Menu Bar

The File menu item is where you can choose to create new folders or shortcuts (File | New | Option). If it is an Open File dialog box, you can choose whether to open it as a copy.

If it is a File Save/Save As dialog box, you can choose a format other WordPerfect's default file format in which to save the document. For example, you can save in HTML format or MS-Word format. Likewise, if the document is in a different format than WordPerfect 6.0 or higher, WordPerfect will attempt to convert it into WordPerfect format when opening.

Note that you may have to do a custom installation to get all of the conversion files if the format you need is not displayed. In version 7, you can rename, delete, or see the properties of a file from the file menu item. These options are not present on the menu bar for versions 8 or 9, apparently being viewed as redundant since you can do all these operations by selecting a file or folder and right clicking.

POWER TIP -- You can print a list of all the files/folders in the current folder. Just click File | Print File List. In WP 7 you can send directly to the printer or print it to WordPad. In WP 8/9, you can also copy the list to the clipboard in rich text format which can then be pasted into any application.

The Edit option allows you to cut or copy a file or folder for copying or moving. In WP 8 and 9, there is also an Undo option if you accidentally deleted or moved a file or folder.

The View option on the menu bar will let you view the files in as much or as little detail as you want. It is here that you can select whether to view the files in tree view or not. You can also preview the files before actually opening or performing some other operation. Click View | Preview and check or uncheck whether you want to preview the files in a different window. This is similar to the WordPerfect 6.1 viewer. Left unchecked, a separate viewer pane is opened within the file dialog box.

Another option is whether to preview as Content or as a Page. The Page mode shows the entire page of the document which may be great in looking at the layout of a document but is lousy if you are trying to read anything in the selected document. Finally, you can check whether you want to view or not view the button bar and status bar (the information shown at the bottom of the dialog box listing file size, etc. You'll probably want to leave these checked. Without the status bar option checked, you will not be able to see the title of the document displayed from the Document Summary.

The Tools menu item allows you to map or disconnect a network drive without having to go through the "My Computer" icon on the desktop or Windows Explorer.

The Favorites menu item allows you to move quickly to a folder or internet site by simply clicking a folder or site in the list. You can add the current location to the list by clicking Favorites | Add To. You can move to your list of favorites by clicking Favorites | Go To.

Once there, you can rename the folders or shortcuts without effecting how they behave or where they take you. You can also add favorites by creating shortcuts once in the favorites folder. Some of these favorites are preset and may include favorites bookmarked in Internet Explorer.

Your default file folders in your WordPerfect settings will show up on the favorites list by default. In WP 7, click Edit | Preferences and double click the Files icon. In WP 8/9, click Tools | Settings and double click the Files icon. There you will see the default listings for your document folder, macro folder, etc. There will also be a checkbox allowing the Favorites list to be updated automatically if you change these preferences.

You can also add to or edit your Favorites list from within Windows Explorer. Move to the folder containing the folders in Explorer and add shortcuts just as you normally do in Explorer (e.g., File | New | Shortcut and then either type the path or browse to the file or folder).

If you want to know where the Favorites folder is located, open a file dialog box and click Favorites | Go To. Then use the folder navigation button to go up until you see where the folder is located.