July 2001

There were 3 posts published in July 2001 (this is page 1 of 1).

Creating Toolbars

A few weeks ago, we talked about how to create toolbar buttons to activate your macros, but the fact is, you can create your own toolbars as well. Then you're not stuck with the toolbars that come with Microsoft Word. Here's how:

In Word 97 or later:

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Customize."

3. Click the "Toolbars" tab.

4. Click the "New" button.

5. In the box labeled "Toolbar name," type a name for your toolbar, such as "My Macros."

6. In the box labeled "Make toolbar available to," select the template or document where you want your toolbar to live. This will probably be your Normal template (Normal.dot), which will make your toolbar available to any document. You could also select another template or document, however.

7. Click the "OK" button.

8. Click the "Close" button.

In Word 6 or 95:

1. Click the "View" menu.

2. Click "Toolbars."

3. Click the "New" button.

4. In the box labeled "Toolbar name," type a name for your toolbar, such as "My Macros."

5. In the box labeled "Make toolbar available to," select the template or document where you want your toolbar to live. This will probably be your Normal template (Normal.dot), which will make your toolbar available to any document. You could also select another template, however.

6. Click the "OK" button.

7. Click the "Close" button.

Once you've created your toolbar, you can add macros to it as described in the June 27, 2001, issue of Editorium Update, which you can read here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707286867

Customizing Microsoft Word

When you first install Microsoft Word, it's set up for the "generic" user--someone who employs only the most basic features of this powerful program. For example, it displays the Standard and Formatting toolbars but not the AutoText or Reviewing toolbars. But if you're editing or typesetting in Word, you're not a generic user--far from it. You could probably *use* the AutoText and Reviewing toolbars. And maybe that Standard toolbar doesn't do much of anything for you. Don't be afraid to set up Word so that you can work as efficiently as possible. Here are some tips on how to do that:

1. During a typical workday, notice which features of Word you use the most. You might even make a list and put a check mark next to a feature each time you use it. Then count up the check marks for each feature at the end of the day.

2. If you're using menus or toolbars to access these features, learn and then use their keyboard shortcuts (see "Keyboard Shortcuts" in Word's Help file). Over the course of a year, this will save you an enormous amount of time because you won't be reaching for the mouse every thirty seconds. If the features don't have keyboard shortcuts, make your own, as explained in the Readers Write column of the June 13, 2001, Editorium Update, which you can read here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707100224

3. Explore Word's toolbars by clicking the "View" menu and then "Toolbars." Some of these (Control Toolbox, Visual Basic) may be completely meaningless to you. Others, however (Clipboard, Tables and Borders), you may find very useful.

4. Rearrange menu items and toolbar buttons in ways that make sense to you. Don't settle for Word's out-of-the-box arrangement. Word was *made* to be customized! Go ahead--pull off those buttons you never use. Move buttons from one toolbar to another. If you know that never in your life are you going to use the Letter Wizard, why keep it on your "Tools" menu? Get rid of it! Make your Word window as sleek and efficient as the cockpit of a jet. You can read the basic instructions for customizing toolbars and menus in the past two issues of Editorium Update, here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707286867

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707444986

5. Go spelunking. Use Word's menus to explore features you may not have seen before. Check out Document Map, Change Case, Word Count, Track Changes, and (if you're a keyboard junkie) Full Screen View. Some of these features will make you smile. When they do, remember where they are (make another list) or put them on menus and toolbars where you can find them again.

6. If you've recorded certain macros that you use a lot, make them easily accessible with keyboard shortcuts, toolbar buttons, and menu items.

If the idea of changing toolbars and menus scares you, just be sure to back up your Normal template (Normal.dot, which resides in your Templates folder). Then, if you need to, you can go back to your original configuration by replacing your new Normal template (where your customizations are stored) with your old, generic one. You can also keep your customizations (and macros) in your own add-in template, as explained here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707194086

Remember, too, that just because you remove a feature from a toolbar or menu doesn't mean it's really gone. You can always put it back if you need to. Over the next few weeks, I'll explain how to create your own toolbars and menus (not just modify existing ones) and add or remove features. I'll also show you the secret repository for *all* of Word's features--many of which are not on *any* menu, toolbar, or keyboard shortcut. If you're interested in customizing Word, you won't want to miss that.

Macros on Menus

In our last newsletter, we talked about putting macros on toolbar buttons, but you may prefer putting them on menus instead. Here's how:

In Word 6 or 95:

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Customize."

3. Click the "Menus" tab.

4. In the "Categories" list, on the left, find and click "Macros."

5. In the "Macros" list, on the right, find and click the macro you want to use.

6. In the "Change What Menu" box, find and click the menu you want to use ("Edit," for example, or "Insert").

7. In the "Position on Menu" box, find and click the menu item below which you want your new menu item to appear. (You can also select "Auto" [which lets Word assign the position], "At Top," and "At Bottom.")

