similarly, if Word
was set up without the WP document conversion options, you will
need to install them in Word.
- Second, if you have a version of WP that
was released before the Word program being used, then
-- since Microsoft (unlike Corel) tends to change the document
file structure with each new release -- you may not have the
proper conversion filters anyway.
- Third, if the document does not contain complex
formatting you might find that saving it as a Rich Text Format
(.RTF) file will solve most transfer problems. Both WordPerfect
and MS Word can open such a file without separate filters. (Test
it to see if it works for you.) If you want to use bullet symbols,
see this
thread at WordPerfect Universe.
- Other tips:
- If you want to convert a WPD document to
a Word document so that it can be shared with someone who only
has MSWord, it may be better to simply rename the file (from
My Computer or Windows Explorer) with a .DOC extension and let
the recipient's Word program do the conversion when it loads
the file than to try and save the file in WP (File > Save
As > File Type...) as a MSWord file. (Try it both ways to
see how well the file is converted.)
- Converting bullets and other WordPerfect
symbols in WordPerfect document to a MS Word file can be problematic,
since WordPerfect creates an Outline bullet style and other inserted
bullets with one of its own WP* symbol fonts. Later versions
of WordPerfect and later versions of MS Word might not have a
problem with them, but you should ensure that the bullets in
your WPD document are MS Word-compatible. Here are a few ways
to do it:
- Method A. When
you save the WordPerfect (WPD) document with File Save (or Save
As) dialog, be sure to enable the checkbox at the bottom of the
dialog, "Embed fonts...". Then close the file.
Rename the file with a .DOC extension in My Computer or Windows
Explorer before sending it to the recipient who uses MS Word.
Their copy of Word should open the file and display (and print)
the Outline bullets. (This worked in tests with WPX4 and MS Word
2003.)
- Method B. Rather
than using an Outline bullet style or WP bullet symbols, use
the standard Windows font, Wingdings, to produce bullets,
boxes, etc., directly in the WPD document. The letter "l"
(lower case L) produces a round bullet (which can be resized),
and the letters "w," "t," and "u"
produce diamond-shaped bullets. Since this is a standard Windows
font it will (or should be) on the recipient's computer, whereas
WP Symbol fonts probably will not be on their computer.
- Method C. Save
the WordPerfect (WPD) document as a MS Word (DOC) file in File,
Save As (use the drop list under the Filename field); this adds
a .DOC filename extension. Then upload the file to the (free)
Google Docs website at http://docs.google.com/;
edit the document there and add bullets where needed (GoogleDocs
uses the Windows Symbol font to create bullets); and then download
the file back to your computer, where it can be forwarded.
- WP12+ users: If you prefer saving the WPD
document as a MSWord file (be sure to read about a potential
issue with bullets and other WP symbols, above), you can add
a button to the toolbar to do it. This feature - 'Save as Microsoft
Word...' - is found under the 'File' feature category in the
Toolbar Editor. [For instructions on adding a feature to the
toolbar, menu, or a keystroke combination, see here.]
An alternative is to set up the computer that has just the Word
program installed on it so that it will recognize a WPD filename
extension as being associated with Word. Then Word will open
the file when you double-click the filename in Windows Explorer
(assuming Word has the WP filters installed). See your Windows
Help file for how to do this; but generally, you can hold the
Shift key down while you right-click the filename, then choose
Open With, and then choose the MSWord program. Be sure to set
Windows to "Always use the selected program to open this
file.")
- Even though WP12 (as of this writing) does
a better job of converting files than earlier versions, it still
does not always do a perfect job. "Chris D" posted
this explanation in the Corel WP12 newsgroup:
- "... They [Word and WordPerfect] are
not just similar programs using different codes. The file structure
is very different. WP uses a straight streaming file that starts
at the beginning with the first page and ends with the last.
Word uses 'objects,' primarily paragraphs as the foundation,
then modifies them with other objects. The sequence of objects
may or may not be what you see on your screen and printer output.
Index pointers control the output from what may be a very tangled
file.
- WP's conversion program has to makes sense
of the disorder and reorganize it to be a streaming file. Word's
task at converting a WP file is much simpler as there is little
to untangle. [WP does use objects for some tasks, such as headers,
footnotes, etc., where the output is not in the main stream of
text.]
- Some users have found that letting Word convert
the WP file is the better choice [than trying to save the WP
document as a Word document in WP]. ...
