Styles in a Custom Ribbon

[inagalaxyfarfarawry]

Hey all,



How do I get the dialog box launcher in a custom ribbon? I've created a custom ribbon and I'm trying to get the Styles gallery and the Styles dialog box launcher, but I've included all the Styles commands listed under "All Commands" in the ribbon customization dialog box and nothing works. Maybe I have to edit the XML? But I haven't found any solution on Google that helps.

Does anyone know how this is done, whether in MS Word or in an XML editor?

[Charles Kenyon]

I know of no way to get a dialog launcher button itself through the Interface. You can include an existing group on your tab
that already has the dialog launcher you want. I don't believe you can edit the group, but you can add other custom groups to the tab.

For serious projects or something that will be shared, I would always recommend using an XML editor. Here are three resources:

• Modifying the QAT and Ribbon in Microsoft Word
• Customize the Ribbon (It doesn't take rocket science)
• RibbonX: Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon by Robert Martin, Ken Puls, and Teresa Hennig

Below is a custom tab created through the interface where I simply added the Styles Group from the Home tab. Perhaps that is what you want.
It includes the dialog launcher for Styles that gives you the Styles Pane.


BTW, you may find the gallery under Quick Styles Gallery. (just a guess)

[Charles Kenyon]

BTW, if it is just for your own use and you do not have different customizations on different computers, by all means use the Word interface to modify the ribbon. XML gives more flexibility and power but comes with the cost of a steep learning curve.

[inagalaxyfarfarawry]

Thanks for the tips! I've got the Quick Style working and it actually pops up the dialog. But how do I force a certain size on the controls? Some of these controls require me to hover over to remember what the controls are. For instance, in the Documents group below, all I've got are coloured squares, but I'd like the labels to go along with them. Any way of forcing labels or large icons to show up instead of small icons?


Edit: Ok, the picture won't show. But picture rows of coloured squares with no other distinction. So I'd like the labels to come up with them. (This is gonna get me into putting in custom icons, but that's a class for a later date.)

Btw, it's just for my own use and I won't have different customizations on different computers, but I'd like to future-proof this, as in when my computer goes kaput, I'd like to have this on the next one and the next, etc.

[Charles Kenyon]

You can directly modify the .customui XML to change the labels, icons, and button sizes. However, if you are going to do that, you may want to bite the bullet and learn to do some XML modification in separate templates. Those can be independent of version and immune to MS updates. I have a number of modifications that work well in Word 2007, 2010 and 2013. The first one is a bit of a bump, but after that it becomes fairly easy. The links I gave you earlier are a good start. The last is a book. Although it is about Office 2007 ribbons, it is still the best overall guide I know.

They are stored in templates that are loaded as Global Templates. Take a look at my downloads page for a couple of samples that have Ribbon modifications. You can look at the XML in those to get a feel for it. They are the Gender Add-In, and my version of Chris Woodman's Keyboard Shortcuts Organizer. Virtually all ribbon-specific Add-Ins or tools on that page have QAT modifications.

Greg Maxey has pages on changing icons.

[Charles Kenyon]

BTW, with customizations you write in XML you can put your documents in a menu.
Note, you may want to be using templates rather than documents.