extra-mile admins€¦ · power tools & shortcuts | 5 step 2: navigate & set bookmarks to...

EXTRA-MILE ADMINS

Using Technology Tools to Deliver Extraordinary Results

KNACK TRAINING

2 | Extra-Mile Admins

CONTENTSADOBE ACROBAT - PERFECT PDFS

BOOKMARKS 4HYPERLINKS 8

COMMENTS 11

MICROSOFT WORD - NAVIGATION

BOOKMARKS 13

CROSS-REFERENCES 15

MICROSOFT EXCEL - CUSTOM VIEWS

ROWS, COLUMNS, AND FILTERS 17

Power Tools & Shortcuts | 3

MICROSOFT POWERPOINT - HIDING

HIDDEN APPENDICES 20

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK - TEMPLATES

QUICK PARTS 24QUICK STEPS & CUSTOM VIEWS 26

MOBILE - AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

SHORTCUTS 29TEMPLATES 31


ADOBE ACROBAT - PERFECT PDFSBOOKMARKSPURPOSE: CREATE SECONDARY NAVIGATIONMost people pass PDFs (especially long ones) around saying things like “the critical table is on page 10,” or “I need you to sign on pages 8, 12, and 23.” This is not only difficult to translate from discussion to action, but as the documents change, those page numbers may not longer be accurate. Instead, we can create a navigation system that sits on top of the document, making it easy for the recipient to proceed to the critical information.

STEP 1: EDIT THE PDF & EXPAND BOOKMARKSOpen the exercise workbook (Marketing Report.pdf), or any PDF you’d like to practice on. Click Edit PDF in the toolbar on the right side of the document.

Now, click the Bookmark Icon on the left toolbar to expand the bookmark panel.


STEP 2: NAVIGATE & SET BOOKMARKSTo create a bookmark, navigate not only to the page you want to link to, but also the zoom level. For example, on Page 6 of the Marketing Report, notice that we’ve zoomed in.

At this point, by clicking the New Bookmark button, you set a bookmark at that location and zoom level. You can rename the bookmark anything you like. Repeat as often as necessary, and rename (by double-clicking) the bookmarks again if you realize you’ve made any mistakes.


STEP 3: ORGANIZING BOOKMARKSIt may be counterintuitive, but you can rearrange bookmarks any way you want by clicking and dragging them in the bookmark panel. This is a benefit, because the order of the pages may not be the order of importance, nor the order your recipients should read the information.

You can also nest bookmarks under other bookmarks by dragging them to a subordinate, nested location under a bookmark. To see this effect in action, look at the bookmarks on this PDF. Each application has a bookmark, and the individual tools within each application are nested. Again, this logical organization may be better for your recipient than the simple order of the pages in the document.

STEP 4: CHANGE PDF SETTINGSFinally, to make them as useful as possible, you need your recipients to see the bookmarks. Click File > Properties.


Now, on the Initial View tab, set the Navigation Tab to Bookmarks Panel and Page, which will show all the bookmarks by default, when the user opens the file.


HYPERLINKSPURPOSE: SEND READERS TO RELEVANT INFORMATIONVery often, documents will include references to other pages, but no simple way of following that reference. By adding a hyperlink to your PDF, you can make any element in the document clickable. Create navigational elements that show people exactly what you’re talking about.

STEP 1: EDIT THE PDF & FIND CLICKABLE TEXTOpen the exercise workbook (Legal Document.pdf), or any PDF you’d like to practice on. Click Edit PDF in the toolbar on the right side of the document.

Now, find the text on Page 2 of the document: Simmons v. State of California.


STEP 2: HIGHLIGHT THE LINKClick Link > Add/Edit Web Link at the top of the screen. Your mouse should turn into crosshairs.

Now, click-and-drag a box around the text, and let go.

STEP 3: COMPLETE THE LINKA new dialog box, Create Link, is opened. The first question is whether your link should be visible or invisible. If you want an actual rectangle drawn around the text, choose Visible Rectangle, and if you want a link without visual noise on the screen, choose Invisible Rectangle.

Second, make sure that the Link Action is set to Go to a page view. Click Next.


At this point, repeat your actions from Navigate & Set Bookmarks, by moving to a location, as well as a zoom level, where you want your link to go.

Finally, click Set Link.

ALTERNATIVE: ATTACHED FILESAnother important location to link to is additional files attached to the current PDF. To send the user to that attached file, instead of navigating to a location within the current document in Step 3, click the Paperclip icon on the left-hand panel, and navigate to one of the attached files.

To see this in action, open Marketing Packet.pdf from the working files, and set the link to Product List.


COMMENTSPURPOSE: INSIGHT & CONTEXT AT YOUR FINGERTIPSAll too often, when someone reads an element in a PDF, they need additional information - and sometimes that information isn’t in the PDF. If you want to allow the user to open a file to give them more context or insights from a point in your PDF, you can tack that on with a comment.