- The result [in WP12] is pretty decent portability
for text-only documents with only minimal formatting. A heavily
formatted or graphic-intensive document [might] not convert very
well. ..."
- After loading and converting a Word document
in WP, you might find lots of unwanted format codes in the WPD
document. You can remove many of them with a macro such as 'Word
Cleanup' at http://www.macros.koenecke.us/.
- WordPerfect 11/12/X3
users may find that they cannot enable QuickCorrect's Format-As-You-Go
setting, "Change two spaces to one space between sentences."
Although this option is broken in WP11/12/X3 (but reported as
fixed in WPX3/sp1), a simple one-line macro can properly set
the option. For example, to set Format-As-You-Go to convert from
two spaces between sentences to one space, this one-line macro
command does the job:
- EndOfSentenceSpacing (DoubleToSingle!)
- I have no idea why this fixes the problem,
only that it works. However, you can choose "None"
or "Change one space to two..." from the Format-As-You-Go
dialog. It is just setting this particular alternative choice
that doesn't work unless you use the above simple macro or enable
the same macro command in the QC
macro found in the Library.
- Need to change text marked with (Format,
Font) Redline and Strikeout codes to (File, Document, Review)
Insertion and Deletion codes so that others can review and annotate
the document? See this
thread at WordPerfect Universe.
- Problems with getting automated template
Projects to work? If a Project has an embedded macro or macros,
and you turned macros off when asked to do so by a dialog that
popped up after installation or reinstallation of the program,
then the Project will not work. Turning off macros in WordPerfect
is not really necessary (compared to some programs that can carry
"macro viruses"). Moreover, it unnecessarily restricts
one of WordPerfect's most useful features. For more on this,
including how to turn macros back on, see this
thread on WordPerfect Universe.
- Where did it come from? If you can't figure
out which template a WordPerfect document is based on, you can
get the template's filename two ways: (1) Use Tools, Template
Macro, Edit and you should see the name on the pop-up dialog.
[Thanks to Kenneth Hobson for this tip.] (2) More advanced users
can load the document in Corel's file repair and information
utility, WPLOOK,
and check under the Prefix menu option. For more on WPLOOK see
Laura Acklen's article here.
- Sorting a table by dates in WordPerfect 9
can be problematic. WP10 and later versions have fewer problems
in this area, along with a new "Date in a table row"
sort option. For a solution, see Jan Berinstein's post on WordPerfect
Universe here.
(Note that she used WP9/sp3. For WP9/sp4, I found that her step
#11 should be modified to read, "Select the column in the
original table, delete the selection, then paste...."
- Printer and fax formatting problems (i.e.,
the font or pagination differs slightly using different printers
or when you fax a document) - See here.
- If you select and copy macro code into WordPerfect
from an internet site (web page, newsgroup, etc.) you might also
drag along extraneous, unwanted formatting. Here's
how to do it properly.
- WordPerfect (versions 10.0.0.663 through
at least 11.0.0.305): When trying to add "flagged"
words to the writing tools in these versions, you might notice
that some words (e.g., possessives, and words that include "/")
are not being saved. This is due to a bug introduced in WP10/sp2
(i.e., 10.0.0.663) and which persists in the early builds of
WP11 (note: it was fixed in WP11/SP3). You will need to
add such words to the main dictionary via the WordPerfect
Spell Utility (located under Start, Programs, WordPerfect...).
See the Corel support site's article
#753694 for instructions. The dictionary file you need to
modify (for WP11) is wt11en.mor (WT=Writing Tools; EN represents
the English dictionary; 11=WP11).
- Note 1: By default, these files (for WP11) are found in the
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Corel\Shared\Writing Tools\11"
folder.
- Note 2:
As Paula Ford notes on WordPerfect Universe (here):
"...If you add words to the main word list (not the user
word list), the spell checker will then skip possessives of the
word....Add the root of the word, such as [WordPerfect],
to the list. [If the word already exists in the list, you won't
be able to add or save it again.] Check the Spell Utility's Help
file for more detailed instructions. This is probably only helpful
for words that you use repeatedly or perhaps where you are working
on a long document over a long period time. It's hardly worth
the effort for the quick letter."
- Note 3: Most "flagged" words can be added to the
user word list (wt11us.uwl) file during a spell check by clicking the Add button.
