OneNote/Teams: Collaboration Inspiration

Don’t worry, this is not a missing episode of Schoolhouse Rock… but it is almost as fun. I wanted to share with you some collaboration inspiration utilizing OneNote in Teams. These examples are by no means the only ways to collaborate, but this may incorporate something new you hadn’t thought of. These tips would be great for a Team used for a class, or for coworker collaboration. Let’s check it out.

Collaboration tools using markup and typing in OneNote

The Scenario

The particular scenario I am going to outline here is a faculty member utilizing some collaboration tools in Teams and OneNote with the goal of student engagement.

1. Use the Desktop Version of OneNote (even for Teams Notebooks)

Unlike the Teams view of OneNote, the full desktop application of OneNote gives you maximum capabilities with the program, including some of the features we are going to look at next. Additionally, many people tell me that they prefer the desktop version.

The good news is, you can open a Team notebook in OneNote desktop application. Here is how.

  1. If you are using the Class Team type, or one of the other Team types that incorporates the customized OneNote, be sure that you are in the Collaboration space. This means that people who are not owners of your Team will be able to edit.
    • Want to learn more about Team Types? We talk about these in Teams Advanced training. Visit myTraining for times.
  2. Create a new Section for the presentations/content.
  3. In the Open in Browser dropdown, select Open in Desktop App.

Open in Desktop App

2. Insert Your File as a File Printout

This example is assuming a faculty member has a PowerPoint they are wanting to work from, but you could also insert a Word file, Exel file, or image. Once you are safely in the Desktop version of OneNote:

  1. Visit the Insert tab.
  2. Select File Printout.

Insert tab, file printout button

3. Browse for your file.

This will not only insert an attachment version of your file, but also a “printout” view of the presentation.

PowerPoint inserted as a printout in a OneNote

You may even like to try out Insert as Printout for other OneNote uses, beyond collaboration. Inserting as a printout works with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

3. Set Picture as Background

The goal is to allow students to draw on top of this PowerPoint, so this next step will allow them to do so, turning the file into a stagnant image in the notebook.

1. Make sure you are still in the desktop application of OneNote:

2. Right click on the image/presentation and select Set Picture as Background.

Right click menu, set picture as background selected

4. Return to Teams, OneNote

When you return to your OneNote view in Teams, you may have to refresh (button in upper right) to see the changes.

Refresh

Troubleshooting trick

Sometimes when you bounce back and forth from the OneNote desktop app and the OneNote tab in Teams , you will try every which way to Sunday to get the notebook to update, and it simply won’t do it. This has worked for me every time this happens:

      • In the Teams OneNote, create a new page. That’s it. You will delete this page in a couple seconds, but in those seconds, all your changes from the desktop application will suddenly appear.
      • Don’t ask me why this works when the sync button doesn’t. It’s a mystery.

5. Collaborate (the fun part!)

It’s time for your class, meeting, or presentation! Let’s see what your collaborators can do from here…

Remember, you inserted this PowerPoint as an image, so students/members can’t change the text on this image. However, they can interact with it as the background.

Idea 1: Type Questions/Comments

Have people to type questions or comments out to the side of the presentation, maybe as you are presenting, maybe seperately.

Commet written to the side of PowerPoint

It is so intuitive in OneNote, since they will be able to pretty much click and type wherever they would like.

Who wrote that?

Want to know which comment belonged to whom? No problem.

    • In the View tab, select Show Authors.

View tab, Show Authors

    • Author names will appear next to each comment.

Author of comment shown

Idea 2: Draw/Play

Your collaborators will also have access to draw on top of your PowerPoint images. They may need an introduction to how to access this feature (just grab this screenshot below to use in your classes if you’d like).

All the tools they will need for drawing are on the Draw tab in their class notebook. From here they can select different colors, highlighters and more.

Draw tab

Here is an example from a fake history class (don’t judge me, this was my worst subject). Maybe the professor would like to keep the students interacting during a presentation by putting a check mark next to their choice… More on this in a minute.

Markup incorporated into presentation

Side note: these Draw tools can be a life saver in remote math classes. Often it is simpler to write out an equation than to search for symbols.

