IT Tips - March 2014

IT Tips – March 2014

It’s March. It’s still cold.

What’s Inside:

Tech Section

·         Sticky Notes Redux: An Accessible Company Phone Directory

·         Restore Windows 7 Explorer Favorites

Kudos

·         Thank you Patricio!

An Accessible Company Phone Directory

The Sticky notes tip was much more popular than I anticipated. Like a production company beating a movie franchise to death (how did they manage to ruin The Matrix!?), I’m going to milk the Sticky Notes application for all it’s worth!

This tip is a little more advanced than simply pinning and running the Sticky Notes application. We’ll have to do a little manipulation this time which may entail some simple trial and error. It’s not difficult, but you have been warned!

I liked the Matrix sequels more than the original (said no one ever)! Get on with the tip!

Fair enough.

Do you usually print out Angie’s company phone directory? Have you been straining your neck to look at the printed paper every time you need to call someone? Your poor thing. Ok, maybe it’s not that hard to look at the list… Regardless, there is a better way!

Now that we’ve learned how to create sticky notes, there is an incredibly cool way to utilize them. When Angie sends her most recent phone list, you can copy and paste it onto a sticky note. This enables you to see the company directory by just clicking on your Sticky Notes! That means no more neck-straining head-turning. I almost forgot, you’ll save paper too!

First, you’ll need to adjust the column sizes a bit. Manipulate them just as I do here:

A written guide of the manipulation steps:

·         Change all of the “Dept” and “Ext.” columns so they're at least 5px wide.

·         Change the second and third "Name (first last)" columns to at least 31px wide.

·         Finally, change the last "Ext." column to at least 15px wide.

Next, select only the contents of the Excel sheet (don’t grab any extra cells). Then copy and paste your manipulated phone directory into a sticky note!  

 

  













That’s pretty much all there is to it!

The manipulated phone directory should fit perfectly. However, you may find that the columns look funny or some cells run onto a second line. This is where the trial and error comes in. If it looks distorted, you’ll just need to expand the columns a bit more in Excel and redo the copy/paste.

Please note: this list is in no way dynamic. That is, the list will not automatically update when Angie sends a new list; you will have to update it manually each time a new one is issued. 


Restore Windows 7 Explorer Favorites

Do you frequently use the Windows 7 Explorer favorites? Of course you do because I covered it in a past IT Tip!

In the past tip, I showed you how to add a custom folder to your favorites. However, even if you haven’t added any folders of your own to the favorites group, you probably use the default favorites like “Desktop” and “Downloads”

 

Location of Windows Explorer Favorites

What do you do if you inadvertently remove one of those default favorite locations? Accept defeat? No, that’s not how we roll.

If for some reason you accidentally remove one (or a magical fairy deleted it from your PC), you can recover them in two clicks of a mouse!

1.       Right click on “favorites”

2.       Click “Restore favorite links”

That’s all! Your default links will be restored (custom favorites will not be affected).


Kudos

A big thank you to Patricio Forno for suggesting the phone directory Tip! He mentioned this one a while ago.

Have a great month, everyone!

-Keith

Please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email if you have a something that you think will make a good tip. You’ll get credit on the blog for your contribution and I might give you a high-five