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#1
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how do i enable the old menu bar
It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless Format dialog
box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts. I was so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel 2007 spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately, the new ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said functionality, nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or subset of "modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function remains "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the rationale for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an experienced user can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with the user. I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of floudering with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the new ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous functionality of Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient than continuing to deal with Excel 2007. "Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect those committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly appreciate the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If the user has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small price to pay for overall effectiveness and efficiency. "Beth Melton" wrote: Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can use to change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed immediately (which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're after) and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another element and modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes. I've found this method to be far more efficient than double-clicking an element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like something, double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and repeat the process for each chart element I want to modify. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a graph used to be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all line characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work, and each individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a number of different windows. |
#2
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how do i enable the old menu bar
Sorry, Joe, I should have noted to access the dialog box you need to click a
Dialog Box Launcher (small box in the bottom right corner) on the Shape Styles Group on the Format tab, or you can use the right-click, select the Format element command as you could in previous versions. If you didn't discover the dialog box launchers, you'll see them in various groups and they provide access to the dialog boxes and most of them are identical to those from previous versions. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless Format dialog box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts. I was so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel 2007 spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately, the new ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said functionality, nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or subset of "modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function remains "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the rationale for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an experienced user can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with the user. I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of floudering with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the new ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous functionality of Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient than continuing to deal with Excel 2007. "Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect those committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly appreciate the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If the user has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small price to pay for overall effectiveness and efficiency. "Beth Melton" wrote: Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can use to change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed immediately (which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're after) and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another element and modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes. I've found this method to be far more efficient than double-clicking an element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like something, double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and repeat the process for each chart element I want to modify. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a graph used to be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all line characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work, and each individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a number of different windows. |
#3
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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how do i enable the old menu bar
Thanks: I'd accessed this same menu previously by right-clicking on the line.
Using this menu, it requires well over 20 mouse clicks to alter line characteristics, as opposed to half that number with previous versions of Excel. This isn't identical to previous versions by any means, and I can't see how this an improvement. Why Microsoft didn't put all the line characteristics (series options, marker options, marker colour, marker line colour, marker line style, line style, line colour, shadow, 3-D format) in a single window is a mystery to me, particularly since they're all interrelated. Perhaps the developers were trying to maintain a pure adherence to "Fitt's Law", in which the mouse movements are minimized, while forgetting that the original objective was to make life easier for users. I can't imagine anything more inefficient than doubling the number of mouse clicks to attain the same end product. Frankly, I can't see how the ribbon menus made it through Microsoft's approval process. I'll continue using earlier versions of Office until Microsoft comes up with a fix. I'll continue telling other users not to upgrade until they do, because they can always download the trial version and get frustrated for free. __________________________________________________ _ "Beth Melton" wrote: Sorry, Joe, I should have noted to access the dialog box you need to click a Dialog Box Launcher (small box in the bottom right corner) on the Shape Styles Group on the Format tab, or you can use the right-click, select the Format element command as you could in previous versions. If you didn't discover the dialog box launchers, you'll see them in various groups and they provide access to the dialog boxes and most of them are identical to those from previous versions. