Change the default Ribbon from "Home" to something else...

[WATYF1]

Hi there. Is there any way to change the default Ribbon that gets
displayed when you first open an Office app (i.e. change it to
something other than "Home")?

I'm asking, because I despise the new 2007 GUI p ...and I'm writing a
script that will build the old toolbars (with all my old customizations
in them) and add them to the Add-In ribbon. Obviously, the Add-in
ribbon is the only way we can easily customize 2007 ...unless you think
that "easy" is using a 3rd party add-in or the QAT to create the entire
set of toolbars from scratch, one icon at a time, with no ability to
drag and drop... (oh yeah, and hopefully you only need 40 QAT icons,
'cause that's the arbitrary limit of the day.) ...and I'm sure we can
all agree that going through the agonizing process of modifying XML
files and creating custom callbacks for every single button isn't even
in the same solar system as "easy". :OP

So basically, when the user opens Excel, I would want the Add-In ribbon
to be displayed by default.... that way I can completely ignore this
whole "Ribbon" thing (until MS realizes how bad of an idea it is to
force every single user to use the same fluffy, uncustomizable,
kintergarden interface) and actually get back "one click" access to
everything, instead of having to hunt down my features and hope I get
to them in less than five clicks. P



....and I'm not bitter or anything... ;o)


WATYF

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

I guess you'll be using RibbonX.
Or, once my add-in supports creating individual buttons (early 2007) my
add-in. Right now, that part isn't done yet, but you can do stuff with
tabs and groups.
For RibbonX, see http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonx
For my add-in, see http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer.
Quite frankly though, if you want a 2003-like UI, why don't you stick
with 2003?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

'cause that's the arbitrary limit of the day.) ...and I'm sure we can

all agree that going through the agonizing process of modifying XML
files and creating custom callbacks for every single button isn't even
in the same solar system as "easy". :OP

If you are just wanting to use MS buttons, then you don't need
callbacks.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[WATYF1]

Patrick... I've seen your add-in and read your website a bit, and it
seems very informative. You've done a lot to help people trying to
acclimate themselves to 2007.

....so please don't take this personally (since I know you're not a huge
proponent of the new GUI anyway)... but if I hear one more person say,
"Why don't you stick with 2003?" I'm going to reach through my 19" LCD
screen and lobotomize them with my thumbnail. ;o)

I've lost track of how many times I've heard that... so here's a couple
of reasons...

1) 2003 Isn't gonna last forever. It'll be end-of-lifed just like
everything else. So it's better to know *now* that 2007 sucks and try
to do something about it, instead of waiting until the day before 2003
is EOL'ed and you're SOL. :Op

2) Lots of people work for these things called "companies"... and those
"companies" do dumb things... (quite often, actually...) one of those
dumb things is called "upgrading to a new version of a software before
they should have". My entire office will be on 2007 by early next year.
I have no choice. I am a "beta" tester, because I have a lot of fancy
code and forms and reports and crap that they aren't sure (and I'm not
sure) is gonna run on 2007. So here I am, trying to make the best of
this crappy GUI before everyone else gets thrown into the fray and I
spend all day answering questions like, "Where is the OPEN icon?!?!?!".
p

3) Just because something is new doesn't mean it's allowed to suck. P
I *want* to move to 2007. I like some of the new functions. I like the
improvements to the VB IDE. I want to do it... I just don't want to
have to re-learn everything I've known about Windows GUIs since...
oh... I dunno.... the beginning of time! ) And I don't want to have
to go through 5 clicks every time I want to do something common (or
even not-so-common) and I don't want to have to build my toolbars from
nothing, one icon at a time. The fact is, "one size fits all" has never
worked in a complex GUI... and it never will. This one-size-fits-all
approach is going to screw a lot of people up... people who are forced
to upgrade but still have a job to do, and who will have to waste their
time hunting for features that they've been using for years... advanced
users... intermediate users. And MS should be concerned about putting
off all of those people who want to use the new features, but don't
want to have to deal with a sucky GUI, so the earlier we start voicing
our concerns over it, the better chance we have of getting something
changed.


