Digitip 87 – Get Microsoft Office for Free with Your AberUni login 

Did you know that as an Aberystwyth University student you can get access to free licences for the Microsoft Office Suite on up to five devices. You can find your Account details from any Microsoft programme/application by clicking on your initials in the top right corner. From here, select View Account and click on Install Office to get access to Word, PowerPoint, Teams, Excel, OneNote and more!  

Available for Windows, iOS, and Android. 

Build your digital confidence at the Digital Skills Café

Would you like to feel more confident using digital tools for your studies and beyond? The Digital Skills Café is our new weekly drop-in service, here to help you develop your digital skills throughout your time at Aberystwyth University. 

Whether you have a specific question or aren’t sure where to start, come along for a chat. We can help you explore the tools and skills that work for you. 

How can we help? 

Get support with your studies 

Working on an assignment, project or study task? Explore digital tools that could help, with guidance on choosing and using the right ones for you. 

Build your digital confidence 

Chat through your Digital Discovery Tool report and find practical ways to develop your skills. Together, we can identify areas you’d like to work on and explore your next steps. 

Prepare for your future 

Discover the digital skills that could support you on a placement, in postgraduate study or in your future career, and explore ways to develop them. 

When and where? 

Find us at the AberSkills drop-in desk on D Level, Hugh Owen Library, near the stairwell entrance, throughout term time: 

  • Wednesdays, 13:30–15:30 
  • Fridays, 10:30–12:30 

Take your next step 

Drop by for a chat — we’d love to help you build your digital confidence. 

Visit the Digital Skills Café webpage to find out more, or email digi@aber.ac.uk if you have any questions. 

Your First Assignment

Got your first assignment coming up? Between 19 and 23 October, we’ll be sharing advice, resources and events to help you get started.

We’ll guide you through each stage of the process, from understanding the assignment brief and finding the right information to planning, writing and submitting your work with confidence.

And it’s not just for first-years. If you’re in your second or third year, you’ll also find useful tips and support to help with your assignments.

ents and Activities:

Monday 19th: Understanding your assignment

  • AberSkills drop-in with Non between 10:00 and 12:00 (Level D, Hugh Owen Library)
  • Interpret your assignment with Tamsin (Teams, 13.30-14.00) 

Tuesday 20th: Find your materials

  • Finding the Good Stuff: Peer-Reviewed Articles with Anita, 10:00-10:10, 11:00- 11:10 and 12:00 – 12:10 (Teams).
  • Library tour with Simon at 14:00 (meet on Level D, Hugh Owen Library) 

Wednesday 21st: Set up the technology

  • Digital Skills Café drop-in with Keziah between 13:30 and 15:30 (Level D, Hugh Owen Library)
  • Computer tools for Welsh writing with Tamsin, 14.00-15.00 (Teams) 

Thursday 22nd: Writing Your Assignment

  • Meet Samanatha Wynne-Rhydderch, Royal Literary Fund fellow and published author between 10:30 and 13:30 (Level D, Hugh Owen Library)
  • Visit Tamsin Davies, Welsh Skills Tutor, for advice about writing your assignment in Welsh, 12.00 – 14.00 (Level D, Hugh Owen Library)
  • Library tour with Simon at 14:00 (meet on Level D, Hugh Owen Library) 

Friday 23rd: Submitting Your Assignment

  • Submission drop-in with Luke between 10:00 and 12:00 (Level D, Hugh Owen Library) 

All week:

  • Level F Enquiry Desk: 11:00 – 15:00
  • Book displays in Hugh Owen Library and Physical Sciences Library

Everything will be available on Ffrwd, so have a look during the week. Good luck!

For any further questions please get in contact via:

Tel: 01970 622020 

Email: library@aber.ac.uk

TipDigi 86 – Tagio E-bost Outlook 🏷️

Os ydych chi fel fi, mae cael blwch derbyn e-bost gwag yn llawenydd anhygoel ac yn nod anorchfygol.

Heddiw byddaf yn rhannu rhywbeth sy’n fy helpu i deimlo bod gennyf fwy o reolaeth dros fy mewnflwch trwy gadw golwg ar beth yw beth – beth allwch chi ei ddileu, ei gadw, ymateb iddo, neu beth bynnag arall sydd ei angen arnoch.

Dyma gyflwyno: Tagio e-bost!

Mae hon yn nodwedd yn rhaglen Outlook Microsoft, ond mae hefyd yn bresennol mewn llawer o ddarllenwyr e-bost eraill mewn gwahanol ffurfiau, felly edrychwch ar y gosodiadau ar gyfer eich un chi i weld a allwch chi wneud iddo weithio i chi.

Yn Outlook, cliciwch ar y sgwariau lliw hyn o dan y bar offer Hafan:
Yna, cliciwch ar “Pob Categori”:

Yn y ddewislen gosodiadau hon, gallwch ailenwi ac ail-liwio’r tagiau (neu’r ‘categorïau’) y byddwch chi’n eu defnyddio i’ch e-byst.

