Saturday, August 11, 2012

Look for the Tools/Options/Preferences

When it comes to using any program, I like to go directly to the TOOLS or PREFERENCES or OPTIONS, depending on what it is called within that specific program. The reason you should visit this area the moment you start to use the program is because you will learn what the program is capable of doing and what you can change to make it work the way you want. Not to mention, if you get some strange pop up prompt while you are using the program, you will know where to go to change the settings.  Think of this area like the table of contents of any book.  The F1 key has always been the 'help key' within windows and so this is also quite often a good choice button to press in certain circumstances. 

Now for my RANT... I don't know how many times I get people asking me how to do something when a specific pop up prompt comes up that they have no idea about, yet they have used the program for many years. But because they have never done anything 'fancy' and have always used the program just the way it comes when they initially installed it, they are typically lost when it comes to the very basic changes that will make the program much more user friendly.  Stop being afraid of your computer and start exploring the settings/preferences of the program. Remember you can always look at the different menus and simply click CANCEL to leave without making any changes.   The more you know about the program, the less chance you will have those strange pop up prompts that have you so befuddled that you find yourself stopping what you are working on and looking for answers to what ends up typically being a very simple change to one of the option menus.