It is only certain words (e.g., possessives such as "Bill's")
that are not added this way because of the bug. And as Jack Waananen
(Corel C_Tech) points out: "You can check the words in the
UWL by doing Tools, Spell Checker, [then answer] No to the 'Close
[spell checker]' message, [Then click] Options, User Word Lists.
The words you 'Add'ed should show in that list along with the
QuickCorrect pairs. The added words show the word on the left
and <skip> on the right -- they are listed alphabetically
amid the QC pairs. If your UWL is not properly receiving the
'Add'ed words, then delete (or rename to some other name) the
WT11US.UWL file. When you relaunch WPWin11, a new default UWL
will be generated from scratch that should work correctly."
- Also, as Charles Rossiter (Corel C_Tech)
notes: "The QuickCorrect file is also known as the User
Word List. Where it is stored depends on your version of Windows.
[For WP11] search for file WT11US.UWL (assuming the use of language
code US). You can copy and rename [an earlier version of the
.UWL file] to overwrite the WPWin11 version."
- Need to split table
cells in a particular row so that the resulting cells are equal
in width? See here.
- "Box" your text by selecting the
text and then clicking Insert, Text Box (or click the Text Box
icon on your toolbar). Unlike using Format, Paragraph, Border/Fill,
creating a text box allows you to select the box and drag it
to a different location. To create such a box with rounded
corners, see the TextBox
macro in the Library.
- Do you back up important data or photos to
a CD? Make sure they will last more than a year or two. See Fred
Langa's article, "Time to Check Your CDRs" at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=15800263.
Tip: Don't buy cheap CD blanks and don't use stick-on labels
(use a felt-tip pen instead). The adhesive on labels for CDs
can possibly destroy the dye layer where the information is stored.
Sunlight, heat, humidity, dirt, and fungi are enemies, too. (Thanks
to Chris D on Corel's WordPerfect 11 news group for pointing
to this article.)
- Does the Document Review dialog keep
coming up even after you are finished reviewing the document
(with File, Document, Review)? Here's
how to stop it from appearing.
- Do you use Courier New (True Type) font?
If it prints or faxes too light, you can download a free Dark
Courier font for all Windows applications at Hewlett-Packard's
site. (Http://www.hp.com; search
there for "dark courier font"; instructions to install
it are given on the search results page).
- Clipbook, introduced in WP10, is still there;
however, also see the free KeyNote
program, a tabbed notebook and personal information manager with
a tree structure and strong encryption. (I have not yet reviewd
KeyNote.)
- Automatically make back
ups of your document to help you recover your work
- If you have more than one version of WordPerfect
installed and you open a document by clicking its name in Windows
Explorer, My Computer, or the Windows Desktop, it will open in
the most recent version of WP that was installed.
- To change this behavior and force Windows
to use a specific WP version, open the preferred verion of WP
and click Tools, Settings, Files. Be sure that "Use default
extension on open and save" is checked. Change the WPD extension
to something else and click Apply. Then immediately change it
back to WPD and click Apply or OK. This process should update
the Windows Registry to associate the .WPD filename extension
with the currently opened version of WP.
- Note that all files with a WPD extension
will be opened in the preferred version of WP in the future,
even if they were created in another version of WP. Normally
this is not a problem since (unlike competing products) WP files
are both downwardly and upwardly compatible without any need
to convert them first -- something that has been true since at
least WPWin6. However, if the file was created or updated using
a different default printer, there may be slight differences
in formatting due to the printer driver in use at the time, or
due to slight variations in fonts on the two systems (even those
they appear to have the same font name). This can happen if you
have "Reformat douments for the WordPerfect default printer
on open" checked in Tools, Settings, Environment.
- Also [from a post by Charles Rossiter (Corel
C_Tech) on the Corel WP11 newsgroup]: "You must expect different
version of WPWin to produce different pagination, even if the
printer selected is the same, and on the same PC. In WPWin9 et
seq, you can do Tools, Settings, Convert and check the option
'Do not use printer metrics'. Click the [Template] button for
this to apply to all new files. With this setting, effectively
WPWin9/10/11/12/X3+ is using an internal generic 1200 dpi printer
driver for screen formatting, and then uses the printer driver
to produce the same pagination, as closely as possible within
the resolution of the printers. Your printed output should appear
identical."
