# How do I add a Toolbar in Word 2007?



## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

In the older Word, you could add a toolbar--must be able to do it in 2007--can someone point me to a link or tell me how to?


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

Ok--I copied my old Word normal.dot to the Bulding Block Folder and so now I my old customizations are in a couple new toolbards in "Add-Ins" but I don't know how to go in and edit that?


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

Mulderator said:


> In the older Word, you could add a toolbar--must be able to do it in 2007--can someone point me to a link or tell me how to?


R-click a blank area of the toolbar?


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## Mulderator (Feb 20, 1999)

RootbeaR said:


> R-click a blank area of the toolbar?


Are you guessing?


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

Yes. I don't know so am making the suggestion.
Have you tried it?
How long will it take to try right clicking it?

Edit: If that doesn't work, I would type the exact same question in Word Help.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

MS removed a lot of the ability for the ribbon to be customized that the old toolbars had.
However, these may help you a bit
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/msoffice/?p=219
These may be the most important, however
http://word.mvps.org/
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CustomizeRibbon.htm
http://www.toolbartoggle.com/
http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer/index.php


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

slurpee55 said:


> MS removed a lot of the ability for the ribbon to be customized that the old toolbars had.
> However, these may help you a bit
> http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/msoffice/?p=219
> These may be the most important, however
> ...


Thanks slurpee.
Just had a student asking about this as well and I only have '03 until they give me '07.
I shall pass these links on to her.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

The ribbon is radically different in design and properties from the old toolbar system we all know. I don't have it yet - I've heard raves and major complaints, so it may have a lot to do with the attitude you have starting with it.
There are some definite advantages to 07 - new file formats, smaller file sizes. Access, which is one of my two main tools (with Excel), is radically different...sigh.
One nice thing - you can have both 03 and 07 installed on the same PC and switch back and forth as needed. The only program that doesn't allow you to have both running is Outlook, and it is, apparently, the least changed of the major programs anyway.


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## caraewilton (Nov 7, 2007)

Yes, I have both. Needed a little tweaking to stop the reinstall thing happening, but someone on this forum had the solution and now I have the best of both worlds.
Mail merge in 2007 is really easy to set up and use For this reason alone I am keeping 2007.
Struggling with access and excel though
As for customizing the ribbons, well I have tried and as yet not really successful.
Will have a look at slurpees links and see if they help.


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

caraewilton said:


> Struggling with access and excel though
> Will have a look at slurpees links and see if they help.


"Access, which is one of my two main tools (with Excel), is radically different...sigh."

So, it sounds like we need to relearn these programs?
Or just the ribbon?

Yes, I use Linux. But part of my job is assisting students with MS office.
I would like to know so I can request a copy asap or decline to do this part in the future.

I can learn the ribbon, but have no desire to relearn the programs at this time.

Students:
http://www.theultimatesteal.com/home.asp


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

Access no longer even has mdb files, it has accdb files. They are completely different in structure from the old mdb files. I am dealing with a client right now who uses 2007, and, fortunately, they are able to save their databases as mdb files for me to work with.
I don't think it is a matter of relearning so much as just a loss of compatibility. Although, to be honest, XP SP3 that blocked a lot of older formats from opening due to security reasons is just as much of a pain.


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Yes, Mulder, you need XML. Best used with the 2007 Custom Editor. What exactly do you want for a custom Ribbon? Append an existing Ribbon tab/group? Patrick Schmid's Ribbon Customizer is a very nice way of not having to code it yourself, but he charges for it (rightly so, it's a phenomenal tool, he's brilliant really). If you do not want to pay money (because you are cheap, like me) let us know what you want. We could get you some XML for you or code it ourselves. Just have an idea of how you would like your data arranged, the types of controls you have and their associated routines. I'm assuming you have this data in your (old) Normal.dot file?

I've attached a screenshot of a custom tab I built in Excel (same principles). I would research the button/control types to see what you would like best (the Split buttons are my favorite  ).


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

slurpee55 said:


> The only program that doesn't allow you to have both running is Outlook, and it is, apparently, the least changed of the major programs anyway.


Absolutely. It has quite a few changes though. The Calendar has a lot of improvements. The sharing of Calendars is what it should have been in XP (when they upgraded it in 2003 it still wasn't everything it should have been). I like the security better in 2007. Plus I use OneNote to integrate my notes from emails, calendar events as well as other programs. Makes keeping data notes in one place a breeze.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

firefytr, does it just take XML to customize the ribbon? That's incredibly easy....


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Yes, that is all. The one difficult part about it are the Callbacks. Each control on the Ribbon has its own unique callback - and syntax to go along with it. The downsides: you cannot do 'real-time' customizations (the file must be re-loaded) and you cannot dynamically update the Ribbon (again, i.e. 'real-time'). So recursive callbacks become a nightmare. But for your standard add-ins it works great. You can do so without the 2007 Custom UI Editor, but I find it so much easier to use that tool. Plus, with using the editor it will give you all of the callbacks you need and tell you if your XML is well formed or not (although not necessarily if it will result in an error). When customizing the 2007 Ribbon, I set it up with XML via 2007 UI Editor and have a separate RibbonX code module in the file itself. With this module, I tie the callbacks to the individual routines I already have. So I can basically drop any project I want to, add one module and XML, tie everything together, and voila, a customized 2007 Ribbon.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

Can you make it sing and dance when you open up an application?


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

slurpee55 said:


> Can you make it sing and dance when you open up an application?


Absolutely.


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## slurpee55 (Oct 20, 2004)

LOL - you know I believe you!


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## RootbeaR (Dec 9, 2006)

slurpee55 said:


> LOL - you know I believe you!


Ditto


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