If there are any topics you would like to see discussed in the future or if you have any comments, please contact me at JoeT@HighCaliber.com
Bullet Points
Getting Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets to Fit on a Page
To squeeze a spreadsheet down so that it fits on fewer pieces of paper
when it prints:
Click File in horizontal menu bar at the top
Select Print Preview from the dropdown menu
Click the Setup button at the top
In the Page Setup dialog box, use the Scaling
features to control the printing adjustment.
In particular, try the Fit to options especially when
you only want to make minor adjustments.
Make sure you can still read the pages after making these adjustments.
Google Suggest
Google Suggest provides you with search suggestions as you type:
Just type in a few letters of a particular search term and Google Suggest
displays a listbox populated with words it thinks match.
Note that JavaScript and cookies must be enabled in your browser for this to work.
For more information about Google Suggest:
http://labs.google.com/suggestfaq.html
Test Your Typing Speed
Speedometer tests your typing speed and helps you improve:
By default, every 60 days the XP Desktop Cleanup Wizard pops up and offers
to clean up your desktop. To shut this off:
Right click an empty space on the desktop
Click Properties
Click the Desktop tab
Click the Customize Desktop button.
Uncheck the box labeled Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Applying A Selection's Style to Another in MS Word
If some text has the style you want to apply to another section of a
document, use the Format Painter tool:
Select the text with the formatting you want to apply to another section
Press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [C] at the same time
Select the new text to be formatted
Press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [V] to paste the new formatting into the selection.
Geographic Location of an IP Address
IP addresses are used to uniquely identify every device connected to
the Internet. There may be times (tracking down a spammer comes to mind)
when you would like to know where, geographically, a device assigned an
IP address is located. In these cases, this site should be helpful:
Your Corporate Website - Creating a Business Portal
A portal is a web site designed to collect and organize relatively
large amounts of information relevant to your clients/industry or
even for internal use. If your web site still resembles a printed
brochure, and you would like it to be doing more for your business,
read on.
Redesigning the Site
First, identify who you want to reach: Your employees and vendors,
existing clients, potential clients, industry mavens, etc.
Sites designed to assist internal personnel are generally called
"Intranets." Sites designed to assist people and organizations
outside your firm (like clients and vendors) are called "Extranets."
Technology-wise, there isn't much difference between them. But
site design and content-wise, there is a big difference.
Extranets
Here are some features that you might want to include on your site:
No plugins or downloads. Requiring people outside your organization
to install seldom-used plugins or enable things like ActiveX which many
system admin's see as a security risk is not realistic. (Using these
technologies on an Intranet, on the other hand, might be Ok because you
have some say in what users can/can't do with their computers.
Simple, clean site navigation. Actually, all web sites should
strive for this but it is especially important for extranets. Your
clients are not going to have the patience to wander around your
site, trying to figure out whats there and how to access it.
Site Search. Think eBay and Amazon. Giving your clients and
vendors the ability to search your site in Google-like fashion
is almost a must. You may also want to consider making certain
subsets of internal databases (order history, for example) available
on your web site.
Communications. Having some mechanism that allows people outside
your organization to communicate with people inside is a must. This can
be done with something as simple as an email discussion list (listserv),
a threaded discussion board, or even blogs.
Notifications. Allow your clients and vendors to sign up to receive
email notifications when critical events occur. You might even consider
having a monthly newsletter (like this one!) to allow you disseminate
less time-critical information.
Self service. Portals can be a home for a variety of self-service
applications, which allow users to help themselves.
Intranets
You should consider additional features for your Intranet, because these
users typically stay connected for longer periods of time. These additional
features include:
Personalization. The ability for groups and individual users to customize
the way that the information is displayed. Filtering content to the
information that a group is interested in and being able to change the
location of the information on the screen is considered an important way in
which portals create a user-friendly experience.
Knowledgebases. Providing a means for employees to share their
collective knowledge to help customers is a great addition to an
Intranet. This could be as simple as a well-organized repository of
FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) to a more structured database
containing detailed customer support information.
Collaboration. Some portals provide tools that allow their employees
to work together on projects more easily. This could be as simple as
a bulletin board or it might be as complicated as a complete, interactive
online conference room with shareable whiteboard, Voice Over IP (VOIP)
and text chat.
Defining your business portal
When defining your portal, first make sure that you've identified a small
number of projects or initiatives that will enable your target audience to
benefit most from the portal. Develop a solid plan on how those problems
will be solved with process revisions and automated support through the
portal. Start small and build out from there as the return on your
investment becomes more readily apparent. People can get hooked pretty
quickly on a well-designed and implemented portal.
