When a tutorial’s menus do not match your software, stop copying clicks and start from the requirement. Ask what the feature does, then find it in your own program by name, by help search or by the dialog it opens. The skill carries across versions even when the buttons move.
This page supports locating an equivalent feature in your actual software and the module on practical workflow and software versions. It uses an original example and does not assume any one program.
What is actually going wrong?
Tutorials are recorded at one moment, in one version, often on another operating system. Menus get renamed, tools move to other tabs, and dialogs are redesigned. A student who memorises the click path is stuck the moment the path changes.
There are three usual gaps:
- The tutorial teaches clicks, not the idea. You do not know what the feature is for.
- The feature has a different name in your software.
- The tutorial is for a different program with a similar task.
A requirement-first method
- Write the requirement in plain words. For example: “order the records by surname, then first name”.
- Name the feature. Here it is a multi-level sort.
- Search your software with that name in the help or the search box.
- Open the dialog and read the labels. Match them to your requirement, not to the tutorial.
- Do it on a small test file and check the result against what you expected.
- Record the mapping in your notes, with the software name and version.
Your version is usually shown in the software’s “About” or account page. Write it at the start of your notes so that future you knows where each step belongs.
A worked example
Requirement: sort a list of students by surname A to Z, and where surnames match, by first name A to Z.
Tutorial says: “Click Data, then the A to Z button.” Your software shows no Data tab.
Working it out:
- The tutorial’s button sorts on one field only, and this requirement needs two.
- You search your help for “sort” and find a custom sort dialog.
- The dialog has a first level called “Sort by” and a button to add a second level.
- You set level one to Surname, A to Z, and level two to First name, A to Z.
- You test on six rows that include two students with the same surname.
Your mapping table:
| Requirement | Tutorial’s wording | My software |
|---|---|---|
| Sort on two fields | Data, A to Z button | Custom sort, add a second level |
| Keep headings out of the sort | Tick “My data has headers” | Tick the headings option in the same dialog |
Notice that the table is about what the feature does, so it still works if the menu moves again.
The mistake to watch for
A student follows the tutorial’s single A to Z button and sorts only on surname. Students with the same surname stay in their old order, so the requirement is not met even though the list looks sorted. The correction is to check the requirement after the click, not the tutorial’s last step.
When is the requirement not the same as the tutorial?
Tutorials often show one route and add personal preferences such as colours or shortcuts. Your task sheet decides what is required. See distinguishing an exam requirement from an app preference for how to sort one from the other.
Check yourself
1. Your tutorial says “Insert, then Page Number” but your software has no Insert tab. What is your first step?
Show answer
Restate the requirement (a page number placed in the footer, for example), then search your software’s help or search box for “page number” and open the dialog it leads to.
2. Why should your notes show the software name and version?
Show answer
Menus differ between versions, so the note tells you where each step belongs and saves searching again later.
3. After following a sort tutorial, how do you check the requirement was met?
Show answer
Look at rows where the first sort field matches, such as two identical surnames, and confirm the second field is ordered correctly.
Where this leads next
Try translating a task into an ordered action checklist and reopening exported files to verify content. The ICT practical task and evidence checker gives a software-neutral checklist for any brief.
A teacher who sits in your software can show the route in minutes, then teach you how to find it alone. That is the aim of online one-to-one ICT tuition.