Question: What is the Answer Wizard?

Answer: One of the most useful features of Microsoft® Office 95, the Answer Wizard is a smart and understanding source for answers to any questions you might have on how to use Microsoft Office products. You don't have to worry about asking "dumb" questions or become frustrated for not being able to find an answer in online Help because you are not a wizard at computer terminology. The Office Answer Wizards gets to the answers quickly so you can finish the task at hand.

If you are using Office 95, you may already know about the Answer Wizard, but you may not realize how powerful a tool it is or how to get the most out of it. Some tips are included that will help you and the Answer Wizard get off to a great start together.

Beyond Full-Text Search

Experienced computer users might assume that the Answer Wizard is simply a full-text search engine like those used on the World Wide Web or in the Find tab of a Windows Help file. Actually, the Answer Wizard is a great deal more. If the Answer Wizard is used only to search a single word to find that one needle in the Help file haystack, then the features that make it such a powerful information-retrieval tool are not being used. Why? Well, like most of us, the Answer Wizard has an easier time understanding complete sentences than single terms. If someone walked into your office and just said, "Font," you'd probably find that approach a bit primitive and reply, "Excuse me?" You wouldn't know how to answer until you understood the question better. The same is true for the Answer Wizard.

Full-text searches also require you to spend quite a bit of time trying to come up with the official computer terminology for your question. The Answer Wizard does not waste your time; instead, it encourages you to describe your question in your own terms. It's the Answer Wizard's job to match your words to the official terms and still give you to the answer.

Where is the Answer Wizard?

You can find the Answer Wizard on the Help menu of any of your Office 95 applications. Simply choose the Answer Wizard command, type your question in the Answer Wizard text box, and click Search. Select a topic from the list presented to you. If none of the topics look like what you want, try asking your question a different way.

The Answer Wizard lets you ask questions in non-technical terms.

Answer Wizard Hints

Here are some hints to help you quickly get the information you need:

1. Just like in the TV game show "Jeopardy," the Answer Wizard is looking for a question. Composing a full sentence question provides the Answer Wizard with the most information about what you are seeking and is most likely to get you the correct answer.
2. Use your own vocabulary. You do not need to waste time trying to guess at the official computer terminology.
3. Pay attention to the order in which topics are presented. It is generally more likely that you will find the information you need at the top of the list.

The Answer Wizard Difference

There are three big differences between the Answer Wizard and a typical full-text search engine.

1. Language Parser. The Answer Wizard understand sentences and phrases. It assigns different weights to different types of words, and uses this information to more accurately understand what you are asking.
2. Synonyms. The Answer Wizard does not require you to use the same official terms that are found in online Help. The Answer Wizard uses a database of synonyms to find relevant topics even when none of the terms in the query actually appear in the Help topic.
3. User Terminology. The Answer Wizard developers looked at thousands and thousands of actual questions that were posed by users of the feature during its development phase. The words used in these questions were coded into the Answer Wizard, so that it knows how users describe the assistance they need.

No Double Jeopardy