The installation of Outlook Social Connector is different from most downloads. Besides downloading Outlook Social Connector (for Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003; it’s included in Outlook 2010), you must download provider files for each social network you want to connect to. Watch this short video to see how, and see the important links plus an overview of the Outlook Social Connector below.

Note: To use Facebook in the Outlook Social Connector, you must allow a third party application (which is the default setting). If you have edited these settings in Facebook, you may need to edit them again. On your Facebook home page, click Account, and then click Application Settings.

For more help, ask questions at Microsoft Answers.

--Doug Thomas

Can't find the Out of Office Assistant to update your contacts for a long July 4th weekend? Well, for Outlook 2010 you find it where you find all the other options and tools: the Backstage view (click the gold File tab in the upper-left corner of the program window) and then click the Automatic Replies button.

This new video training goes over the basics of setting up Automatic Replies for any occasion (including the most frequent, your out-of-office message). But the training also has a workaround if you don’t have a mailbox on Microsoft Exchange, a program that delivers email to Outlook and your mobile devices. Here’s the first part of the training and let me explain more below about Outlook and Exchange...

Customers ask about rotating text boxes in Word. Until Word 2010, you couldn't do it (you can rotate only image boxes). But in this short video, let me show you a workaround if you must rotate that text box.

--Doug Thomas

Here's a challenge: can I make a business card in 90 seconds? Learn a thing or two about to work with the free templates at Office Online.

Now, I don't know if you would want to make...

Today, the Outlook Social Connector lets you connect with Facebook and Windows Live, and it works for Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007, along with Outlook 2010. Cool beans. I gotta say that I have been using this and it's quite pleasurable--plus a time-saver. How do you use it? Let me show you in this quick video (complete with a warning) on the Outlook Social Connector.

Learn more about the Connector and the links you need in the announcement. Need to learn about what else I mentioned in the video? Click here for how to work with RSS feeds in Outlook, adding email accounts, and see my earlier video on TwInbox, the Twitter add-in for Outlook.

--Doug Thomas

Now you can use and submit a resume template designed by Monster.com without leaving your Microsoft Word program. Doug Thomas shows you Monster's Easy Submit Resumes.

Find more about working with Monster Easy Submit templates. –Doug Thomas

Our friends at Office Labs have spun a sequel: Ribbon Hero 2. Starting today, you can download this free game to learn some tips and shortcuts about Office. (Oh, to heck with that. Just download it because Ribbon Hero 2—featuring the time-travelling adventures of our old friend, Clippy—is fun. Even, dare I say, addictive?)

Ribbon Hero 2 follows Clippy (yes, he’s alive!) as he explores...

If you wake up in the middle of nowhere--or have to work regardless of the weather--you can get a lot done with a Windows Phone.  That's because it gives you lots of ways to reach people.  In this video I show you some of them --including how Windows Phone lets you text by voice, send group emails, and stay completely connected to Facebook. Watch:

In case you want to know more about the features of a Windows Phone, click these links:

Here’s a little balm to sooth your nerves about presenting at your next meeting. I’ve collected some advice from presentation masters Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, and Garr Reynolds to help you create better PowerPoint Slides and give better presentations. Plus we'll look at that ace you have up your sleeve: PowerPoint’s underutilized Presenter’s View tool. Read the full post to find help and how-to links discussed in the video.

--Doug Thomas

As we approach the holidays, folks are checking their contacts data twice. Access is a great tool for this. You can use the powerful customization tools to make a contact list specifically for your needs, whether it's for details about them (their birthday, their dog's name), or your business with them (their last order, your last call).  Let me show you how in this short video using a free Contacts Database template from Office. com.

If you are looking for step-by-step instructions, the copious notes are in the full post.

--Doug Thomas