Microsoft 365 Visio Beginner (2023): Working with Connectors

Name: Microsoft 365 Visio Beginner (2023): Working with Connectors
Author: Ali Green

Create helpful connections between shapes

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, this is Ali Green. And in these lessons, we will learn about exploring the AutoConnect and Connection Points, formatting our connectors and various types of connectors. Let's get started. So we'll come over to File at the top, and we'll come down to New. Now, in this case, it doesn't really matter which template we use. All of them will have connection points, but we're going to choose our flowchart template. We'll click, and that's going to open up our flowchart template. We have our tab at the top that opens. And just so we have more room, we'll go to Design, Orientation, and Landscape, and that's going to change the page. And over on the left, we're going to grab our process to our page. Now, if you come up to View, you have something called Quick Shapes. Let's zoom in. And We have our shape. And when you hover, you'll notice that there's four arrows that come out of your shape on each side. And if you hover on the arrows, you'll get the top five shapes. So these are the top five shapes here. And we can connect our shapes through our auto connector. Now, if you turn off the Quick Shapes and you hover, you'll get your arrows, no auto-connect. Okay, so those Quick Shapes will come in handy for connecting to our other shapes. So we'll hover, right arrow, click on our process, hover again, click on our process. This is the easy way for us to add our shapes. Click on decision. And that's going to give us our connection points in between our shapes. Now, if we happen to not make a connection, So if we drag a process chart down and we didn't use our connection through our connection points, what we can do is hover on the green nodes and the nodes will allow us to make a connection from one side to the other. We're going to look for our black cross, and we're going to drag from one connection point to the other. And again, if we hover, we can make more connections, and more connections. Now, what if this shape has a connection to this particular shape? Now, of course, if we can't hover over our arrow and make the connection, we can simply hover at the edge, at any side, grab, and make our connection from one side to the other, just like that, and make our connection between our shapes. And if we zoom out and we hover, again, we can see that we have our various connection points. So at the green nodes as well as at the arrows. And we can also eyeball the leveling between our shapes. So if we grab a process, we drag a process over, you'll see the green line. And if you click on the smart guys at the top, you hover in the middle, no green line. So the green line is going to help us make that leveling and we can make connections between those two shapes. And we'll select, we can simply nudge it down and nudge it up. So in review, we've talked about our connections. So we know we can make auto-connect when the arrows come out. We can also turn off and on our quick shapes, and we can hover over our green nodes and make new connections to other shapes. Thanks for watching, and In the next lesson we'll learn how to format connectors.

Beginner Provider : Ali Green 3 Lessons · 11m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

In Visio, shapes represent the steps between your ideas. Connectors are the “glue” that binds your ideas together. It is important to know at which parts of your shapes you can connect your connectors. It is also crucial to know the direction in which connectors point, and how connectors are formatted, including the color of connectors and the effects applied to them.

In these lessons, you will learn about connecting shapes with AutoConnect and where on the shape to place the connection points. You will also learn about formatting connectors, which allows you to add colors as well as effects to your connectors. Then you’ll learn how to change connector types and select connectors within your drawings. By the end of these lessons, you will have the skills needed to create diagrams and flowcharts that convey highly structured ideas in a step-by-step manner.

What You'll Learn

Identify the connection points on a shape in Visio
Create connections between shapes using AutoConnect
Format connectors by adding colors and applying effects
Change connector types and select connectors within a drawing
Build diagrams and flowcharts that convey structured ideas step by step

Key Takeaways

In Visio, shapes represent the steps between your ideas while connectors are the glue that binds those ideas together.
Knowing where on a shape you can attach connectors, and the direction connectors point, is important for clear diagrams.
Connectors can be formatted with colors and effects to enhance them.
AutoConnect helps you connect shapes and place connection points on a shape.
By the end of the lessons you will have the skills to create diagrams and flowcharts that convey highly structured ideas in a step-by-step manner.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

This Microsoft 365 Visio beginner course covers working with connectors: connecting shapes with AutoConnect and placing connection points, formatting connectors with colors and effects, changing connector types, and selecting connectors within your drawings.

What will I be able to do after completing these lessons?

You will be able to identify the connection points on a shape, create connections between shapes, format and enhance connectors, and create diagrams and flowcharts that convey highly structured ideas in a step-by-step manner.

Who is this course for?

It is a beginner-level course for those learning to work with connectors in Microsoft 365 Visio (2023) to build diagrams and flowcharts.

What lessons are included?

The course includes three lessons: Exploring AutoConnect and Connection Points, Formatting Connectors, and Exploring the Various Types of Connectors.

What skills will I gain?

Skills covered include diagramming software, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft 365, connected data objects, Microsoft Learning Gateway, and Microsoft Visual Programming Language.