If you've been recording your own macros (as explained in past issues of Editorium Update), you may be interested in putting them on toolbar buttons for easy access. Here's how:
1. Make sure the toolbar you want to use is showing. (You may need to click the "View" menu, click "Toolbars," and then put a checkmark next to the toolbar you want to display.)
2. Click the "Tools" menu.
3. Click "Customize."
4. Click the "Commands" tab. (In Word 6 or Word 95, click the "Toolbars" tab.)
5. In the "Categories" list, on the left, click "Macros."
6. In the "Commands" list ("Macros" list in Word 6 or Word 95), on the right, click the macro you want to use and hold down the mouse button.
7. Drag the gray rectangle (representing a toolbar button) to a suitable position on the toolbar you want to use. (In Word 97 or later, a black "I-beam" will indicate the position of your new button.)
8. Release the mouse button. A new button will appear on the toolbar. (In Word 97 or later, it will display the name of the macro.)
9. In Word 6 or 95, click the icon you want to use, or type in the text for a text button. Then click the "Assign" button.
10. In Word 97 or later, click the "Modify Selection" button or right-click the toolbar button you just added. A menu will appear. (In Word 6 or Word 95, you can display the menu by right-clicking the toolbar button.)
11. Use the menu items to change the appearance of your button until you're happy with it (see the explanations below).
12. When you're finished, click the "Close" button.
Now you can click the button to run your macro from the toolbar.
Here's an explanation of the items on the "Modify Selection" menu (some of these are not available in Word 6 or Word 95):
* "Delete" deletes the selected button.
* "Name" lets you change the text displayed on the button (without affecting the name of the macro).
* "Copy Button Image" copies the icon from a selected button.
* "Paste Button Image" pastes a copied icon to a selected button.
* "Reset Button Image" resets a button to its default appearance, which is blank for a new button 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 only the icon for a button that has both an icon and a text name.
* "Text Only (Always)" displays only the button's name, hiding the icon if you've assigned one.
* "Text Only (In Menus)" displays only the button's name if you drag the button to a menu rather than a toolbar (yes, you can do that).
* "Image and Text" displays both the icon and the button's name.
* "Begin a Group" separates the button from previous buttons with a space (in Word 6 or Word 95) or a thin, gray line.
* "Assign Hyperlink" lets you use the button 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 button you've added? If you do, click yes (this will also save any other changes you've made to the template).