Btw, I looked through your site, and tried to get my head around all
the hoops you have to jump through just to customize the Ribbon, but I
got this weird headache, and then my brain started to pour out my ears.
p

Seriously though, all I want to know is how to change the default
Ribbon. Can RibbonX do that? If so, can you tell me how? Every sample
I've seen so far involves someone pasting a sample of XML in a post...
and that's it. No explanation of where the XML goes or how it can be
implemented programmatically... just, "all you gotta do is use this
XML!!"... oh really?... where? how? P I'd prefer it to be permanent,
as well. This is something I want to apply to the machines that I have
to install 2007 on and then just let it be. I'd rather not make it part
of some document template or add-in, if that's at all possible.

In any event, I am mere steps away from achieving my goal... I have
written a script that will list out all the commands from the Menu,
Standard and Formatting toolbars and allow you to customize them
(add/remove/re-order) and then apply your lists as toolbars. Right now,
I have a glorious Add-In ribbon that looks just like the old interface
....except for the fact that they got rid of "separators" in the
ribbons, those bastards!! ;o) ...but aside from that, all I need to do
now is figure out how to make the Add-In ribbon the default, and I will
never again even have to click on another Ribbon.... looks like
Christmas is coming early for me. :O)


WATYF

'cause that's the arbitrary limit of the day.) ...and I'm sure we can
all agree that going through the agonizing process of modifying XML
files and creating custom callbacks for every single button isn't even
in the same solar system as "easy". :OP

If you are just wanting to use MS buttons, then you don't need
callbacks.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[darkrats]

It sounds like you're doing something most of us would like to check out.
Any chance that you might share your script and how to use it with the rest
of us? Maybe you could post it as a download on a website or in a binary
newsgroup. I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate it. In the meantime,
can you post some screenshots somewhere, so we can get a good look at the
project? Thanks!

 

[WATYF1]

As soon as I figured out how to make the Add-In ribbon the default, I
was going to post the solution on my website. I guess I'll just go
ahead and post it and then add the rest later.

Just so you know... it is extremely NOT elegant. ) There's no GUI or
anything fancy. The first procedure just lists the items from the Menu,
Standard, and Formatting bar in three columns and allows you to
change/re-order them, and then a second script applies those three
columns as menus/toolbars in the Add-Ins Ribbon.

WATYF

 

[darkrats]

Can you post your website address?

No need for any apologies for the elegance of your product. You're the first
one I know of who's tried to do something in this area. I hope others, who
have the ability, will have a go at that ribbon also.

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

In a few weeks, you'll be able to do it with my add-in.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[darkrats]

I was going to take a look at your add-in, but the whole "activation thing"
made me decide to forget about it. I don't mind registration and entering a
serial etc, but to have to periodically activate it is just plain dumb. I'm
sure you have your reasons for all this silliness, but I'll wait until
someone comes up with a "working" customizer for Office 2007.
Thanks for letting us know about it, anyway.

In a few weeks, you'll be able to do it with my add-in.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

Can you post your website address?

No need for any apologies for the elegance of your product. You're the first
one I know of who's tried to do something in this area. I hope others, who
have the ability, will have a go at that ribbon also.

the
rest at
the quoted
text -

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

What period activation? You activate once and that's it.

Do you mean the validation? It only happens if you have an Internet
connection (if you use a 3rd party firewall, you can probably just block
the request and be done with it).
It wasn't in my original concept. The original concept was activate once
and be done. However, I wanted to have some free activations to give out
as thank yous to beta testers and other people who helped me with this.
My activation provider made me an offer where I got free activations,
but it was contingent on me using the scheme that has the periodic
validation. Being a graduate student, there was no way I could have
absorbed the cost of paying for the free copies I wanted to hand out.
Also, I didn't have the time to come up with my own activation system,
so I was stuck with that 3rd party (I rather spend my time developing
features than worrying about the whole stupid activation thing. It's sad
that you cannot do without this kind of stuff nowadays.)
Considering that Office 2007 itself goes online frequently to download
or upload things (if you opted in that is), I didn't consider the
periodic validation issue to be such a big deal.
I am sorry this bothers you, but there isn't really anything I can do.
Getting an Office add-in done the right way costs money, and there is
only so much I can pay out of pocket. When I get offered something for
free, I have no choice but to take it. Until my sales have actually made
up for my already incurred costs, I can't do much about this situation.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