Idea 3: Icebreakers

The Draw tools are also great for icebreakers. Here are a couple examples:

Ice breaker: markup next to images: place to add comments

  • Use the Draw tools to have attendees select a meme/idea/choice.
  • Use the typing tools to have them select a line to add comments
    • If you go this route, it can help to add bullet points for them to select a space to type, since collaborative writing can get crowded!

Bonus: Searching Content: OneNote’s OCR

OneNote (in all its forms) supports Optical Character Recognition. This means that your text will be recognizable on any images/PowerPoints that you insert.

This also means that people will be able to utilize the search (A) to search sections or pages (B), and OneNote will find that text, even if it is the text of an image or PowerPoint (C).

Search, as outlined in text

Thoughts?

I can’t wait to hear back from you all about this one. If you use some of these collaboration tricks, I would love to hear how it goes! Or, if you have more ideas, I would also love to hear from you.

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Amy Chesser
  • Whitney Fiene
  • Judy Lewis
  • Stephanie Sauls
  • Sarah Shaffer

What is Microsoft Stream, and how does it integrate with Teams? (plus Video!)

Have you ever recorded a meeting in Teams? Did you notice some mysterious language about something called Microsoft Stream? I’ve got you covered. Today we are going to demystify Microsoft Stream, and how it integrates with Microsoft Teams.

Channel appearing as a tab in Teams

Before we get started… big thanks to both Gisuk and Anita who inspired this byte with their excellent questions about Microsoft Stream.

Video

Here is a video to walk you through the process. Additionally, I have written instructions below with screenshots.  I would love to hear from you to know if you would like to see more videos, or if you prefer to read written instructions (or if you like both!)

Meeting Recordings

In Teams Essentials training, we talk about how it is possible to record a meeting.

As a refresher, you can access this ability in a meeting by clicking on the ellipses (…) and selecting Start Recording.

Start recording in dropdown

After your meeting is over, you, and everyone who attended your meeting, can access this recording in the meeting chat.

Chat, meeting recording visible

But a lot of you are curious about this… where is this recording saved? Why do you see reference to something called Microsoft Stream when you record videos? These are great questions.

Meeting recordings live in the Stream account of whomever recorded the meeting. By default, the people who were invited to the meeting are granted access to this recording.

One quick way to access the recording in Stream, is to click on the ellipses (…) next to the recording, and select Open in Microsoft Stream.

Ellipses, open in Microsoft Stream

You can also access Stream via O365 online. Let’s look at that method below, and then we can dive into Stream navigation.

Accessing Stream via O365

In addition to clicking on the Open in Microsoft Stream option above, you can also access Stream by visiting Office 365 Online.

  1. In a new browser window, type into your address bar: o365.wichita.edu. You can also access Office 365 via the link at the upper right of myWSU.

Login screen

  • Sign in information is always your myWSUID@wichita.edu
  • Password is your myWSUID password
  • You may be asked to authenticate with Duo

2. When you are logged in, click on the App Launcher at the upper left. Select All Apps to see a full list of options.

App Launcher

3. Select Stream.Stream in App list

Video Options

Once you have logged into Stream, in the upper left, you will see a ribbon of options.

  1. Click on the dropdown next to My Content. Select Videos.

My Content, Videos

2. Here are where all your saved meeting recordings live. VIdeo List

To the right of each video are a series of options.

Click on the ellipses (…) to:

  • Share: generate a link; people will be prompted to log in to view
  • Trim your video, or
  • Download the videoEllipses, options

Click on the pencil to access video details.

Edit VIdeo Screen

In here, you can:

  • Rename the video
  • Grant additional permissions (note that whoever attended the meeting has access by default).
  • Choose a thumbnail image
  • Make the video public:
    • Note: Meetings default to private, but you may have to double check this privacy setting when uploading your own videos to Stream
  • And more…

Channel Options

In addition to sharing individual Stream videos, you may find that you need to share a group of videos with your Team. This is where creating a Channel will come in handy.

  1. While you are logged into Stream in O365, in the ribbon, Select My Content, and Channels.

My Content dropdwon, Channels

2. Select Create a New Channel.

3. In the popup, give your channel a name and a description. Next to Select group, type in the name of your Team. Press the spyglass to find your Team. In this screen, Team and Group are the same thing.

Create a Channel Screen

Note: if your Team is brand new, it may take some time to appear in Stream as a group option.

Add videos to your channel

To add videos to your channel, look at the options to the right of your videos, click  on the square with a + sign (see below).

Add to channel button

  1. In the popup that appears, select Channels from the dropdown.

Dropdown, select channel

2. Search for your channel and select it from the list.

Search for channel name

You can add any video from your Stream to your channel by following this process.

Channel Sharing Options

One more thing before we leave Stream and return to Teams. When you are in Channel view, notice the ellipses (…) next to the channel name. Click on this to see the Share option.

Ellipses, share

Just like when you generate a link for an individual video via share, you can also generate a link for an entire channel. Click copy to grab this link for use in the next step.

link with copy button

Creating a Stream Tab in Teams

Let’s return back to Teams for a bit. You have seen how you can generate a link with either a video or a channel. And you could share these links as… well… links. But this would require people to log in with their WSU accounts every time they want to access the videos. Here is a cool thing you can do in your Team itself.

  1. Go to the Teams module and select your Team. Create a tab with the + sign at the upper right.

+ sign to create tab

2. Select Stream.Stream Icon

4. Paste in the link for your channel. Press Save.   Link pasted, press save

Now your Team can access any videos you put into this channel by simply accessing this tab in Teams. So cool!

Channel appearing as a tab in Teams

As you add more videos to this channel, this will populate automatically.

Thoughts?

What do you think, will you set up a Stream tab in Teams for your Team? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Carolyn (Kay) Officer

 

 

Word: 5 Things You Should Know About Hyperlinks

Have you ever created a hyperlink in a Word document? For the most part, this is a fairly straightforward process. That said, there are a few hidden gems in the hyperlink options that you may not have explored. Let’s check it out.

Place in This Document tab

Applying a Link

A quick review: to create a hyperlink in a Microsoft Office program, start by selecting the word(s) where you would like to apply the link, and then either…

Right click and select Link (or Hyperlink):

Right click menu, link selected

… or remember that one of my favorite shortcuts for accessing this hyperlink popup is Ctrl + K. This shortcut works in a wide variety of programs, so it is worth memorizing!

You will arrive at this familiar screen…

Text selected: Insert Hyperlink menu displayed

It is this Insert Hyperlink popup screen that I would like to explore with you today.

1. File or Webpage

In the Insert Hyperlink screen, the most common goal is to link to a webpage, so conveniently that is the default view.

Webpage

To link to a webpage, paste the webpage address into the Address field and click OK.

Web address pasted into menu bar

File

A lesser known option in this default view is the ability to link your words to a file.

Note that, in the box above where you paste your hyperlink, you can instead select folders and files from your list and the address will populate  a location of the file.

Link to file locations

After you create this type of link, clicking on the link will open the file you selected. How cool!

Be cautious with this option. If your goal is to send this document to others, the link may not behave correctly if they don’t have access to the file location.

2. Place in this Document

On the left side of the Insert Hyperlink page, notice that there are additional tabs. Here you have options beyond a simple web address or file location.

The first one I want to show you is my favorite: Place in This Document. There is so much you can do with this powerful tool.

Place in This Document tab

Glancing at this tab doesn’t always tell you what you need to know, however. Here are the basics:

Location Options

You have several choices for linking to a Place in This Document.

Top of the Document

One option you will always have is a Top of Document option.

Place in this Document OptionsThis is very handy for “Back to Top” links for ease of navigation in long documents.

Back to Top link

Headings

Another wonderful way to navigate is by utilizing Styles. If you would like to learn more about Styles, I hope to see you at a Word Essentials training, where we cover Styles in great detail!

Styles in the Home Tab

If you would like to utilize Styles to link to a location in your document:

1. Use Styles to apply Headings to your document.

2. Revisit your Insert Hyperlink options

3. Look under the  Headings section of the Place in This Document tab.

Headings with Headers applied to a couple sections

This is extremely helpful if you are referencing different locations within a large file and would like your readers to be able to easily skip ahead or back to specific sections.

Section 2 link created from Headers

One caveat… sometimes if you have heavily modified a header (also discussed in Word Essentials), you may find that it does not appear in the Headings list. This is where the next trick comes in handy…

Bookmarks

In addition to utilizing Headers, you can bookmark any location within your document and link back to this location with a hyperlink.

1. Place your cursor where you would like to insert the bookmark.

2. Go to the Insert tab, Links group, and select Bookmark.

Insert tab, bookmark

3. In the popup that appears, name your bookmark (no spaces may be used), and press Add.

Bookmark popup screen

4. Revisit the Insert Hyperlink popup and select the bookmark from the Bookmarks section to create a link to the location.

Bookmarks in Insert Hyperlink popup

3. Create New Document

The next option on the left is Create New Document.

Create New Document Prompt

If you select this option, the link will create a New Word file in your Documents Folder. You have further choices to name this document, and choose whether the link will prompt you to edit the document now or later.

Note: As with the File example, people would need access to the path (save location) for this link to work.

4. Generate an Email

Email Address is the last tab on the left side of the Insert Hyperlink popup. Select this option and enter an email address and subject line.

Email Address tab with email address and subject line created

When you create a link with this setting, clicking on the link will open Outlook, or the user’s default mail program, and create a new email to the specified address, with the specified subject line.

Email created in Outlook

5. Target Frame Options

We have talked in detail about the tabs on the left of the Insert Hyperlink popup, but there is one item on the right that I want to mention: Target Frame. In other words, how would you like your link to behave as it opens?

Target frame on right side of Insert Hyperlink screen

This option is something you will likely care more about if your end goal is to publish this document online somewhere; exporting it as html or PDF, or utilizing cloud services to publish and share a document to be opened in browser.

The most common selection I see people utilize in this screen is New Window, for when you want the original document to remain on its own tab when your readers click on the link, while the linked content will open in a new browser tab.

Frame options

Thoughts?

What do you think, does this open up some new possibilities for utilizing hyperlinks in your document? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • David Gomez
  • LaDawna Hobkirk
  • Judi McBroom
  • Amy Smith
  • Brittany Ulmer
  • Carrie Wyatt

Teams: New Meeting Experience

If you have attended Teams Essentials training, you may remember when we talked about where to visit to see the latest updates in Teams. This software is evolving so quickly, many of you notice new features every time you log in! Here is one I didn’t want you to miss: the New Meeting Experience.

Dropdown options, different views, as described

The Old Meeting Experience

If you have already been meeting in Teams, you are used to a view that looks something like the image below.

Features and controls can be accessed by hovering your mouse in the center of the Teams screen and selecting from a menu that appears in the center.

Old layout

Also, perhaps somewhat frustratingly, the old meeting view opens up within your Teams program. Navigating within Teams during the meeting shrinks down the meeting view to a small square in the corner of the Teams screen. Many were not crazy about this tiny screen.

The New Meeting Experience

There is a lot to be excited  about with this new meeting view. Here is a run down:

Popped Out View

Perhaps what I am most excited about is the new meeting view is a popped out view! Yes, meetings are in a new screen entirely. This leaves the rest of your Teams application free for easy navigation, while still maximizing the size of your meeting screen.

Popped out view

Menu Changes

The Menu has moved from the center to the upper right, where you will find all your favorite options from the old meeting view…

Menu in upper right

…plus some new ways to view participants, like large gallery and together view (greyed out here, but will activate with participants):

Dropdown options, different views, as described

End Meeting

If you are the creator of a meeting, you now have the ability to either leave your meeting or end the meeting for everyone. This will prevent people from staying after you have left the meeting. Several faculty have wanted to know about this one for classes held in Teams!

Leave and end meeting options

How to Activate the New Meeting Experience

Do you want to try out this new meeting experience? First, be sure you are in the desktop application of Teams (not in browser).

1. Click on your bio pic or initials at the upper right of the screen. Select Settings.

Upper right, click on initials, select Settings

2. Stay on the general section, and scroll down until you see a series of checkboxes. Check the box next to “Turn on new meeting experience…”

Scroll down to option to turn on new meeting experience, check box

3. Restart Teams. This means completely quitting the program, which you may not do very often. To do this, right click on the Teams icon at the bottom of your screen and select Quit.

Right click on Teams icon and select Quit

4. Reopen Teams and enjoy your new meeting experience. Maybe even have a test meeting or two…

Thoughts?

Are you going to try out this new meeting view? I would love to hear what you think. I would also love to see you at Teams Essentials training!  Please check myTraining for a list of times. All sessions are currently being held remotely.

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Candace Bolinger
  • Ashley Cervantes
  • Kyle Garwood
  • Jennifer Snyder
  • Andrea Wilson

PowerPoint: Morph Transition (plus video!)

Have you noticed a new transition in PowerPoint? It is hard to miss, since it is right at the front of the list. This new transition is called Morph, and it is pretty spectacular. That being said, it takes a little bit of tinkering to make it work correctly. Let’s take a look at how this works.

Morph Transition

Video

You can get a much better idea of how the Morph transition looks by seeing it in action. To this end, I made a video for you today… but I also included some more instructions below, so do read on when you are done watching!

Morph Transition

I hope you enjoyed seeing Morph in action in the video above. Here is a quick recap of some of the basics.

The Morph Transition is one of the first transitions listed in the updated  Transitions tab in PowerPoint (Office 365).

Morph Transition

Simply applying this transition to a slide, however, is often a deflating experience. If not set up correctly, Morph looks very similar to the Fade transition.

How to Set up a Transition

Luckily, Microsoft has included some handy instructions for successfully setting up the Morph transition. Hover your mouse over Morph for details:

Transitions Tab, Morph Instructions

To quote Microsoft:

  1. Duplicate a slide
  2. Move things around
  3. Apply the Morph Transition

Basically, Morph works the best when two slides are very similar, but contain some minor differences. These instructions are a great way to ensure that this is the case.

More Options: Working with Text

Working with text? You may need one more step… after you select the Morph transition, look to the right for Effect Options.

Effect Options

Try Words or Characters if you are working with a slide that is text, rather than objects. One of my very favorites is the Characters option:

WIchita Facts Slide Morphed by Character

Objects and Morph

In the video, I showed you a couple ways to incorporate different objects with the Morph transition. For instance, try using Shapes, and modifying them slightly in your “morphed” slide.

Weather Alerts Slide, morphed

SmartArt is another favorite with Morph. Just remember for best results to follow Microsoft’s recommendations: duplicate a slide, make some changes to the second slide, and then apply the Morph transition.

Colleges slide, morphed

You will have to let me know what sort of creative Morph ideas you come up with in your presentations!

Thoughts?

What do you think of the Morph transition? Did you notice this new transition in PowerPoint? Has this post inspired you to give it a try? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Suzanne Hawley
  • Amy Solano

Teams: Notify Me When a Coworker is Available (or Offline)

With so many of our coworkers working remotely, it can become challenging to know who is really “here” and who has “left” at a given time. After all, we can’t exactly wave hello or goodbye as they walk past our desk! In lieu of these familiar “in person” notifications, here is a quick way to be notified virtually via Teams.

James Kirk is now available banner

Teams Settings

In the upper right of your Teams screen is either your image (at WSU this is imported from Outlook), or your initials. Click on this circle to access a variety of options. We are selecting Settings for this one.

Imae in upper right, setting option

Notifications

1. On the left side of the Settings screen, select Notifications.

2. Scroll all the way to the bottom under the header Status. Select Manage Notifications.

On left, notifications, at bottom status, Manage Notifications

3. In the search bar, Search for the person for whom you would like to be notified.

      • Quick Note: when searching for people in Teams, try searching by the wording in front of the @ symbol in their email address; e.g. firstname.lastname for faculty/staff, and initials lastname for students.

Add person to notifications

4. Select your person from the dropdown list. They will now appear in a list under Manage Status Notifications.

    • At any time you can revisit this setting and select Turn Off to stop receiving notifications.

Person in notifications, option to "turn off" notifications for them

Notification Banners

That is all there is to it! Now you will be notified when this person becomes available…

James Kirk is now available banner

And when they go offline…

James Kirk is now offline

Pretty cool!

Teams Essentials Training

Are you interested in learning more about Teams? I would love to see you in one of my remote Teams Essentials trainings! Sessions are listed in myTraining. There will always be a listing or two of this session, so if you don’t see a time that works for you, not to worry, simply select Notify me of new sessions to receive an an email when a new session is listed.

