Customise the Places Bar

What is the Places Bar? It's the vertical panel on the left of the Save and Open dialog boxes in Microsoft Office programs (XP, 2003). It has buttons that link directly to the My Documents, Desktop, Favorites and other folders.

You can re-arrange the buttons on the Places bar, and also add your own buttons.

To move a button up or down the bar, simply right-click on the button, then choose either Move Up or Move Down.

To add a button:

• Make sure the folder you want to link to is shown in the files pane.
• Click on the folder you want to link to (just select it - don't open it).
• Drop down the Tools menu and choose Add to "My Places";
• Move the new button up the bar, if you want to.

Now you have quick access to the folder when you open or save a file.

If you need to show more buttons within the bar, right-click on the bar and select the option to use Small Icons. Otherwise, you can scroll down to see the hidden buttons.

Bring back the Mail Merge Helper

Do you find the Mail Merge Wizard in new versions of Word difficult to use? Would you like to bring back the Mail Merge Helper that you used in Word 97 or 2000?

The old Mail Merge Helper is still available in Office XP (Word 2002) and Office 2003 and you can bring it back by putting it on a menu.

• Right-click on a toolbar or menu bar and choose Customise...
• Click the Commands tab
• Scroll down the Catagories list to find the All Commands item and click on it.
• In the Commands list, find the Mail Merge Helper command.
• Drag the Mail Merge Helper command on to the Tools | Letters and Mailings menu.
• Close the Customise dialog box.

Inserting Merge Fields Can Be Easier

When the Insert Merge Field dialog box is open, you cannot move the insertion point in your mail merge main document. If you press ENTER or the SPACEBAR to attempt to move the cursor, the selected merge field is inserted into the document.

This "feature" is a terrible hindrance. To move your insertion point, you have to close the Insert Merge Field dialog box, move the insertion point, then return to the Insert Merge Field dialog box to insert the next field.

However, you can add the Insert Merge Field button to the Mail Merge toolbar, so that you are able to choose merge fields from a drop-down list.

• Display the Mail Merge Toolbar.
• Right-click on any toolbar or menu bar and choose Customise...
• Click the Commands tab then in the Categories list click on the Mail Merge category.
• Find the Insert Merge Field button in the commands list and drag it on to the Mail Merge Toolbar.

Now you can easily add merge fields to the document as you type.