I was going to take a look at your add-in, but the whole "activation thing"
made me decide to forget about it. I don't mind registration and entering a
serial etc, but to have to periodically activate it is just plain dumb. I'm
sure you have your reasons for all this silliness, but I'll wait until
someone comes up with a "working" customizer for Office 2007.
Thanks for letting us know about it, anyway.

In a few weeks, you'll be able to do it with my add-in.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

Can you post your website address?

No need for any apologies for the elegance of your product. You're the first
one I know of who's tried to do something in this area. I hope others, who
have the ability, will have a go at that ribbon also.

As soon as I figured out how to make the Add-In ribbon the default, I
was going to post the solution on my website. I guess I'll just go
ahead and post it and then add the rest later.

Just so you know... it is extremely NOT elegant. ) There's no GUI or
anything fancy. The first procedure just lists the items from the Menu,
Standard, and Formatting bar in three columns and allows you to
change/re-order them, and then a second script applies those three
columns as menus/toolbars in the Add-Ins Ribbon.

WATYF


It sounds like you're doing something most of us would like to check
out.
Any chance that you might share your script and how to use it with the
rest
of us? Maybe you could post it as a download on a website or in a binary
newsgroup. I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate it. In the
meantime,
can you post some screenshots somewhere, so we can get a good look at
the
project? Thanks!

message


In any event, I am mere steps away from achieving my goal... I have
written a script that will list out all the commands from the Menu,
Standard and Formatting toolbars and allow you to customize them
(add/remove/re-order) and then apply your lists as toolbars. Right
now,
I have a glorious Add-In ribbon that looks just like the old interface
...except for the fact that they got rid of "separators" in the
ribbons, those bastards!! ;o) ...but aside from that, all I need to do
now is figure out how to make the Add-In ribbon the default, and I
will
never again even have to click on another Ribbon.... looks like
Christmas is coming early for me. :O)- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted
text -

 

[WATYF1]

I posted an article explaining it and included the xls document.


http://www.musicalnerdery.com/nerdery/getting-back-the-old-gui-in-office-2007-sort-of.html


WATYF

 

[WATYF1]

In case you already downloaded the Excel file... re-download it... I
figured out how to get the mod to work for Word 2007 as well. It's just
a matter of changing a couple of variables in my code and it'll
list/create the Word toolbars instead.


WATYF

 

[WATYF1]

Patrick... I'm really not looking to use an add-in just to make this
minor change. I'd just like to know what the code is to make the hack
so I can incorporate it into my own process. If you don't want to tell
me, I understand... I write my own software as well, and I understand
wanting to keep your investment safe... but right now, I'm just looking
for someone to point me at the right objects/properties that I'll need
to make the Add-Ins ribbon the default. Thanks for the input, in any
case.

WATYF

In a few weeks, you'll be able to do it with my add-in.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues:http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007:http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In:http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007:http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog:http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

Can you post your website address?