- QuickCorrect weirdness -
When you type (i), (c), or (r),
do they change into other characters? Do dates typed as "1/27/08"
change to a numerical fraction? Here are some remedies:
- Does "(i)" change to "(I)"
and "i." change to "I." when you type these
characters to enumerate a list item?
QuickCorrect (under the Tools menu) has a default
setting to change a solitary lower-case "i" to upper
case -- something you probably want to retain. Trailing punctuation
(as well as a hard return or tab) is treated like a space character
(all of which activate QuickCorrect), so it "sees"
the lower-case "i" as a solitary character and converts
it to upper case.
Solution: In QuickCorrect,
add (without quote marks) an "(i)" in both the
"Replace:" and "With:" fields. Repeat for
"i." and "i)". [Thanks to Roy Lewis for this
tip.]
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- WordPerfect 10 and later versions - Unlike in
WP9 and earlier versions, typing a "(c)" or "(r)"
will cause a conversion to © and ®. This seems to be
a bug. Solution: Edit QuickCorrect (Tools, QuickCorrect) to include
these entries:
(c == replace with ==> ©
(c)
== replace with ==> (c)
(r == replace with
==> ®
(r) == replace with ==> (r)
...and to preserve
capital letters:
((c)) == replace with ==>
(C)
((r)) == replace with ==> (R)
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Now, when you need the Copyright or Registered
symbol, just type (without quotes) a "(c" or a "(r".
When typing enumerated lists using letters, you can use "(c)"
or "(r)" without WP converting them to symbols.
An alternative to this tip suggested by Noal
Mellot in a WordPerfect Universe forum is to add a number after
the appropriate letter (e.g., c9 would be corrected to ©).
Using a letter in front (rather than a parentheses) avoids interference
between upper/lower case, so you don't have to add separate entries
for upper and lower case.
- WordPerfect 10/11 only - Typing a
date such as 1/27/07 with change the "1/2" part of
the entry into a fraction.
Solutions: Type
01/27/07 instead. Or, just delete all the fraction symbols from
QuickCorrect to prevent dates from being changed, and use the
Fraction macro, which produces
a similar format for any fraction, not just the limited
set that is in QuickCorrect. [This problem has been fixed in
WP12.]
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- Spell Checker interaction: Note that the WordPerfect spell checker can convert
the QuickCorrect abbreviations into their replacements -- which
is a good reason to implement the tips in the above paragraphs.
- Here's another tip, from "Jeremy"
at WordPerfect Universe: "One way to keep an eye on what
the spellchecker does is to open the spellchecker, click on 'options',
and check 'prompt before auto replacement'."
- In the same thread, "Robin" writes:
"There is another method of stopping only certain words
[such as QuickCorrect entries] from being automatically changed
while running a spell check, rather than all of them. Go into
Tools, Spell Checker, Options, User Word Lists. Click on the
entry in question and click Properties, where you’ll see
you have the option to either skip the entry, auto-replace the
entry, or exception (which will stop on the entry and let you
decide). If you change any of the entries to skip or exception,
the entries are also removed from the Quick Correct list (but
will remain in view in the Spell Checker list). Again,
this only useful or important when you have QuickCorrect turned
off."
- More on QuickCorrect
here.
- You can use Find and Replace to find codes
(e.g., [Left Tab] codes) as well as text. Just open Reveal Codes
and select a sample of the code (<Shift+Arrow> works well
to select things in Reveal Codes), copy it to the Windows clipboard
with <Ctrl+C> and then paste it into the Find (or Replace)
field with <Ctrl+V>. Alternatively, use the menu item Match,
Codes in the Find and Replace dialog. (Careful: "...Left
Tab" is not the same thing as "Left Tab.")
- Collapse and expand text under your document
headings with the Outline feature. If you have used WordPerfect's
default heading styles (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) in
your document, open Reveal Codes with View, Reveal Codes and
put your cursor at the top of the document above all other codes.
Click on Insert, Outline/Bullets..., <text tab>, Headings,
OK. This will display an Outline property bar whenever your cursor
is inside a heading, which you can use to promote/demote headings,
show/hide levels, show/hide body text, etc. (Tested in WP8/9/10.)
- WordPerfect 10 templates (English versions)
can be downloaded from Corel's FTP
site. For WP11 templates, see the top "Warning"
section on the Library page about
the possible need to recompile templates, and links to sites
where you can download all WP11's shipping templates (recompiled
for you).
