(Dumb) Question about Customizing Toolbar + Setting as Default

[John_S]

Hi —

I want to customize my toolbar so that the Reviewing functions are available in all Word documents that I open. I'd also like to set the Track Changes tool so that these options are available as defaults. I can't figure out how to customize my toolbars permanently: Every time I open a new document, I have to select Reviewing from the Toolbar menu and then select all of the options for Track Changes under the Tools drop-down menu. I've tried customizing my toolbars, but this procedure does not set Reviewing as a default.

My question shows that I'm not a very knowledgeable or efficient Word user. Sorry for that, but I'd really be grateful for advice from anyone who could help me out.

Thanks!

John

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi John,

An easy solution might be to use View | Customize, and then drag the
Track Changes button from Reviewing to a different toolbar. Then
whenever you clicked the Track Changes button to turn on Track Changes
(which you would need to do anyway), the Reviewing toolbar should
automatically pop up.

You can certainly customize your toolbar so that you don't need the
Reviewing toolbar to pop up at all, but you mention a couple of things
that should be clarified before going that route. Multiple choice quiz!

1) When you say "I can't figure out how to customize my toolbars
permanently" do you mean:
a) I use View | Customize and drag new icons onto a toolbar but the next
time I launch Word, those new icons have vanished
or
b) When I use View | Toolbars to turn on the Formatting toolbar, Word
remembers this for all documents, but when I use View | Toolbars to turn
on the Reviewing toolbar, Word turns it back off for the next document I
open

2) When you say "I'd also like to set the Track Changes tool so that
these options are available as defaults." and "select all of the options
for Track Changes", what options are you referring to?
a) the colors of the markup and whether Word uses balloons or not, etc
b) the Highlight Changes and "show changes on screen," "highlight
changes while editing" options
c) something else?

 

[Russ]

John, I'm having the same problem. I -am- able to make other toolbars (drawing/Microsoft/etc.) open by default, however the reviewing toolbar won't remain open from session to session. I'm wondering if it's something specific about the reviewing toolbar?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Yes, it is something specific about the reviewing toolbar. MS decided
that it will only be automatically active if they think you need it. Use
Help | Send Feedback to complain and ask for a change.

In the meantime, there are workarounds, depending on how you want your
workspace to look. I personally like the idea of putting the Track
Changes button on the main toolbar--when you hit the button to turn
Track Changes on, the Reviewing Toolbar will pop up. But you can do more
than that, see here:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CustomizeToolbars.html

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Russ -

The Reviewing toolbar is one that will not stay on automatically as a result
of its intended design. According to MS it isn't needed unless working in a
doc with Track Changes turned on, in which case the bar will automatically
appear. Quite frankly, I agree that if the doc has changes tracked or
contains Comments that the bar should appear regardless of whether Track
Changes is actively *on* or not.

If you're not pleased with the behavior I suggest you use Help> Send
Feedback to explain why you'd prefer it to be different.

In the meantime you can create your own custom Reviewing toolbar: Turn on
the Reviewing toolbar & hold the Option key while you drag to copy each of
the controls from it to your custom bar... It's faster than trying to locate
each command in the Commands list. Custom bars will stay on continuously.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John_S]

Hi, Daiya, Russ, and Bob —

VERY kind of y'all to respond so quickly and thoroughly. I really appreciate your help.

First, I'll try to give answers to Daiya's quiz items. Actually, I've automatically flunked the quiz b/c I don't even understand item 1.

1 - a ... (I guess) I don't know anything about dragging items to toolbars. I've tried it, but I can't do it. When I select Reviewing (either from the Toolbar drop-down menu or check it in the Customize Toolbar pane), I only have that function available to me for as long as I have that particular document open.

2 - N/A ... I figured out that with Reviewing on, I automatically get to choose Track Changes. BUT I have to turn on the first toggle option to get my edits to show up in the document *every time I open a new file* - extremely annoying and unnecessarily time-consuming

I haven't yet had time to try creating my own custom reviewing toolbar. I'll try that, for sure.

First, though, I am positively stunned that the geniuses at MS didn't configure Word so that users can set their own defaults. In the last 72 hours, I've had to review (insert comments, edit, and track changes in) as many documents. Each time I open a new document, I have to set the Reviewing toolbar and then set all options for Track Changes. This method is no method at all - it's extremely time-consuming and irritating. Worse yet, it's completely unnecessary. The 2004 version was much better in this respect. I've begun to discover similar flaws in the new PPT, too.

I'm grateful for the advice (and for letting me vent a little frustration) ... ;-)

Stay tuned.

John

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi John--

Building a custom toolbar is the only way to have the reviewing
functions always available--you cannot force the Reviewing toolbar to
stay active. So experiment with that.

just one more question--

Each time I open a new document, I have to ....set all options for
Track Changes.

Okay, what options do you mean? Describe specifically what you are
changing. I'm pretty sure needing to do this in every document that is a
glitch on your machine, rather than an annoyance designed into Word, but
can't be positive without knowing exactly what you are referring to.

 

[CyberTaz]

<snip>

Each time I open a new document, I have to set the Reviewing
toolbar and then set all options for Track Changes. This method is no method
at all - it's extremely time-consuming and irritating. Worse yet, it's
completely unnecessary. The 2004 version was much better in this respect. I've
begun to discover similar flaws in the new PPT, too.

<snip>

As Daiya indicated I'm not sure what "options" you're referring to. The
settings for Track Changes are handled through Word> Preferences & should
remain in effect for any doc where you impose the feature. Also: You should
need only click the TRK button in the status bar to activate Track Changes &
the Reviewing Toolbar in *any* document.

What are we missing?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John_S]

Beautiful solution!

I am extremely grateful to Daiya and Russ for their swift advice and patience. I successfully customized my toolbar by dragging the Comment and Track Changes icons. You help will same me loads of time and spare me plenty of frustration. I wish I had the expertise to return the favor in kind.

Okay, so about the Track Changes issue ... my personal concern was resolved thanks to the easy fixes you so kindly provided. FYI,
the Track Changes options I was referring to are these:
+ Highlight changes
+ Accept or reject changes
+ Compare documents
Earlier, when I clicked the Track Changes icon in the Reviewing Toolbar, toggles for each of these options showed up in a little pane, with the last two pre-selected for me (for some reason, I don't get this pane any more). If I select Track Changes from the drop-down Tools menu, I get the same three choices (of course).

My sincere thanks for responding so fast and so expertly!

Cheers,

John

 

[Shawn Larson [MSFT]]

John,

Could it be the ŒHighlight Changes¹ dialog that you were previously seeing?
If you add the ŒHighlight Changes¹ command to the Reviewing toolbar, that
will display a dialog with the following 3 options:
* Track changes while editing
* Highlight changes on screen
* Highlight changes in printed document

The last two options are selected by default.

Shawn Larson
Mac Word Test
Microsoft MacBU