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless Format dialog box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts. I was so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel 2007 spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately, the new ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said functionality, nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or subset of "modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function remains "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the rationale for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an experienced user can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with the user. I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of floudering with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the new ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous functionality of Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient than continuing to deal with Excel 2007. "Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect those committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly appreciate the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If the user has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small price to pay for overall effectiveness and efficiency. "Beth Melton" wrote: Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can use to change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed immediately (which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're after) and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another element and modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes. I've found this method to be far more efficient than double-clicking an element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like something, double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and repeat the process for each chart element I want to modify. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a graph used to be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all line characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work, and each individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a number of different windows. |
#4
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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how do i enable the old menu bar
I guess I'm still not following what you are referring to - exactly what you
want is available. If I right-click a chart element, such as a data series (by placing my mouse over the element and right-clicking - this works best when the element isn't already selected), and then click Format Data Series then I can change multiple formats in the Format Data Series dialog box, such as Series Options, Marker Options, Marker Fill, Line Color, Line Style, Marker Line Color, Marker Line Style, Shadow, and 3D Format. If I make a modification I can see it instantly and I can leave the dialog box open, select another element and make modifications. Then, of course, if I create similar charts using the same format, I'll make the modifications once and save them as a Chart Template (on the Design tab) and then it's available in the Templates folder of the Change Chart Type dialog box for other charts. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... Thanks: I'd accessed this same menu previously by right-clicking on the line. Using this menu, it requires well over 20 mouse clicks to alter line characteristics, as opposed to half that number with previous versions of Excel. This isn't identical to previous versions by any means, and I can't see how this an improvement. Why Microsoft didn't put all the line characteristics (series options, marker options, marker colour, marker line colour, marker line style, line style, line colour, shadow, 3-D format) in a single window is a mystery to me, particularly since they're all interrelated. Perhaps the developers were trying to maintain a pure adherence to "Fitt's Law", in which the mouse movements are minimized, while forgetting that the original objective was to make life easier for users. I can't imagine anything more inefficient than doubling the number of mouse clicks to attain the same end product. Frankly, I can't see how the ribbon menus made it through Microsoft's approval process. I'll continue using earlier versions of Office until Microsoft comes up with a fix. I'll continue telling other users not to upgrade until they do, because they can always download the trial version and get frustrated for free. __________________________________________________ _ "Beth Melton" wrote: Sorry, Joe, I should have noted to access the dialog box you need to click a Dialog Box Launcher (small box in the bottom right corner) on the Shape Styles Group on the Format tab, or you can use the right-click, select the Format element command as you could in previous versions. If you didn't discover the dialog box launchers, you'll see them in various groups and they provide access to the dialog boxes and most of them are identical to those from previous versions. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless Format dialog box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts. I was so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel 2007 spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately, the new ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said functionality, nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or subset of "modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function remains "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the rationale for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an experienced user can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with the user. I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of floudering with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the new ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous functionality of Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient than continuing to deal with Excel 2007. "Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect those committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly appreciate the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If the user has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small price to pay for overall effectiveness and efficiency. "Beth Melton" wrote: Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can use to change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed immediately (which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're after) and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another element and modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes. I've found this method to be far more efficient than double-clicking an element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like something, double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and repeat the process for each chart element I want to modify. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a graph used to be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all line characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work, and each individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a number of different windows. |
#5
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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how do i enable the old menu bar
(for whatever reason, my reply was lost ... here it is again)
