How does one create a custom Menu on the Menu Bar in Word 7?

It was quite simple in Word 2003 via Tools Customize.

There is no Menu Bar in Word 2007, only the Ribbon, and the only
customization permitted is of the QAT.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"kaoinla" wrote in message
...
It was quite simple in Word 2003 via Tools Customize.

That's a bit sweeping? - http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_Ribbon.htm and
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_...amatically.htm

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
There is no Menu Bar in Word 2007, only the Ribbon, and the only
customization permitted is of the QAT.


"kaoinla" wrote in message
...
It was quite simple in Word 2003 via Tools Customize.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume that anyone who calls the
Ribbon the "Menu Bar" probably isn't going to want to learn to use RibbonX.
g

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
That's a bit sweeping? - http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_Ribbon.htm
and
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Customize_...amatically.htm

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
There is no Menu Bar in Word 2007, only the Ribbon, and the only
customization permitted is of the QAT.


"kaoinla" wrote in message
...
It was quite simple in Word 2003 via Tools Customize.

On Nov 18, 10:59*am, kaoinla
wrote:
It was quite simple in Word 2003 via Tools Customize.

kaoinla,

I think Suzanne Barnhill must be having an off day. She doesn't
normally let her opinions influence the accuracy of her posts. Please
accept my apology on her behalf.

Actually I did exactly mean the Menu bar. It was the bar at the top in 2003
with the commands File, Edit, View, etc. I do see what Suzanne is saying now
in Word 2007, the formerly customizable bar menus have now become just dumb
tabs for the ribbon.

I hid the ribbon almost immediately, and I've filled up the quick access
toolbar. I wanted to add some macros into a menu listing as I had done
previously. Now I'm beginning to think I will have to create a control
toolbar or something to hold them.

I will also look into customizing the Ribbon. I think that should really be
as easy to do that as it is to customize the QAT and was to customize the
2003 Menu bar. If I could create an additional QAT that would be helpful.
Two QAT's would still take up less room than the ribbon.

Thanks for all of your replies!

kaoinla,

You will not be able to create a toolbar in Word2007 or a second QAT.
Considering your apparent goal of keeping the Ribbon hidden while having
access to multiple commands (more that your QAT currently can hold), an
option that you might consider is customizing your Ribbon to add a custom
tab, containing custom groups, containing custom menus that are populated
with your custom macros or built-in Word commands. You could then add these
custom groups to your QAT. Once the groups are added to the QAT you can
again hide your ribbon.

For some examples of custom menus see:
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Ribbon_Menu_Controls.htm


"kaoinla" wrote in message
...
Actually I did exactly mean the Menu bar. It was the bar at the top in
2003
with the commands File, Edit, View, etc. I do see what Suzanne is saying
now
in Word 2007, the formerly customizable bar menus have now become just
dumb
tabs for the ribbon.

I hid the ribbon almost immediately, and I've filled up the quick access
toolbar. I wanted to add some macros into a menu listing as I had done
previously. Now I'm beginning to think I will have to create a control
toolbar or something to hold them.

I will also look into customizing the Ribbon. I think that should really
be
as easy to do that as it is to customize the QAT and was to customize the
2003 Menu bar. If I could create an additional QAT that would be helpful.
Two QAT's would still take up less room than the ribbon.

Thanks for all of your replies!

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:54:05 -0800, kaoinla
wrote:

Actually I did exactly mean the Menu bar. It was the bar at the top in 2003
with the commands File, Edit, View, etc. I do see what Suzanne is saying now
in Word 2007, the formerly customizable bar menus have now become just dumb
tabs for the ribbon.

I hid the ribbon almost immediately, and I've filled up the quick access
toolbar. I wanted to add some macros into a menu listing as I had done
previously. Now I'm beginning to think I will have to create a control
toolbar or something to hold them.

I will also look into customizing the Ribbon. I think that should really be
as easy to do that as it is to customize the QAT and was to customize the
2003 Menu bar. If I could create an additional QAT that would be helpful.
Two QAT's would still take up less room than the ribbon.

Thanks for all of your replies!


Hi kaoinla,

You're only about three years late this party. The customizability --
or rather the lack of it -- in the ribbon and other parts of the
so-called Fluent Interface has been discussed since Office 2007 was in
beta release in 2006.

Jensen Harris, the head of the UI group that designed Office 2007, had
a quite extensive blog
(http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/pages/...-contents.aspx) that
included a few articles on customization, such as
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archiv...27/648269.aspx. He
explains how the team decided to limit easy customization to the Quick
Access Toolbar. Most of the MVPs felt, and still feel, that the data
the designers relied on were skewed and incomplete, as they make no
allowance for templates that are customized by specialists and then
distributed to thousands of other users.

