How can I import and export toolbar icons in Word or Office 2003?

[GL]

I am trying to manage to get to a point where I can setup all Office/Word
2003 users in our office with the same customized toolbar icons.

I tried to do that by saving and restoring the Office 2003 profile to an OSP
file, but when I restore it on another user's PC, it didn't do anything to
the toolbar icons.

I also tried to save a profile with the Office Resource Kit, it worked fine
when I installed the office to another computer from the modified CD, but
when a new user logs in, they need the same customized Office profile, that
the user got when I installed it from the modified CD.
Any idea?
GL

 

[Cindy M.]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?R0w=?=,

I am trying to manage to get to a point where I can setup all Office/Word
2003 users in our office with the same customized toolbar icons.

I tried to do that by saving and restoring the Office 2003 profile to an OSP
file, but when I restore it on another user's PC, it didn't do anything to
the toolbar icons.

I also tried to save a profile with the Office Resource Kit, it worked fine
when I installed the office to another computer from the modified CD, but
when a new user logs in, they need the same customized Office profile, that
the user got when I installed it from the modified CD.

Any discussion about user profiles and such should be asked in the office.setup
or .networking newsgroup. That's where the people with that kind of expertise
can be found.

But from a more specialized, Word point of view: can you be more specific about
what these icons are used for?

Generally, the kind of thing you describe would be done by giving each user the
same Normal.dot. But that's a rather insecure and volatile way to proceed.
Placing a global template in the Startup folder might make more sense. Or using
a COM Add-in. Or providing specific templates for each kind of document. Hard
to say without understanding WHY you're doing this.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 17 2005)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
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[GL]

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for replying to my posting, this was my very first posting in the
Office Online newsgroups and somehow I missed the group "Office".

Next week I will have the Office 2003 Pro installed on all of our computers.
Answering your question, all I want to accomplish is, that all of our
current computer users will start initially using word and excel with a bit
enhanced/extended toolbar.

Don't think of anything fancy, all the icons, that would be added to the
toolbar can be found under Tools\Customize\Comands. To be specific, going
from left to right, I'd like in the toolbar
a "Save As" icon next to "Save";
Remove the default "Print" icon, replace it with "Print..." so that a
printer chooser will popup every time they print;
In Word, display the toolbars in two row;
Add icon "Envelope"; etc.
In Excel add several icons like "Save As" "Select Printable Area", insert
Row, insert Column, etc.
I don't mean to enforce the toolbars in Word and Excel, only give the users
an enhanced toolbar to start with that they can modify as they want to. Also,
when a new employee comes on board, his or her Word and Excel toolbars would
be the same as the rest of the users'.
GL

 

[Cindy M.]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?R0w=?=,

all I want to accomplish is, that all of our
current computer users will start initially using word and excel with a bit
enhanced/extended toolbar.

OK.

Since Normal.dot occasionally "goes bad" or if Word can't find it it may
cretae a new one "out of thin air", it's probably better not to do this with
Normal.dot. So take the approach of setting up a template.

You should be able to use some kind of "policy" to determine what each
installation uses as a "Startup folder" for Word. By default, this is
something like C:\Documents and Settings\[profile]\Application
Data\Word\Startup.

Then it should be possible to use some kind of "batch file" (I've only heard
the term, never done anything like this myself) to copy that document to this
folder location when the configuration is created. You could even have it done
each time the user logs in if you want to propagate updates, or make sure the
user starts with the same thing each time.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 17 2005)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[GL]

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for following up on my question, I am very familiar with batch file
based script files, I do use a login.bat file for all domain users and that
file does many important tasks for the users and me, the administrator.

My initial thought about the normal.dot file is that we can always create a
backup copy of this file called "normal.bak", that would not be visible from
any word browser but in case it gets corrupted, it could easily be used to
restore the normal.dot file.

So, now it is not clear for me, what file should I put in the word - startup
folder to resolve the toolbar problem, is it a template, is it like the file
normal.dot but called something else.dot? What is the difference between the
normal.dot and any dot file that you put in the startup folder?

(my name is
Geza


--
Network Administrator
Los Angeles, CA

Hi =?Utf-8?B?R0w=?=,

all I want to accomplish is, that all of our
current computer users will start initially using word and excel with a bit
enhanced/extended toolbar.

OK.

Since Normal.dot occasionally "goes bad" or if Word can't find it it may
cretae a new one "out of thin air", it's probably better not to do this with
Normal.dot. So take the approach of setting up a template.

You should be able to use some kind of "policy" to determine what each
installation uses as a "Startup folder" for Word. By default, this is
something like C:\Documents and Settings\[profile]\Application
Data\Word\Startup.

Then it should be possible to use some kind of "batch file" (I've only heard
the term, never done anything like this myself) to copy that document to this
folder location when the configuration is created. You could even have it done
each time the user logs in if you want to propagate updates, or make sure the
user starts with the same thing each time.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 17 2005)


This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Cindy M.]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?R0w=?=,

So, now it is not clear for me, what file should I put in the word - startup
folder to resolve the toolbar problem, is it a template, is it like the file
normal.dot but called something else.dot?

Yes, exactly (Very important: do NOT call it Normal.dot or Word can get
confused!)

What is the difference between the
normal.dot and any dot file that you put in the startup folder?

Normal.dot was designed as a place for the user to store his toolbars, macros,
AutoText, keyboard shortcuts, etc. By default, that's where such things will be
stored. Any user who does this kind of thing gets upset if something replaces
Normal.dot

By the same token, because it gets written to so often, it also has a tendency
to corrupt. So there's always the chance the user may lose his customizations.

Generally, it's a good policy to just leave the Normal.dot for the user.

But if you put your global template in the Startup folder, chances are you'll
never need to replace it (unless you want to update it). And the chances will
be smaller that a user could accidentally change something. This is recommended
policy for tools you want to provide to users.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 17 2005)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[GL]

Cindy,

Thank you very much for your replies, you were a great help for me in
clarifying this issue.

Geza