Microsoft Word is a very versatile and powerful word processor with many options.  We'd like to make a couple of recommendations for customizing Word settings that will make Writer's Workbench easier to use and that will provide more space for the text that the writer should focus on while composing and revising his or her work.

Notice how little space is available for text in this screenshot.

To obtain more space for the composition that you want to focus on while using Writer's Workbench, we recommend the following procedure.

1. Click on View, and make sure that Ruler is not checked.

2. Click on View, Normal.
3. Click on View, Toolbars; and observe that those toolbars with checks next to them are those that are displayed.  By default, the Standard, Formatting, and Drawing toolbars are checked.  We recommend that you uncheck all toolbars except the Standard, Formatting, and Writer's Workbench (or WWBWord97 if you are using Word '97) toolbars.
4. Click on the Zoom pull-down () and set it to "Page Width."
5. Click on Tools, Options; and behind the "View" tab, uncheck "Status bar" and "Horizontal scroll bar" in the Show section.
6. Writer's Workbench uses hidden text to hide quotes and dialogues from the analyses.  The Organization and Development analysis also takes advantage of this feature.  Make sure that the Hidden text option is not selected in the Formatting marks section of this "View" tab.
7. While you are still in this menu, there are a number of other options you may want to set including the way that Microsoft Word deals with Spelling and Grammar.

Occasionally after Writer's Workbench is installed and invoked by clicking on the WWB icon, the Writer's Workbench toolbar is appended to the end of the formatting toolbar.  You can resolve this problem by dragging the WWB toolbar to the bottom toolbar location below the Formatting toolbar.  When you position your cursor over the beam at the left side of the WWB toolbar (or any of the Word toolbars), notice that the cursor turns into a cross-hair instead of an arrow.  "Click and hold" the left mouse button and drag it below the Formatting toolbar.  Be patient with this procedure; it can be a little tricky.

You can customize the display for Microsoft Word when using Writer's Workbench and other "plug-in" applications in many ways; these are just a few recommendations that will give you a little more "real estate" for text while still providing the full functionality and power of Writer's Workbench.

After you have made these changes, your Microsoft Word screen will provide more space for text.

Back to Writer's Workbench Tips Page

Last modified 10/17/04.