Beth, that dialog box for Format Data Series is exactly my problem: it consists of a cluster of nine formatting options, all of which would be more efficiently handled in a single window with all options shown. With the opening and closing of each individual formatting option, it now takes more than twice as many mouse clicks to accomplish the same task ... hardy a step forward in productivity. Furthermore, after each operation the graph redraws itself: not bad, except with several thousand data points on each of several lines, that process alone slows down the reformatting procedure for each and every modification, even with ample RAM. Formerly, all modifications were specified before the graph was redrawn. In summary, with Office 2007 I'm spending more time to perform tedious operations, and I resent it. Several contributors in this Discussion Group imply that those users dissatisfied with the new ribbons are either Luddites who can't face change, or that they only need more time with which to familiarize themselves with the ribbons. I, for one, don't believe it; I like constructive change. Instead, the ribbon developers should now realize that they've made a collosal mistake in not offering menus, and reinstate them. These ribbons are truly inefficient, and have forced me to reinstall an older version of Excel so that I can get some work done. "Beth Melton" wrote: I guess I'm still not following what you are referring to - exactly what you want is available. If I right-click a chart element, such as a data series (by placing my mouse over the element and right-clicking - this works best when the element isn't already selected), and then click Format Data Series then I can change multiple formats in the Format Data Series dialog box, such as Series Options, Marker Options, Marker Fill, Line Color, Line Style, Marker Line Color, Marker Line Style, Shadow, and 3D Format. If I make a modification I can see it instantly and I can leave the dialog box open, select another element and make modifications. Then, of course, if I create similar charts using the same format, I'll make the modifications once and save them as a Chart Template (on the Design tab) and then it's available in the Templates folder of the Change Chart Type dialog box for other charts. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... Thanks: I'd accessed this same menu previously by right-clicking on the line. Using this menu, it requires well over 20 mouse clicks to alter line characteristics, as opposed to half that number with previous versions of Excel. This isn't identical to previous versions by any means, and I can't see how this an improvement. Why Microsoft didn't put all the line characteristics (series options, marker options, marker colour, marker line colour, marker line style, line style, line colour, shadow, 3-D format) in a single window is a mystery to me, particularly since they're all interrelated. Perhaps the developers were trying to maintain a pure adherence to "Fitt's Law", in which the mouse movements are minimized, while forgetting that the original objective was to make life easier for users. I can't imagine anything more inefficient than doubling the number of mouse clicks to attain the same end product. Frankly, I can't see how the ribbon menus made it through Microsoft's approval process. I'll continue using earlier versions of Office until Microsoft comes up with a fix. I'll continue telling other users not to upgrade until they do, because they can always download the trial version and get frustrated for free. __________________________________________________ _ "Beth Melton" wrote: Sorry, Joe, I should have noted to access the dialog box you need to click a Dialog Box Launcher (small box in the bottom right corner) on the Shape Styles Group on the Format tab, or you can use the right-click, select the Format element command as you could in previous versions. If you didn't discover the dialog box launchers, you'll see them in various groups and they provide access to the dialog boxes and most of them are identical to those from previous versions. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless Format dialog box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts. I was so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel 2007 spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately, the new ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said functionality, nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or subset of "modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function remains "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the rationale for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an experienced user can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with the user. I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of floudering with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the new ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous functionality of Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient than continuing to deal with Excel 2007. "Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect those committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly appreciate the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If the user has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small price to pay for overall effectiveness and efficiency. "Beth Melton" wrote: Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can use to change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed immediately (which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're after) and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another element and modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes. I've found this method to be far more efficient than double-clicking an element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like something, double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and repeat the process for each chart element I want to modify. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a graph used to be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all line characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work, and each individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a number of different windows. |
#6
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
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how do i enable the old menu bar
You're right, the new dialog boxes need some work. I'm not thrilled with
them, I do think they are more efficient in most cases when it comes to determining what you want and I like the ability to leave them open, as opposed to opening/closing the old dialog boxes, but they are I do think that's an area that is in dire need of improvement, if not a total revamp. But I don't agree that the Ribbon and the dialog boxes are related. The Ribbon is one element and was created by a different group than those who created the dialog boxes and if they had a classic menu option you'd still have the same dialog boxes. That being the case, then it sounds like you dislike the new dialog boxes and it's not really a desire for the old menu bar, right? Regarding what may or may not be implied when someone doesn't like the Ribbon, first, as Suzanne noted, no one here is a representative of Microsoft and Microsoft doesn't force anyone to think one way or another. I think what it comes down to is there is there are two types of feedback, constructive and educated feedback, and there's destructive and uneducated feedback. Those who start throwing around assumptions and making uneducated statements after spending a short time with the new interface typically need some time to adjust and they shouldn't be attempting to sway others with their irrational assumptions. Then there are those who can provide specific issues, based on an educated analysis (such as in your case), and provide specific examples - that's the type of feedback that Microsoft should hear and wants to know about. :-) Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... (for whatever reason, my reply was lost ... here it is again) Beth, that dialog box for Format Data Series is exactly my problem: it consists of a cluster of nine formatting options, all of which would be more efficiently handled in a single window with all options shown. With the opening and closing of each