To run Design Checker:

1. Click the File tab, and then select Info.
2. Click Run Design Checker. The Design Checker pane opens, listing items you
   might want to fix.
3. At the top of the Design Checker pane, select the boxes that apply to your
   publication and distribution methods.

From here, I simply select an item on the
list, which automatically selects the item on the page. In the Design
Checker pane I click the item’s list arrow to fix the issue or to turn off the
Design Checker feature that searches for issues like this. If I can’t figure
out what the problem is or how it will affect my publication, I click Explain to open Publisher Help­

Once I run all the checks I need for the type of publication
and distribution method I’m using—and once I fix all the errors Design Checker
found—my project is ready to go.

Thank you, Design Checker, for saving my publications from
so many humiliating errors.

I link text boxes to let text flow freely between the boxes
as I resize them. In the example of my newsletter, I place all the text for the
main article into one text box. I can tell it’s too long because the handles on
the text box are red and the Link shortcut button appears. To make my text flow
into the text box to the right, I simply link the two text boxes.

To link a text box to another text box:

1. Click the Link shortcut button, which looks like an ellipsis, on the lower
   right of the text box. The mouse pointer turns into a pitcher icon.
2. Move the pitcher to the text box you want to link to, and then click it. The text
   automatically flows into this second box.

The small black arrow between the boxes indicates that
they’re linked. If I need more space, like a third column, I can always link to
yet another text box.

If I ever want to unlink two boxes, I can do it from the
Ribbon. From the Text Box Tools Format tab on the Ribbon, I can unlink text
boxes or even create links or move between linked text boxes.

To unlink two text boxes:

1. After you select the text box, click the Text Box Tools Format contextual tab.
2. In the Linking group, click the Break Link button, which looks like a
   broken chain. This will break the link between the selected text box and the
   next box that the text flows to. It will not affect a link from a previous text
   box.

Instead of endless cutting and pasting—and losing text here
and there in the process—linking text boxes makes adjusting text layouts in
Publisher infinitely easier.

To create an alert in SharePoint:

1. On the SharePoint home page, click your user name, and select My Settings.
2. Click My Alerts.
3. My Alerts page opens so you can manage alerts. On the toolbar click Add Alert.
4. From the pane on the right, select the list or library you want to track, and then click Next.
5. On the New Alert page that opens, you can change the title or settings of the alert. When you finish, click OK.

SharePoint sends alerts to my e-mail inbox or even to my phone as text messages. Because alerts can really stack up fast, I use them only for items I need to know about right away, such as changes to announcements and tasks. If I don’t need to be alerted immediately of changes, I can have SharePoint e-mail me a daily or weekly summary of all alerts. But I prefer to view nonurgent changes in my RSS feed so I can easily check for updates at my convenience.

To subscribe to an RSS feed in SharePoint:

1. Navigate to the site and library for which you want to create an RSS feed, such as Shared Documents.
2. On the Library Tools contextual tab, click the Library tab.
3. In the Share & Track group, click RSS Feed.
4. Click Subscribe to this feed.
5. A dialog box opens so you can choose where to place the feed. On the Create in list, click the list arrow and select where you want to place the feed.
6. Click Subscribe.

I find it so much easier to view changes to a SharePoint site or library in a neat RSS feed rather than to slog through SharePoint manually to see what’s new.

I had this same kind of realization yesterday when I was designing a newsletter from a Word template. I had tweaked and fussed with the design for two hours when a light bulb suddenly illuminated: I have an entire program made for this.

I quickly navigated to the Microsoft Office programs folder. Ah, yes, there it was. I blew off its virtual layer of dust and opened Microsoft Publisher. In 20 minutes I had a better design and was able to fix the issues the Design Checker and Commercial Print Settings features brought to my attention. All because I used the right software for the job.

When it comes to publishing professional-quality documents, Publisher is a lifesaver. It offers all the tools I never knew I needed (Advertisement gallery! Master pages!) that speed up my design time and leave me a design with just the panache I was looking for.

You know what’s the greatest? Having both capabilities—synchronized. By checking one box in the Advanced Options in Outlook, I can set up a Common Feed List so that any new feeds added to either Outlook or Internet Explorer automatically display in both applications.

To sync Internet Explorer and Outlook RSS feeds with the Common Feed List:

1. In Outlook, click the File tab.
2. Click Options.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Under RSS Feeds, select the check box for Synchronize RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List (CFL) in Windows.

Don’t worry if you don’t see changes immediately. Give it a while and you’ll see the feeds sync up.

Internet Explorer

Outlook

Keep in mind that deleting an RSS feed in Outlook doesn’t remove it from the Common Feed List; you also have to delete it from Internet Explorer to remove it completely.