O’r fan honno, gallwch ddewis yr e-bost yr hoffech ei dagio, yna defnyddiwch y gwymplen a geir trwy glicio ar <- hwn, a thagio’ch negeseuon e-bost fel yr hoffech!
Gallwch hefyd osod llwybrau byr bysellfwrdd arferol i gymhwyso tagiau, a all gyflymu pethau hyd yn oed yn fwy unwaith y byddwch chi’n dod i arfer â’u didoli.

I ddangos pam efallai yr hoffech chi ddechrau tagio eich negeseuon e-bost, dyma enghraifft o flwch derbyn:

Rydw i wedi mynd trwy’r e-byst hyn ac wedi eu tagio yn gyflym o ran sut rwyf eisiau ymdrin â nhw. “Gweithredu (coch)”, “Cadw er gwybodaeth (melyn)”, “Ymateb (glas)” a dim tag.
Yn ddiweddarach, pan fydd gen i amser i ysgrifennu rhai negeseuon e-bost, gallaf edrych yn ôl trwy fy mewnflwch a didoli yn ôl categorïau fel fy mod yn gwybod yn union ble mae pob un i fod. Mae’n gweithredu fel dangosydd gweledol o ba negeseuon e-bost sydd angen gweithredu arnynt, pa rai sydd i fod i aros yn eich mewnflwch neu archif, a pha rai y gellir eu dileu’n ddiogel.

Gan gymhwyso hyn i’r cannoedd o negeseuon e-bost y gallech eu derbyn – rhai’n ddefnyddiol, rhai’n ddibwrpas – ynghyd â’r gallu i ddidoli yn ôl tagiau ac ymdrin â nhw i gyd ar unwaith, efallai y byddwch chi’n gweld sut y gall hyn wneud rheoli mewnflwch prysur yn dasg llawer llai brawychus!

I ddilyn ein TipDigidol, tanysgrifiwch i’n Blog Sgiliau Digidol. Neu fel arall, gallwch lyfrnodi’r dudalen we hon, lle ychwanegir TipDigidol newydd bob wythnos!  

Digitip 86 – Outlook Email Tagging 🏷️

If you’re like me, having an empty email inbox is both an incredible joy and an insurmountable goal.

Today i’ll share something that helps me feel more in control of my inbox by keeping track of what’s what – what you can delete, keep, respond to, or whatever else you need.

Introducing: Email tagging!

This is a feature in Microsoft’s Outlook program, but it’s also present in lots of other email readers in different forms, so poke around in the settings for yours to see if you can make it work for you.

In Outlook, click these coloured squares under the Home toolbar:
Then, click “All Categories”:

In this settings menu, you can rename and recolour the tags (or ‘categories’) that you’ll be applying to your emails.

From there, you can select the email you want to tag, then use the dropdown menu accessed by clicking <- this, and tag your emails as you wish!
You can also set custom keyboard shortcuts to apply tags, which can speed things up even more once you get used to sorting them.

To demonstrate why you might want to start tagging your emails, here’s an example inbox:

I’ve gone through these emails and quickly tagged them with how I want to deal with them. “Action (red)”, “Keep for reference (yellow)”, “Respond (blue)” and no tag.
Later, when I have the time to write some emails, I can look back through my inbox and sort by categories so I know exactly where each one is supposed to be. It acts as a visual indicator of what emails require further action, which ones are meant to remain in your inbox or archive, and which ones can be safely deleted.

Scaling this up to the hundreds of emails you may receive – some useful, some pointless, some neither – combined with the ability to sort by tags and deal with them all at once, and you may see how this can make managing a busy inbox much less of a daunting task!

To follow our DigiTips, subscribe to our Digital Skills Blog. Or alternatively, you can bookmark this webpage, where a new DigiTip will be added each week!  

Digitip 85 – I or l: Avoid getting tricked 🔍

Imagine, for a moment, this harrowing scenario:

Hi, here's the important code you requested:
Az3971InwlI1mkEnDIWnl11Il

You'll have to enter this manually, using a remote control, one character at a time.
The input field will reset after 60 seconds, so better move fast.
Oh, and one last thing...
Some of those are lower-case Ls, and some are upper-case Is.

Good luck!
- Serious Business Co.

It’s impossible. It’s insurmountable. You’re doomed.
Unless…

I or L Checker

Using this site, you can see which characters in some text are I, L, or 1.

The code from before being seen through the web tool, with different letters highlighted.

(All in all, this is a pretty silly one. Still though, it’s helped me out at least twice in my life! Maybe it’ll help you some day?)

To follow our DigiTips, subscribe to our Digital Skills Blog. Or alternatively, you can bookmark this webpage, where a new DigiTip will be added each week!  

TipDigi 85 – I neu l: Osgowch gael eich twyllo 🔎

Dychmygwch am eiliad y senario dirdynnol hwn:

Helo, dyma'r cod pwysig y gwnaethoch gais amdano:
Az3971InwlI1mkEnDIWnl11Il

Bydd yn rhaid i chi fewnbynnu’r cod â llaw, gan ddefnyddio teclyn rheoli o bell, un nod ar y tro.
Bydd y maes mewnbynnu yn ailosod ar ôl 60 eiliad, felly rhaid symud yn gyflym.
O, ac un peth arall...
Mae rhai o'r nodau’n llythrennau ‘L’ fach a rhai yn briflythrennau ‘i’.


