Editorium Update

Creating Menus

August 1, 2001 – 12:00 pm

Last week I explained how to create your own toolbars in Microsoft Word. You can create your own menus, too, as a place to activate macros or Word commands. Here’s how:

In Word 97 or later:

1. Click the “Tools” menu.

2. Click “Customize.”

3. Click the “Commands” tab.

4. In the “Categories” box (on the left), click “Menu” (you’ll probably have to scroll down to find it).

5. In the “Commands” box (on the right), click “New Menu” and hold down your mouse button.

6. Drag your new menu (represented by a gray rectangle) up to Word’s menu bar and drop it (by releasing the mouse button) where you want it to go. It will be displayed on the menu bar with the name “New Menu.”

7. Back down in the “Customize” dialog, click the “Modify Selection” button. The customization menu will appear.

8. In the box labeled “Name,” type the name for your menu, such as “Macros,” and press your “Enter” key to make the change.

9. In the box labeled “Save in,” select the template or document where you want your new menu to live. This will probably be your Normal template (Normal.dot), which will make the menu available to any document. You could also select another template or document, however.

10. Click the “Close” button.

In Word 6 or 95:

1. Click the “Tools” menu.

2. Click “Customize.”

3. Click the “Menus” tab.

4. Click the “Menu Bar” button (on the lower right).

5. In the box labeled “Name on Menu bar,” type the name for your menu, such as “Macros.”

6. In the box labeled “Position on Menu Bar,” click the menu (such as “Edit” or “View”) after which you want your new menu to appear. (You can also click “First” or “Last.”)

7. Click the “Add” or “Add After” button. (You can also remove or rename menus while you’re here, but if you do so, use extreme caution. It’s not easy to get things back the way they were.)

8. Click the “Close” button.

9. In the box labeled “Save changes in,” select the template or document where you want your new menu to live. This will probably be your Normal template (Normal.dot), which will make the menu available to any document. You could also select another template or document, however.

10. Click the “Close” button for the “Customize” dialog.

Once you’ve created your menu, you can add macros to it as described in the July 11, 2001, issue of Editorium Update, which you can read here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707444986

I’ve assumed that you’re probably going to keep your new menus (and toolbars) in your Normal template, but that’s not the best place to keep them, since the Normal template can become corrupted (you should back it up frequently, just in case). It’s better to keep your menus and toolbars (and keyboard shortcuts and macros) in your own add-in template, as explained in the June 20, 2001, Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707194086

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

April Karys wrote:

Our authors frequently write “the Java programing language,” and just as frequently leave out the “the.” I’m looking for a wildcard that will identify only the instances of this phrase that occur without the “the” and then insert it. That way I won’t have to go through manually for this one correction item, but can include a wildcard with the macro that’s cleaning everything *else* up. Whew. Anyway, is this possible to achieve with wildcards? Is nothing impossible to achieve with wildcards? (Will one of them make me dinner tonight?)

I responded:

As far as I know, there’s no elegant (wildcard) way to do what you’re describing. You just have to grit your teeth and do a two-step find-and-replace. You *can* record it in a macro, however.

To achieve what you want:

Find: Java programming language

Replace with: the Java programming language.

And then:

Find: the the Java programming language

Replace with: the Java programming language

In other words, you’ll be putting an extra “the” in front of some of your “Javas” but then removing them. That will leave *all* of the occurrences looking like this:

the Java programming language

That should do the job.

In the meantime, I’ll be working on some wildcards that will make duck à l’orange.

_____________________________________________________

THE FINE PRINT

Editorium Update (ISSN 1534-1283) is published by:

The EDITORIUM, LLC

Microsoft Word Add-Ins for Publishing Professionals

http://www.editorium.com

Copyright © 2008 by the Editorium. All rights reserved. Editorium Update and Editorium are trademarks of the Editorium.

You may forward copies of Editorium Update to yourself and others (but not charge for it) and print or store it for your own use. Any other broadcast, publication, retransmission, copying, or storage, without written permission from the Editorium, is prohibited. Send reprint requests to reprints [at symbol] editorium.com

Editorium Update is provided for informational purposes only and without a warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from infringement. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and use of this document.

The Editorium is not affiliated with Microsoft Corporation.

_____________________________________________________

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE

To subscribe, send a blank email message to editorium-subscribe [at symbol] topica.com.

To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to editorium-unsubscribe [at symbol] topica.com.

We do not sell, rent, or give our subscriber list to anyone.

____________________________________________________

 Share