Word Processing II — Working Like a Professional — Handout

Read this before or alongside the hands-on practice. This is reading material only — the module itself is where you actually run a real mail merge to a real recipient list, record and run real macros, fill in real fillable form controls, insert cross-references that genuinely resolve against your own headings, build a real generated index and bibliography, assemble a master document, and build real equations. 16 levels, 13 of them behind the module purchase.

Mail merge, in four steps

Open the data source (Mailings ▸ Data Source) — one row per recipient, one column per fact about them.
Insert a merge field — «FirstName» — wherever that value belongs in the letter.
Switch on Preview Results to see each recipient's real letter, step by step.
Filter if only some recipients should get it, then Finish & Merge — this produces one real new document, every field substituted, one recipient per page.

Macros

Record Macro captures a sequence of formatting actions exactly as you perform them. Stop Recording names it. Run macro… replays that same sequence against whatever is selected — not a copy of the earlier result, the same actions done again.

Content controls & Protect Form

Three kinds: a text control is typed into like ordinary text; a checkbox control is clicked, not typed; a dropdown control restricts the answer to a fixed list, cycled by clicking it. Protect Form refuses typing everywhere in the document EXCEPT inside a control — the wording stays locked, the answers stay open.

Cross-references

Points at a real heading or caption, shown as its text, its number, or the page it is on. It stays exactly as it was resolved until Update Fields is clicked — rename the heading it points at, and the reference does not change on its own. That is the whole lesson: a typed word never updates at all; a field only updates when told to.

Index & bibliography

Mark Entry tags a real occurrence of a term wherever it appears; Insert Index then Update Index builds an alphabetised list with every page each term was marked on. Insert Citation credits a source at the exact point a claim is made; Insert Bibliography then Update Bibliography lists only the sources actually cited — an unused source in the reading list never appears.

Master documents

Several separate documents combined into one, in a chosen order — genuinely useful, and genuinely rare in day-to-day work compared with everything else this module covers, since most documents are written as one file from the start.

Equations

A fraction, an exponent and a square root are each built as real structure — a numerator genuinely sitting over a denominator, a root boundary genuinely covering everything under it — not typed characters arranged to look similar.

The 16 levels

Mail Merge

Level 1 — What Mail Merge Is & The Data SourcefreeOne letter, many recipients — and the table of real information that drives it.
Level 2 — Inserting Merge Fields & Preview ResultsfreeField code versus the real value, and stepping through recipients before anything is sent.
Level 3 — Filtering & Finishing the MergefreeSending it to the right people only, then producing the real merged document.

Macros & Automation

Level 4 — Recording a MacroCapturing a repeated formatting sequence once, instead of repeating it by hand.
Level 5 — Running & Managing MacrosOne recorded macro, run identically across several headings.

Forms & Content Controls

Level 6 — Text & Checkbox ControlsReal fillable fields built into the document — typed, and clicked.
Level 7 — Dropdown Controls & Protecting the FormA fixed-choice control, and locking the wording while leaving the answers open.

Cross-References

Level 8 — Cross-Referencing Headings“As shown in Findings” that keeps working, because it is a field, not a typed word.
Level 9 — Cross-Referencing Captions & Updating FieldsReferencing a figure, then watching a stale field only change once it is told to.

Index & Bibliography

Level 10 — Building an IndexMarking real terms throughout a document, then generating a real alphabetised index.
Level 11 — Citations & a BibliographyCrediting a source at the point a claim is made, then a bibliography that lists only what was cited.

Master Documents

Level 12 — Master Documents & SubdocumentsCombining several real documents into one, in the order a reader needs them.

Equations

Level 13 — The Equation EditorBuilding a fraction, an exponent and a root as real structure, not typed characters.

Putting It Together

Level 14 — Mixed ReviewOne question from every feature this module covers.
Level 15 — Comprehensive ExamTen single-attempt tasks drawn from every phase of the module.
Level 16 — Capstone: The Merged MailingA real timetable notice, merged to exactly the students it belongs to.

Where this module stops

Tables, lists, headers and footers, page numbers, images, spell-check, find and replace, styles, a table of contents, footnotes, track changes — everything that might sound “advanced” but was already covered — live in Word Processing I — Document Mastery. This module is only what is genuinely beyond that: mail merge, macros, forms, cross-references, an index and bibliography, master documents, and equations.

Completing a level’s practical exam earns a Skill Badge — this is skill-building and self-assessment, not a certification or formal qualification.