Speed Matters!
I’ve been using ‘the ribbon’ interface for well over a year now but sometimes I simply miss the old way of working with MindManager (and Office) menus. The feature that I miss most is the ability to adjust the menus and build toolbars that were custom to my needs.
Now, I rely heavily on the Quick Access Toolbar. The Quick Access Toolbar displays a set of commands independent of the currently displayed Ribbon tab.
You can customize the Quick Access toolbar by adding or removing commands, changing the position of commands, and adding separators between commands. Why go through the trouble? Adding commands give you 1-click access to frequently-used commands, regardless of which ribbon is displayed at the time.
How to Adjust Your Quick Access Toolbar
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Click the arrow at the end of the Quick Access toolbar and select the commands that you want to add or clear those you want to remove. If you don’t see the command you want to add, click “More Commands” to open the Customize Quick Access Toolbar dialog where you can add other commands.
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You can quickly add ribbon commands to the Quick Access Toolbar by right clicking on a command on the ribbon and choose “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”.
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To change the toolbar’s position, click the arrow at the end of the Quick Access toolbar, and then click “Show Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon”.
My Quick Access Toolbar
I use the quick access toolbar to complement the short cut keys that I frequently use. So, what’s in my toolbar?
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Basic file management items like new, open, print preview, save, save as and undo / redo
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Format & view controls like growth direction, format painter, filter, detail, and collapse map
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Topic editing controls like add attachment, task info, draw relationship, icon & text markers, map parts & numbering
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Finally, balance & fit map — I use these less frequently but prefer to have quick access to get to them fast when I need them
How about you? What commands are in your quick access toolbar?
About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter.