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TO ASK A QUESTION: If you have a question or need help with Office, please feel free to use the 'Click to Contact' link at the bottom of this page. You'll get a form that you can use to email a question to me. (I had been getting a ton of spam when accepting direct emails, so only emails that use this form will get through to me.)

Please be sure to mention the version of Office you are using when you send your question.

I answer all e-mails that I receive via this form, as long as they are polite :)

Since disabling comments on this site, I'm actually hearing from more of you with questions ... so, as it seems people prefer to email rather than comment, I'm going to leave comments disabled. As always, you can ask me any Office-related questions you have. If the question is outside of my expertise, I'll try to direct you to where you can get an answer.

Follow-up post for yesterday's extensibility webcast

September 30, 2009

Hi, folks! Thanks to everyone who took the time to attend yesterday's webcast on extending Office using VBA and OOXML.

This post, I'm afraid, is a bit of a copout ... I'm running a bit behind on some deadlines and won't be able to get the promised resources posted for you until tomorrow or Friday latest. Please bear with me ...

That also goes for folks who have emailed questions in the last couple of days. I'm not ignoring you - I'm just swamped. I'll try to answer all questions by end of the week!

(If there are resources you don't want to wait for - point to help with Office in the left nav on this site - all of the articles I referred to are in my articles list, and the free, basic OOXML courses are under the tutorials link.)

Thanks for your understanding everyone - and happy Wednesday!

Posted by Stephanie at 03:53 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Webcast today! Office extensibility for power users

September 29, 2009

Hi, everyone! Please join me today at 11a Pacific, 2p Eastern, 7pm UK time, etc ... for a 1 hour webcast on extending Office 2007 with Open XML and VBA.

(and, by the way, if you're already using the Office 2010 Tech Preview - everything I'll show you today applies there as well)

It's more of an intro\overview than a how-to ... so if you've been curious about what you can do with your Office documents if you venture out of the UI - this is the place to be!

Here's the registration link: Extend the 2007 Microsoft Office System

Look forwward to seeing you there! Meanwhile - happy Tuesday everybody!

Posted by Stephanie at 08:49 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Follow-up on themes webcast

September 17, 2009

Hi, everyone! Thanks to everybody who took the time to attend Tuesday's webcast on customizing themes. My apologies for the belated follow-up (I'd said I would post this by Tuesday night ... so sorry to those who were waiting for it. Work schedule got the better of me for a couple of days.)

If you wanted to attend that session but didn't get the chance, here's the link to the recording of the session.

Creating custom themes with the 2007 Office system

Following are the resources promised during that event:

Get the Open XML Theme Builder beta

Remember that, on the Help menu of the Theme Builder - you'll find a themes creation guide (includes detailed guidance for using the theme builder) from the PowerPoint team and the Themes SDK that I wrote, which provides detailed guidance, best practices, and troubleshooting for creating custom themes (including the font lists mentioned during the webcast).

Articles for creating custom themes and customizing formatting effects using Open XML:

Using Office Open XML to Customize Document Formatting in the 2007 Office System

Getting More from Document Themes in the 2007 Office System with Office Open XML (if you're new to themes and Open XML, read this article before the one below)

Creating document themes with the Office Open XML Formats

Office Online Training courses for learning the very basics of how to work with Open XML:

Open XML I: Exploring the Open XML File Formats

Open XML II: Editing documents in the XML

Book excerpt - intro to the Open XML primer from my Office 2007 book:

Chapter 22: Office Open XML Essentials (partial chapter excerpt)

...and if you want to see demos of some examples of what you, as advanced users, can do to extend the Office programs - customizing content, troubleshooting, saving time - using both Open XML and VBA, join me for my next Webcast on Sept. 29th ...

Extend the 2007 Office system

Finally - if you have a question that came up after the event and you can't find it via these resources, feel free to use the Click to Contact link at the bottom of this page and send it to me directly.

Hope to see you on the 29th!

Meanwhile, happy Thursday everybody!

Posted by Stephanie at 10:07 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Themes webcast today!

September 15, 2009

Hi, folks! Just a reminder to join me if you can today at 11a Pacific, 2p Eastern, etc ... for a live webcast on creating custom document themes.

Here's the scoop ... hope to see you there!

Creating custom themes with the 2007 Office system

Posted by Stephanie at 12:32 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

An off-topic post about a very cool lady

September 06, 2009

Well, every once in awhile, I need to remember the fellow for whom this blog is named. So, today, I want to share a link to a blog by a lady whom I think would have impressed Msr. de Voltaire.

My sister is the mother of two bright and wonderful teenage boys with Asperger's syndrome. She's done volunteer work for years to help others in difficult situations. But, recently, she decided to go online and share her experiences in order to help others who are raising children with similar challenges. Personally, I think it takes a lot of courage to share yourself so honestly - and I think she's amazing.

Please check out what she has to say: http://asd2mom.spaces.live.com/

Happy Sunday everybody!

Posted by Stephanie at 04:57 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)