OL 2007 Custom Button

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter Hibbs
  • Start date Start date
P

Peter Hibbs

In OL2003 I can add a new button to the tool-bar and assign some VB
code to it.

Is this still possible in OL2007 and if so, is there any info on the
Internet on how to do this.

TIA

Peter Hibbs.
 
New button where, in an Explorer or Inspector?

You can add a button but for an Inspector, where the ribbon is used, it will
be relegated to being in the Add-Ins tab since there are no Inspector menus
or toolbars in Outlook 2007.

For Explorers Outlook 2007 is the same as 2003.

There's tons of information on this all over the Web, all it takes is a
google search.
 
Thanks for the info, I did find some detailed info at the MSDN for
Outlook i.e. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd229324.aspx

I am writing some code for a customer which will execute when they
click a custom button on the tool-bar. I have OL2003 and I can do it
OK with that version.

The problem is that they are using OL2007 and are not very 'computer
literate' (and they are in a different country) so I am going to have
to explain how to do this 'in words of one syllable'. In OL2003 I
would say press ALT + F11, copy this code into the VB window, click
Save. Right click tool-bar, choose Customize, drag Macro to tool-bar,
change label text, add icon, etc, etc.

If I do this for OL2003 will they be able to use the same procedure in
OL2007 or is the interface so different that they will get lost from
the start. If I had OL2007 installed I could try it myself and write a
step by step guide but this is not possible. Looking at the above Web
site, it looks to me as if the Explorers display is similar to OL2003
and the Inspectors version uses the new ribbons but I don't know what
my customer uses at the moment or can they switch from one to the
other easily.

If you have any more insights on how I should proceed I would be
grateful, failing that I may just have to install Office2007 on my
laptop!

Peter Hibbs.
 
Outlook 2003 uses toolbars/menus for both Inspectors and Explorers. Outlook
2007 uses toolbars/menus for Explorers and the ribbon for Inspectors.
Outlook 2010 will use the ribbon for both Inspectors and Explorers.

From what you say I'm inferring that you're referring to Inspector UI, where
you can't do what you want for the ribbon. It's also not a good idea at all
to deploy VBA macro code, it's designed for personal use and quick macros
and prototyping, not for robust code or deployment. You really should be
using a COM addin for that.

The ribbon is totally different and your procedure will not work there for
Outlook 2007 Inspectors (or Outlook 2010). If you plan to develop for
Outlook 2007 I'd strongly recommend that you have it installed somewhere, at
least for testing purposes. If you are limited as to machines you can always
use a virtual machine. I have over 15 of them running everything from
Outlook 2000 on Win2K to Outlook 2010 on Vista. That lets you test in every
environment.
 
Back
Top