Holiday Newsletter? Make this one your own

It's a busy time of year, and it can feel like a Herculean feat to dredge up a festive feel as you tick off items on your to-do list.

But that holiday newsletter? You can go virtual--with no worries.

Word Web App lets you share your documents by sending a link in email. When people click the link in your message, your document opens up in their browser, so they don't even need to have Word to read it..

All you need to do is upload your document to SkyDrive, and then sned the link to people you want to share it with.

Take a look at the newsletter template in the Word Web App. If you like what you see, download it (look for the Download command, next to the File tab near the top of your screen) and open it in Word on your computer. Now make it your own by adding stories and photos from the past year.

When you’re ready to share it, click Save & Send on the File tab in Word 2010, and then click Save to Web. Use the Sign In button to sign in to your Windows Live account.

Note: This is your Hotmail, Messenger, or XBOX Live sign-in. If you don’t have a sign-in, click the Sign up for Windows Live SkyDrive link, and then click the Sign Up button on the SkyDrive page to set up an account. Then go back to Word, click Sign In, and type the username and password you just set up.

With your newsletter in SkyDrive, you can send a link to it so that people can read it in a web browser--they don’t need to open the newsletter in Word or a Word viewer to see it. Here’s how:

In your browser, go to your SkyDrive page, right-click the newsletter, click Share, and then click the Send email tab in the SkyDrive dialog box. Enter the email address of everyone you want to send the newsletter to, type a message, and un-check the Recipients can edit box.

Think of one more thing to add? You can easily update your newsletter without having to send it around again. Anyone clicking your link will see the new version.

Best wishes!

-- Joannie Stangeland