Three years of complaints have led Microsoft to conclude that making
people use raw RibbonX to do ribbon customization was a mistake. Since
the public beta of Office 2010 was released this week, I can happily
tell you that it has a Customize Ribbon dialog that works a lot like
the Customize Quick Access Toolbar dialog. You can reposition or hide
the built-in groups, and create custom groups containing whatever
commands you want.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit.

On Nov 19, 1:41*pm, Jay Freedman wrote:
On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:54:05 -0800, kaoinla





wrote:
Actually I did exactly mean the Menu bar. *It was the bar at the top in 2003
with the commands File, Edit, View, etc. *I do see what Suzanne is saying now
in Word 2007, the formerly customizable bar menus have now become just dumb
tabs for the ribbon.

I hid the ribbon almost immediately, and *I've filled up the quick access
toolbar. *I wanted to add some macros into a menu listing as I had done
previously. *Now I'm beginning to think I will have to create a control
toolbar or something to hold them.

I will also look into customizing the Ribbon. *I think that should really be
as easy to do that as it is to customize the QAT and was to customize the
2003 Menu bar. *If I could create an additional QAT that would be helpful. *
Two QAT's would still take up less room than the ribbon.

Thanks for all of your replies!

Hi kaoinla,

You're only about three years late this party. The customizability --
or rather the lack of it -- in the ribbon and other parts of the
so-called Fluent Interface has been discussed since Office 2007 was in
beta release in 2006.

Jensen Harris, the head of the UI group that designed Office 2007, had
a quite extensive blog
(http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/pages/...-contents.aspx) that
included a few articles on customization, such ashttp://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/06/27/648269.aspx. He
explains how the team decided to limit easy customization to the Quick
Access Toolbar. Most of the MVPs felt, and still feel, that the data
the designers relied on were skewed and incomplete, as they make no
allowance for templates that are customized by specialists and then
distributed to thousands of other users.

Three years of complaints have led Microsoft to conclude that making
people use raw RibbonX to do ribbon customization was a mistake. Since
the public beta of Office 2010 was released this week, I can happily
tell you that it has a Customize Ribbon dialog that works a lot like
the Customize Quick Access Toolbar dialog. You can reposition or hide
the built-in groups, and create custom groups containing whatever
commands you want.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP * * * *FAQ:http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jay,

Thanks for this update. Can you tell us if the availability of built-
in icons as been enhanced or is there a feature to create custom icons
for either the QAT or the Ribbon?

I'm looking forward to learning that as well. One of the features I lobbied
hardest for was the ability to create custom button images (if only for the
QAT) or at the very least to have a wider selection of alternatives for all
those "green ball" buttons that have no built-in icon. Or perhaps they could
get their artists to design a built-in icon for every available button!

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Greg Maxey" wrote in message
...
On Nov 19, 1:41 pm, Jay Freedman wrote:
On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:54:05 -0800, kaoinla





wrote:
Actually I did exactly mean the Menu bar. It was the bar at the top in
2003
with the commands File, Edit, View, etc. I do see what Suzanne is saying
now
in Word 2007, the formerly customizable bar menus have now become just
dumb
tabs for the ribbon.

I hid the ribbon almost immediately, and I've filled up the quick access
toolbar. I wanted to add some macros into a menu listing as I had done
previously. Now I'm beginning to think I will have to create a control
toolbar or something to hold them.

I will also look into customizing the Ribbon. I think that should really
be
as easy to do that as it is to customize the QAT and was to customize the
2003 Menu bar. If I could create an additional QAT that would be helpful.
Two QAT's would still take up less room than the ribbon.

Thanks for all of your replies!

Hi kaoinla,

You're only about three years late this party. The customizability --
or rather the lack of it -- in the ribbon and other parts of the
so-called Fluent Interface has been discussed since Office 2007 was in
beta release in 2006.

Jensen Harris, the head of the UI group that designed Office 2007, had
a quite extensive blog
(http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/pages/...-contents.aspx) that
included a few articles on customization, such
ashttp://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/06/27/648269.aspx. He
explains how the team decided to limit easy customization to the Quick
Access Toolbar. Most of the MVPs felt, and still feel, that the data
the designers relied on were skewed and incomplete, as they make no
allowance for templates that are customized by specialists and then
distributed to thousands of other users.

Three years of complaints have led Microsoft to conclude that making
people use raw RibbonX to do ribbon customization was a mistake. Since
the public beta of Office 2010 was released this week, I can happily
tell you that it has a Customize Ribbon dialog that works a lot like
the Customize Quick Access Toolbar dialog. You can reposition or hide
the built-in groups, and create custom groups containing whatever
commands you want.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ:http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so all may benefit.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Jay,

Thanks for this update. Can you tell us if the availability of built-
in icons as been enhanced or is there a feature to create custom icons
for either the QAT or the Ribbon?