No need for any apologies for the elegance of your product. You're the first
one I know of who's tried to do something in this area. I hope others, who
have the ability, will have a go at that ribbon also.

text -- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

 

[WATYF1]

btw, darkrats, here is the screenshot you requested (also available in
the article I linked to above).

http://www.musicalnerdery.com/images/stories/temp/oldlook.jpg

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

There is no secret recipe and I am not trying to keep my things secret.
The problem simply is that the new customization model is not fun to
figure out, so if you rather want to avoid it, there is always my
add-in.
To get started with RibbonX:
Read this first: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/01/72
Then you'll need to change your files to the 2007 format and write some
small RibbonX code.
My RibbonX portal at http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonx isn't quite
done yet, so tutorials etc are not yet nicely linked. The reference
section there though gives you access to the relevant MS documentation,
if you want to bother with it.
Also, Ken Puls has been running a tutorial on his blog for customizing
the ribbon in a VBA scenario:
http://www.excelguru.ca/blog/category/the-ribbon/

In your case, this is the code you'll probably be looking at:
<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui">
<ribbon startFromScratch="true">
<tabs>
<tab idMso="TabAddIns">
</tab>
</tabs>
</ribbon>
</customUI>
This will remove all of the Microsoft ribbon (via
startFromScratch="true"), including most of the contents of the Office
button menu, all the contents of the QAT and all tabs. It displays
however the Add-Ins tab. So that will give you an Office has an almost
empty Office button menu, an empty QAT and one tab only. This will work
in Excel, PPT and Word, Outlook and Access.
If you want to preserve anything of the Microsoft ribbon, then you have
some trouble. You could simply tell Office to hide all the tabs before
the Add-Ins tab, which is a bit more code. Ask if you want it.
What you cannot do however is keep all the tabs, and simply put the
Add-Ins tab first. Office simply won't let you do that. You also cannot
create your own tab, put it before the Home tab and then add the groups
from the Add-Ins tab that hold your CommandBars to it. Again, Office
won't let you do this.
The only way to keep the Microsoft tabs and put the tab containing the
2003-like UI as the first tab is to not use the CommandBars model, but
rather do everything in RibbonX. This is probably a lot of manual work,
because I don't think you can easily translate the MS-commands gathered
via the CommandBar's model into their RibbonX equivalent. You might be
able to do it via the labels, but that's an off-chance. Nonetheless, if
one person does it for an app and publishes the RibbonX, everyone can
use it, even if they know nothing about RibbonX. My add-in offers a free
starter edition where you can simply load a special RibbonX-based file
into it easily. So if one person does it in RibbonX, all you need to do
is get it into my file format (which is simply a zip file that contains
the XML file plus a second one), and then anyone can use it via my free
add-in. If someone goes through the trouble of getting the RibbonX for
it and is willing to share it, I'll get it into my file format so that
everyone has easy access to it.

Let me just make one thing crystal clear: I am not pushing my add-in for
the sake of making sales (even though that would be nice). I am
advertising it, because you have to jump through so many hoops with 2007
to do UI customization, that I believe that not many people will want to
bother with it. For them, my add-in is a viable alternative.
For those who are willing to jump through the hoops, I'll gladly help
them doing that. That's what the RibbonX portal and the RibbonX forum on
my site are supposed to be there for.
I also believe that with the free version of my add-in, many
customization needs can be covered. I hope to establish some community
around the free version with users sharing customizations. It will take
some time and effort on my part to get this started, and I am going to
invest that. I fundamentally believe that every user should have access
to some ribbon customization without having to know RibbonX or anything
related to it.
The target audience for my paid version are not the users who want to
customize their Ribbon once or twice, but rather those who want to have
intricate customizations that they change around frequently and often
create on the fly just for some specific task. I am convinced that those
power users would be willing to pay for this kind of customization
ability.

What do you think?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[WATYF1]

I agree with you... I think an add-in for users who commonly customize
is a good thing... it basically takes Office a step back to the old
way... where you could just hit "Customize..." and change whatever you
want about your menus/toolbars. It is kinda odd, though, that we're
talking about taking a step *back* just to do something that people
need. That kinda gives you the indication that new way isn't really
better. ;o)

I will look at the link for the VBA ribbon mods. I'll see if there's
anything I can use there.

