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Category: Office 365

Microsoft’s Create Platform offers customizable templates for various Microsoft 365 apps

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

Microsoft Create offers an extensive variety of templates beyond the default options available within Microsoft’s applications. Whether creating a presentation, planning a project, or working on documentation, the Microsoft Create platform offers professionally designed customizable templates to meet your needs. There are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Loop templates, and more.

Note: The Designer and Clipchamp apps aren’t currently available at K-State. However, you can access them for free using a personal Microsoft account.

Don’t worry if you don’t have design expertise. Microsoft Create is designed to be user-friendly, allowing you to easily create professional-looking content. Simply explore the templates and get started. Using these templates will not only enhance your levels of efficiency, creativity, and collaboration but also make your work look polished and professional.

If you have any questions about Microsoft Create, submit them to the KSU Teams Support channel.

Exploring the OneDrive homepage

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

The OneDrive homepage isn’t just for simple file access; it’s a central hub for efficiently managing your files across Microsoft 365, regardless of their source. Think of it as a one-stop shop for all of your files. Plus, you can easily access OneDrive within Outlook and Teams (left navigation pane), streamlining your file management process.

Homepage LayoutMicrosoft New Homepage Layout

The homepage features:

  1. Add New: add new documents/folders or upload existing documents/folders.
  2. Left navigation pane: various ways to browse your files.
  3. For you: file recommendations designed just for you.
  4. Recent: recent files where you can view all files or filter by application or person.

Continue reading “Exploring the OneDrive homepage” →

Software available to students, faculty, and staff

Posted on by Christine Doucette

K-State provides free and for-purchase software products to students, faculty, and staff. The goal is to make resources available to the K-State community to provide the necessary tools to reach academic, research, and work goals.

Microsoft 365 is one of the most popular resources at K-State. The free office collaboration suite includes tools like email, calendar, applications, and file storage space. You can access the suite from your desktop, web browser, or phone. To learn more, view the Microsoft 365 webpage.

All active K-State faculty and staff will have free Adobe Creative Cloud license access. Managers may request a license for their student employees if the Adobe Creative Clouds apps are required for their job functions. To request a license, complete the Adobe order form.

The Adobe Creative Cloud, including Acrobat Pro DC, is a set of over 20 applications and services that allows access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, mobile applications, and some optional cloud services. You can download individual apps or the entire suite. View the Downloading Adobe Creative Cloud Suite knowledge base article to learn more.

Many other application licenses are free or can be purchased through K-State. Restrictions apply to some of the software. To learn more, view the Application Licenses webpage.

Welcome to Fall 2023!

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

Welcome to the fall semester!Explore the free resources and services offered by the Division of Information Technology to kickstart your semester!

  • Get a free copy of Microsoft Office for personal use on up to 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets, and 5 phones. See the installation instructions for Mac, Windows, and mobile devices.
  • Use Microsoft 365 – an office collaboration suite that includes tools such as email, calendar, office applications, file storage space, and more. You can access the suite from your desktop, web browser, or phone.
  • Connect your mobile devices to K-State’s wireless network.
  • Get antivirus – K-Staters connecting their computers to the Kansas State University network can use the approved antivirus software of their choice or choose from the list of recommended software.
  • Use the Qualtrics survey system. Faculty/staff and authorized students can use the Qualtrics Survey System. Qualtrics is a comprehensive survey tool with more than 90 question types, simplified reporting tools, online training modules, a library of surveys to peruse, and more.
  • Use Zoom (video and audio conferencing) to meet virtually.
    Use Zoom to set up an online staff meeting, a training session, a class group meeting, beam in a speaker, and more. See the Using Zoom guide to get started.
  • Remote access to software – Remote access to software in the K-State computer labs allows students to use specialized software and avoid having to purchase themselves. Popular software includes SAS, SPSS, Mathematica, and Matlab. Unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud is not available for remote access. To see a list of all software available in the computing labs, visit the Software in the Computing Labs page. To learn how to access the software, visit the Remote Access page.
  • Get IT Help

More IT resources for K-Staters are on the Welcome to IT at K-State website.

Make your Excel data stand out by using conditional formatting in Excel

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

How to do conditional formatting in ExcelExcel is a powerful tool for managing and analyzing data. Conditional formatting allows you to apply formatting to cells based on specific conditions. This can help you identify important information in your spreadsheet and make your data more visually appealing.

How to apply apply formatting

  1. Select the cells you want to apply the formatting to.
  2. On the Home tab, click the Conditional Formatting menu.
  3. Choose a conditional formatting option, such as Highlight Cell Rules, Top/Bottom Rules, Data Bars, Color Scales, or Icon Sets.
  4. Customize the formatting options to suit your needs, such as choosing the color and font style for the highlighted cells.
  5. If necessary, add multiple conditional formatting rules to a range of cells.
  6. Apply the formatting to the selected cells by clicking the OK button.

