Setup for Success

by Kendall Callas

The factory settings for Windows and for WordPerfect can both use some improvement for most users. Here are a few changes that I recommend to make your computing environment more productive:

Improve WordPerfect for Windows 6.x/7/8/9 default settings:

Maximize the size of these screens to increase your viewing area:

  1. File Open (F4) — click the maximize button at upper right.
  2. Address Book (Tools, Address Book) — click the maximize button at upper right.
  3. Symbols pick list (Ctrl+W or Insert, Symbol) — (in WP 6.x and 8 only) re-size the box with your mouse; point to the blue title bar (at top) and drag it to the upper left corner of the screen, then carefully point to the bottom right corner (the pointer will become a double-headed arrow) and drag it to the screen's bottom right corner.

Make it easier to pick up where you left off:

This tip makes it easy to resume work when you re-open a document. Use Tools, Bookmark and click to check the box at bottom left to select "Set QuickMark on file save". (In WP 6.x and 7, this is under Edit, Preferences, Environment, at the bottom center.) Henceforth, after saving a file, you can use the keystroke Ctrl+Q ("QuickMark") to jump to the cursor position of your last save. If you want to be aggressive, make this automatic in WP 8/9 by selecting "Go to QuickMark on file open".

Display shortcut keys on menus and activate "Quick Tips"

To help you learn convenient keystrokes for common tasks, set WordPerfect to show them on menus. Also, get a helpful tip when you hover over a button with your mouse or highlight a menu item. To turn on these features (in some versions they are on by default), select "Display shortcut keys" and "Display Quick Tips" in WP 8/9 under Tools, Settings, Environment, Interface. (In WP 6.x and 7, look under Edit, Preferences, Environment, in the lower left quadrant; there is no setting for Quick Tips in WP 6.x.)

Now you'll be able to see valuable shortcut keys like these:

On the File menu:
- Ctrl+O for FileOpen
- Ctrl+S to save
- Ctrl+P to print

On the Edit menu:
- Ctrl+Z to undo
- Ctrl+C to copy
- Ctrl+X to cut
- Ctrl+V to paste

On the Insert menu:
- Ctrl+W for symbols

On the Format menu:
- F9 for fonts

On the Tools menu:
- Ctrl+F1 for spell check

Turn off QuickBullets

Many of my clients complain that WordPerfect is too helpful when typing numbered lists. In WP 7/8/9, the ever-observant QuickCorrect feature wants to help, so when it detects that you have begun a numbered list, it inserts a style, converting your typed number to an automatic paragraph number. You'll note this happening whenever you begin a new line by typing a number, period, and Tab (press Enter and it will generate the next number).

Here's how to turn this feature off: in WP 8/9, go to Tools, QuickCorrect, click the tab for Format-As-You-Go, and click to deselect "QuickBullets" (listed in the lower half). (In WP7, this is under Tools, QuickCorrect, Options.)

Set Windows to show filename extensions and full paths:

Here's how to set Windows 95/98 so that WordPerfect 7/8/9 will show more information about the files you're viewing at the FileOpen and SaveAs screens.
  1. Begin by right clicking the Start button (if nothing happens, left click it, then right click it)
  2. Select "Explore"
  3. Choose "View"
  4. For Windows 95:
    At the bottom of the pulldown menu, choose "Options",
    For Windows 98:
    At the bottom of the pulldown menu, choose "Folder Options", then click the "View" tab,
  5. For both Windows 95 and 98:
    A) click to select "Show all files",
    B) click to deselect "Hide file extensions for known file types".
  6. While you're there, set it to "Display the full MS-DOS path in the title bar"; this helps in WordPerfect's FileOpen and SaveAs screens to know what directory you are in (you'll see the complete directory name at the top of these two screens).

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