Chapter 29
In This Chapter
Configuring the status bar
Customizing the Quick Access toolbar
Finding special commands for the toolbar
Adding tabs and groups to the Ribbon
I’m not one to customize things. Despite available options, I survive with the stock Windows desktop and background. I don’t modify my phone’s appearance. And I’ve only ever put only one bumper sticker on my car. Still, I’m all in favor of having the ability to modify things if I so choose. Customization seems to be a part of everything, and Word is no exception.
Lurking at the bottom of the Word window is an extremely useful gizmo, the status bar. Chapter 1 introduces the status bar but only hints at its potential. Now it's time to reveal all: Right-clicking the status bar produces the helpful Customize Status Bar menu, shown in Figure 29-1.
The Customize Status Bar menu does two things: First, it controls what you see on the status bar (informational tidbits as well as certain controls). Second, it lets you turn on or off certain Word features.
From Figure 29-1, as well as on your screen, you can see the current status for many optional settings. A check mark indicates that an item is either visible or appears when necessary. To add an item, choose it. To remove a check marked item, choose it.
Here are my thoughts:
Back in the old days, you could seriously mess with how the Word window looked. You could add toolbars, remove toolbars, modify toolbars, create your own toolbars, and generally use the word toolbars over and over again until it lost its meaning. Today, Word isn’t quite as flexible as it once was, but you’re still allowed to customize a toolbar.
The Quick Access toolbar is illustrated in Figure 29-2. It’s found at the top-left corner of the window.
Click a wee icon on the Quick Access toolbar to activate a feature. You can customize the toolbar by removing icons you don’t use and adding icons you need.
When you enjoy using a Word command, and find yourself using it so much that the mouse is wearing a track in the program window, consider adding the command to the Quick Access toolbar.
Common commands are kept on the toolbar’s menu. Refer to Figure 29-2 for the lot. To add one of those common commands, such as the Quick Print command, choose it from the menu.
To keep the Quick Access toolbar from getting out of hand, you can make adjustments beyond adding commands already on the menu. To do so, choose More Commands from the Quick Access toolbar’s menu. You see the Word Options dialog box with the Quick Access Toolbar area shown, as illustrated in Figure 29-3.
Use the list on the left to choose a new command to add to the Quick Access toolbar.
The list on the right shows items currently on the toolbar. You can use that list to rearrange or remove Quick Access toolbar items.
Click the OK button when you’re finished editing.
To remove a command from the Quick Access toolbar, right-click its command button and choose Remove from Quick Access toolbar.
Likewise, you can choose a command with a check mark from the Customize Quick Access Toolbar menu. Or you can use the Word Options dialog box, as described in the preceding section, to remove items.
Word doesn’t let you alter the basic tabs and groups on the Ribbon, which is probably a good thing for the sake of consistency. What Word will let you do, however, is create your own tab on the Ribbon or a new group on an existing tab.
Here’s how that operation works:
In the Word Options window, choose Customize Ribbon.
The Word Options window changes its appearance. Tabs on the Ribbon are listed on the right, and Word commands are shown on the left. The Ribbon is your oyster.
To add a new group to an existing tab, click the tab on the right side of the window, and then click the New Group button. Click the Rename button to assign the group a name other than New Group and to add a symbol (if Word lets you).
To add commands to a custom group, click to select the group you created. Locate the command on the left side of the window, and then click the Add button to stick it into the new group.
If you want to go whole hog and add your own tab to the Ribbon, click the New Tab button. The new tab is created along with a new group; right-click both items to rename them. Then add commands to the custom tab’s custom group as described earlier.
In Figure 29-4, you see the Dan Tab that I added to the Ribbon, along with two groups, A commands and Z commands.
The changes you make to the Ribbon hold for every Word document you open. They aren’t tied to a specific template.
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