Hide the Formatting toolbar

[Guest]

Is it possible to create a template that will keep the Formatting toolbar
hidden when others open it. I think I'm finding that the View options are
user/computer-specific, but if there's a way, I'd like to conceal it.

Thank you.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Is it possible to create a template that will keep the Formatting toolbar
hidden when others open it. I think I'm finding that the View options are
user/computer-specific, but if there's a way, I'd like to conceal it.

Thank you.

Well, sort of, but it's not nice. If the template contains these
macros:

Sub AutoNew()
CommandBars("Formatting").Enabled = False
End Sub

Sub AutoOpen()
CommandBars("Formatting").Enabled = False
End Sub

then the Formatting toolbar is not just hidden, it's also removed from
the View > Toolbars submenu and from the Tools > Customize > Toolbars
list. If any documents are already open with the toolbar showing,
it'll stay visible and active in those documents. But it won't be
available in any document opened or created in the same session after
the macro runs, even if they're based on some other template. To get
the toolbar back, you have to close Word and then open some document
not based on your template (or be savvy enough to run a macro that
sets .Enabled = True). If I were one of your template's unfortunate
users, I'd be really PO'd about this.

Somewhat less drastic is to set .Visible = False instead of .Enabled.
That just hides the toolbar, but the user can get it back by using the
View > Toolbars menu. In any case, you owe the user an explanation of
what you're doing and why.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Thank you. I'm glad to know it's possible.

Just fyi, I was tasked with hiding the Formatting section, it wasn't an
elitist attempt to "PO" my "unfortunate" users. I put every conceivable style
for this particular doc on a list on a custom menu. Regardless whether they
have access, there should be no reason to use the Formatting section. The
bosses wanted it that way.

Anyway, I agree with you that it's not pretty and not preferable. I've made
the case and convinced them it's not prudent.

Thank you again, though, at least I know it's possible and how to do it, if
it ever becomes comes up again.

 

[Jay Freedman]

The behavior I found unacceptable -- but unavoidable, given the way Word
implements this capability -- is that the toolbar is disabled for all
documents and not just for those based on the template that's doing the
disabling. Anyway, I'm glad you were able to make your case.

If you and all your users have Word 2003, there's a better way: In the
Protect Document task pane, you can specify that only a given list of styles
can be applied to the document, and all other formatting is disabled
(including not only the buttons on the Formatting toolbar but also the
shortcut keys and the Format dialogs). The downside is that documents
protected this way are completely locked to users of any earlier versions of
Word.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.