Skip to main content

Some things are not forever

One of the stranger things about this whole system (especially Microsoft's part) is that the User Interface will change to some difficult new arrangement—then change back again. A couple of days ago the Outlook icon wasn't showing up in the Apps "Waffle." Finding it required a second-click search. Then it came back again.

Other changes stay put, only to be completely revised with a new arrangement in three weeks or so.

I'm not sure why all these changes happen. They rarely reflect any true change in function—just cosmetic. What they do mean, though, is that when you open a page and things do not look as you remembered, do not panic. Just engage your Sherlock Holmes Detective side and go looking for the thing you need.

Shameless Plug: LibreOffice is a really good free word processor with a UI that doesn't change. It downloads to your computer and stays put. I've used it for a long time and love it. Here is the download link.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why this blog

This is going to be a very nuts-and-bolts blog. The point is that both Microsoft 365 and Blackboard make frequent changes in the User Interface (UI)—the way the product looks and works—and the changes are hard to follow. Apple Pages, Google Docs, and LibreOffice are much more stable, but the two products we use most frequently are very difficult to keep up with. There is a reason that you can't find online tutorials for these products: the changes come so frequently that nobody can keep up. I'm going to use this blog to post changes as I run into them, hoping to help you keep your sanity.
Post a Comment
Read more

Sending an attachment

The drop-down menu for sending an attachment in Outlook has moved. Now you can find it by clicking Message at the top. They give you several choices for places to browse, but the only two you need to know are "OneDrive" (if you are attaching a file you made in Microsoft 365) and "Browse this computer" (if you are moving a file you saved some other way).
Post a Comment
Read more

Deleting things

Microsoft 365 saves everything online in a place called "Documents" (which is not the same as the Documents file on your own computer). One feature which was added recently is the ability to delete things—previously everything you saved stayed there forever (or at least the filename did, even after you deleted the document). Here's how to get rid of something: From the nine-dot "waffle" in the upper left, choose "OneDrive." (It has a picture of a cloud.) Choose "My Files" in the list on the left. This is not the same as "My Content" on the opening page! You will notice that My Files does support file folders, but the rest of the MS 365 system is unaware of your folders. There is a blank area to the left of the icon for each item on the list. If you hover your cursor in that area, a circle with a checkmark appears. Click that to turn it into a dark blue circle with a white checkmark. When you did that, a new menu app...
Post a Comment
Read more