Word v.X - Can't increase size of toolbars

  • Thread starter Herb Schaltegger
  • Start date
H

Herb Schaltegger

This problem has intermittently bugged the hell out of me for two
years now. I cannot increase the width of any toolbars in Word v.X
(or Excel for that matter, though I use it much less frequently).
Even though I have about about a third more horizontal room available
than is used on my iBook, and even though the grab area is visible,
Word just won't let me grab and drag the toolbars any wider.

Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how do I fix it? And now
that I'm about to upgrade to Office 2004 when the new 15" G4 Powerbook
arrives, does it exhibit the same silly problem?

Thanks.

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D., GPG Key ID: BBF6FC1C
"Pray: To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single
petitioner confessedly unworthy." -- Ambrose Bierce
<http://dischordia.blogspot.com>
<http://www.angryherb.net>
 
J

jelosamkr

hi~ i got the SAME problem but i guess it's the way it is... i also would
like to expand a little bit my tool bar cuz i still have room on the right
side.... and besides, i use the spell check icon a lot, but ironicallly
this icon is the first icon hidden, so i have to click on the triangle
expand button to get this shown in order to be able to click it.. so what
i do is go to the menu bar...
well.. i use v.X in a Jaguar, 1Ghz 1G Ram... PowerBook Ti, ...
ps: i wish the following version of 2003 would a lot better...
 
B

Beth Rosengard

Let me suggest that you create your own toolbars for your favorite
icons/functions. There's no need to use any of Word's default toolbars at
all. You can create custom toolbars by going to Tools> Customize and you
can read up on how to do it in Word's Help.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>
 
C

CyberTaz

Hi Herb-

Some thoughts on this dilemma: The maximum width of a toolbar is
determined by the number & type of items it contains. It would serve no
purpose to stretch a toolbar to be wider than it needs to be. That
won't spread the items out or space them any differently. If you add
more items to the toolbar it will expand accordingly. That you can do
as suggested in Beth's response.

I didn't spend that much time in Word X (basically upgraded from 2001
to 2004 with X as a "rest stop") but I think it borrowed a feature from
the WinXP version and displays the Standard & Formatting toolbars on
one row by default. As a result, neither bar displays all of it's
buttons and you can't make either bar any wider. To get to the extra
buttons you have to click a little triangle and select the button from
the pallette that opens up. If this is what the problem stems from, go
to Tools>Customize. I believe there is a tabbed page in the Customize
window labeled "Options". Change the checkbox status to sever the bars
as separate rows. They will each expand to reveal all items as soon as
you do. That will also give you more freedom to position them as you
see fit.

Sounds like you are aware of being able to move the toolbar, using the
border on the bar's left edge. That should allow you to drag the bar to
any position on the screen. Just be careful not to click the little
circle at the top of that border because that will close the bar. (You
can always turn it back on by going to View>Toolbars and selecting it
from the list.) Is this not working for you?

BTW- You can also "reshape" the toolbars to be taller and less wide,
effectively arranging the buttons in a row and column fashion rather
than a single row. Te extent will vary base, once again, on the bar's
content. To do that, use the lower right corner of the bar and drag
down/left or up/right.

Hope this helps! If not, please know that I have not had any such
problems with 2004. Also, it does not use the "share one row" feature I
mentioned above!|:>)
 
H

Herb Schaltegger

CyberTaz said:
Hi Herb-

Some thoughts on this dilemma: The maximum width of a toolbar is
determined by the number & type of items it contains. It would serve no
purpose to stretch a toolbar to be wider than it needs to be. That
won't spread the items out or space them any differently. If you add
more items to the toolbar it will expand accordingly. That you can do
as suggested in Beth's response.
Click to expand...

Yes, but adding items to the Standard toolbar only adds items to the
palette (which you refer to below) rather than making the toolbar
wider.
I didn't spend that much time in Word X (basically upgraded from 2001
to 2004 with X as a "rest stop") but I think it borrowed a feature from
the WinXP version and displays the Standard & Formatting toolbars on
one row by default. As a result, neither bar displays all of it's
buttons and you can't make either bar any wider. To get to the extra
buttons you have to click a little triangle and select the button from
the pallette that opens up. If this is what the problem stems from, go
to Tools>Customize. I believe there is a tabbed page in the Customize
window labeled "Options".
Click to expand...

Well, there's no such option in the Word v.X "Customize" menu. About
all I can do is add or delete items from existing toolbars (without
adding the ability to widen them), or create new toolbars.
Change the checkbox status to sever the bars
as separate rows. They will each expand to reveal all items as soon as
you do. That will also give you more freedom to position them as you
see fit.
Click to expand...

