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INSTRUCTOR: The primary tool you use in Word is the ribbon. This object lets you perform all the commands available in the program. The ribbon is divided into tabs. Within these tabs are different groups of commands. You can access the commands in each button group by using either the buttons, boxes, or menus available in the button group. 

To access advanced options for some button groups, you can click the dialog box launcher button in the lower right corner of some button groups on the currently displayed or active tab in the ribbon. Doing this then opens a dialog box of all the available options or settings for the button group. 

Also notice that you can double-click the active tab in the ribbon to both hide and show the contents of the ribbon. This can be a handy way to gain additional workspace while creating your documents contents. You can click the main tabs in the ribbon to switch the button groups that appear. The default tabs that appear in the ribbon are File, Home, Insert, Draw, if using Office 365, Design, Layout, References, Mailings, Review, View, and Help. You can also enable the Developer tab if using macros or code within a document. 

In addition to Word's primary tabs, special contextual tabs also appear in the ribbon after selecting some types of document objects. Contextual tabs appear, for example, after selecting a picture, table, diagram, drawing, or chart. The button groups on the contextual tabs let you modify the selected type of object. 

To hide the contextual tabs, click away from the selected document object to deselect it. In older versions of Office, these tabs often appear in a separate row of the ribbon with subtabs below them. In newer Office versions, they appear as colored tab names to the right of the primary tabs in the ribbon. Their names also slightly change, too. 

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