Standardise & distribute Outlook toolbars - How?

  • Thread starter Thread starter K Herner
  • Start date Start date
K

K Herner

Hi.

I want to provide the same 'look&feel' of Outlook, to all the users in
my organisation. How can I customise the toolbars and then distribute
them to all Outlook clients? I also don't want the users to be able to
further customise them.

I have tried the tools in the Office Resource Kit, but haven't found
any settings that apply to toolbars.

Any ideas? Using Outlook 2003

Thanks
 
Toolbar customizations are held in a file called Outcmd.dat. So, one
approach would be to set up the toolbars on one machine, then distribute the
resulting file to other users. I haven't tried this yet myself, but it
should be easy for you to tests.

To prevent users from making further customizations, you would need to use
Group Policy Objects to block the View | Toolbars | Customize command. If
you don't want to write your own code to recurse the Explorer.CommandBars
and Inspector.CommandBars collections to get the ID for that command, you
can use either the CommandBars Browser or Outlook Spy tools listed at
http://www.slipstick.com/dev/vb.htm#tools
 
And to add to what Sue has said, removing the ability of users to customize
programs for their personal efficiency is usually not a very good idea. I
use an Address toolbar that I create with my most commonly used
addresses/distribution lists for efficiency. Removing my ability to have
this toolbar reduces my productivity and increases worker resentment.

Think carefully about restricting the ability of workers to customize their
programs for personal efficiency.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After furious head scratching, K Herner asked:

| Hi.
|
| I want to provide the same 'look&feel' of Outlook, to all the users in
| my organisation. How can I customise the toolbars and then distribute
| them to all Outlook clients? I also don't want the users to be able to
| further customise them.
|
| I have tried the tools in the Office Resource Kit, but haven't found
| any settings that apply to toolbars.
|
| Any ideas? Using Outlook 2003
|
| Thanks
 
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