To run an Office Web App, you must run
one computer program (the Office Web App) inside another computer program (your
Web browser). For that reason, depending on your browser settings, working in
an Office Web App can be like building a ship inside a bottle. It can be
awfully slow going.
In this article, I look into what you can do in your
browser to make it work hand in hand with the Office Web Apps.
The Office Web
Apps Favor Four Browsers
Microsoft hedges its bets when it comes to recommending which
browser to use with the Office Web Apps. Microsoft says that all browsers work
just fine but you are better off using one of these browsers: Firefox, Internet
Explorer, Safari, or Chrome.
JavaScript Must Be
Enabled
The Office Web Apps run at the behest of a computer program
called JavaScript. Therefore, to run the Office Web Apps, JavaScript must be enabled
in your browser.
Here is how to enable JavaScript in the four browsers
Microsoft recommends for use with the Office Web Apps:
✓
Firefox: Choose
Tools➪Options.
The General tab of the Options dialog box opens. Go to the Content tab, select
the Enable JavaScript check box, and click OK.
✓
Internet Explorer: Choose Tools➪Internet Options, and go to the Security tab in the
Internet Options dialog box. Then click the Custom Level button to open the
Security Settings – Internet Zone dialog box. In the Scripting section, under
Active Scripting, select the Enable option button. Finally, click OK twice.
✓
Safari: Choose
Safari➪Preferences
(or Edit➪Preferences
on a Windows machine). The General dialog box opens. Go to the Security tab and
select the Enable JavaScript check box.
✓
Chrome: Click
the Tools button, choose Options on the drop-downlist, and go to the Under the
Hood tab in the Google Chrome Options dialog box. Then click the Content
Settings button, and in the Content Settings dialog box, go to the JavaScript
tab and select the Allow All Sites to Run JavaScript option button.
Cookies Must Be Allowed
Besides enabling the JavaScript computer language, the
browser you use with the Office Web Apps must allow cookies. A cookie is a small
text file that Web sites place on your hard disk when you first visit. These
files store information about you. Here are shorthand instructions for allowing
cookies in the four favorite browsers Microsoft recommends using:
✓
Firefox: Choose
Tools➪Options
to open the Options dialog box. On the Privacy tab, open the Firefox Will
drop-down list and choose Use Custom Settings for History. Then select the
Accept Third-Party Cookies check box and click OK.
✓
Internet Explorer: Choose Tools➪Internet Options and go to the Privacy tab in the Internet
Options dialog box. Then drag the Settings slider downward to Medium High or
lower and click OK.
✓
Safari: Choose
Safari➪Preferences
(or Edit➪Preferences
on a Windows machine). The General dialog box opens. Go to the Security tab,
and under Accept Cookies, select the Always option button.
✓
Chrome: Click
the Tools button and choose Options on the drop-down list. Then go to the Under
the Hood tab in the Google Chrome Options dialog box and click the Content
Settings button. In the Content Settings dialog box, make sure no check boxes
are selected.
Microsoft
Recommends Installing Silverlight
Silverlight is a plug-in program that runs on top of a
browser to make playing games, viewing movies, and playing animation possible.
Microsoft makes Silverlight, and although Silverlight isn’t required to run the
Office Web Apps, Microsoft recommends installing it on your computer because it
makes the Office Web Apps run more smoothly.
Zoom Using Browser
Commands
The Office Web Apps don’t offer Zoom commands, but you can
enlarge and shrink the text by using the Zoom commands in your browser. Not
only do these commands enlarge and shrink the text, they enlarge and shrink the
Office Web App tabs and buttons. Use these techniques to zoom in and out in the
four browsers that Microsoft recommends for use with the Office Web Apps:
✓
Firefox: Choose
View➪Zoom
and choose an option on the submenu (or press Ctrl+plus sign or Ctrl+minus
sign).
