Add-in tab disappears when macros enabled

[Sherlock]

ADD-IN TAB ISSUE:
Our company templates, originally developed in Word 2003, have custom
toolbars. Most of the toolbar buttons are for styles, but a few are for
macros. In 2007, the toolbars load to the Add-ins tab, and most of the time
they work fine. However, sometimes the macros don't work. I assumed it was
because macros were disabled, so I enabled the macros. Imagine my surprise
and chagrin when the Add-ins tab disappeared!

It seems that, in those cases where the macros don't work from the toolbars,
the user can:
a. Leave macros disabled and have access to the style buttons, or
b. Enable macros and run the macros from the Developer tab.

But apparently not both. I'm still trying to understand just when and why
this seems to happen. Does anyone have any suggestions or insights into this?
The users should not have to close and reopen the file every time they want
to switch between styles and macros.

UPDATING OUR TEMPLATES:
I have looked into Themes a bit. I'll probably create some when I have time
and replace the old templates, but it's going to be a while. I need to study
them a bit to make sure I take full advantage of the new features.

If I understand correctly, it's possible to limit the visible styles to the
ones in the template, but I'm not sure if that applies to a 2003 template or
just to a 2007 one that uses Themes. And is that something I can control in
the template or does the user have to make that choice?

2007 VERSION OF OUR TOOLBARS:
Even if the style list can be limited, selecting the styles from 2007's
interface is considerably more cumbersome than having all of them across a
couple of rows of visible buttons. Minimum 2 clicks plus scrolling for 2007
vs. maximum 1 click and all of the possible style options visible at a glance
with the old toolbars. The old toolbars would win a speed contest every time.

We obviously can't stay with the old toolbars indefinitely, because as far
as I know, there's no way to update them in 2007.

Is there any way to create a custom toolbar in 2007 that contains style
buttons and macro buttons similar to our legacy toolbars? I understand it's
possible to add a new tab, but I'm not sure yet what sort of controls I could
put on it or how to do it.

I probably should have broken this into more than one post. Sorry. I just
kept thinking of more related questions.

Thanks for your help!

 

[George Lee]

This is a good question. Does anyone know why?

In short, items that in Word 2003 are defined in a custom toolbar sometimes
disappear in Word 2007 in the ribbon Add-Ins tab. Sometimes they do appear,
too.

 

[stuartw]

I am having an identical problem. I need a cross compatible solution between
2003 and 2007 while we phase updates across the building. I have a word 2003
..dot with a custom toolbar which links to macros. If I open this in word
2007 the custom toolbar appears in the addin ribbon until you enable the
macros at which point it disappears. Any ideas how to solve this one?

I have a fully functional .dotm word2007 template with a new custom UI
ribbon for future use but for the months where both systems are operational
then I really need to be able to get my .dot template working in 2007.

Stuart

 

[Sherlock]

Sorry to be so slow responding to this. I've been locked out at my end for
the last couple of weeks.

I was able to resolve this by adding the folder where we store our templates
as a Trusted Location. That way I don't have to enable macros. My macros work
and my Add-in tab stays put.

Thanks.

 

[stuartw]

Thanks

That works for me too.

Stuart

Sorry to be so slow responding to this. I've been locked out at my end for
the last couple of weeks.

I was able to resolve this by adding the folder where we store our templates
as a Trusted Location. That way I don't have to enable macros. My macros work
and my Add-in tab stays put.

Thanks.