pageoneresults - 3:17 pm on Jan 19, 2006 (gmt 0)

Customizing Your Toolbars

Let's take our Toolbars and Customize them a little further so we can make working in WYSIWYG a little easier.

Right click a Toolbar at the top. Select Customize from the menu. Go to Options. Select these items...

Customize > Options

* Always show full menus

* List font names in their font
* Show ScreenTips on toolbars
* Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips

Always show full menus

I always show full menus. I don't want to have to click a down arrow to see what else is there.

List font names in their font

I always list font names in their font. That way I can see what they look like. Although I don't use the <font> styling feature and that is what this is for. I use it strictly for the visual.

Show ScreenTips on toolbars

Yup! You want to be able to hover over a button and see what it does.

Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips

Absolutely! The keyboard is your friend. I promote the use of using keyboard shortcuts whenever possible both on the PC and Mac. It minimizes the use of the mouse and makes you a more proficient WYSIWYG user. You'll notice that I've provided keyboard shortcuts to all the stuff we are discussing and this is the way I work. You may want to consider working like this too as I've found it to be the most efficient for a WYSIWYG environment.

Go through all the menus you have in FrontPage. You're going to find keyboard shortcuts listed next to those items that have a keyboard equivalent. For example...

Ctrl + B = Bold <b></b>
Ctrl + I = Italic <i></i>
Ctrl + M = Increase Indent (working with lists)
Ctrl + Shift + M = Decrease Indent (working with lists)

The list goes on and on. So much so, that I have an entire page on "FrontPage Keyboard Shortcuts" floating out there. ;)

Your productivity in WYSIWYG mode will increase when you become friends with your keyboard! ;)

P.S. There are so many keyboard shortcuts that it may be overwhelming. What I suggest is that you take the actions that you perform most frequently from menus and start using the keyboard shortcut instead. After a week or so, you'll find that you've memorized them and you don't need to use the mouse for those anymore. :)