Photo Credits: Microsoft Corporation

Do you work on a computer daily? Do you wonder if there are any shortcuts that you can use to make your life easier or even faster? Here are some common short cuts for Windows Computers that I have learned through the years that have been beneficial to my personal and work life.

General Windows Short Cuts:

• Ctrl + X – Cut selected item
• Ctrl + C (or Ctrl + Insert) – Copy selected item
• Ctrl + V (or Shift + Insert) – Paste the selected item
• Ctrl + Z – Undo an action
• Alt + Tab – Switch between open apps
• Alt + F4 – Close the active item, or exit the active app
• F2 – Rename the selected item
• F3 – Search for a file or folder in File Explorer
• F4 – Display the address bar list in File Explorer
• F5 – Refresh the active window
• F6 – Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
• F10 – Activate the Menu bar in the active app
• Alt + F8 – Show your password on the sign-in screen
• Alt + Esc – Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
• Alt + Enter – Display properties for the selected item
• Alt + Spacebar – Open the shortcut menu for the active window
• Alt + Left arrow – Go back
• Alt + Right arrow – Go forward
• Alt + Page Up – Move up one screen
• Alt + Page Down – Move down one screen
• Ctrl + F4 – Close the active document
• Ctrl + A – Select all items in a document or window
• Delete – Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
• Ctrl + R (or F5) – Refresh the active window
• Ctrl + Y – Redo an action
• Ctrl + Right arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
• Ctrl + Left arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
• Ctrl + Down arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
• Ctrl + Up arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
• Ctrl + Alt + Tab – Use the arrow keys to switch between all open apps
• Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key – Select a block of text
• Ctrl + Esc – Open Start
• Ctrl + Shift + Esc – Open Task Manager
• Shift + F10 – Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
• Shift with any arrow key – Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document
• Shift + Delete – Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
• Right arrow – Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
• Left arrow – Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
• Esc – Stop or leave the current task
• Ctrl + S – Save document
• Ctrl + Shift + S – Save document as

Browser Windows Short Cuts:

• F4 – Display the items in the active list
• Ctrl + Tab – Move forward through tabs
• Ctrl + Shift + Tab – Move back through tabs
• Ctrl + number (number 1–9) – Move to nth tab
• Tab – Move forward through options
• Shift + Tab – Move back through options
• Ctrl + Shift + T – Open up a tab you recently closed
• Ctrl + J – Open up Downloads
• Ctrl + F – Open up the Finder function to search for key words
• Ctrl + P – Print page
• Ctrl + D – Create a Bookmark
• Ctrl + E – Search for something in the search bar

My next blog will have to do with Apple or MAC computer short cuts, since they are a different operating system and do not have the same type of buttons or commands. It can be a bit confusing at first, but once you understand these short cuts, your life will become ten times easier.

Photo Credits: Microsoft Corporation

Though it is hard to believe, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the different short cuts available. Check out Microsoft’s official page on short cuts to see if there are ones that you would be able to use on a regular basis and then comment them below so I can add them to my list!

Check out my previous Blogs for more useful tips:

5 Simple Steps to Keep Your Phone Running Healthy

Which Site is Best for You?

Stay Tech Savy!

Nowadays, it is pretty simple to create a website by yourself. Gone are the days where you need a degree and coding skills to make your website accessible to the public. There are a number of programs out there with their main purpose being allowing the average everyday consumer to be able to create content online and post it to one place.

The problem now isn’t that someone doesn’t know how to make their website, it is which service to choose. Here, I will give you some strengths and weaknesses of some of the major web manager sites, ranked in order of the level of skill needed to operate each one.

Weebly

Photo Credits: Weebly

Weebly is a free website builder and eCommerce site that everyone and their grandmother can use. It has a very simple design and layout to help you navigate the creation of your site. It is also very simple to use; with its drag and drop option, you can get your content onto your site in a matter of seconds and have it live before the sun goes down. It has a variety of fun themes that allows its’ users to show off their creative side, while still accomplishing your goal of publishing your content.

The biggest downside to Weebly is the inability to customize your site. You have to use their set blocks and tools for your site, nothing else. Even some of the more interactive tools you have to pay money for it. It is a great site for people just getting into website development or who want a simple site that they can fix up with absolutely no computer skills required.

Wix

Photo Credits: Wix

The next website builder that gives you a bit more customization is Wix. Though it is not much, Wix in my books takes it a step further than Weebly. It still is easy to utilize and work with, what with the drag and pull options and easy to understand formatting. It has many unique templates to choose from and the ability to customize them how you see fit, but just like Weebly, you do have to stick to what they give you. You won’t have any capability of changing everything on your website, nor completely customizing it.

This is a free platform that allows new website enthusiasts to explore the various options that the internet has to offer, but it is by far not the best one out there. For those individuals looking to make their own personal site that is simple to create and keep updated, Wix is probably the best platform to do so, especially if you have very limited computer skills.

SquareSpace

Photo Credits: SquareSpace

This next website builder is an up and coming competitor that can rival WordPress. SquareSpace combines what Wix does and adds some features that WordPress offers. You can create your website on this free platform by using its easy to use navigator and establish page content with its drag and drop options. It is very simplistic, but some of the best websites nowadays are starting to lean more towards the simplicity that is starting to trend.

You also have the option to add some personal code, if you want, which is something that makes WordPress so appealing to those with coding skills. SquareSpace has a number of themes that allows you to utilize the site to the fullest, but only if you know what you are doing. Though it is very close to how Wix and Weebly operate, SquareSpace does require a bit more computer skills than those previously mentioned, but that does not mean you have to be an expert on the stuff either. I would say that intermediate computer skills would suffice in assisting anyone wanting to use SquareSpace.