Notify me of new sessions link

Thoughts?

What do you think, will you activate notifications for any of your Teams contacts? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Lora Lea Pickering
  • Mikayla Irish
  • Kelly Eden

PowerPoint: All About Audio

What happens when you insert audio into your PowerPoint presentation? For many, the little audio button that appears in the slide is a source of some confusion. What are you supposed to do with that button? Do you always need to press play during your presentation? What if you want audio to play across slides? Let’s explore some of PowerPoint’s audio options that are not readily apparent.

Audio Play button

Inserting Audio

Like visual elements, audio elements also live on the Insert tab in the ribbon.

1. Go to the Insert tab, Media group, and select the dropdown for Audio.

Insert tab, Media group, Audio dropdown

2. There are a couple options here, allowing you to browse for an existing mp3 file, or record your own audio.

Audio dropdown, audio on my pc and record audio options

  • Remember that if you are recording your own audio, you will need a computer with a functioning microphone.

3. Once Audio is selected or recorded, PowerPoint throws an audio button in the center of the slide…

Audio button in center of slide

This button can be moved around if desired.

audio button moved

Audio: During the Presentation

The default audio setting has this button appearing during a presentation, but we will explore how to make an adjustment if that is not what you were hoping…

Audio button in lower right of screen

Since no defaults have been changed so far, if we start this presentation, the presenter will either need to trigger the action with their clicker, or press the  Play button on top of the audio button with a mouse.

Playback Contextual Tab

Like so many contextual tabs, the Playback contextual tab that comes along with Audio in PowerPoint is often ignored, but there are so many amazing adjustments that can be made back here! Let’s check it out.

1. Be sure that you have Selected the audio button to trigger the appearance of the Playback contextual tab on the right side of the ribbon.

2. Select the Playback tab. Take a look at the Start dropdown in the Audio Options group. This will allow you to set audio to start automatically, rather than in a click sequence.

Playback contextual tab, start dropdown

3. The Audio Options group contains some additional settings that may interest you. Do you want to hide that audio button during a presentation? Have audio play across slides? There are checkboxes for these popularly requested settings, and more.

Playback tab, audio options group

4. Some popular preset settings are also available to the right of Audio Options group, in the Audio Styles group. Do you want audio to play in the background? Select this button, and some check boxes in Audio Options will be selected for you. With this setting, your audio will:

  • Play across slides
  • Loop until stopped
  • The audio button will be hidden during the presentation

Audio styles group makes changes to audio options

Thoughts?

What do you think, do these tips help you as you are working with audio in your PowerPoint presentations? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

Excel: Create Stunning Map Charts with Geography Data Types

Here is a question that has been particularly popular recently. How do you create a map charting figures by county, city or zip code in Excel? There are a variety of ways to tackle this question, but today I want to show you how to use data types in conjunction with the map chart type to create a chart by county in Excel.

County populations displayed on a map

This Byte is inspired by two different faculty members who emailed me with this question… you know who you are, and thank you for the inspiration!

Starting Place: The List

Your starting place should include clearly named locations and associated figures. In my case, I picked a few Kansas counties (sorry if I left out yours!), and their populations.  The numbers could have been any figure you are tracking, of course.

List of counties and populations

Step One: Convert to Geography Data Type

The first step is to make sure Excel can identify the locations listed in your document. This can be an optional step, but skipping it may mean that Excel can’t identify one or more of your locations and the map therefore won’t cooperate, so best practice is to start here.

1. Select the data to be identified (counties, in this case).

2. Go to the Data tab, Data Types group and select Geography.

Insert tab, data types group, Geography

3. Excel will attempt to identify the locations. If all goes well, a little map icon will appear to the left of the county name.

Locations identified, signified by a map icon on the left of county names

By the way, notice the little box at the upper right of your selection. Click on this to extract other pertinent information about your location. This is not part of your chart, but a cool trick in Excel worth mentioning.

Additional information about counties can be extracted at upper right

Here are a few extracted fields, so you can see how they look: image, largest city, area. Notice how Excel creates a new column for each one.

Information extracted, as described above

Here is a bit of inspiration: imagine that you have a list of zip codes and figures and you need to create a map by county. Simply convert the zip codes to geography data types, extract county, and off you go. Pretty handy, right?