I understand what you're saying about the startfromscratch property and
hidding all the other Tabs... that might be a good way to go about it.
But this is another one of those examples of the ubiquitous "XML
sample". What exactly do I do with that? Can I implement it from code?
Do I have to go through the whole "rename some file as .zip, then open
it, then open some xml file and paste that in, then rename the original
file back to .xlsm" process? And does that mean that the file I apply
that to always has to be open when Excel/Word is open (thus implying
that it'll be an add-in)? I take it that there's no way to just make a
permanent change to the GUI and be done with it, eh?

See... just for a little background... I don't heavily customize, or do
it often (if ever). I just want to setup my interface the way I like
it... once... and then get on with my work. I do this every time I
install Office (or Windows or whatever) on a new machine. And right
now, I'm looking at 5 machines that I'll be personally using that I'll
be putting Office 2007 on in the near future... I don't want to go
through some convoluted process on each machine. I just want to install
Office, apply my changes, and go back to doing my job. My goofy script
is the closest thing I have so far to that... but I'm still running
into a few issues.

And just so you know... I'm not accusing you of pimping your add-in,
and frankly, even if you were, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I
think it's a very useful tool for certain people and you shouldn't be
afraid to come out and say, "hey... this works... try my stuff.". ) I
was just making it clear that an add-in solution wasn't what I,
personally, was looking for, and I just wanted a code snippet or two.


WATYF

There is no secret recipe and I am not trying to keep my things secret.
The problem simply is that the new customization model is not fun to
figure out, so if you rather want to avoid it, there is always my
add-in.
To get started with RibbonX:
Read this first:http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/01/72
Then you'll need to change your files to the 2007 format and write some
small RibbonX code.
My RibbonX portal athttp://pschmid.net/office2007/ribbonxisn't quite
done yet, so tutorials etc are not yet nicely linked. The reference
section there though gives you access to the relevant MS documentation,
if you want to bother with it.
Also, Ken Puls has been running a tutorial on his blog for customizing
the ribbon in a VBA scenario:http://www.excelguru.ca/blog/category/the-ribbon/

In your case, this is the code you'll probably be looking at:
<customUI xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/01/customui">
<ribbon startFromScratch="true">
<tabs>
<tab idMso="TabAddIns">
</tab>
</tabs>
</ribbon>
</customUI>
This will remove all of the Microsoft ribbon (via
startFromScratch="true"), including most of the contents of the Office
button menu, all the contents of the QAT and all tabs. It displays
however the Add-Ins tab. So that will give you an Office has an almost
empty Office button menu, an empty QAT and one tab only. This will work
in Excel, PPT and Word, Outlook and Access.
If you want to preserve anything of the Microsoft ribbon, then you have
some trouble. You could simply tell Office to hide all the tabs before
the Add-Ins tab, which is a bit more code. Ask if you want it.
What you cannot do however is keep all the tabs, and simply put the
Add-Ins tab first. Office simply won't let you do that. You also cannot
create your own tab, put it before the Home tab and then add the groups
from the Add-Ins tab that hold your CommandBars to it. Again, Office
won't let you do this.
The only way to keep the Microsoft tabs and put the tab containing the
2003-like UI as the first tab is to not use the CommandBars model, but
rather do everything in RibbonX. This is probably a lot of manual work,
because I don't think you can easily translate the MS-commands gathered
via the CommandBar's model into their RibbonX equivalent. You might be
able to do it via the labels, but that's an off-chance. Nonetheless, if
one person does it for an app and publishes the RibbonX, everyone can
use it, even if they know nothing about RibbonX. My add-in offers a free
starter edition where you can simply load a special RibbonX-based file
into it easily. So if one person does it in RibbonX, all you need to do
is get it into my file format (which is simply a zip file that contains
the XML file plus a second one), and then anyone can use it via my free
add-in. If someone goes through the trouble of getting the RibbonX for
it and is willing to share it, I'll get it into my file format so that
everyone has easy access to it.