WordPress

Photo Credits: WordPress

The final website builder that I will talk about is WordPress. As you can tell, I am using WordPress right now for my website. It is by far the best builder that I have used in regards to ability to customize your website, but only as long as you know how to code (HTML, PHP, or CSS). If you understand even a bit of any of those languages, WordPress might be the site for you.

It has tremendous amounts of resources available to its users to help guide their creation, and if you know what you are doing, your WordPress website can really take you places. The biggest problem here is the fact that you really do need to know what you are doing in order to unlock the great potential WordPress offers. Yes, beginners and less experienced individuals can definitely use WordPress, but in order to truly get everything out of this builder, you will need to be quite experienced in computer skills. It doesn’t have the easy drag and drop options like the other website builders have, but if you know what you are doing, the lack of those options is actually beneficial for you. All in all, WordPress is a great site, as long as you know what you are doing.

There are a number of other sites that I didn’t talk about here, and that doesn’t make them less important or usable as these ones mentioned above. They just happent to not be as widely used as these. One thing that a lot of people think is that Website Builders are expensive, but they really don’t have to be. The only think you really should think about purchasing is your domain name; everything else can be free for the websites. Yes, you won’t have access to everything that they websites offer, but that’s the price you didn’t have to pay.

Another option you can look into is going through a Hosting Site. Instead of going to the source (i.e. WordPress), you can purchase an account with BluHost, GoDaddy, HostGator, or Yahoo Web Hosting. When you purchase access to one of these, you also have the option to install one of the website developer plugins so that instead of having to understand coding and working on the backend of the website through the coding files, you can install a plugin and automatically get access to one of the sites mentioned above with some of its perks.

My next blog will contain short cuts that I have learned throughout the years to help with making your life easier when working with computers. It will contain shortcuts for MACs and for Windows Desktops so that anyone can use them.

Check out my previous Blogs for more useful tips:

5 Simple Steps to Keep Your Phone Running Healthy

Stay Tech Savy!

People are always complaining about how slow their phone is running or how the battery keeps on dying prematurely. Here are some tips to keep your phone, whether it be an Apple or an Android, as if you had just bought it off the shelf.

1. Let it die naturally

People nowadays seem to be afraid to let their phone reach below 20% battery life. The thing is? It is actually very beneficial for your phone to die naturally at least once a month. This allows the battery to take a break, so to speak, from constantly being on.  Though it sounds conflicting, by letting your phone die once a month naturally, it extends its battery life.

2. Restart your phone

Another way to help with any battery problems is by restarting your phone or powering it off for around 5 minutes each week. For iPhones, you need to hold down the power button and the home button at the same time to “restart” your phone. For Androids, hold the power button down and click power off. Keep your phone off for at least 5 minutes then turn it back on. This allows your phone to refresh itself, reanalyzing its system and apps to check for updates as well as making sure everything is on the up and up.

3. Clear your open apps

Sometimes your phone is running slower than usual because it has too much open all at once, continuously refreshing those apps to keep them updated for your use. A way to fix this is to “delete” those apps, removing the need for your phone to continue to refresh them. For iPhones, you need to double click your home button and swipe up on any apps open. For Android, hold down the home button and swipe left or right on each app page open. This will also allow the app to update itself to give you any new notifications and alerts.

4. Turn off your Location

Another reason why a phone’s battery dies so quickly is the Location Services is turned on. With this running on in the background, it takes a lot of juice. Not every app needs to know your location, yet when you download apps, they tend to have that enabled with or without your permission. You can manage which apps have access to your location through your Settings app. The more apps you turn off your location for, the less this service will take from your battery. It is good practice to check this setting at least once every other month, especially if you have downloaded new apps, to make sure the correct apps are enabled for use of Location Services.

5. Don’t always charge it

This step falls along the same lines as the first two. By not always charging your phone, you allow the phone to die naturally and keeps the battery from having the handicap of never getting below a certain battery percentage. For example, if you never unplug your phone, once it is unplugged, the battery is completely shot and will not hold a charge, leaving your phone to be a very expensive brick within a few minutes. By not always charging your phone, you lower your chances of having a shot battery and also allow yourself to complete the other steps, lengthing your battery life.

These are some quick tips that will enhance your phone’s life and likelihood to run faster. There are other things you can do on top of these, but by starting with these steps, you will start to notice a difference in a few months.

The next blog I will be talking about the different website host sites, their advantages and disadvantages in my own opinion, as well as at what level of coding/computer skill you will need to have in order to operate a website through them.

If you like what you read, share it with your friends. The more people that understand technology, the better! Share this blog with your friends and be sure to follow me to know when my next post comes out.

Stay Tech Savy!

Hi there! My name is Katrina, also known by my nick name Dot. I would like to welcome you to my personal website. Here, you can see the experience I have, understand the prices I charge, and can ask any questions about how to better your website and/or social media.

A little bit about myself is that I have a little more than 4 years worth of web designing experience and social media content managing, I am the middle of seven children, and I have been working since I was at the tender age of 14. I love to discover new ways to better website development as well as teach new companies the benefit of having a strong online presence can have on their business.

Within this website, I will have a page that contains some more information about me, a contact forum for any questions you may have, and the previous projects I have worked on. I will also post blogs that contain some updates on what I am doing (the new companies that ask me to assist them) and any tips and tricks that I believe will empower others to better their online presence. Feel free to look around and contact me with any questions you may have.