I certainly hope this is how it works in Word 2004, as I have an
Office upgrade on order to go with the new Powerbook that's coming.
Sounds like you are aware of being able to move the toolbar, using the
border on the bar's left edge. That should allow you to drag the bar to
any position on the screen. Just be careful not to click the little
circle at the top of that border because that will close the bar. (You
can always turn it back on by going to View>Toolbars and selecting it
from the list.) Is this not working for you?

BTW- You can also "reshape" the toolbars to be taller and less wide,
effectively arranging the buttons in a row and column fashion rather
than a single row. Te extent will vary base, once again, on the bar's
content. To do that, use the lower right corner of the bar and drag
down/left or up/right.

Hope this helps! If not, please know that I have not had any such
problems with 2004. Also, it does not use the "share one row" feature I
mentioned above!|:>)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the detailed reply. I'll keep idly fooling around with
it until Office 2004 arrives.

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D., GPG Key ID: BBF6FC1C
"Pray: To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single
petitioner confessedly unworthy." -- Ambrose Bierce
<http://dischordia.blogspot.com>
<http://www.angryherb.net>
 
J

John McGhie

Hi Herb:

To make the toolbars wider, you simply drag the lower right corner.

CyberTaz is right: the toolbars won't get any wider than the number of icons
you have on them. But if your toolbars have room to grow, and extra icons
to display, dragging them will expand them.

In Word X, the mechanism is a little cranky -- you have to try it a few
times, and it pays to work slowly so the system can catch up with your
movements. But it does work.

Of course, you must first maximise the Word window so you have room.

But it works: keep trying...

Beth is also correct in advocating that you build your own toolbars. Word
does corrupt the Normal template from time to time: when it does, you can
copy tollbars you have built to a new Normal template and keep right on
working. You cannot copy the built-in toolbars, so you lose all your work
if the Normal file fails.

cheers


Yes, but adding items to the Standard toolbar only adds items to the
palette (which you refer to below) rather than making the toolbar
wider.


Well, there's no such option in the Word v.X "Customize" menu. About
all I can do is add or delete items from existing toolbars (without
adding the ability to widen them), or create new toolbars.


I certainly hope this is how it works in Word 2004, as I have an
Office upgrade on order to go with the new Powerbook that's coming.


Thank you for the detailed reply. I'll keep idly fooling around with
it until Office 2004 arrives.
Click to expand...

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410
 
C

catsaki

Just to add to the advice to keep trying: it helps to click on the
lower right corner, hold for 2 seconds, and then try to move your
cursor to re-size.
 
H

Herb Schaltegger

catsaki said:
Just to add to the advice to keep trying: it helps to click on the
lower right corner, hold for 2 seconds, and then try to move your
cursor to re-size.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it's something quirky about my system, but the default
toolbars in both Word X and now Word 2004 just will NOT get any wider,
period, no matter how long I click or what I do. They will certainly
get shorter and split into two rows, but I can't get them to be any
bigger. I don't want to bother with creating new, Custom toolbars but
given that Word 2004 now makes the Formatting Palette transparent when
editing, most of my problem has gone away - I just use the palette
instead of the extra buttons on the toolbar. I hated the palette in
Word X because it always seemed to be in the way.

In fact, except for the toolbar quirks I'm still having, I think
Office 2004 is great - it seems much snappier on my iBook than Office
X has been and I really like some of the new features, like longer
filenames and the Project Center. Now if I could only get the
EntourageGPG scripts to work properly . . .

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D., GPG Key ID: BBF6FC1C
"Pray: To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single
petitioner confessedly unworthy." -- Ambrose Bierce
<http://dischordia.blogspot.com>
<http://www.angryherb.net>
 
J

John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]

Hi Herb:

I think we're talking at cross-purposes here. If your toolbars are already
only one row deep, then that's as wide as they are. If you want them wider,
use Customize to put more buttons on them.

A toolbar cannot be stretched beyond the width that accommodates all of the
buttons displayed on it.


I don't know if it's something quirky about my system, but the default
toolbars in both Word X and now Word 2004 just will NOT get any wider,
period, no matter how long I click or what I do. They will certainly
get shorter and split into two rows, but I can't get them to be any
bigger. I don't want to bother with creating new, Custom toolbars but
given that Word 2004 now makes the Formatting Palette transparent when
editing, most of my problem has gone away - I just use the palette
instead of the extra buttons on the toolbar. I hated the palette in
Word X because it always seemed to be in the way.

In fact, except for the toolbar quirks I'm still having, I think
Office 2004 is great - it seems much snappier on my iBook than Office
X has been and I really like some of the new features, like longer
filenames and the Project Center. Now if I could only get the
EntourageGPG scripts to work properly . . .
Click to expand...

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410
 
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