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HOME - Bloglines Tips - Composer Tips - Writing Tips - Technology Tips |
Microsoft Word is a tool designed for creating printed documents, but it is not a good tool for creating webpages or blog posts.
Of course, you are free to create your own solution - but make sure you are able to spellcheck your work, keep track of the word count, and save your work as you type, without using Microsoft Word.
A very good solution is to use Google Documents, a wonderful web-based word processing system that is available for free from Google. Using Google Documents, you can save a copy of your work as you type, even though you are working online. In fact, if you forget to save, Google will automatically save the document for you every few minutes. If you are not good at remembering to save your work as you type, Google Documents could be a great solution for you.
If you go to the Google Documents website, it will provide the instructions you need to get started. (You might find Google Documents useful for your other classes, too, since it offers online spreadsheets and online presentation tools also!)
To save your work, just click on the Save icon (GoogleDocs will also save for you automatically every few minutes). You can also choose the File-Save menu option.
To spellcheck, use the spellcheck ABC icon or choose the Tools - Spellcheck menu option.
For a word count, choose the Tools - Word Count menu option. The word count results will pop up in a dialog box; just click on the X to close the box when you are done reading the results.
IMPORTANT: Do not format the post (links, images, fonts) in Google Docs. You need to do the formatting in Bloglines. Use Google Documents just to type the text, save your work, spellcheck and do the word count.
\When you create webpages for this class, I strongly suggest that you use Mozilla Seamonkey Composer. Composer is a program that sits on your computer, so it saves a copy of your work on your hard drive. You should have already installed a copy of Seamonkey on your computer before having reached this assignment.
Save often. As you are working, get in the habit of hitting the Save button in the menu bar, or pressing Control-S to save the file. That way, if you accidentally delete something or close the window, you will not lose your work.
Spellcheck your work. There is a spellcheck feature built into Composer. You can click on the Spellcheck button in the menu bar, or you can find Spellcheck under the Edit menu. From the Edit menu, you can also choose to turn on the "Spellcheck while typing" feature. The keyboard shortcut for spellcheck is Control-K.
Word count. There is not a word count feature in Composer, but you can use Spellcheck.net for a quick word count. Just cut-and-paste from your Composer screen into Spellcheck.net for an instant word count. IMPORTANT: Do not edit your text at Spellcheck.net. Instead, just go back to Composer and add more text or remove text, as needed. If you do all your editing in Composer, you can save your work and be safe. If you do any editing in Spellcheck.net (online), you run the risk of losing your work. Do your writing in Composer, and use Spellcheck.net to do your word count.
Blog posts. Since you will be using Composer in this class to do your webpages, you might also use Composer to create the text for your blog posts. You can write the text of the blog post using Composer, which allows you to save your work and also to spellcheck. You can then cut-and-paste it into Bloglines for the final formatting. Do not format the post (links, images, fonts) in Composer. You need to do the formatting in Bloglines. Use Composer just to type the text, save your work, and do the spellchecking, following the instructions given above.