The Internet is an ideal medium for distributing documents to colleagues or members of the general public. However you must keep in mind the fact that not everyone will have the same programs or the latest versions as you might have. So for example a document created in Microsoft Word 2000 will not be able to be read be someone who has an older version of Word or who has some other word processing program. You can however get round this by saving a file in a format that makes it accessible to all.
Formats
Rich Text Format (An example of a filename is agenda.rtf)
Most if not all word processing programs understand this format. So even someone who doesn't have Microsoft Word will be able to read and print it. This format will not always allow fancy enhancements on the page.
Word 97-2000 & 6.0/95 –RTF (An example of a filename is agenda.doc)
This format caters for older versions of Microsoft Word and is very close to the standard Rich Text Format mentioned above. Some other word processing programs may have problems with reading and printing this type of file.
PDF (An example of a filename is agenda.pdf)
This is a format that is widely used on the Internet as it keeps the exact style of the original document. However you would need to buy an Adobe PDF Distiller program to convert your Word document into pdf format. Also the person viewing the document would need a pdf viewer program – which is free and easy to download and install.
Saving in a different format
You can save a Microsoft Word document in a different format as follows:
- Click on the File menu and click Save As
- Choose the location for the file to be saved to in the Save In box and type in the filename in the File Name box
- Now click down on the Save as Type box and choose Rich Text Format.
- Click the Save button.
Your file is now ready for uploading to your web page.