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Barry MacDonnell's
Toolbox for WordPerfect

Macros, tips, and templates for Corel® WordPerfect® for Windows®
© Copyright 1996-2012 by Barry MacDonnell. All Rights Reserved.

Page updated Mar 31, 2010
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How to create a new, custom toolbar

Tips -

Create a vertical toolbar

Move or copy buttons from another toolbar

Make a custom toolbar automatically appear when you load a document

Related pages -

To just modify a standard toolbar, see:
How to create a toolbar button to play a macro, load a program, or use a built-in WordPerfect feature

To modify just a property bar:
Adding buttons to the context-sensitive Property Bars

To edit the icon on a toolbar or property bar button:
How to change those default "audiocassette" icons on toolbar buttons

Note: To be able to see toolbars you must have enabled them with View, Toolbars.

Here's how

  • Click on Tools, Settings, Customize, Toolbars (tab).
  • Next, click on Create and give the new toolbar a name in the Create Toolbar dialog. While in the dialog, you can click the Location button to specify the location -- typically, the current template or the default template (which may be the same item); some might want to use the Additional Objects template.
  • Click OK to close the Create Toolbar dialog.

The Toolbar Editor dialog should now be on screen with the name of your new toolbar at the top of the dialog, and the Features tab at the top should be active (if it is not, click it).

You will find several "Feature categories" in the top drop list (File, Edit, View ... etc.). Underneath this list you will see the "Features:" drop list, which displays the features available for the chosen Feature category. Clicking on a feature will activate the Add Button button on the dialog and also display an icon and brief description just above the OK button. (These button icons are also useful as models for your own custom buttons to play macros from a toolbar. See http://wptoolbox.com/tips/EditIcon.html.)

Practice a bit: Select a feature and click the Add Button button. You will see a new button appear on the new toolbar. If you do not want the button, simply drag it form the toolbar. (You can also remove it later by holding down the <Alt> button while you drag it from the toolbar. Similarly, you can reposition it later on the toolbar with the <Alt>+drag method.)

You can add macros or even external programs to the toolbar in a similar manner by first selecting the appropriate tab (Macros or Programs) on the Toolbar Editor.

For more information on these topics, see "How to create a toolbar button to play a macro, load a program, or use a built-in WordPerfect feature" at http://wptoolbox.com/tips/CreateTB.html.

When finished adding buttons to the new toolbar, click OK, then click Close to get back to the document screen.

Tips

Blue bullet You can create a vertical toolbar with text labels (instead of graphic icons) to quickly access your favorite folders, templates, and files. See How to Create a Vertical Toolbar with Text Buttons to Access Your Favorite Folders, Templates and Files (a PDF document; 08/27/07, 140Kb).

Blue bullet You can move or copy buttons from another toolbar -- even a toolbar used in an earlier version of WordPerfect or located on another system.

The procedure below (Step 1) can be used to first copy the toolbar to your current version of WordPerfect. Then move or copy the button(s) to your new custom toolbar using the procedure in Step 2 below. (For buttons that play macros, you might have to edit the moved/copied button with the Toolbar Editor to specify the path to the related macro on the current system.)

Step 1. Copying toolbars from another version of WordPerfect or from another computer with WordPerfect installed on it. [From: " Moving customizations from old default template to new" at http://www.wpuniverse.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=12507]

"...In WordPerfect when you edit some user settings, like a keyboard or a menu (there are others), the customizations are saved in the default template. If you want to keep your customizations when you install a new version or when for troubleshooting you are asked to exit WordPerfect and rename the default template (a new fresh one is created when you restart WP), you need to copy the customizations (if any) from the old template to the new default template."

Locate the current default template

[See Default template - The default template's file name - Standard location on disk (WP9 and later versions) - Actual location on disk - Using Windows Explorer or My Computer to find your default template.]

Rename the (old) default template

Close WordPerfect and rename your default template to something like WP-OLD.WPT.

Copy objects from the old template to the new

    • Start WordPerfect.
    • Click File, New from Project.
    • In the drop down list, select Custom WP Templates.
    • Right click on each listing for Create a blank document, select project properties, check the project filename, when you have determined which one says WP-OLD.WPT, click once to select the file.
    • Click Options, Edit WP Template.
    • Click Copy/Remove Object on the Template Toolbar.
    • In "Templates to copy from" section, select your renamed file (WP-OLD.WPT). ... On the left side the old template will be listed and on the right side the new WP template will be listed. On the left side there is a section called "Object type" this list the different categories from the template file. (Toolbars, Keyboards, Macros etc..)
    • Select a Object type [i.e., Toolbars], then select an item you want to move to the new template and click on the Copy button.
    • Repeat the process until all the customized items are transferred to the new template. When finished click on the Close button.

Step 2. Moving or copying buttons from one toolbar to another

You can move or copy an existing button from one toolbar to another (assuming both are visible).

    • To move it, hold down the <Alt> key while you drag the button to the desired location on other toolbar.
    • To copy it, hold down the <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys while you drag it.

Most people probably will want to copy the button, not move it, so that the source toolbar remains the same.

Blue bullet You can make a custom toolbar appear whenever you load a new document based on a custom template (e.g., a letterhead or invoice template). The following information is valid for WordPerfect X3+ (but should also work in earlier versions).

You will need to create the toolbar inside the custom template (or copy it there) as described above and then create a small template macro that is triggered by the Post New trigger. (N.B.: This and other aspects of automating templates can be found in the author's Automating WordPerfect Templates.) The macro would consist of these two ButtonBar commands (where "My Toolbar" should be replaced by the actual custom toolbar name):

ButtonBarSelect(ButtonBarName:"My Toolbar"; LoadedFromDefaultTemplate:No!)
ButtonBarShow(State:On!; ButtonBarName:"My Toolbar"; LoadedFromDefaultTemplate:No!)

Related Tips

  • To modify a button's default icon (the gray audiocasette image), click here.
  • If you put an ampersand ("&") in the Button Text, the letter that folllows the ampersand can be used with the <Alt> key to play the macro, in addition to clicking the toolbar button itself. For example, if the Button Text is something like "Fax this document," and you change it to "&Fax this document," then <Alt+F> will play the macro, the same as if you click the button with your mouse. Note that, in this example, <Alt+F> would normally bring up the WP File menu; now it will not. So, to bring up the File menu, simply press and release the <Alt> key, then press the <F> key. [Thanks to P. Wolfgang Deiminger for the ampersand tip.]
  • To delete a button from the property bar (or a toolbar) when you are back in the document window, simply hold down the <Alt> key and drag the button off the bar.
  • If you want to create a button on one of WP's context-sensitive property bars, and it seems to disappear whenever you need it, see "Adding buttons to the context-sensitive Property Bars".