individual formatting option, it now takes more than twice as many mouse clicks to accomplish the same task ... hardy a step forward in productivity. Furthermore, after each operation the graph redraws itself: not bad, except with several thousand data points on each of several lines, that process alone slows down the reformatting procedure for each and every modification, even with ample RAM. Formerly, all modifications were specified before the graph was redrawn. In summary, with Office 2007 I'm spending more time to perform tedious operations, and I resent it. Several contributors in this Discussion Group imply that those users dissatisfied with the new ribbons are either Luddites who can't face change, or that they only need more time with which to familiarize themselves with the ribbons. I, for one, don't believe it; I like constructive change. Instead, the ribbon developers should now realize that they've made a collosal mistake in not offering menus, and reinstate them. These ribbons are truly inefficient, and have forced me to reinstall an older version of Excel so that I can get some work done. "Beth Melton" wrote: I guess I'm still not following what you are referring to - exactly what you want is available. If I right-click a chart element, such as a data series (by placing my mouse over the element and right-clicking - this works best when the element isn't already selected), and then click Format Data Series then I can change multiple formats in the Format Data Series dialog box, such as Series Options, Marker Options, Marker Fill, Line Color, Line Style, Marker Line Color, Marker Line Style, Shadow, and 3D Format. If I make a modification I can see it instantly and I can leave the dialog box open, select another element and make modifications. Then, of course, if I create similar charts using the same format, I'll make the modifications once and save them as a Chart Template (on the Design tab) and then it's available in the Templates folder of the Change Chart Type dialog box for other charts. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... Thanks: I'd accessed this same menu previously by right-clicking on the line. Using this menu, it requires well over 20 mouse clicks to alter line characteristics, as opposed to half that number with previous versions of Excel. This isn't identical to previous versions by any means, and I can't see how this an improvement. Why Microsoft didn't put all the line characteristics (series options, marker options, marker colour, marker line colour, marker line style, line style, line colour, shadow, 3-D format) in a single window is a mystery to me, particularly since they're all interrelated. Perhaps the developers were trying to maintain a pure adherence to "Fitt's Law", in which the mouse movements are minimized, while forgetting that the original objective was to make life easier for users. I can't imagine anything more inefficient than doubling the number of mouse clicks to attain the same end product. Frankly, I can't see how the ribbon menus made it through Microsoft's approval process. I'll continue using earlier versions of Office until Microsoft comes up with a fix. I'll continue telling other users not to upgrade until they do, because they can always download the trial version and get frustrated for free. __________________________________________________ _ "Beth Melton" wrote: Sorry, Joe, I should have noted to access the dialog box you need to click a Dialog Box Launcher (small box in the bottom right corner) on the Shape Styles Group on the Format tab, or you can use the right-click, select the Format element command as you could in previous versions. If you didn't discover the dialog box launchers, you'll see them in various groups and they provide access to the dialog boxes and most of them are identical to those from previous versions. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... It came as a great surprize to hear that there was a "modeless Format dialog box" with which multiple changes could be made to Excel 2007 charts. I was so encouraged by your comment that I immediately opened up an Excel 2007 spreadsheet & chart to explore the possibilities. Unfortunately, the new ribbon commands didn't include any obvious reference to said functionality, nor did the "help" function perform its duty in any combination or subset of "modeless Format dialog box". I can only assume that this function remains "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; much like the rationale for the new ribbons, despite what is stated on http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/10/09/58 . Obviously, if an experienced user can't find a function, there is a problem, and it doesn't lie with the user. I had later purchased the third-party "classic" menus provided by http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice after a few weeks of floudering with Excel 2007, and while their menus are a welcome respite to the new ribbons, they seem to provide about 90% of the previous functionality of Excel. Reverting to an earlier version of Excel was more expedient than continuing to deal with Excel 2007. "Every good idea deserves a decent burial", and while I don't expect those committed to the ribbons to kill off their invention, I'd truly appreciate the reinstatement of the efficient functionality of the menus. If the user has to hunt for the occassional odd menu command, that's a small price to pay for overall effectiveness and efficiency. "Beth Melton" wrote: Did you find the modeless Format dialog box? It's the one you can use to change multiple options, each change you make can be viewed immediately (which is great when you're not sure about the specific look you're after) and since it's modeless you can leave it open, select another element and modify it as well - no need to open and close dialog boxes. I've found this method to be far more efficient than double-clicking an element, make my changes, click OK, find out I didn't like something, double-click the element again, make more changes, click OK and repeat the process for each chart element I want to modify. Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for assistance by email can not be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out: http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/boo...x#AboutTheBook Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/ MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/ "joe_btfsplk" wrote in message ... As an example, in Excel the simple reformatting of a line on a graph used to be accomplished by double-clicking on the line, and adjusting all line characteristics at once. Now, the double-clicking doesn't work, and each individual line characteristic must be changed individually, in a number of different windows. |
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how do i enable the old menu bar
I tend to think of it as Microsoft having welded the training wheels back on
my racing bike. Mike "Beth Melton" wrote in message ... Regarding what may or may not be implied when someone doesn't like the Ribbon, first, as Suzanne noted, no one here is a representative of Microsoft and Microsoft doesn't force anyone to think one way or another. I think what it comes down to is there is there are two types of feedback, constructive and educated feedback, and there's destructive and uneducated feedback. Those who start throwing around assumptions and making uneducated statements after spending a short time with the new interface typically need some time to adjust and they shouldn't be attempting to sway others with their irrational assumptions. |
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