Controlling the Toolbar and Taskbar in Vista - Controlling the Toolbars
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Another way you can customize the Vista taskbar is by adding (or removing) one or more toolbars. The idea of a toolbar is to place commonly accessed information within easy reach. By default, users have these toolbars available:
Address toolbar
This places an address box directly in the taskbar, similar to what is seen in Internet Explorer. In fact, it’s used in the same way. Users can simply type a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into the Address bar for any given resource. This resource can exist on the local machine, the Web, or the local network.
Once the path is specified, Vista automatically launches the appropriate application for viewing the file (i.e., if the URL specifies a web page, Vista calls Internet Explorer; if it’s a path to a PowerPoint presentation stored on a network share, Vista launches PowerPoint instead). And just like the Address bar in Internet Explorer, the taskbar’s version also tries to suggest possible locations after the first few letters, saving the user from having to type the entire path. With frequent use, the Address bar can save a lot of time when accessing frequently used files and web sites.
Links toolbar
If you find yourself using the Favorites folder often as a way to get quick access to the web sites you need, you might consider adding the Links toolbar. This provides access to the Links folder in the Favorites menu of Internet Explorer. You can then add links to other resources, no matter where they live, by dragging and dropping shortcuts onto the Links toolbar. For example, users could quickly access a fileserver’s folder of working files simply by creating a shortcut on the Links toolbar, making the resource only a few clicks away.
Desktop toolbar
If desktop shortcuts are your thing, you might find it very useful to use the Desktop toolbar. This toolbar places all the desktop shortcuts you’ve created into one toolbar. This comes in especially handy when you’re working with several windows that are hiding your normal desktop shortcuts. The Desktop toolbar provides easy access to all these shortcuts without having to minimize all open windows, thus interrupting your work.
Quick Launch toolbar
This wonderful little toolbar provides one-click access to commonly used applications. Also, this is the only taskbar toolbar shown by default. We’ll discuss the Quick Launch toolbar in more detail in the sections that follow.
So, how do you use any/all of these toolbars? It’s easy; just right-click on an empty area of the taskbar, point to the Toolbars menu item in the context menu, and then place a checkmark next to the toolbar you want to use. Uncheck the item to remove the toolbar.
Note also that all of the taskbar toolbars have a title to go along with them, with the exception of the Quick Launch toolbar. If you’d like to hide the toolbar titles, just right-click the toolbar and deselect the Show Title command, as seen in Figure 4-13.
Figure 4-13. Deselecting the toolbar titles
In most computing environments, you’ll see more than just the Address, Links, Desktop, and Quick Launch toolbars. Several other applications also create their own taskbar toolbar at installation time, and you can enable and disable these other toolbars using the techniques previously discussed. Media playback applications such as iTunes and Windows Media Player come immediately to mind. Applications such as Microsoft’s Encarta also create a toolbar at installation time.
Adding a custom toolbar
You can create a custom toolbar to suit almost any shortcut purpose you can envision. These custom toolbars are based on existing folders, and the toolbar shortcuts are then determined by the folder contents.
Here’s how to create a personalized toolbar for either yourself or other users to obtain easy access to resources:
- As before, right-click an empty area of the taskbar and choose the Toolbars menu option. Click New Toolbar.
- You’ll now see the New Toolbar dialog box, shown in Figure 4-14. Use the Explorer interface to select a root folder for the toolbar.
Once you click OK, the selected folder becomes a new toolbar that you can toggle on and off just as you can any of the other taskbar toolbars. The toolbar contents are the same as the folder contents. And remember that the toolbar root folder doesn’t necessarily have to exist on the local machine. Creating a custom toolbar can be yet another easy way to get quick access to network files.
Figure 4-14. Adding a custom toolbar
Once you create a custom toolbar, though, it’s good practice to lock the taskbar (right-click and choose Lock the Taskbar from the context menu). That’s because the toolbar, unfortunately, doesn’t become part of the user profile. When you close the custom toolbar, Vista loses track of it, and you must re-create it to use it once again.
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 This article is excerpted from chapter four of Windows Vista Administration: The Definitive Guide, written by Brian Culp (O'Reilly; ISBN: 0596529597). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
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