8. In the "Name on Menu" box, type the name of your macro as you want it to appear on the menu. (This won't change the actual name of your macro.)

9. Click the "Add" or "Add Below" button.

10. Click the "Close" button.

In Word 97 or later:

1. Click the "Tools" menu.

2. Click "Customize."

3. Click the "Commands" tab.

4. In the "Categories" list, on the left, find and click "Macros."

5. In the "Commands" list, on the right, find and click the macro you want to use and hold down the mouse button.

6. Drag the gray rectangle to the Word menu you want to use ("Edit," for example, or "Insert"). The menu will expand so you can see its entries.

7. Drag the gray rectangle to the position where you want your menu item to appear.

8. Release the mouse button. Your new menu item will appear on the menu, displaying the name of the macro.

9. In Word 97 or later, click the "Modify Selection" button or right-click the menu item you just added. A menu will appear.

10. Use the menu items to change the appearance of your new menu item until you're happy with it (see the explanations below).

11. When you're finished, click the "Close" button.

Your new menu item will appear on the menu you selected, displaying the name of the macro.

Now you can click the menu item to run your macro.

Here's an explanation of the items on the "Modify Selection" menu:

* "Delete" deletes the selected button.

* "Name" lets you change the text displayed on the menu (without affecting the name of the macro).

* "Copy Button Image" copies the icon from a selected button or menu item.

* "Paste Button Image" pastes a copied icon to the left of a selected menu item.

* "Reset Button Image" resets a menu item to its default appearance, which is blank for a new menu item to which you've assigned an icon.

* "Edit Button Image" lets you create your own icons or modify existing ones. Be careful; it's easy to spend hours playing around in here.

* "Change Button Image" lets you select one of Word's built-in icons. I frequently use the smiley face to run a quick-and-dirty macro for a particular project.

* "Default Style" displays the icon and menu name for a menu item that has both an icon and a text name.

* "Text Only (Always)" displays only the menu item's name, hiding the icon if you've assigned one. (The "Always" means this will be true even if you drag the item to a toolbar button.)

* "Text Only (In Menus)" displays only the menu item's name on the menu (but not if you drag it to a toolbar).

* "Image and Text" displays both the icon and the menu item's name.

* "Begin a Group" separates the menu item from previous menu items with a thin, gray line.

* "Assign Hyperlink" lets you use the menu item to link to a Web page, a file, a picture, or other items, but that's a topic for another day.

When you close Word, the program will ask if you want to save the changes you've made to the Normal (or other) template. In other words, do you want to keep the menu item you've added? If you do, click yes (this will also save any other changes you've made to the template).

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READERS WRITE

Subscriber Brian Vicary wrote:

I have read with great interest your articles concerning Word macros--in particular your more advanced series dealing with creating macros and making them available automatically via add-in templates.

As part of our business I visit our clients' sites to install software and to perform updates when necessary. We supply a Word template with predefined macros to make the use of our software easier. On networks we prefer our template to be shared so that we only have one location to update. While this can be accomplished by pointing the Word Startup path to this shared location, it is often not possible if the users already have templates in their Startup folder. Often users already have slightly different Startup templates for their own use or do not need access to a particular template.

You can add templates using the Tools, Templates and Add-Ins option, but you have to manually activate them each time you run Word.

To get round this problem this is what I do:

1. Open Word and then close the blank document that is open.

2. Go to the Tools menu and select the Macro option; from there select the Record New Macro.... option.

3. Give the macro a name appropriate to the macro--for example, AddMyMacro.

4. Click OK to begin recording the macro.

5. Click the Tools menu and select the Templates and Add-Ins option.

6. Click the Add button.

7. Navigate to where the Template document is stored on the network and select it. It should appear in the Add-ins list with a tick.

8. Click the OK button.

9. Stop recording the macro.

10. Go to the Tools menu and select the Macro option; from there select the Macros.... option.

11. Enter the name AutoExec in the Macro Name box and click the Create button. This will open the Visual Basic Editor with the new macro AutoExec.

12. In the sub for AutoExec, enter the name of the new macro you recorded above--for example, AddMyMacro.

13. Close the Visual Basic Editor.

14. Close and restart Word.

Now when Word starts, it automatically runs the macro AutoExec. This in turn runs the macro name you entered, AddMyMacro, which loads and activates the required template.

If you already have an AutoExec macro, just add a new line to it with the name of your macro. Any number of macros can be added this way, and you also have control over who loads what macros, as well as allowing them to maintain a personal Startup path.

You can also add the template in the usual manner without recording a macro, then record a macro of your activating it. The process is exactly the same, and the result is also exactly the same.

The only drawback can be the speed of the network if your macros are complex, but in practice I have not found this to be a major problem. Also, you have to get everyone to close their Word if you need to update any of the Add-on templates. However, this is true whatever method you use for sharing templates.

Hope this may be of interest to any of your readers.

Thanks very much to Brian for this useful tip.