I don't like the menu that comes down the side of the document when you try
to open a new document (Word 2002) - I much preferred the box that opened
with the tabs across the top - is there any way to switch the way this is
viewed? If not, is there any way of changing the order in the command
sub-menu?

AFAIK you cannot recover the "old" tabbed dialog box & I know of no way to
permanently disable the Task Pane (I assume this is what you are referring
to). There may be some hidden control I haven't found or there may be a hack
available.

You can toggle it off easily enough with Ctrl+F1, and you can avoid it
appearing if you click the New Blank Document button at the left end of the
Standard toolbar instead of using FileNew... from the menu. (I believe this
is true in 2002.)

HTH |:)

"Beetlejuice" wrote:

I don't like the menu that comes down the side of the document when you try
to open a new document (Word 2002) - I much preferred the box that opened
with the tabs across the top - is there any way to switch the way this is
viewed? If not, is there any way of changing the order in the command
sub-menu?

You can easily access the File | New dialog, and if you prefer, you can
substitute it for the New Document task pane as the target of File | New...

Open Tools | Customize, select the All Commands category on the Commands
tab, and scroll down to FileNewDialog. Drag that to the File menu or to a
toolbar. It will be labeled Other... If you put this on the File menu, you
can change the name to New... by right-clicking and changing the Name
property to &New...

If you prefer a toolbar button, you can use the same button image that is on
the New button, as follows:

1. With Tools | Customize open, right-click the New button and choose Copy
Button Image.

2. Right-click on your new Other... button and select Default Style (which
for toolbar buttons is an icon only).

3. Then right-click the (now blank) button and choose Paste Button Image.

4. If you like, you can use Edit Button Image to change the icon slightly to
distinguish it from the New button.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Beetlejuice" wrote in message
...
I don't like the menu that comes down the side of the document when you
try
to open a new document (Word 2002) - I much preferred the box that opened
with the tabs across the top - is there any way to switch the way this is
viewed? If not, is there any way of changing the order in the command
sub-menu?

Thanks for the insight Suzanne-

I'm familiar with customizing TBs & Menus, but never realized the "old"
style was still available. Truth be told, I like it better than the Task Pane
myself.

I don't want to jack the thread, but one quick question... am I correct in
understanding that the Task Pane is still going to appear when triggered by
other features & does not have a "Disable Task Pane" option?

Thanks |:)

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

You can easily access the File | New dialog, and if you prefer, you can
substitute it for the New Document task pane as the target of File | New...

Open Tools | Customize, select the All Commands category on the Commands
tab, and scroll down to FileNewDialog. Drag that to the File menu or to a
toolbar. It will be labeled Other... If you put this on the File menu, you
can change the name to New... by right-clicking and changing the Name
property to &New...

If you prefer a toolbar button, you can use the same button image that is on
the New button, as follows:

1. With Tools | Customize open, right-click the New button and choose Copy
Button Image.

2. Right-click on your new Other... button and select Default Style (which
for toolbar buttons is an icon only).

3. Then right-click the (now blank) button and choose Paste Button Image.

4. If you like, you can use Edit Button Image to change the icon slightly to
distinguish it from the New button.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Beetlejuice" wrote in message
...
I don't like the menu that comes down the side of the document when you
try
to open a new document (Word 2002) - I much preferred the box that opened
with the tabs across the top - is there any way to switch the way this is
viewed? If not, is there any way of changing the order in the command
sub-menu?

If you download the TaskPaneController add-in from
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...owTaskPane.htm, you can disable
the Getting Started task pane. If you replace the default File | New... menu
entry, then you won't get the New Document task pane.

I can't think of any task pane that pops up without prompting except Help
(and searching for Help could be regarded as "prompting") and the Research
task pane, which pops up when you inadvertently Alt+click. If you use the
Mail Merge Wizard, you'll get a whole series of task panes, but you *can*
get the old-fashioned Mail Merge Helper back if you prefer, or you can set
up mail merges entirely manually (as I do) using the Mail Merge toolbar
(suitably customized).

Task panes will appear when you use Tools | Protect Document and Insert |
Picture | Clip Art. I don't have any problem with these, and I frequently
find the Styles and Formatting and Reveal Formatting task panes helpful, but
I don't use them as much as some users do. It's not as if space is an issue,
since I work in Normal view, and the right side of my screen is otherwise
completely unused; it's just a newfangled feature that I haven't warmed up
to yet!

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"CyberTaz" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the insight Suzanne-

I'm familiar with customizing TBs & Menus, but never realized the "old"
style was still available. Truth be told, I like it better than the Task
Pane
myself.

I don't want to jack the thread, but one quick question... am I correct in
understanding that the Task Pane is still going to appear when triggered
by
other features & does not have a "Disable Task Pane" option?

Thanks |:)

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

You can easily access the File | New dialog, and if you prefer, you can
substitute it for the New Document task pane as the target of File |
New...

Open Tools | Customize, select the All Commands category on the Commands
tab, and scroll down to FileNewDialog. Drag that to the File menu or to
a
toolbar. It will be labeled Other... If you put this on the File menu,
you
can change the name to New... by right-clicking and changing the Name
property to &New...

If you prefer a toolbar button, you can use the same button image that
is on
the New button, as follows:

1. With Tools | Customize open, right-click the New button and choose
Copy
Button Image.

2. Right-click on your new Other... button and select Default Style
(which
for toolbar buttons is an icon only).

3. Then right-click the (now blank) button and choose Paste Button
Image.

4. If you like, you can use Edit Button Image to change the icon
slightly to
distinguish it from the New button.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Beetlejuice" wrote in message
...
I don't like the menu that comes down the side of the document when
you
try
to open a new document (Word 2002) - I much preferred the box that
opened
with the tabs across the top - is there any way to switch the way this
is
viewed? If not, is there any way of changing the order in the command
sub-menu?