Office Hours Blog

Cloud computing for the Office user

2009-05-22T05:34:46Z

(Toney Sisk is a writer for Microsoft Office, and his focus is on Project and Project Server.) No, computing in the clouds doesn't mean your computer (or you) can suddenly float. But you might ask yourself, Why would anyone want to leave the security of their Microsoft applications to start roaming around in the clouds, anyway? Versatility is one answer. Ease of sharing information, is another. Let's look up at the clouds a little longer to see what's going on with all those servers and services....(read more)

Zen in the art of data management

2009-05-15T17:28:27Z

(Radhika Shankar was an international journalist before she boarded the technical and marketing content writing train about 10 years ago. She has enjoyed her writing journey that took her to creating advertising campaigns, documenting the nuts and bolts of computer hardware and software to a wide range of audience. When her demanding cat Cindy lets her, she loves to escape into writing about food and culture or even trying to play the veena.) Being at a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional)...(read more)

Take charge of your health – Office templates can help

2009-05-07T00:32:54Z

(Darla Crass is a technical writer for the Microsoft Office Online Web site. She started her career at Microsoft in Product Support answering questions about Windows 3.0. When she’s not at work, Darla enjoys remodeling her house and taking her two dogs for rides and finding new places to walk.) The templates linked in this blog might help to save your life — or at least help to eliminate complications — especially in emergency situations. When I started treatment for the blood clots I developed after...(read more)

How wikis help us wrangle team processes

2009-04-24T02:14:36Z

(Toni Saddler-French has been swimming in the waters of content creation for years and years, starting with Microsoft Word 1.1. She has worked with various Microsoft Office products, Internet Explorer, and server products and technologies. In this column, she gives a birds-eye view of how your team can better organize its documents and processes with SharePoint products and technologies.) SharePoint wikis help us wrangle some processes in our group, especially when they’re on the wilder side. They...(read more)

Blurring old border lines

2009-04-16T18:05:18Z

Ed McKillop has been writing and editing technical and marketing content for over ten years. He has written catchy phrases and many manuals (some boring, some not so boring) for aircraft, servers, hardware, software, cell phones, and a machine that tested water and air for anthrax, back when no one knew what anthrax was. He lives quietly in Seattle, with his small dog Toby, and enjoys writing emails to his friends. What’s cool about mobility and technology is that it’s no longer just comic-book fantasy....(read more)

When you're overwhelmed by e-mail

2009-04-01T18:24:54Z

(Darla Crass is a technical writer for the Microsoft Office Online Web site. She started her career at Microsoft in Product Support answering questions about Windows 3.0. When she’s not at work, Darla enjoys remodeling her house and taking her two dogs for rides and finding new places to walk.) Inbox out of control? Too many messages to go through? Well, when my four weeks of vacation turned into ten weeks of being out of the office, I was overwhelmed by the amount of e-mail messages in my Inbox....(read more)

March Madness…Office style

2009-03-30T19:24:22Z

(This column was written with Kevin McDowell, who besides being a college basketball fan, is a Microsoft jack-of-all-trades, having worked in product support, training, user assistance, internal tools development and currently testing for Office Online. He spends his spare time with his wife, Leslie, and three kids (Noah, Seth and Eden), playing keyboard or guitar at his church, playing XBox 360, dabbling in digital photography, reading, and hiking in the Cascades.) Last week, as I was dreamily staring...(read more)

More PowerPoint experts—How fifth graders presented the Bard

2009-03-24T17:28:51Z

(Shellie Tucker writes training courses and videos about PowerPoint and other Office programs. She also spouts off on this blog about both bad and good PowerPoint slides.) Maggie, Aeron, and Hannah are fifth graders who had the challenge of presenting a biography of William Shakespeare to their class—using PowerPoint. Did they balk at tackling the life of our greatest poet and playwright? Or at presenting it in a slide show? In a word: No. The girls themselves chose Shakespeare as their subject....(read more)

Creating a simple custom workflow to send confirmation email

2009-03-13T19:02:46Z

( Loreen La Penna is site manager of an internal Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007 site and a technical trainer who, at the start of her Microsoft career, fielded Windows 3.0 and Excel 4.0 support calls. Now, when she’s not nagging people to update their pages or delivering training, she can be found in the Redmond area catering to the needs of two very demanding cats .) I work in the Office Content Publishing group and manage a large internal Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007 site. Recently, I had...(read more)