To remove an RSS feed from the Common Feed List:

1. In Internet Explorer, click Favorites.
2. Click the Feeds tab.
3. Right-click an RSS feed, and then click Delete.
4. In the confirmation message window, click Yes.

And then there was that blissful day when you discovered RSS
feeds.

I still remember that first time I opened Internet Explorer
to my Feeds list, and all the updates from all the blogs I subscribe to were
there in one place, just waiting to be read at my leisure. On another blissful
day I discovered that I could view my feeds right from Outlook.

To add an RSS feed in Outlook:

1. In Internet Explorer, browse to the website you
   want to subscribe to, and click the RSS icon.
2. Copy the URL of the page that opens.
3. In Outlook, in the Navigation pane, right-click RSS Feeds.
4. Click Add a New RSS Feed.
5. Paste or type the URL of the RSS feed, and then click Add.

Under the RSS Feed heading, you’ll see a new folder that
contains the latest unread feeds for the website. Feed updates appear in a
list, just like e-mail messages, and you can select one to view it in the
Reading pane.

Now every day can be blissful because in just one place you get all your daily updates:
e-mail, calendar, tasks, and RSS feeds.

You can use Tasks in Outlook to assign action items not only to yourself but also to others. Assigning tasks keeps everyone on the same page about who’s doing what, alerts absent team members who might otherwise lose their assignments in the sea of notes, and allows the project manager to track the project’s progress as people update their assignment status.

To assign a task:

1. In Task view, click New Task.
2. Fill in the task details.
3. On the Task tab in the Manage Task group, click Assign Task.
4. Insert any message you want to send with the task.
5. Click Send.

When you’re on the receiving end of an assigned task, you receive an e-mail message with the task details. You can use buttons right in the e-mail message to Accept or Decline the task. Once you click Accept, you can edit your response before sending it. The item appears in your task list, and you can update your task items as usual.

1. In a document library, hover the mouse pointer over the document you want to move. A check box appears on the left and a list arrow on the right. You can click the list arrow and select Send To; or you can select the check box and then on the Documents contextual tab, in the Copies group, click the Send To button.
2. Select Other Location.
3. The Copy dialog box appears. Type the destination or paste the URL, and then click the (Click here to test) link to make sure you’re sending the document to the right place.
4. Next you can modify the document settings. You can rename the document or add “_copy” to the end of the file name, select whether to prompt the author to send updates when the document is checked in, and decide whether to create an alert when changes are made to the source document.
5. Click OK. You’ll be prompted to double-check your information; if it looks correct, click OK again.
6. When the copying is complete, click Done.

Now you’ll be able to see the document in its original spot, and you’ll see a copy in the new location as well. Once you send the document copy to another location, it becomes a separate document; that is, changes to it do not affect the original document.

Because you can receive alerts when changes are made to the source document, you can know if and when you need to update all versions. If you don’t want different versions hanging around, just delete the document in the original location.

To create a tag:

1. Select the text you want to tag.
2. Click the Home tab, and in the Tags group, select the type of tag you want to apply.

It’s that easy.

Need to note all the deadline dates you just discussed in your meeting? Mark them as critical. Want to explore a particular website when you have the time? Mark it with the “Website to Visit” tag. Create instant to-do lists, use stars to mark important info, highlight items to remember, and even create custom tags. And you don’t need to flip through all your notes to find your tagged items later—just use the Find Tags feature.

To find tags:

1. Click the Home tab, and in the Tags group, click Find Tags.
2. The Tags Summary pane opens. Use the different features to sort, find, and manage your tags. 

With the ability to tag items electronically in OneNote, I might just retire my paper notepad for good!

With document sets, you can capture version history for more than just the individual documents in the set—you can also set versioning for the document set as a whole. That way, you can capture a version history of the set at a specific point in the process and restore that set version later if something goes awry in the approval process.  

To capture a version:

1. With a document set open, click the Document Set Manage tab.
2. In the Manage group, click Capture Version.
3. Add comments about this version detailing what makes this version different from other versions.
4. Click OK to capture a snapshot of the current properties and documents in the set.

Capturing versions of your project at different stages of the approval process can be a lifesaver. If something does go wrong, you can access the version history to restore it to an earlier version.

To manage version history:

1. With a document set open, click the Document Set Manage tab.
2. In the Manage group, click Version History to open the Version History window.
3. Choose a version you want to manage and click the list arrow. To restore an earlier version of the document set, select Restore Version, or to delete past versions select Delete All Versions.
4. Click OK.

Keep in control of your project by creating and managing versions of your document set. It can easily help prevent irreversible damage later.