STEP 1: LINE UP THE ELEMENTSFind the point in your document that needs additional insight, and line that up on the screen. For this exercise, I’m opening Process Document.pdf, and navigating to a point on Page 3. Notice how the diagram mentions that there are additional processes?

Now, let’s open Sales Script.docx - see how this contains more diagrams? We’re ready.


STEP 2: ADD A COMMENTIn the process document, click Comment to open the comment area of the PDF:

Now, click the Paperclip icon to Attach file.


MICROSOFT WORD - NAVIGATIONBOOKMARKSPURPOSE: CREATING INVISIBLE NAVIGATIONIn Microsoft Word, there are a number of ways to move through a document, and every one of them can reference a bookmark. So, by sprinkling bookmarks throughout the document, you make it more likely that your users will be able to get where they need to go.

STEP 1: FIND A SPOT & INSERT A BOOKMARKFor this exercise, I’m using Education White Paper.docx to add navigation. Open that file, or another of your own that has good length. Now, navigate to a point in your document that needs to be found later. In this document, I’m looking for the phrase mechanistic goals on Page 3. Highlight this text. (note: by highlighting the text, you’re connecting the bookmark with that text, instead of the location in the document)

Now, click Insert Tab > Bookmark.

Give the bookmark a valid Name (no spaces). I’m going to call this MechanisticGoals.


STEP 2: USE THE BOOKMARK FOR GO TONow, using Home Tab > Go To..., or the keyboard shortcut [CTRL] + [G], anyone can choose to move to this bookmark.


CROSS-REFERENCESPURPOSE: CREATE LINKS TO ANY RELEVANT ELEMENTYou’ve seen cross-references before - snippets in the text of a document that say (see page 5). With Word generating the cross-references in your document, you get a field that can be updated when the content moves to a new location, and a link that users can click to find relevant information.

STEP 1: CREATE SOMETHING TO BE LINKED TOCross-references can point at numbered items, headings, bookmarks, and a number of other types of elements. Let’s use the bookmark from our previous exercise. If you haven’t already done so, open Education What Paper.docx and find mechanistic goals on Page 3. Highlight the text you want to use for your bookmark, and click Insert Tab > Bookmark.

STEP 2: ADD A REFERENCENow, go to the first paragraph of the document, the one that begins Since 1909...

Immediately following the text attended school, before the closing period, insert the text (for more about mechanistic goals, see entry

Now, click Insert Tab > Cross-Reference.


In the Reference Type drop-down menu on the Cross-reference dialog box, choose Bookmark.

For Insert reference to, choose Page number.

Include the hyperlink and Include above/below, and choose the bookmark we inserted in the previous step.

Click Insert. You can now close the parentheses.

STEP 3: UNDERSTANDING USE & MAINTENANCEClick on the text that was added as part of your cross-reference. You’ll notice, as you hover on the text, that the pop-up informs you that you can [CTRL] + CLICK on the text and be taken to the entry (try it).

Additionally, right-click the text, and you’ll see Update field as an option on the context menu. This will update the page number, should your bookmark change location.


MICROSOFT EXCEL - CUSTOM VIEWSROWS, COLUMNS, AND FILTERSPURPOSE: ELIMINATE IRRELEVANT DATAWhen working with Excel spreadsheets, one of the real headaches is finding what’s important in giant sheets of data. All too often, our coworkers need different subsets of information from our executives, and everyone spends a lot of time scrolling. Instead, we can create a Custom View for any individual or group that hides irrelevant data through hidden rows and columns, and through filters.

STEP 1: CREATE A STANDARD VIEWFor this exercise, open Property Data.xlsx, or an equivalent spreadsheet of your own. You’ll want an unfiltered view, so before you do anything else, click View Tab > Custom Views.

In the dialog that opens, click Add, and create a view called Unfiltered, for example. Include both checkmarks - Print settings and Hidden rows, columns and filter settings. Click OK.


STEP 2: HIDE IRRELEVANT DATA FOR AN AUDIENCEIn this example, let’s assume we have a team that is focused on Northeast Region properties, and only the Revenue from those properties. First, we can hide the columns that are irrelevant to these individuals.

Right-click and choose Hide for the columns Appraised Value through Commission.


Now, using the Filter drop-down menu for the column Region, choose only the checkbox Northeast.

At this point, a significant number of records and a significant number of columns will be hidden.

STEP 3: CREATE A CUSTOM VIEWNow, click View Tab > Custom Views.

Choose the Add button on the dialog that opens.

Create a view called Northeast Revenue, and click OK.

Repeat this process (hiding columns, filtering data, and creating custom views) for as many different groups as you like.


MICROSOFT POWERPOINT - HIDINGHIDDEN APPENDICESPURPOSE: RETAIN, BUT HIDE, COMPLEX DATADuring a typical presentation, it’s important to simplify your message so it’s more easily understood and adapted. However, presenters are hesitant to remove detail from their presentation just in case someone needs that complexity. So, rather than ‘tear off the band-aid,’ so to speak, let’s remove it from the core presentation, but retain it in the overall presentation

STEP 1: MAKE SIMPLIFIED VERSIONS OF COMPLEX SLIDESIn this exercise, open Sales Report.pptx, and navigate to Slide 4 (Quarterly Sales data).