Bridled Creativity

2009-03-05T22:03:39Z

( Holly Thomas is a technical editor by occupational hazard who has segued into writing for this blog and for Inside Office Online. At work and at home she tends to lunge for bright shiny ideas. Learn more about her art and writing at www.mindzayestudio.com .) "Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together." George C. Lichtenberg I come from a mixed marriage. My mother taught art. It was a family joke that she could never admire a view without...(read more)

What every Business Major should know about presentations

2009-02-27T00:54:14Z

Eric Schmidt is a recent addition to the Microsoft PowerPoint User Assistance writing team. He is amazed that he now gets paid to play with PowerPoint slides. Follow him on Twitter (Schmidt_Eric)! As mentioned previously , students almost effortlessly express their thoughts through visually fascinating and compelling ways. And yet, these students eventually grow up, get jobs, and give presentations to other students who grew up, got jobs, and listen to presentations. The transition from student to...(read more)

Office Ninja: Create an instant table (Excel)

2009-02-20T19:57:00Z

The Office Ninja returns! Many readers enjoyed the Top 10 most useful secret ninja moves article, so Office Ninja continues the tradition of hidden shortcuts and time-saving tips here. You use Excel all the time for sorting lists. You already know how to use data filters. You’re a master at applying table styles to look professional. Now you’ll just do all of that instantly with a flick of the wrist. After entering a bunch of data from a list, simply press Ctrl+Shift+L . Excel automatically assumes...(read more)

What do kids know about PowerPoint that we don’t?

2009-02-12T22:14:00Z

Kristin Beck is a Writer/Editor at Office Online. She has come to regard PowerPoint as an artistic medium. Eric Schmidt is a recent addition to the Microsoft PowerPoint User Assistance writing team. He is amazed that he now gets paid to play with PowerPoint slides. Follow him on Twitter (Schmidt_Eric)! Searching for tips on making your presentation shine? Look no further than your local public elementary school. Kristin: Most kids dread writing thank you cards. I know — I have two kids, and...(read more)

Teach Grade School Students how to Use PowerPoint 2007

2009-02-05T21:51:00Z

Besides writing and publishing technical content about PowerPoint to Microsoft Office Online, in my spare time, Joy Miller is the mother of twin, ten year-old boys. My boys are in an accelerated 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classroom. The proud parent that I am, I like to brag that my kids were accepted into this esteemed classroom only after taking and passing an aptitude entrance exam. In their classroom, the students spend time on all the usual subjects — math, literature, reading, etc. — but they...(read more)

It isn't just for manuals anymore

2009-01-21T20:26:00Z

With any relationship you have, how you communicate is paramount. To make it work, you actively listen, ask good questions, and from that exchange you learn and grow. Last June, I started a new job, a new relationship, with Microsoft Office Online because this group puts significant work into listening to users of Word, Outlook, Excel, and the other Office products. What I especially appreciated was the focus on having that conversation in exciting ways: blogs such as this one, also videos, work scenarios, interviews; the list goes on.

As part of my job, I read through thousands of customer comments, perhaps one from you. Some customers are frustrated (where is the Office button…), many get the information they’re seeking, and there are moments when I laugh out loud — very creative and colorful language. Though I can’t share exactly what was said, the best comments go up on my whiteboard: I respect those willing and able to express themselves; I grew up where people shout out of car and living-room windows. The lesson I learned from that: it’s the message that matters.

For ten years I’ve been writing about technology and I can tell you that a great deal of that was incredibly boring. Don’t get me wrong, it was useful, clear and accurate, but not very interesting to the average person and not at all sexy. It was static. Lucky for me, times have changed. Much as Microsoft has evolved to become the company that listens to its customers, content has become a living, dynamic experience. It isn’t 200-page manuals any more. With e-mail, blogs, text and other technologies, we’re all real-time writers and that’s very powerful. Content is a conversation. We can know what’s happening with our loved ones right now, send a message across continents, mountains, and oceans in seconds; and an organization can hear and see what its customers think and feel. At Office Online we distill those thoughts and feelings and from that valued resource we create stories:

Crabby Office Lady: She tells it like it is, Office-program mysteries, and you can tell her what you think. Go ahead, she can take it.

Office Hours: Share in the joys and sorrows of our life with technology.

Top Hits of Office Online: Our greatest hits section – find out what zillions of Office Online customers downloaded in 2008.

At the end of each piece of content we produce, be it an article, Crabby, or Office Hours, you have the opportunity to express yourself. You’ll see the question, Was this information helpful? You can click Yes, No, or I don’t know. Tell us what you’re thinking and we will work to put those words into action.