About connecting to Microsoft Office Online

When you work online (with an Internet connection), you have access to Help topics, templates, training, articles, and clip art from Microsoft Office Online to help you as you work in Office. These resources are available from the Search Results task pane when you search for content, as well as from links in various other task panes in your Office program.

Additional resources available to you when you have an Internet connection are links to Microsoft Office Online, specific help for templates that you download, and a dynamic list of hyperlinks that provides you with up-to-date information from Microsoft Office Online that will help you increase your productivity with Office and provide you with the answers to questions frequently asked about Office.

When you search for help in your Office program, the following content on Microsoft Office Online is only available when you are working online:

Assistance    Up-to-date information in the form of how-to articles, conceptual topics, columns, and tips to answer your questions about using Office 2003 programs to get your work done. (Help topics are available when you work offline, however more content is available when you work online.)

Templates    Predesigned templates including calendars, business cards, invoices, resumes, newsletters, marketing materials and much more to download and use with your Office programs.

Training    Training courses to learn more about using Office 2003 programs to get your work done. Training courses cover feature or activity areas in Office and allow you to discover features and learn best practices for using the products. Courses are short (20-50 minutes), self-paced, and include graphics, animation, audio, and practice sessions for hands-on experience.

Clip Art and Media    Clip art, sounds, animations, photos to download and use with Office 2003. (Clip art, sounds, animations, and photos are available when you work offline, however a greater selection is available when you work online.)

Office Marketplace    Third-party products and services that work with Office 2003.

If you don't have an Internet connection, you can still locate templates on your computer by doing the following:

1. On the File menu, click New.
2. In the Templates section of the New task pane, click On my computer.

Note  In Microsoft Publisher, the New task pane is called "New Publication." In the New Publication task pane, under New from a design, click Templates. Then, in the Preview Gallery, click the template you want. Please note that the Templates link appears only when you have templates saved on your computer.

To test your Internet connection, click Microsoft Office Online on the Help menu. This will open the Microsoft Office Online site in your browser. If you are unable to connect to this site, one of the following may be the problem:

• The settings to connect your computer to the Internet might not be correct. To make sure they are, double-click the Internet icon in the Microsoft Windows Control Panel.
• Your company's firewall or proxy server could be preventing access to this site.
• The Microsoft Office Online site might be temporarily unavailable. Check the Office Online Service Status page for service availability.

To set your preferences for using Microsoft Office Online content, do the following:

1. On the Help menu, click Microsoft <Program Name> Help to display the Microsoft <Program Name> Help task pane.
2. Under See also in the task pane, click Online Content Settings.
3. In the Service Options dialog box, do one or more of the following:
   • To show Microsoft Office Online content, make sure the Show content and links from Microsoft Office Online check box is selected.
   • To show online Help topics when searching, select the Search online content when connected check box.
   • To show offline Help topics first when searching, clear the Search online content when connected check box.
   • To show offline Help topics only and to turn off all links to Microsoft Office Online, clear the Show content and links from Microsoft Office Online check box.

Note  These settings apply to all of your Office programs, however they will not take effect in any open Office program until you restart the program.