Modify Word's Close All icon image

Microsoft Word

Modify Word's Close All icon image

Most users add a few of their favorite commands to a toolbar for quick access. The addition of a few extra buttons isn't distracting or confusing. But, I ran into a situation recently that got the better of me...for just a minute. The Close and Close All commands use the same icon.

If you want both, you must remember which position represents which command, or change one of the icons. I chose the latter.

First, the good news: You don't need to be an expert to add a command to a toolbar. The steps are easy (in Word 2003 and earlier):

Click the dropdown arrow that appears at the right end of any open toolbar, choose Add or Remove Buttons, and then click Customize. Or, right-click the background of any toolbar and choose Customize. Or, choose Customize from the Tools menu.
Click the Commands tab in the resulting Customize dialog box. With this dialog open, the toolbars and menu bar, and all their menus and buttons are in Edit mode.
From the Categories list, select the appropriate menu. In this case, click File (the default).
Doing so updates the items in the Commands list to the right. Drag and drop the appropriate command from this list to a toolbar. To recreate my problem, drag Close and Close All to a toolbar.

I told you it was simple, but my situation was complicated by the two look-alike icons with different tasks.

Now, you might be able to remember that Close is on the left and Close All is on the right, but I don't trust myself that much. If you support users, you don't have much of a choice. In the end, I chose to edit the image of the Close All icon.

To modify an icon, the Customize dialog box must be open (in Edit mode); you can leave it open when you add the Close and Close All commands to a toolbar. If you closed the dialog box after adding the icons, you must open it again. Then, with the Customize dialog box open, click the Close All button on your toolbar and then click Modify Selection. At this point, you have at least three simple ways to distinguish Close All from Close.

Display text
The simplest solution is to display text instead of the icon. After clicking Modify Selection, choose the Text Only (Always) item on the resulting submenu. You can display the icon for one and text for the other, or display text for both. Either way, you'll have no trouble telling them apart.

Change the color
If displaying the icon text isn't an option, the next best solution is to change the color of one. After clicking Modify Selection, choose Edit Button Image. Click a colored square in the Colors section and then start clicking those tiny squares that make up the actual icon image. This is a tedious process, but don't worry about making a mistake. You can click Cancel at any time and start over. Click as many or as few of the squares as you like to get the look you want. Then, click OK when you're done.

This method is only marginally better than leaving both icons alone, as you still have to remember which color represents which command.

Add a clue
For myself, I'd probably use the Text option above. It's simple and gets the job done. That won't always work for users or custom templates. Sometimes company conventions limit your options. If you must use icon images, you need to distinguish one image from the other. The best solution I came up with was to add an A to the Close All icon.

This solution takes a bit more work, but only a little. After clicking Modify Select, choose Edit Button Image. This time, click a color and then click the appropriate squares to draw an A on the folder icon. When you're satisfied, click OK.

The icons are still similar, but the A on the Close All icon clearly identifies the difference between the two.

You can add Close and Close All to the Quick Access Toolbar in Word 2007, but it isn't easy to modify a button's image.

Microsoft Excel

Save time with quick auto-filtering in Excel 2003

Excel's AutoFilter feature lets you view records that match specific criteria. All your data's still there, but Excel hides all rows that don't match the chosen criteria. You're probably already familiar with the feature and agree with me that it's easy to use.

The only complaint I have with the feature is the list--Excel creates a unique list of values and you choose the filtering criteria from that list. If the column contains lots of unique values, the list is a bit unwieldy--it just isn't as convenient as it can be.

A more convenient filtering solution makes use of what's already available:

You add a set of filtering buttons to any toolbar—probably the one you use most. If you're creating a custom application, you might create a custom toolbar just for filtering.
To use the buttons, you select your criteria right in the sheet and click a filtering button.
To view all your data, click another filtering button.

First, let's add those buttons to a toolbar, as follows:

Make sure the toolbar you're going to add the buttons to is visible.
Choose Customize from the Tools menu.
Click the Commands tab.
In the Categories list, select Data to update the Commands list.
From the Commands list, drag the AutoFilter command to a toolbar.
From the Commands list, drag the Show All command to the same toolbar--you'll want them right next to each other.
Click Close to close the Customize dialog box.

Now you’re all set. To use the new toolbar buttons, just select a value and click AutoFilter (the button to the right of the Help button in the above toolbar). For example, in the sheet below, I selected A5 and clicked the AutoFilter button. Excel responded by displaying only those records that contain the same value, AT6-02, in column A. To remove the filter, click Show All. (This feature works similar to the Filter By Selection feature in Access.)

Adding these buttons helps avoid perusing a long list of criteria values. When lists are short, having the buttons available really doesn't save you any time or aggravation, unless you're building a custom filtering toolbar for a template. Or, you might just prefer this method--I think filtering by selection is less prone to mistakes than the list selection method.

You can't easily customize 2007's ribbon, but you can add these buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Microsoft Office

How to Sync Google Calendar and Outlook

One of my clients uses Google Calendar and I've learned to like the calendar app, but I still use Outlook almost exclusively for everything else. Switching between the two calendars was a nuisance. Entering appointments twice was a nuisance.

Fortunately, that's all behind me because Google Calendar Sync automatically coordinates both Outlook and Google Calendar:

If you enter an appointment in Outlook, it will appear in your Google calendar.
If you edit that same appointment in Google Calendar, the sync app will update the same appointment in Outlook.
Delete an appointment in either app and Google Calendar Sync deletes it in the other.

... and so on. You get the picture. What you do in one, the tool pushes to the other.

Fortunately, setting things up is almost as easy as running the tool to keep Google Calendar and Outlook coordinated:

On the system that's running Outlook, download and install Google Calendar Sync. Just click the link and then click Save. (I shouldn't have to say this, but do not download anything from the Internet if you aren't running virus protection software.)
Enter the Email address you use with your Google Calendar account.
Enter the password for that account.
For full synchronization, select 2-way in the Sync options. Click the option that best reflects your needs. Later, you can change your settings by double-clicking the Google Calendar Sync system icon in the Windows tray.
Set the interval for automatic synchronization in the Sync every x minutes option. The default is 120 and you might find that adequate--I didn't.
Click Save. It'll take a minute or two to download and install the app. If you have more than one Outlook profile, Outlook will prompt you to choose one.
When the installation is done, click the Close button. (It doesn't stay on top, so it's easy to miss this step.) Google Calendar Sync will run automatically as soon as you install it.

After installing the sync tool, you'll see a new icon in your tray. (This is the icon you double-click to change your settings.) Right-click this icon to sync your calendars manually. Otherwise, the tool will sync your calendars according to the interval setting you entered during the installation process. During this time, the icon displays two opposing arrows that move up and down.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll forget its even running. Speaking only for myself, it runs well and as expected--no surprises. My one complaint is that my Outlook calendar wouldn't display existing items from my Google calendar; it does pick up new items added since installing the tool.

Note: I wanted to mention that the tool, as of June 11, 2010, does not work with Windows 7. I know, because I was asked about it on Twitter recently.

ZDNet / Techguide / Microsoft Office Suite

Modify Word's Close All icon image

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Microsoft Word