Pob lwc!
- Serious Business Co.

Mae’n amhosibl. Mae’n anorchfygol. Does dim gobaith.
Oni bai…

Gwiriwr I neu L

Gan ddefnyddio’r safle hwn, gallwch weld pa nodau mewn darn o destun sy’n I, L, neu 1.

Y cod o’r blaen cyn ei weld drwy’r adnodd gwe, gyda gwahanol lythrennau wedi’u hamlygu.

(Ar y cyfan, mae hwn yn un eithaf gwirion. Serch hynny, mae wedi fy helpu o leiaf ddwywaith yn fy mywyd! Efallai y bydd yn eich helpu chi ryw ddydd?)

I ddilyn ein TipDigidol, tanysgrifiwch i’n Blog Sgiliau Digidol. Neu fel arall, gallwch lyfrnodi’r dudalen we hon, lle ychwanegir TipDigidol newydd bob wythnos!  

DigiTip 4 – Increase your productivity whilst helping the planet with the Forest App 🌱

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Do you want to increase your productivity whilst helping the planet? The Forest App will help reduce your procrastination and distractions whilst giving you the extra incentive to stay productive, by growing trees and earning virtual coins to unlock new plants depending on how long you have stayed productive for.

As your forest grows, you can see what your focused time distribution looks like over time, with various detailed charts included in the app. 

With the Forest App partnering with a real-tree-planting organisation, when users spend their virtual coins on planting new trees, the Forest team can donate to the real-tree-planting organisation to create planting orders!

You can download the Forest App through the App Store on iOS and Android devices. 

For a quick preview, take a look at these screenshots to see what the Forest App may look like on your mobile device.

To follow our DigiTips, subscribe to our Digital Skills Blog. Or alternatively, you can bookmark this webpage, where a new DigiTip will be added each week!  

TipDigi 4 – Cyfle i wella eich cynhyrchiant wrth helpu’r blaned, gyda’r Forest App 🌱



Ydych chi eisiau cynyddu eich cynhyrchiant wrth helpu’r blaned? Bydd y Forest App yn helpu i leihau oedi ac amhariadau a rhoi’r cymhelliant ychwanegol i chi aros yn gynhyrchiol, trwy dyfu coed ac ennill darnau arian rhithwir i ddatgloi planhigion newydd gan ddibynnu ar ba mor hir yr ydych chi wedi aros yn gynhyrchiol.

Wrth i’ch coedwig dyfu, gallwch weld sut olwg sydd ar eich dosbarthiad amser penodol dros amser, gyda siartiau manwl amrywiol wedi’u cynnwys yn yr ap. 

Gyda’r Forest App yn partneru â sefydliad plannu coed go iawn, pan fydd defnyddwyr yn gwario eu darnau arian rhithwir ar blannu coed newydd, gall tîm Forest App roi cyfraniad i’r sefydliad plannu coed go iawn i greu archebion plannu!

Gallwch lawrlwytho’r Forest App drwy’r Storfa Apiau ar ddyfeisiau iOS ac Android.

Am ragolwg cyflym, edrychwch ar y sgrin luniau uchod i weld sut gall yr Forest App edrych ar eich dyfais symudol.

I ddilyn ein TipiauDigi, tanysgrifiwch i’n Blog Sgiliau Digidol. Neu, gallwch hefyd ddilyn y dudalen hon, lle bydd TipDigi newydd yn cael ei ychwanegu bob wythnos!

DigiTip 84 – Read Aloud in Word 🗣️

Short one today, but helpful!
Continuing on from last week’s DigiTip on proof-reading, this tip is all about the text-to-speech function (or ‘read aloud’) in Microsoft Word!

Before we talk about exactly why this function is so useful, here’s how to make it work for you. To access it, you can either:

Navigate to Review and then to Read Aloud

Highlight your chosen text, right click, and select Read Aloud

Or, finally, utilise any of the following keyboard shortcuts (sourced from Microsoft’s support page)

So, why would you want your computer to speak out loud to you?

Here are some reasons:

  • Proof-reading
    • Hearing your own writing repeated back to you can serve as a sort of ‘sanity check’ to ensure your writing makes sense and comes across the way you want it to
  • Multitasking
    • Utilising Read Aloud can let you work through written documents while you do other things.
  • Assisting in comprehension
    • Working through a text alongside an audible guide can keep you on-track and focused on what’s being said. This can be especially helpful for anyone who finds large walls of text daunting!

Finally, this isn’t the only TTS function in Word alone!
If you found this tip helpful, you might be just as interested in the Immersive Reader or Narrator functions, which are more focused on assisting comprehension and accessibility respectively.

To follow our DigiTips, subscribe to our Digital Skills Blog. Or alternatively, you can bookmark this webpage, where a new DigiTip will be added each week!