Posted on behalf of Nate Keyes, Technical Writer

Okay, so your class has divided up in teams of three to organize your own election campaigns. You need a campaign timeline, to-do lists, campaign brochures, a press release, a budget, and an essay detailing what you, the candidate, stand for. You found out that using Microsoft Office Live beta to get it all done would be as simple as 1-2-3. First, you created a workspace; second, you invited your friends to have access to it (which includes, by the way, any documents you create in that workspace); and third, your friends accepted the invitation.

With all of that set up, now the three of you are under way, working on the documents. Of course,  you can work on the documents together during class, and at any other times you decide to meet. But sometimes you can’t work together because of schedule conflicts—soccer practice, hip-hop club, interpretive mandolin decorating. Whatever. And it’s at those times that having direct links  to each other’s documents can really come in handy.

A direct link is sort of the Web equivalent of saying, “Hey, check this out.” When you’re ready to have your friends look at something you’ve put together, you can create a direct link to it and send that direct link to them. Then they can click the link, and voila! They’re instantly whisked to what you wanted them to see (provided that, like I said, you have given them access to your shared workspace or document… oh yeah, AND they are connected to the Internet!)

Most likely, you’ll send that direct link in either an e-mail message or an instant message. Most browsers have a built-in way to send a direct link in an e-mail message, making it really easy. And to send a direct link in a way other than e-mail, just copy and paste it, like this:

1. Click in the address bar at the top of your Web browser window and then press CTRL+A to select the entire address.

2. Press CTRL+C to copy the selected link.

3. Now click in the location you want to paste the direct link to, and then press CTRL+V.  The direct link is now pasted where you wanted it.

No-hassle collaboration. How cool is that?

Nate Keyes

Technical Writer, Volt

Office Live