- Make a 1/4-page folded greeting
card in WordPerfect using subdivided pages
- Old address labels: If you have previously
addressed labels and you want to sort them, extract their text,
or merge them, try sorting them directly or use a procedure to
convert labels to a table or to a merge
data file. And you can do the reverse: Here's how to convert a table to a text file or convert
a merge data file to a table.
- Need to print booklets more easily? Want
to save on paper and toner/ink? Try FinePrint
from FinePrint Software,
or ClickBook from BlueSquirrel Software.
Both create multi-up printouts or booklets from any Windows program.
They are also good for printing draft work, two pages to a sheet
of paper. Demo/trial versions available.
- Need to print a list of filenames (not the
files, just their names) in a directory or folder? See
this post on WPUniverse.
- A faster way to move through a document:
Quickly move your cursor sentence-to-sentence
or cell-to-cell in tables, highlighting (i.e., selecting) each
sentence or cell as you go to make it easy to view, copy, or
delete any of them.
- Do you share your WordPerfect documents?
If so, you probably should change your Undo/Redo
History options, or use a macro to remove confidential revisions
or deletions before distribution. You may also want to remove
all "metadata" form your document before sharing it.
- Can't see borders around table cells on your
screen, even though they print? Can't see white text on a black
or colored background in a table? Perhaps you have turned table
gridlines "on." Click
here for information about table gridlines, table guidelines,
and cell borders.
- Create a callout
(a label-and-line that points to something else) in WordPerfect
8
- Drawing down, up, or angled arrows
in WordPerfect 8.
- WordPerfect's
Postal Bar Codes - Do they help speed
delivery of individual letters?
- A simple trick
to help debug your macros.
...Browse
an alphabetical list of all related (linked) pages...
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Section
6:
Other "tips"
sites
|
- Products that work with Corel WordPerfect
Office are listed on a Corel web page here.
- Past issues of Corel's free Newsletter, with
many "How To" articles, are posted here.
- CorelTUTOR for WordPerfect
10. Online tutorials that cover topics such as changing fonts;
working with footnotes and endnotes; using variables; generating
a table of contents or index; and working with drop caps, graphics,
tables and formulas.
- http://www.wpuniverse.com/ - The great WordPerfect Universe site.
- http://www.wpwriter.com/Tips___Tricks/tips___tricks.html - Laura Acklen's Tips page.
- http://kb.corel.com/search
- Corel's (searchable) Knowledge Base of problems and
solutions.
- http://www.corel.com/support/newsgroup.htm - Corel's Newsgroup Support Forums - "This
area is intended to provide you with an opportunity to exchange
information, tips and techniques with other users regarding Corel
applications." Good place to post your questions about Corel
products.
- http://wildtracks.cihost.com/officeauto/ - Mark Henrich's "Office Automation with WordPerfect
for Windows."
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Section
7:
Updating, upgrading,
or reinstalling WordPerfect
|
- Updating your current copy of WordPerfect (i.e., bring your program up to date with a Service
Pack or "patch"):
- What is your WordPerfect "build number"
(a/k/a "release number" or "minor version")?
When a major version is released or
when you "patch" it by installing a free Service Pack
(see Corel's main site, under the Support tab), WordPerfect will
display a four-part number in its Help>About WordPerfect menu.
For example, you'll see a number like 13.0.0.447 or 14.0.0.603.
The first digits (e.g., 13) indicate the major version. The last
part of the number (e.g., 447) is the build number. Note that
WordPerfect X3 is designated by a "13," WordPerfect
X4 by a "14," and so forth. Note also that the build
number can also be found in a text file on the root directory
of the WordPerfect CD called VOLINFO.TXT (in WordPerfect 8 and
later).
- You need to know this four-part number
if you want to obtain and apply the correct patches (see next
paragraph) for your edition and version of WordPerfect -- which
is almost always a Good Thing to Do. Moreover,
when you visit support groups such as WordPerfect
Universe or the Corel
Newsgroups, providing this information helps make assistance
or troubleshooting much more effective. In fact, it is
sometimes indispensable since there are many times when suggestions
or solutions work (or don't work!) in specific builds of WordPerfect.
