Making a New Actions Bar

Okay so adding buttons to the Favorites tab didn't quite cut the mustard, eh? Looking to make some MAJOR renovations?

CAN DO!

HTML Kit permits you to create a whole new Actions Bar containing just the Favorites tab and and one or more of your own customized tabs. Like the Favorites tab, your tabs will only contain the Actions Bar buttons that you specify except that —unlike the Favorites tab— the buttons can be ordered any way you like.

Creating a new Actions Bar layout

Click on Tools » Customize » Customize the Actions Bar...

OR

Right-click on any Actions Bar button and click on Customize

This will access the following dialog:



Click on New...
Enter "Lists" without the quotation marks in the Group Name box.
(Enter any name you like. I'm just showing you my configurations as an example)

Click OK to create the new "Lists" tab.


Now to add some Actions Bar buttons to the "Lists" tab...

In the Available Actions box:

Click on the [+] sign beside "Text" to expand a list of all the buttons on the Text tab

Click to select "Unordered List" and then click Add
Click to select "Ordered List" and then click Add
Click to select "List Item" and then click Add
Click to select "Definition List" and then click Add

All these buttons will now be added to the newly created Lists tab

Click on the [-] sign beside Text to collapse its list of buttons.

Well that was easy, eh?


What the hey? Let's make another one!

Click on New...
Enter "Font Styles" without the quotation marks in the Group Name box.
Click OK to create the new "Font Styles" tab.


Now to add some buttons to the Font Styles tab...

Click on the [+] sign beside "Text" to expand a list of all the buttons on the Text tab

Click to select "Bold" and then click Add
Click to select "Italic" and then click Add
Click to select "Font" and then click Add
Click to select "Teletype" and then click Add
Click to select "Strike-through 1" and then click Add
Click to select "Subscript" and then click Add


Leave the "Text" list expanded and put the pedal to the metal...

Let's make a third customized tab...


Click on New...
Enter "Block Elements" without the quotation marks in the Group Name box.
Click OK to create the new "Block Elements" tab.


Now to add some buttons to the Block Elements tab...

In the Text tab buttons list that you left expanded from the previous step...

Click to select "Paragraph" and then click Add
Click to select "Preformatted" and then click Add
Click to select "Block Quote" and then click Add

Click on the [-] sign beside Text to collapse its list of buttons.

Click on the [+] sign beside "Document" to expand a list of all the buttons on the Document tab

Click to select "DIV" and then click Add
Click to select "Center" and then click Add

Now let's add a default Actions Bar tab to our new layout...

In the Available Actions box:

Click to select "Tables" and then click Add

The Tables tab (and all its buttons) will be added to the new Actions Bar layout.


You should now have a list of new Actions Bar tabs and buttons in the Customized Actions Bar: box...



To save the new Actions Bar layout...
(This is optional but it's a good idea anyway)

Click on Save As...
Enter the name you wish to save the layout as in the File Name box
Click Save.

Click OK on the Customize Actions Bar dialog to apply all the settings.

You will now have a brand new Actions Bar that will look like this:

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Editing Your New Actions Bar Layout

Want to make some changes?


MOVE TABS OR BUTTONS AROUND

Right-click on any Actions Bar button and click on Customize

In the Customized Actions Bar box:

Click to select the tab or button you want to move
(Click on [+] signs to expand lists if necessary)

Click on Move Up (This will move the tab or button left on Actions Bar)

OR

Click on Move Down (This will move the tab or button right on Actions Bar)

Click OK to apply settings.


DELETE TABS OR BUTTONS

Right-click on any Actions Bar button and click on Customize

In the Customized Actions Bar box:

Click to select the tab or button you wish to delete
Click on Delete

Click OK.


RENAME TABS

Right-click on any Actions Bar button and click on Customize

In the Customized Actions Bar box:

Click to select the Actions Bar tab you wish to rename
Enter the new name in the Group Name box

Click OK to apply settings.


SWITCH TO DEFAULT ACTIONS BAR OR TO ANOTHER SAVED LAYOUT

Click on View » Actions Bar Layout...

In the flyout list, click on the layout you wish to use
(1 <Default> = the default HTML Kit Actions Bar layout)

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A word of advice...

Initially I went gung-ho creating all kinds of new custom-made tabs on the Actions Bar thinking, Oh boy! A new toy! Okay I want a tab for this and I want a tab for that and oh the things that I can do!... WHEEEEEE!!! (Etcetera)

But then I realized that this was just defeating the purpose of customization which was essentially to make HTML editing equate to two key words:

"Quick" and "Painless"

So then I decided to apply the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) and go for a more minimalized look. The configuration I suggest above is what I initially set up as a kind of personal default Actions Bar. I still use it from time to time but after creating some keyboard shortcuts and installing some plugins, I now mostly use another Actions Bar Layout I created which contains just 3 tabs:

• Favorites tab (advanced configuration plus several plugins)
• my custom-made Lists tab (see above)
• the default HTML Kit Tables tab.

And believe me, with just these three tabs, a couple of keyboard shortcuts, a few saved snippets and templates, and my customized toolbars, I can really fly.


Before calling it a wrap, there's just a few odds and ends you might be interested in...