Note:

  • Highlight Cell Rules: allows you to highlight cells based on their value. .
  • Top/Bottom Rules: allows you to highlight the top or bottom values in a range of cells.
  • Data Bars: allows you to add a data bar to each cell in a range, which visually represents the cell’s value.
  • Color Scales: allows you to apply a color scale to a range of cells, which will change the color of each cell based on its value.
  • Icon Sets: allows you to add icons to a range of cells, which represent the cell’s value.

For more information on conditional formatting, see Microsoft’s Use Conditional formatting to highlight information article.

Getting ready for a presentation?

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

Speaker Coach recording screenDid you know you can practice rehearsing your PowerPoint presentations within PowerPoint by using the Speak Coach feature?

Speaker Coach evaluates your pacing, pitch, your use of filler words, informal speech, euphemisms, and culturally sensitive terms, and it detects when you’re being overly wordy or are simply reading the text on a slide.

After each rehearsal, you get a report that includes statistics and suggestions for improvements.

Get started

  1. Open your presentation in PowerPoint for the web.
  2. On the Slide Show tab, select Rehearse with Coach.
    Note: If you don’t have a     Slide Show tab, use the View tab to start Speaker Coach. The presentation opens in a full-screen view, similar to Slide Show.
  3. Select Start Rehearsing in the lower-right corner of your screen when you are ready to begin rehearsing.
  4. As you speak, Coach gives on-screen guidance (in the lower-right corner of the window) about pacing, inclusive language, use of profanity, filler words, and whether you’re reading the slide text.
  5. When you’re through, exit the full-screen view. Coach opens a Rehearsal Report that summarizes what it observed and offers recommendations.

Streamline your email inbox with Outlook’s rules

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

Microsoft Outlook logoNeed to get control of your email inbox? Consider using rules in Outlook. There are several reasons why you may want to use rules in Outlook:

  1. Organize your inbox: Rules can help you automatically sort your incoming emails into specific folders based on criteria such as sender, subject, or keywords. This can help you keep your inbox organized, reduce clutter, and save time.
  2. Prioritize emails: You can create rules to automatically highlight or flag emails from specific senders or with certain keywords. This can help you prioritize your emails and ensure that important messages are not missed.
  3. Save time: Rules can help automate certain actions, such as moving emails to specific folders or deleting messages. This can save you time and make managing your inbox more efficient.
  4. Reduce distractions: You can create rules to automatically move emails from particular senders or with specific keywords to a separate folder, allowing you to focus on more important messages without being distracted by less important ones.
  5. Increase productivity: By automating specific tasks and reducing distractions, rules can help increase your overall productivity and efficiency when working with email in Outlook.

Continue reading “Streamline your email inbox with Outlook’s rules” →

Manage group emails with a shared mailbox

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

""Do you have a group that needs to manage a shared mailbox? A shared account allows several K-Staters, such as a college or department staff, to share a single K-State email account, which includes email, calendar, contacts, and more.

Some benefits of using Shared Mailboxes include the following:

  • Centralized communication: By having a single email account that multiple people can access, you can streamline communication.
  • Reduced workload: Rather than having one person responsible for managing a specific email account, multiple people can share the workload and respond to emails as needed.
  • No password to remember: Users sign in with their own eID and password.

To get a shared account, faculty and staff must submit the Shared account request form (eID sign-in required).

Continue reading “Manage group emails with a shared mailbox” →

Schedule chat messages in Microsoft Teams

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez
Do you need to send a chat message, but it isn’t the ideal time? Use the Send at Scheduled Time feature.

Schedule a chat
Schedule a chat

  1. Create your message in chat.
  2. Right-click the Send button.
  3. Select the date and time you want the message to be sent.
  4. Click the Send at Scheduled Time button.
  5. Click Send.

The message will automatically be sent at the time/date you specified.

Edit scheduled chat

  1. Open the scheduled chat.
  2. Click the three dots in the upper-right corner of the message and click the Edit button.
  3. Edit your message and adjust the date and time if needed.
  4. Click the Check Mark button to save the message.

Delete scheduled chat

  1. Open the scheduled chat.
  2. Click the three dots in the upper-right corner of the message and click the Delete button.

If you have any questions about Microsoft Teams, join the KSU Teams Support team.

Make your Outlook messages and Team chats interactive with Microsoft Loop components

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

Utilizing Loop components can make collaboration in Outlook email, and Microsoft Teams chats more time-efficient. With Loop components, collaboration can be done seamlessly within the thread, and any changes can be instantly seen. In addition, each team member can easily edit the Loop component by simply clicking on it, eliminating the need for tedious back-and-forth emails or chats.

How to access Loop?""

  1. Start an email or chat as usual, then click the Loop button on the toolbar.
  2. Select the Loop component you want to use.Note: The Loop component is saved automatically, so you can instantly start collaborating.

What types of Loop components are available?

  • Bulleted list
  • Checklist
  • Numbered list
  • Paragraph
  • Table
  • Task List

Use it for brainstorming, co-authoring, managing tasks, and more. If you have any questions, join the KSU Teams Support channel.