- Where to find information about Service
Packs and links to download them: WordPerfect Universe FAQ: What "version"
of WordPerfect do I have; what updates/patches are available? - A FAQ that describes
the various releases ("builds") of WordPerfect, important
information about applying Service Packs, and links to Corel's
download site. Most gurus suggest you keep your version up to
date with a Service Pack, since many bugs are fixed (and sometimes
new features are added) with a SP. [Tip: Take the time
to carefully read the information for your version. You will
want to apply the correct patch(es).]
- If you are updating WordPerfect from a trial
version, the conventional wisdom seems to be that you should
completely uninstall the trial version first, then do a fresh
install of the full, non-trial version.
- Upgrading to a new version of WordPerfect:
- See What's
new and different in recent WordPerfect versions to help
you decide.
- About buying "bargain"
software: Should you buy an "OEM" version of WordPerfect
from an Internet source? There are
several reasons why you should not consider buying
an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version of WordPerfect
Office, unless it comes bundled with a new computer (in which
case it was virtually free of charge to you). Even then, you
might want to read more about them, their drawbacks, and alternatives
here.
- Tip: You can
install and keep multiple versions of WordPerfect on the same
computer. See below.
- Uninstalling and/or
reinstalling your WordPerfect program:
- If you are uninstalling / reinstalling the
program because you think it might fix a problem, see the footnote
here
on the Repairing WordPerfect documents
and templates page. Generally speaking, it is better to try
and track down -- and fix -- the problem in a document (or documents)
or in a template before reinstalling the whole program -- which,
in any case, will not affect damaged documents or templates.
- Installation and uninstallation instructions
can be found in small files in the root directory of the installation
CD: Readme.txt (for any text editor) and Readme.htm
(for your Web browser). Choose whichever you prefer and double
click its filename to open it. Advanced users: In recent
versions of the program you will also find instructions and information
in those files about how to completely (manually) uninstall
all program components, including Windows Registry entries.
[For WordPerfect 9 (2000) see this FAQ
at WordPerfect Universe.]
- If you are reinstalling the program on a
new computer or a newly formatted drive, see the next section
about what to back up and how to migrate your settings and customizations.
- On computers that are running Windows Vista,
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2, you
may be unable to open Help files that require the Windows Help
(WinHlp32.exe) program [e.g., versions of WordPerfect -- such
as WP12 -- produced before these Windows versions were released].
This [Microsoft]
article contains information about a download that helps
you fix this problem.
- Before
you start: What program files should
be backed up? How do you save and migrate your customizations?
- WordPerfect Universe FAQ: Transferring
keyboards, toolbars, menus etc. from old version - A FAQ that gives "... step by step instructions
for transferring custom keyboard[s], toolbars, menus, etc., from
a previous version to a new installation, when you either still
have the old version installed (even on an old computer) or you
have a backup copy of your important files."
- The information in the Transferring
keyboards... FAQ also applies to transferring
these items from a specific version of WordPerfect (e.g., WP12,
WPX4, etc.) to a new installation where the same version
is installed. Also, if the new installation is truly new (i.e.,
not customized), you can probably just copy the default
template from the first installation to the new installation
(as long as they are the same major version of WordPerfect);
there's no need to copy individual items, as the FAQ explains.
If it is not truly new, follow the instructions in that FAQ.
[For more on the locating your default template, etc.: The
default template - how to find it, modify it, or fix it.]
- Incidentally, it is generally considered
unwise to simply replace the newer (top) menu with one
from an earlier version of WordPerfect. It is better to copy
the older menu to the newer version of WordPerfect, then use
it as a reference to re-create any customizations on the newer
menu. Similarly, you can copy a customized default toolbar
to the new version. That way, you won't lose newer features or
functions that might be included on the newer menu or toolbar.
- If you have created or customized macros,
see Transferring macros from one system
to another, or from an earlier version of WordPerfect to a newer
version, below.
- WordPerfect Universe FAQ: Saving
and Recovering Customisations
- A general reference FAQ on where
certain customizations are stored, such as the QuickWord
and QuickCorrect
lists. It also deals with saving and restoring custom styles.
- WordPerfect Universe FAQ: What
files do I need to back up to uninstall/reinstall/upgrade? - An older FAQ, but which might have some useful
information for your situation.
- About WordPerfect Universe: If you are a new member at WordPerfect
Universe, you should update your profile with your build
number (see above) for your WordPerfect program so that it is
always visible under your name when you post questions or ask
for help. You almost certainly will be asked for this information
since it is often critical to solving a problem or getting accurate
tips. On the Forums
page, click the Member's Center tab at the top of the page, then
click Edit Profile. Enter your full build number (e.g., 12.0.0.602)
under Additional Information - WordPerfect Office version.
