Tag Archive for 'Information technology'

IT Training - Basic Computer Help

Published
by
Dave Sakura
on December 14, 2009
in Computer Training
. 0 Comments

It has no doubt been said many times before this. Its not an issue how well we look after our own computers & laptops, they will at some point have system problems and issues that will be tough to deal with.

There are a ton of resources obtainable to walk us during computer issues but it may take a little knowledge in knowing how to access them. This IT training instruction article will show you how.

1. Keep in mind help files. It’s funny, but people seem to forget that every CPU and every program installed on a CPU comes with its own help file. Even the operating system of a computer has a information file and it actually should be the first location to look for answers.

Help files are intended not only to guide the usage of a computer, they’re also designed to solve problems. Inside a help file, look for a segment called, “Troubleshooting” (or something similar) when you need to solve an issue. This section is reserved for solving problems specific to the software or hardware that you’re using.

2. Company homepages & websites. If you continue to have issues with any aspect of IT whether it is the latest software program or a new monitor you have purchased, its a good idea to look at the company who made the products website or homepage.

Most (if not all) manufacturer’s set aside a piece of cyberspace and bestow it to support the products that they assemble. Microsoft’s help desk is good case.

3. Fan sites. Fan sites in all probability isn’t a good name for this resource, but you can discover websites that are dedicated toward supporting the users of a particular software program or section of hardware.

They also do this in their own spare time so if you are going to contact them make sure you are polite and patient when requesting information.

4. Usenet newsgroups. Another underused source on the Internet, Usenet newsgroups have hundreds of discussion groups dedicated to some of the most popular computer systems, operating systems, hardware manufacturers, and individual software programs.

Sometimes, the representatives of these companies partake, but most of the time, the support in this group is user to user, which is just as valid because you’re working with a team of qualified people.

5. PC support groups or user groups are an extra decision for help. These are groups that meet in libraries, computer stores, or other neighboring areas and they chat about all sorts of issues connected with a specific product.

Yet if you aren’t experiencing a computer or software problem, user groups are fun to contribute in and they can help you network into other wellbeing such as job or coaching opportunities.

You will hopefully realise that by now it is quite easy to find the answer to what you are looking for, the hard part was just locating these resources in the first place but now that you know them there should be nothing stopping you from being the next IT whiz kid.

If you still think you need some IT training in Scotland, pay IT Training Scotland a visit. They are specialists in Excel training in Scotland and offer the latest courses and training on different Microsoft products.

Customizing Audience Handouts In Microsoft PowerPoint

Published
by
Dwight Davidson
on July 6, 2009
in Computer Training
. 0 Comments
by Dwight Davidson

PowerPoint audience handouts provide a way of giving the attendees of your presentations something to remember you by. They normally consist of printouts of the presentation; one, two, three, four six or nine slides to a page. Naturally, however, whether or not the essence of your presentation can be captured by this kind of printout depends on the nature of the presentation.

To personalize the look of your handouts, click on the View tab of the PowerPoint ribbon and then click on the Handout Master button. In PowerPoint, masters allow you to determine the format of the three main elements within a presentation; slides, speaker notes and handouts. When you are in handout master mode, the Handout Master contextual tab appears. It contains a Page Setup section which allows you to choose the orientation of both the page as a whole and of the individual slide miniatures. It also contains buttons for activating or deactivating the header, footer, date and page number as well as for formatting the background of the slide.

Given that Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to produce three separate elements (slides, speaker notes and handouts), when the print command is used, you need to specify which of these elements you wish to print. This is done by choosing an option from the Print What drop-down menu. In addition to the three elements mentioned above, you can also print the outline of the presentation.

If your presentation contains a lot of important detail, it may be more useful to print out the slide outline and distribute it to the audience in place of PowerPoint’s usual handouts. Better still, you can export your presentation into Microsoft Word and then customise it for your audience. To export an outline, from the Office button, choose Publish and then Create Handouts in Microsoft Word.

When exporting to Word in this way, you will be presented with a dialogue box which allows you to choose one of five page layout options. Firstly, you can have speaker notes next to slides. This will create a two column layout with a slide miniature in column one and speaker notes next to it in column two. If you have used the speaker notes feature in your presentation, this may be a useful solution. The second option is Blank Lines Next to Slides: this produces the same two column layout as the first option but the right hand column is blank, so that you can enter notes next to each slide.

The options we have seen thus far don’t offer you much room for text. If you have made or wish to make extensive notes on each slide, options three and four (Notes below Slides and Blank lines below Slides) provide a layout with the text below the slide miniature and leaves approximately 60 percent of the page free for notes.

Perhaps your main aim is for the audience to take away a summary of the content of the presentation. In this case you can choose the final option: Outline Only. This simply exports the text on each slide into Microsoft Word.

As is often the case when transferring data from one Microsoft Office application to another, you have the choice of activating the Paste Link option. This will create a link between the exported file and the original PowerPoint presentation, such that, if the presentation is modified, the exported Word file will also be updated.

About the Author:
The The writer of this article is a training consultant with Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Classes in London and throughout the UK.

Become A Web Developer Overnight With Adobe Dreamweaver

Published
by
Lynne Kramer
on June 10, 2009
in Computer Training
. 0 Comments
by Lynne Kramer

Adobe Dreamweaver has now established itself as the leading website creation tool in the world. There are many companies as well as individuals that would love to have their own website but simply can’t afford the services of a professional web design consultants. Using Adobe Dreamweaver, just about anyone can successfully build a web presence for themselves. Adobe Dreamweaver is pretty simple to use, observes current web standards, and allows even the fledgling web designer to put together a good looking, functional website.

Just as the use of a graphical interface has changed computing, making it more user-friendly, the use of Adobe Dreamweaver renders people with limited understanding of web construction capable of putting together a quality site. It is also an excellent platform for learning how web sites should be put together. For example, when you create a new page, Dreamweaver lets you choose from a series of standard layouts based on CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), the recommended specification for creating web pages. The code produced by Dreamweaver contains useful comments explaining how the page layout works.

Many smaller companies have already started relying on Adobe Dreamweaver to build and manage their own website, building and altering pages and then uploading them via FTP to their live server. Those organisations with who have a more pressing need to make an impact may still turn to professional web development outfits to get them up and running and then use Dreamweaver for updating their pages, often saving themselves a ton of cash.

Another way that companies can save money is by getting web designers to create Dreamweaver templates and then using these templates to generate their web pages. This also offers the benefit of permitting organizations to maintain control of their website right from the start.

Although Dreamweaver is simple to use, it is unlikely that the average user can simple load it onto their machine and start using it effectively. Most people will benefit from having some Dreamweaver training. This will show them which are the essential aspects of the program and the process of creating a basic site and making it live. A good Dreamweaver training course will also give users an overview of the many web technologies, the underlying code, which Dreamweaver automatically generates as the users visually create their web pages.

One of the most effective ways to make a site useful for visitors is making it interactive, allowing visitors to search for the specific content that they want. After attending an advanced Dreamweaver training course, staff within an organization can learn how to add interactive content to their website using technologies such as ASP, PHP or ColdFusion. And, here again, Dreamweaver does most of the work for you, allowing users to create sophisticated search and results pages using the same comfortable techniques used to create basic content.

About the Author:
The author is a training consultant with TrainingCompany.Com, a UK IT training company offering Adobe Dreamweaver Classes in London and throughout the UK.
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