Rather than the full table of values, create a new slide that illustrates the weakness in Q3 (see screenshot for an example):


STEP 2: HIDE PREVIOUS SLIDENow, you can select the previous Slide 4 with the full table, and click Slide Show Tab > Hide Slide.

STEP 3: CREATE AN APPENDIXOne of the benefits at this point is that your hidden slide doesn’t have to stay in the same location! Click-and-drag your slide to the end of the presentation (notice here that we’ve dragged four complex slides to the end of the deck).

Additionally, you can create a section by clicking Home Tab > Section, and name that section Appendix to truly set the slides apart from the rest of the presentation.


OPTIONAL STEP 4: HYPERLINKS TO HIDDEN SLIDESNow, you can insert a small, barely-noticed button to any slide, and click Insert Tab > Link.

Notice that you can link from your simpler, more audience-friendly slide to the more complex slide in the appendix.


OPTIONAL STEP 5: HANDOUTSBy clicking File Tab > Export > Create Handouts, you can send all your slides and notes to Microsoft Word to create custom handouts.

Notice that when this opens in Word, it’s not difficult to label the hidden slides at the end with Appendix, or any other relevant title.


MICROSOFT OUTLOOK - TEMPLATESQUICK PARTSPURPOSE: TYPE ONCE, USE FOREVERAny message you need to use repeatedly should be perfected and rolled out in a way you can’t mess up. How often will a slight mix-up in your instructions result in something going wrong? Create a Quick Part in Outlook (or Word, as well), and you’ll be able to drop your text in the same way, every time.

STEP 1: WRITE MESSAGE PERFECTLYIf you need to, involve the team, or your boss, or legal, or HR, or all of the above. Get your script perfect in Outlook (or Word):

STEP 2: SAVE TO QUICK STEPSHighlight the text block and click Insert Tab > Quick Parts > Save selection to the Quick Part Gallery.

Now, give it a useful name, and save.


STEP 3: USE ITThe simple version of using this tool is to click the Quick Parts drop-down menu, and select the snippet you want.

OPTIONAL STEP 4: SHORTCUT ITIf you right-click your Quick Parts button, you’ll find that you can Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

Now, by pressing the [ALT] key, and the number of its position on the QAT, you can access the Quick Parts in less than a second.


QUICK STEPS & CUSTOM VIEWSPURPOSE: DEPENDABLE EMAIL CHOICESWhen instructors discuss automation in Outlook - Rules, Quick Steps, Categorization, and others - the biggest sticking point is that we can’t predict the kind of emails we will be sent. If you want to create a dependable email, that always follows a specific pattern, use Quick Steps. Then, your coworkers can leverage custom views.

STEP 1: CREATE AN EMAIL QUICK STEPClick Home Tab > Quick Steps > Create New

Choose a useful name, like Forward PTO Request. Choose an email action, like Forward, Reply, or New Message. We’ve gone with Forward. Fill in any relevant details. In this example, I’ve put in the recipient (my boss, [email protected]), and Subject customization (adding the text PTO Request for Approval).


STEP 2: LEVERAGE THE BENEFITSIn this example, we can create a custom view setting to color-code based on the incoming emails. This would happen on the inbox of the recipients of this email - your boss, for example. Click View Tab > View Settings.

Click Conditional Formatting...


Now, Add a new view, and give it a name (PTO Request, for example).

Click the Font button to set the custom formatting.

Click the Condition... button and set the condition to PTO Request for Approval in the subject field only.


MOBILE - AT YOUR FINGERTIPSSHORTCUTSPURPOSE: CREATE A BUTTON TO AUTOMATE SOMETHINGIFTTT.com is a website that provides us an incredible number of automation features for free. A major segment of their tools is the Button widget you can add to Androids or iPhones - buttons you can press to trigger any IFTTT.com automation.

EXAMPLE: INSTANT EMAIL TO SPECIFIC PEOPLELet’s say you need to send a specific update many times a year: site down, or I’m running late, or call me ASAP. You can open IFTTT on your mobile device, and create a New Applet:


EXAMPLE: CHANGE ENVIRONMENT WITH ONE PRESSIf you have Hue light bulbs, or a Nest thermostat, or any of a number of different home automation tools, IFTTT can create a new applet for a specific change, set on a button press:


TEMPLATESPURPOSE: ADD CUSTOM TEXT SNIPPETSRegardless of your device (Android vs. iPhone), you can quickly and easily create custom abbreviations that translate into words and phrases that would be more taxing to type out.

IOS: SETTINGSOpen the Settings app.

Navigate to General > Text Replacement.

Add text expansion snippets.

ANDROID: SETTINGSOpen the Settings app.

Navigate to System > Languages & Input > Advanced > Personal Dictionary.

Add text expansion snippets.

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