Microsoft Office Forums

Go Back   Microsoft Office Forums > >

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 05-09-2012, 07:40 PM
rdy4trvl rdy4trvl is offline Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Windows XP Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Office 2007
Novice
Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
rdy4trvl is on a distinguished road
Default Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape

Our non-profit needs to drop 8 frequently used shapes (e.g. red customized arrow, green arrow) on to various Word Documents.



Is there a way to modify the the 2007 Word ribbon to include the shapes and simply click and drag the various shapes to the document? (This would be hugely useful....and very impressive for others to use!!)

I suppose we could create a document with the shapes on the bottom and use that to pick shapes from a "palette" of frequently used shapes (but not very elegant).

Thanks!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-10-2012, 08:04 AM
Charles Kenyon Charles Kenyon is offline Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Windows Vista Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Office 2010 32bit
Moderator
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Posts: 9,081
Charles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant futureCharles Kenyon has a brilliant future
Default

You could do this using AutoText (Building Blocks) and assign a keyboard shortcut to your shapes. I was hoping someone else would answer this one because it is not simple.

First I would download the Building Blocks Enhanced Tools from Greg Maxey's site. It replaces the Quick Parts button on the Insert Tab with an expanded Document Parts button. One of the choices is AutoText. This is the easiest way to work with AutoText in Word 2007.

Select a shape and add it to AutoText. You need to give it a unique name. Then do this for each of your shapes. Store them in a separate template, not the default. You will be using this template to distribute the AutoText and keyboard shortcuts to others. The separate template can be a dotx template, no macros are involved.

Then find you quick action toolbar's drop down at the end. Select More Commands. On that dialog box click on the button to customize keyboard shortcuts.

A dialog box will pop up to customize keyboard shortcuts. The first thing is to change the location for storage from normal.dotm to your template. Then under Categories on the left, pick AutoText. Find one of your AutoText entries in the selection box on the right. Click in the window to assign a new shortcut key.

I would recommend holding down the Alt key and pressing the letter S, then release them and press the number 1. It will show up as "Alt+S,1." Click on the Assign button.

For your second shape use 2 instead. I am assuming you have fewer than 10 shapes. If you have more, you can use letters instead.

Save your template. Then save the template in your Word Startup Folder for each user.

When your user presses Alt+S and then 1, the user will insert your first shape.

You originally asked about putting them on a Ribbon. This can be done but would require storing them as AutoText and then creating a ribbon tab, writing macros and assigning buttons. I don't know that this is worth it unless you really want to spend some time learning about ribbon customization and macros. See Customize the Ribbon (It doesn't take rocket science)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-10-2012, 08:42 AM
rdy4trvl rdy4trvl is offline Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Windows XP Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Office 2007
Novice
Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
rdy4trvl is on a distinguished road
Default

Wow, this looks fantastic! I'll work with it today and get back. Thanks!!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-14-2012, 09:57 PM
rdy4trvl rdy4trvl is offline Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Windows XP Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Office 2007
Novice
Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
rdy4trvl is on a distinguished road
Default

I'm very close...which is somewhat amazing. I'm having problems assigning a shortcut key to the shape. (I cant do this part: Then under Categories on the left, pick AutoText. Find one of your AutoText entries in the selection box on the right. Click in the window to assign a new shortcut key.)
The picture below shows two screen shots - left=I do have the shapes (they're small arrows) and on the right= there's no AutoText entries. Any idea what I'm missing.
thanks

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/c...43xrcxyfcb.png
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 06-07-2012, 12:39 PM
rdy4trvl rdy4trvl is offline Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Windows XP Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Office 2007
Novice
Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
rdy4trvl is on a distinguished road
Default Building Blocks for Word 2008 (Apple)?

Building Blocks modified my Quick Parts allowing quick insertion of saved shapes - FANTASTIC!!! I have a co-volunteer working on the same project but has Word 2008 for Apple. Anyone know of something similar to Building Blocks (modifies Quick Parts) for Word running on an Apple?
Thanks
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 09-16-2012, 08:12 AM
macropod's Avatar
macropod macropod is offline Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Windows 7 64bit Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape Office 2010 32bit
Administrator
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 21,956
macropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond reputemacropod has a reputation beyond repute
Default

AFAIK, Word 2008 supports Building Blocks, which were introduced with Word 2007.
__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
shapes ribbon

Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
i need some help with Access 2010 very easy napninjax Misc 0 09-15-2011 03:32 PM
Easy means to access/insert frequently used Shape This should be easy - check box RIKIL Mail Merge 10 07-19-2011 08:03 PM
Three easy (certainly for experts!) Word-questions cindymiller Word 3 12-26-2010 02:18 AM
what + (plus) means in word? rus2uk_office Word 0 07-07-2009 10:30 AM
Reference to an external filename which changes frequently roooberta Word 0 12-11-2008 07:33 AM

Other Forums: Access Forums

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:49 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
MSOfficeForums.com is not affiliated with Microsoft