- Multiple versions on one computer:
- Can you install more than one version
of WordPerfect on the same computer?
- Yes. This author has had as many as seven
versions of the program (WP8-WPX4) installed on the same Windows
XP system at the same time, for testing purposes. [But: Windows
Vista and Windows 7 have not been loaded up this way (yet), since
this author has not used Vista very much and Windows 7 is still
new.] Some users simply like the idea of having an older version
available while they get used to a newer one.
- Notes:
- In newer editions of WordPerfect, during
installation you should see a button marked "Advanced"
or "Change" or similar. (Take your time during installation
so you can locate this button on your screen.) This will allow
you to install the newer version in a separate folder
from the older version. You should not accept the installation's
invitation to install over the older version (i.e., don't "update"
or "upgrade" the older version). This has sometimes
led to problems on some systems. Also see the Transferring
macros... section below for additional information.
- Be sure to see the section above
this one about backing up certain files.
- Will multiple installed versions of WordPerfect
interfere with each other?
- No, but you might want to note that the newer
version will take over the file association for .WPD files, so
that if you open a WordPerfect document with Windows Explorer,
it will open in that version of WordPerfect. You can always reset
such filename associations in Windows, or -- even easier -- simply
delete the three-character filename extension (WPD) in the "Use
default extension on open and save" field in WordPerfect's
Tools, Settings, Files. Then re-type the same extension (WPD)
back into the field. This resets the Windows Registry for the
default filename association. Also see the "Transferring
macros..." section below for additional information.
- You can delete a newer version, but the older
version on your computer probably will need to be repaired. This
can be done by inserting the older CD and choosing Repair. Conversely,
you should be able to delete an older version without having
an adverse impact on the newer version. (For WordPerfect 8 or
9, see "For older versions..." below.)
- Transferring macros from
one system to another, or from an earlier version of WordPerfect
to a newer version:
- You can copy the WordPerfect for Windows
macro files (*.wcm) from their original folder to either the
default or supplemental macro folder as shown in the newer version's
Tools, Settings, Files, Merge/Macro tab. This is where WP looks
for macros.
- Tip: I use the Supplemental macros folder
for WP's 30+ shipping macros, and the Default macros folder (which
some users create under the \My Documents or the \Documents folder
to make them easier to back up) for my custom macros.
- Be sure to read about warning
messages about obsolete commands that you may see when playing
or editing an older macro under a newer version of WP or on a
different computer.
- Be sure to read about the new "WordPerfect
9 text selection" setting introduced in WP10. This can
seriously impact the way a macro behaves unless you take certain
steps to compensate for it.
- Some custom macros might require "tweaking,"
especially if they refer to old system paths that might not exist
on the new system or new version setup. Play each macro to see
if it works as you expect. (Take special note of the new "WordPerfect 9
text selection" setting.) Macros automatically recompile
when played in a new version, so you might see warning
messages about obsolete commands.
- WordPerfect for DOS macros used a different
macro language, so you will have to re-create them in your Windows
version of WordPerfect. However ... note that many DOS
features required keystrokes for many common tasks; these may
now be single keystrokes or toolbar buttons in the Windows versions.
Moreover, WPWin now has features that were common as macros in
WPDOS; look for built-in features to replace some of those WPDOS
macros.
- For older versions
(WP8, WP9):
- To manually remove WordPerfect Suite
8 from Windows XP and 98SE, see Corel's Answer
ID 755350.
- Do you need to reinstall WordPerfect 8 or
WordPerfect 9+ on another computer? Upgrade from WP8 to WP9?
Preserve your custom settings, QuickCorrect and QuickWords lists,
etc.? Read this.
- WordPerfect 9/SP4 (Service Pack 4) no longer
available from Corel after 04/27/04, the release date for WP12.
This CD-only update was a complete program rewrite to make it
compatible with Windows 2000/XP, so no internet download is (or
ever was) available. If you have this CD and plan to update your
current version of WP9 to SP4 (i.e., 9.0.0.883), see this
post on WordPerfect
Universe. If you have a Family Pack (2 or 3), you have the
latest available version for that type of WP9 and QuatroPro product.
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