✓
Internet Explorer: Choose View➪Zoom and choose an option on the submenu (or press
Ctrl+plus sign or Ctrl+minus sign). Zoom options are also available by clicking
the Change Zoom Level button on the right side of the status bar and choosing
an option on the pop-up menu (choose View➪Toolbars➪Status Bar if the status bar isn’t displayed).
✓
Safari: Choose
View➪Zoom
In or View➪Zoom
Out (or press Ctrl+plus sign or Ctrl+minus sign).
✓
Chrome: Press
Ctrl+plus sign to zoom in, or Ctrl+minus sign to zoom out.
If the menu bar
isn’t displayed in your browser and you can’t open the View menu, press the Alt
key to display the menu bar.
Open a Second File
with the New Window or New Tab Command
One of the luxuries of working in a program installed on
your computer is being able to open many files simultaneously. In Word 2010,
for example, you can cobble together a new document from several files by
opening them, copying text, and pasting the text into the new document.
To open several files simultaneously in the Office Web
Apps, you have to rely on your browser’s commands for opening new windows and
new tabs. Follow these steps to open a second (or third or fourth) file in an
Office Web App:
1. Right-click the folder with the file you want to open
and choose Open Link in New Window or Open Link in New Tab. A new window or tab opens. (In Internet Explorer, the
commands are called Open in New Window and Open in New tab.)
2. In the new window or tab, navigate to the file you want
to open and open the file.
Get More Room on
the Screen
All browsers come with menu bars and toolbars of various
shapes and sizes. These menu bars and toolbars are meant to help you get from
Web page to Web page faster, bookmark your favorite Web sites, and do other
things to hasten your adventures on the Internet. But the menu bars and
toolbars can get in the way. They occupy valuable space on-screen that can
sometimes be put to better use displaying data in an Office Web App window.
To be more productive with the Office Web Apps, familiarize
yourself with the commands in your browser for hiding and displaying menu bars,
toolbars, and the status bar. Usually, these commands are found on the View
menu. Moreover, you can right-click the menu bar or a toolbar in a browser to
see commands for hiding and displaying stuff. In Firefox, Internet Explorer,
and Chrome, you can press F11 (or choose View➪Full Screen) to strip away all but the Web page you are
currently viewing. Press F11 early and often when you’re working in an Office
Web App. The F11 key is a toggle. Press it a second time to redisplay the menu
bars, toolbars, and whatnots that are part of the browser screen.
Bookmark Your
Files
Finding a file on SkyDrive or SharePoint so that you can
open it can be a cumbersome task, especially if the file you want to open is
buried deep in a subfolder where it’s hard to get at. To spare yourself the
trouble of clicking around in SkyDrive or SharePoint to find files you want to
open, bookmark your files. After a file is bookmarked, all you have to do to
open it is open the Bookmarks or Favorites menu in your browser and choose its
bookmark’s name.
Make Use of the
Back, Forward, and History Commands
Your browser has commands for going backward and forward to
Web pages you previously visited. It also offers a History menu with commands
for revisiting Web sites. Rather than click hither and yon, you can take
advantage of the Back, Forward, and History commands in your browser to get to
folders and files that interest you. Click the Back or Forward button (or
choose a Web page on their drop-down lists) to leap backward and forward to
files and folders you visited. The History menu lists files and folders you
visited since you opened your browser. Choose a file or folder on the History
menu to retrace your steps. Your browser’s commands for jumping from page to page
can save you a lot of time when you’re working with the Office Web Apps.
Beware of
Right-Clicks and Shortcut Keys
Especially if you work on a laptop, you’re probably
accustomed to rightclicking and taking advantage of shortcut keys. But
right-clicking doesn’t get you very far in the Office Web Apps. And except for
a handful of shortcut key combinations, pressing the familiar shortcut keys
that you know and love doesn’t produce any results, either. Not being able to
right-click and press shortcut keys to give all the commands is a drawback of
the Office Web Apps. It takes some getting used to.
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