Step 2: Create a Chart & Customize

Now that Excel has identified our data, we are ready to create a chart.

  1. Select the data to be charted. In this case, county and population columns.
  2. Go to the Insert tab, Charts Group
  3. Select the Map dropdown, Filled Map option.

Insert tab, charts group, Maps dropdown, filled map option

4. Excel will create a map with your data. If you don’t care for the default colors and appearance, don’t forget you can customize all your charts with the contextual Chart Design tab in the ribbon.

Contextual chart design tab

Shameless Training Plugs:  If you would like to learn more about the Chart Design contextual tab, please attend one of my Excel Pivot Tables, Charts and Pictures sessions (now offered remotely). Also, don’t forget you can easily change your theme colors on the Page Layout Tab in the ribbon. We cover this one in Excel Essentials if you are interested in learning more.

It may take a few tries to get a map you are happy with. Don’t be discouraged! The results are fantastic.

Kansas county by population map chart

One More Word on Geography Data Types

In the example above we mapped by county, but you may find yourself needing to map by zip code, state, country… the Geography data types can recognize all of these and more. Experiment with this powerful tool and you may be surprised what you find.

Thoughts?

What do you think, do you have any geographic data that is calling out for a better visualization? I can’t wait to hear how you use this feature!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Debbie Neill
  • Kelsey Unruh

Word: Convert Text to Table, or Table to Text… in 3 Clicks

There are a variety of reasons you may need to move text into (or out of) a table in Word. Sometimes you inherited a document with an odd layout, or you exported from another source, and  for whatever reason the text just looks odd. You could insert a table and copy and paste for half an hour, or you could do this little trick.

 

Comma delimited list transformed into a table

Starting Place: Comma (or Tab) Delimited Values

In my case, my starting values are separated by commas. This is common for a lot of text exported from other sources. But you may also run into documents that export with other delimiters, like tabs, paragraphs, semi colons, etc. Those can all be addressed.

Comma delimited list

Convert Text to Table

I am going to use the example of the comma separated values above.

1. Highlight the block of text.

2. Go to the Insert tab and select the Table dropdown. Select Convert Text to Table…

Insert tab, Table dropdown, Convert Text to Table

3. Word will guess the delimiter. In my case, Word has caught on that the values are separated by commas. Note you could change the delimiter under the Separate text at section, if Word does not pick up on it automatically.

COnvert Text to Table menu

4. Press OK and a simple table will be created with the text values you highlighted.

Simple table

Don’t forget… you have a lot of options for styles and formatting in the Table Design and Layout tabs.

Make sure you have clicked onto your table for these to appear, as they are contextual tabs.

Table Design and Layout contextual tabs

I always go for green for some reason…Table with green formatting

Convert Table to Text

Sometimes the inverse is true… you have inherited a document with a table and you need it to be converted to text. This can happen when you are trying to meet accessibility standards, or when an old table formatting just doesn’t behave well in modern versions of Office.

1. Click into your table to activate the Table Design and Layout contextual tabs.

2. Select the Layout contextual tab.

3. In the Data group, select Convert to Text.

Layout tab, data group, Convert to text button

4. You will have the option to choose how to separate your text at the existing cells. I chose Tabs for mine, but I may sometimes select Commas when I want to export as a comma separated value (CSV) file.

Convert table menu

5. The table is now a list of tab separated values, ready for you to work with outside of table formatting.List of tab separated values

Thoughts?

What do you think, will this save you some headaches in your Word documents? I would love to hear from you!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Power Users! For the full gallery, and more information about the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

  • Denise Gimlin
  • Kelly Gurik
  • Debra Haslam
  • Alma Hidalgo
  • Angie Myrtle
  • Denise Northup
  • Tisha Whitehead

PowerPoint Feature Showcase Live Recording: Academic Resources Conference

Did you miss the PowerPoint Feature Showcase at the Academic Resources Conference on Wednesday? No problem… the session was recorded! This quick conference presentation is packed with power, showing off some new features and revealing some secrets you might now have known about this program.

Check out the recording from the live virtual event below. For the guide and exercises, please visit wichita.edu/arcms.