We rely on information technology (IT) more and more - to keep in touch and support others, share news, find information on the Internet, promote our services, attract new members... the list goes on.
At first using IT can feel like speaking another language. With a little support, we'll gain more confidence to use it to its full potential. This page includes sources of support for you to develop your own knowledge and skills.
- Find a free course near you
- Free online tutorials
- Help with Microsoft Office
- Help with Facebook
- Help with Twitter
- Solutions to common IT questions
- Help us to develop this page
Find a free course near you
We’ve compiled a list of free IT course providers throughout the UK.
- Search our list of free course providers
If you can't find a learning provider near you in this list, use the Online Centres Network to find one:
- Search for a course on the Online Centres Network
Free online tutorials
Learn my way is a website that can show you how to:
- use your computer or device, including how to use a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen and how to create documents
- use the Internet, including emails, search engines and Facebook
- stay safe online
- improve your health online
The courses include demonstrations and games. While all courses are free, for some you'll need to register your details.
- Visit Learn my way
GCFLearnfree.org offers 125 free online tutorials on a range of topics with videos, written instructions and workbooks.
Here are some tutorials from GCF that might interest you:
- Visit technology basics, for more on using computers, emails, the Internet and Windows
- Learn about social media, including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Skype and Instagram
- Information on Microsoft Office which includes how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access
Help with Microsoft Office
Microsoft also offers video tutorials for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook:
Help with Facebook
Facebook is a social media platform for users to share their stories and connect with people.
Getting started on Facebook
- Sign up for a Facebook account if you haven’t already got one at www.facebook.com.
- Once your account has been setup, create a business page at http://www.facebook.com/page - pick ‘Company, organisation or institution’ then ‘Non-profit organisation’ from the drop down menu, and fill in the name of your group - for example ‘MS Society Anytown'.
- Make sure you add a minimum of two volunteers as page administrators to ensure there is always someone available to edit and moderate the page.
- Upload our official MS Society profile image and a banner image. Both the logo and cover photo must be the right size and dimensions, and adhere to our data protection rules.
- Fill in your ‘about’ information using your group details (address, telephone number, map). Keep things short, clear and concise. See the MS Society’s Facebook page for guidance.
- Choose your group name as your page address under 'settings' then 'general'.
- Invite ‘friends’ to like your page and start adding photos, events and links.
Facebook tips
- Post information about MS and your local area. Link through to more information on the MS Society website, or your own web pages or, like news stories or events, a call for volunteers or a picture from a fundraising event. You can also link to reputable sites like BBC news for relevant MS stories. Anything you post should be appropriate for the MS community in your area.
- Keep the page up to date and post relevant content as often as possible – 3-4 times a week and preferably more often.
- Post content when people are most likely to be online - mornings (8am-10am), lunchtime (12pm-2pm) and drive time (5pm-7pm).
- Promote your Facebook page on your MS Society web pages, posters, leaflets and newsletters.
Help with Twitter
Twitter is a social media platform that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets".
Tweets are public, not private conversations, so whatever you post is in the public domain.
Getting started on Twitter:
- Create an account at www.twitter.com. Your user name should incorporate MS or MS Society and your group name, for example msanytown or mssocietyat.
- Upload our MS Society profile image and fill in your biography - for example, “Local MS Society group covering x, y and z areas”, with a link to your group’s MS Society web pages.
- Find people to follow. Check the contents of your address book to see if any of your current contacts are on Twitter, and think about local organisations or groups that you work with.
- Start tweeting! Use the ‘home’ link to see tweets from people you follow and ‘notifications’ to see who’s tweeted you.
- 'Messages' are direct messages and they are the private side of Twitter. You can use Direct Messages to have private conversations with your Twitter followers.
Twitter tips
- Tweet to promote events and services, recruit volunteers and fundraisers or update your followers.
- Use an informal engaging tone of voice when tweeting.
- Check in regularly to answer any mentions (tweets people have directed to you) or direct messages.
- Retweet content you want to share - this means more people will see the tweet.
- Promote your Twitter account on your MS Society web pages, posters, leaflets and newsletters.
- Use people’s Twitter handles - e.g. @mssocietyuk - to tweet them directly.
Solutions to common IT questions
Please find below solutions to our top five reported IT questions.
- How to show, hide, and view the Blind carbon copy (Bcc) field
- How to password-protect an Excel spreadsheet
- How to print an Excel spreadsheet
- How to stop scrolling up and down in Excel
- How to modify columns, rows and cells in Excel
Help us develop this page
We hope you find this information useful.
If there are other tips and solutions you'd like us to add to this page, please contact us at [email protected].
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