Let me just make one thing crystal clear: I am not pushing my add-in for
the sake of making sales (even though that would be nice). I am
advertising it, because you have to jump through so many hoops with 2007
to do UI customization, that I believe that not many people will want to
bother with it. For them, my add-in is a viable alternative.
For those who are willing to jump through the hoops, I'll gladly help
them doing that. That's what the RibbonX portal and the RibbonX forum on
my site are supposed to be there for.
I also believe that with the free version of my add-in, many
customization needs can be covered. I hope to establish some community
around the free version with users sharing customizations. It will take
some time and effort on my part to get this started, and I am going to
invest that. I fundamentally believe that every user should have access
to some ribbon customization without having to know RibbonX or anything
related to it.
The target audience for my paid version are not the users who want to
customize their Ribbon once or twice, but rather those who want to have
intricate customizations that they change around frequently and often
create on the fly just for some specific task. I am convinced that those
power users would be willing to pay for this kind of customization
ability.

What do you think?

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues:http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007:http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In:http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007:http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog:http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

I agree with you... I think an add-in for users who commonly customize

is a good thing... it basically takes Office a step back to the old
way... where you could just hit "Customize..." and change whatever you
want about your menus/toolbars. It is kinda odd, though, that we're
talking about taking a step *back* just to do something that people
need. That kinda gives you the indication that new way isn't really
better. ;o)

The only motivation for writing the add-in was exactly that...

I will look at the link for the VBA ribbon mods. I'll see if there's
anything I can use there.

All you'll need is the link below to load it, and then the RibbonX I
gave you and you should be set.

I understand what you're saying about the startfromscratch property and
hidding all the other Tabs... that might be a good way to go about it.
But this is another one of those examples of the ubiquitous "XML
sample". What exactly do I do with that? Can I implement it from code? Nope.

Do I have to go through the whole "rename some file as .zip, then open
it, then open some xml file and paste that in, then rename the original
file back to .xlsm" process? And does that mean that the file I apply
that to always has to be open when Excel/Word is open (thus implying
that it'll be an add-in)? I take it that there's no way to just make a
permanent change to the GUI and be done with it, eh?

Correct, there is no way. Hence a COM add-in of mine to make it look
that way
You get the following tool:
http://openxmldeveloper.org/articles/CustomUIeditor.aspx
And edit your files with it. The manual way you mentioned is way too
error prone. I think Ken talks about using this editor on his blog. I am
just waiting for some time to get all this stuff online on my site...
For Word: Make a template and throw it in the STARTUP folder. It'll be
loaded at Word startup and applied all the time.
For Excel: There is an XLSTARTUP.XLS (or whatever the name is) that you
could use, or change it into an Excel add-in.

See... just for a little background... I don't heavily customize, or do
it often (if ever). I just want to setup my interface the way I like
it... once... and then get on with my work. I do this every time I
install Office (or Windows or whatever) on a new machine. And right
now, I'm looking at 5 machines that I'll be personally using that I'll
be putting Office 2007 on in the near future... I don't want to go
through some convoluted process on each machine. I just want to install
Office, apply my changes, and go back to doing my job. My goofy script
is the closest thing I have so far to that... but I'm still running
into a few issues.

Are you trying to replicate the 2003 UI, or what exactly are you trying
to achieve?

And just so you know... I'm not accusing you of pimping your add-in,
and frankly, even if you were, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I
think it's a very useful tool for certain people and you shouldn't be
afraid to come out and say, "hey... this works... try my stuff.". ) I
was just making it clear that an add-in solution wasn't what I,
personally, was looking for, and I just wanted a code snippet or two.

If it were that easy...*sigh*
Just to get anything done, you'll need to at least understand the
conceptual model, probably some XML and then figure out how to load all
of that into Office.
Microsoft shifted the bar big time. Now it's out of the reach of most
users, and by going with XML and this new loading method, a lot of users
who know VBA will be staring puzzled at it...

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[darkrats]

Thanks for the picture. Looks extremely nice, even without the separators.
Goes to show you that MS could probably have had the old toolbars as an
option, if they wanted to.

