Microsoft MacTopia - Tips & Tricks

★ wanayoo — archive 1999 http://microsoft.com/mac/tips/tip3.htm



			A.K.A Shortcut Nirvana There's tons of hints and goodies here to make using your favorite Mac programs that much more of a pleasure.

Tips & Tricks

Adding custom menus to
your Word documents

One of the best ways to make shortcuts and macros readily available when you�re working in Microsoft Word is to display them in a toolbar. The problem is, as you add toolbars, you quickly begin to lose workspace. While the example in Figure A may seem a little exaggerated, you get the point�you need to limit your choice of toolbars. There�s a fine line between making shortcuts available and maximizing your workspace. The solution is to add these shortcuts to a toolbar menu.

Figure A: Showing each of Microsoft Word�s toolbars will decrease your workspace.

[ Figure A ]

Word makes it easy to create a new menu that includes commands associated with a specific document or template. By adding a specialized menu to a template, you�ll be more efficient when creating documents based on that template. Also, the menu only appears when you open the template or a document based on he template. In this article, we�ll show you how to create a toolbar menu and attach it to a template.

An overview

Word has an abundance of built-in commands that you can use to create a task-specific menu. For example, you can build a menu to streamline your work on expense reports if you�re opening several menus and dialog boxes just to complete one report. Or perhaps you frequently work with protected forms, mail merges and data sources, edited documents (tracked changes/revisions), book chapters, tables of content, or indexes�just to name a few. Rather than hunting through multiple locations for the commands you need to quickly and accurately complete these types of tasks, put them all on one menu.

We�ll begin by using the Customize command from the Toolbars submenu to create a toolbar. Then, we�ll add a menu to that toolbar. Once we�ve got the menu, we�ll show you how you can add and group commands, shortcuts, and macros to it.

Creating a new toolbar

To begin, launch Word and choose View>Toolbars>Customize. In the dialog box that appears, click the New button and name the toolbar. Notice that you can also attach this toolbar to a specific file, a template, or globally. If you want to make the new toolbar available globally (in all templates and documents), choose the Normal option from the Make Toolbar Available To pop-up menu, as shown in Figure B. When you�ve made your choice, click OK to dismiss the dialog box. Word will then display a small, empty toolbar.

Figure B: You can attach a toolbar to a file, a template, or globally so that it�s available to all documents.

[ Figure B ]

Adding a menu

Now it�s time to add a menu to the toolbar. To do so, select the Commands tab in the Customize dialog box. Then choose New Menu from the Categories list box, and select New Menu from the Commands list box and drag it up to the menu bar. When you release the mouse button, Word creates a menu on the toolbar, as shown in Figure C (You can also use this technique to add a menu to existing toolbars.)

Figure C: You now have an empty menu on the toolbar.

[ Figure C ]

Before we proceed, let�s change the default name of the menu. Since, for this example, we�re going to add styles to the menu, let�s rename the menu Style. To do so, click on the Modify Selection button in the Customize dialog box and enter the new name, as shown in Figure D. Now, when you close the pop-up menu, Word renames the menu.

Figure D: Rename the new menu in the Customize dialog box.

[ Figure D ]

Adding commands

A menu�s no good if it doesn�t contain anything to choose from, so let�s begin adding styles. To do so, select Styles from the Categories list box of the Customize dialog box. Then, choose one of the styles from the Commands list box and drag it onto the Style menu. When you do, you�ll notice a blank pop-up menu appears just below the word Style, as shown in Figure E. When you release the mouse button, Word stores the style choice in the menu. (Be careful not to drop the command on the new menu title, otherwise the command will appear as its own icon.) A vertical I-beam appears to the left of the command name to indicate its placement. Should you wish to change the name of the menu option, you can do so by simply selecting the item and then entering the new name in the Name field of the Modify Selection pop-up menu.

Figure E: Adding menu options to your toolbar is as simple as drag and drop.

[ Figure E ]

Repeat the above step for any other commands you wish to add to the menu. When you drag a command to the menu, Word indicates where it will add the item by displaying a horizontal I-beam on the menu as you move your mouse over it.

Tweaking the menu

To make your menu easy to use, divide its major sections with separator lines. To add one, simply select the menu item you wish to divide from the rest of the menu and choose Begin A Group from the Modify Selection pop-up menu. A separator line now appears in the menu.

You can also add graphics to your menu commands. Simply select the appropriate menu option and then choose a graphic from the Modify Selection menu�s Change Button Image command. When you�ve finished, the graphic will appear to the left of the command, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F: You can even add graphics to your menu options.

[ Figure F ]

Deleting commands and more

After creating your custom menu, you may decide you no longer need a command you added. Should that be the case, simply open the Customize dialog box and select the appropriate toolbar. Then scroll down to the item you wish to remove and drag it onto the desktop. Word will then remove it from the menu. Want to delete the entire menu from the toolbar? No problem�simply drag the entire menu onto the desktop.

Conclusion

With a simple technique and a few minutes of your time, you can create custom menus for almost any sort of task you frequently complete. With a specialized menu, the commands are readily available so you can spend more time working and less time hunting for misplaced menu items.

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Adding custom menus to your Word documents