Customizing Toolbar Layout Using the Enterprise Global Template

Jeff Jacobson-Swartfager — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:10:33 +0000

When a Project Professional client is connected to Project Server, information is taken from the server, not from the client machine, via the enterprise global template. The enterprise global template holds customization for views, fields, calendars, etc, so that all users have a consistent environment across all machines. This, however, creates an annoying side effect for toolbars. Since toolbars are part of the enterprise global template, the information is retrieved from the servers. When you connect Project Pro to the server, it gets the standard layout. If you then want to customize how tool bars are laid out and you move the toolbars, save, and exit project, you will find that that your configuration didn’t stay as you had left it. This is because your customizations were saved to your local machine and not the server, so when you connected back to the server, it got the same original toolbar layout, and all your customization is lost. The following process is a work around that copies the standard toolbars so you can customize their location and layout, and then save them to the Enterprise Global Template. You need to follow the steps exactly for the process to work.

Step 1: Start Project Professional 2007, and select computer to log on locally.

Select and move the toolbars to the exact location that you want.

Step 2: On the Tools menu, click Organizer…

Step 3: Click the Toolbars tab.

Step 4: In the Global.MPT area, select Formatting, Standard, Resource Management, and Tracking (or whichever toolbars you chose), and then click Copy >> to move the toolbars to the Project1 area.

Step 5: Once they’re copied over, rename each toolbar in the Project1 field to something else, like My Formatting. Once they’re all renamed, click Close. Save Project1 to some local location on your machine, and then quit Project Professional 2007.

Step 6: Start Project Professional 2007, and then connect to a computer that is running Project Server 2007. You must connect using an administrator account or someone who has the proper credentials to edit the enterprise global template. Turn off all of the toolbars, once Project has loaded and open Project1 that you saved locally to your machine. Under Tools -> Enterprise Options select Open Enterprise Global; then open the Organizer again, selecting the Toolbars tab.

Step 7: In the right field, select Project1.mpp, and in the left Checked-out Enterprise Global. Copy all the toolbars you created in Project1 to the Checked-out Enterprise Global. Change the right field to Global (+ non-cached enterprise). Copy your created toolbars again.

Step 8: Hit close in the Organizer window, close Project 2007, and hit yes in the dialogue box to save changes to the checked-out enterprise global. When you re-open Project 2007, the toolbars should be in the place that you want them and will stay there for anyone who connects Project Pro to Project Server.

NOTE:

If for some reason you wish to change the layout you just created, you must first delete the toolbars you created. Just copying over the existing doesn’t work; you must delete the old toolbars first (the ones you created). You must delete them from the Checked-out Enterprise Global in the Toolbars tab of the Organizer. Then you can start the process over from Step 1. This is why it is important to get your toolbars organized correctly the first time in Step 1.

Posted By: Jason Stegner

Advisicon Blog » toolbar layout

Customizing Toolbar Layout Using the Enterprise Global Template