 

[darkrats]

Thank you for the explanation of your validation system, and why you decided
to use it. I guess we'll have to stand apart on this issue. Ms really got my
goat when they introduced their validation/activation schemes, and it
bothers me when I see others going the same way. In the old days, there was
shareware, a concept that worked fine for me.

What period activation? You activate once and that's it.

Do you mean the validation? It only happens if you have an Internet
connection (if you use a 3rd party firewall, you can probably just block
the request and be done with it).
It wasn't in my original concept. The original concept was activate once
and be done. However, I wanted to have some free activations to give out
as thank yous to beta testers and other people who helped me with this.
My activation provider made me an offer where I got free activations,
but it was contingent on me using the scheme that has the periodic
validation. Being a graduate student, there was no way I could have
absorbed the cost of paying for the free copies I wanted to hand out.
Also, I didn't have the time to come up with my own activation system,
so I was stuck with that 3rd party (I rather spend my time developing
features than worrying about the whole stupid activation thing. It's sad
that you cannot do without this kind of stuff nowadays.)
Considering that Office 2007 itself goes online frequently to download
or upload things (if you opted in that is), I didn't consider the
periodic validation issue to be such a big deal.
I am sorry this bothers you, but there isn't really anything I can do.
Getting an Office add-in done the right way costs money, and there is
only so much I can pay out of pocket. When I get offered something for
free, I have no choice but to take it. Until my sales have actually made
up for my already incurred costs, I can't do much about this situation.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

I was going to take a look at your add-in, but the whole "activation thing"
made me decide to forget about it. I don't mind registration and entering a
serial etc, but to have to periodically activate it is just plain dumb. I'm
sure you have your reasons for all this silliness, but I'll wait until
someone comes up with a "working" customizer for Office 2007.
Thanks for letting us know about it, anyway.

In a few weeks, you'll be able to do it with my add-in.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR):
http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/09/18/43
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed


Can you post your website address?

No need for any apologies for the elegance of your product. You're

the
first

one I know of who's tried to do something in this area. I hope

others,
who

have the ability, will have a go at that ribbon also.

As soon as I figured out how to make the Add-In ribbon the default, I
was going to post the solution on my website. I guess I'll just go
ahead and post it and then add the rest later.

Just so you know... it is extremely NOT elegant. ) There's no GUI or
anything fancy. The first procedure just lists the items from the Menu,
Standard, and Formatting bar in three columns and allows you to
change/re-order them, and then a second script applies those three
columns as menus/toolbars in the Add-Ins Ribbon.

WATYF


It sounds like you're doing something most of us would like to check
out.
Any chance that you might share your script and how to use it

with
the

rest
of us? Maybe you could post it as a download on a website or in

a
binary

newsgroup. I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate it. In the
meantime,
can you post some screenshots somewhere, so we can get a good

look
at

the
project? Thanks!

message


In any event, I am mere steps away from achieving my goal... I have
written a script that will list out all the commands from the Menu,
Standard and Formatting toolbars and allow you to customize them
(add/remove/re-order) and then apply your lists as toolbars. Right
now,
I have a glorious Add-In ribbon that looks just like the old interface
...except for the fact that they got rid of "separators" in the
ribbons, those bastards!! ;o) ...but aside from that, all I

need
to do

now is figure out how to make the Add-In ribbon the default, and I
will
never again even have to click on another Ribbon.... looks like
Christmas is coming early for me. :O)- Hide quoted text --

Show
quoted

text -

 

[WATYF1]

Yes. )

I know they moved the bar pretty far (or rather, changed the "bar" into
a "fish") P ...it didn't take too many Google searches to figure out
that customization was gonna suck. But frankly, I've spent my whole
nerd career finding ways to bypass and circumvent Microsoft "methods".
Whether it's VBA or .NET, I'm constantly running into some arbitrary
barrier that I have to hunt all over to find a way around. This one
might be harder, but I'm sure I'll end up with something that works.
I'm actually pretty close at the moment to having the old look back,
it's just getting that darn Add-In ribbon to show up by default (and a
few other minor snags).

WATYF