We’re working with several firms at the moment designing Custom Ribbon Tabs and still seeing a tendency to put native Microsoft Office functionality (particularly in Word) on this. So, the Ribbon becomes cluttered, items get hidden when the screen resolution changes and features become even more difficult to find than they are on the built-in Ribbons. Also this often means that the Ribbon contains items that not everyone (particularly lawyers) are likely to use (cross referencing, paragraph formatting, etc.). Rather than put items on the Ribbon some firms have rolled out a firm wide Quick Access Toolbar with some key functions on it.
The other thing that people seem to forget is that there is a separate Quick Access Toolbar for each Office application so obviously the features you put on one application can be different from the others.
Talking to users – here’s a few of the features that have been added to the Quick Access Toolbar that seem to be popular– although I’m sure there are plenty more and it’s all about personal choice.
Word
- Inserting a Section Break
- Cross Referencing
- Apply Styles
- Insert Table
- AutoText
Excel
- Freeze Panes
- Filtering Options
PowerPoint
- Insert Picture
- Insert Shapes
- Start Slide Show from Current Slide
- View Slide Master
Outlook
- Advanced Search
- Automatic Replies (Out of Office)
- Reading Pane Options
