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NewsForge presents free OpenOffice.org training videos

November 12, 2005 (8:00:00 AM)  -  4 years ago

By: NewsForge Staff

Massachusetts is trying to convert all computerized state documents to the open document format (odt). We think this is a fine idea. One concern that's been expressed about this move (at least by Microsoft) is that training employees to use OpenOffice.org 2.0 or other software that uses non-proprietary file formats (in place of Microsoft Office) will be time-consuming and costly. But what if basic OpenOffice.org training materials were available online for free? As a public service for Commonwealth of  Massachusetts employees (and everyone else), NewsForge is presenting -- absolutely free of charge -- 11 OpenOffice.org training videos as part of this article. They're excerpts from the video CD that comes with NewsForge Editor-in-Chief Robin 'Roblimo' Miller's upcoming book, Point & Click OpenOffice.org!, which will be available in December from all major booksellers. But we wanted you to have access to these videos now instead of waiting until the book is available, so here they are.

About the Point & Click OpenOffice.org! videos

They're released under a Creative Commons license, and will play in any operating system, in any Web browser that has the Flash plugin (version 6 or higher) installed. They were made primarily for Windows users, with the Windows version of OpenOffice.org, but things work pretty much the same in Linux, so they're just as valuable for Linux users. (Our favorite derivative of OpenOffice.org for Mac, NeoOffice, lags behind the "main" version, but even so, you'll find that things work pretty much the same way.)  

Do not worry if you are not a word processing, spreadsheet, graphics or slideshow expert. These videos walk you through basic OpenOffice.org functions one step at a time. And
each video has a little player control bar beneath it you can use to pause, stop, fast-forward or rewind the video. If you miss a step, no problem; just back up and look at it again. No one is timing or grading you. Take as long as you need to learn each step -- and feel free to follow along in your own copy of OpenOffice.org and experiment as much as you like. It's a robust program. You won't break it if you make a mistake.

The minimum browser window size for playing the Point & Click OpenOffice.org! videos with maximum clarity is 800X624 pixels. You may want to expand your browser window to "full screen" size to make sure its main window is this large before you start clicking on the video links.  

To get back to this menu page when you're done viewing one of the videos, use your browser's "Back" button. Then click on the next video you want to view, then come back again, and so on.

Enjoy!

The NewsForge Point & Click OpenOffice.org! Video Menu

Installing OpenOffice.org

Creating and formatting text documents

Adding graphics to a text document

Saving in various file formats

Previewing and printing

Making a spreadsheet

Calculating values in a spreadsheet

Basic drawing functions

Manipulating images

Make a slide presentation in a hurry

Adding pictures to slide presentations


Read in the original layout at: http://www.linux.com/archive/articles/49693