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Up until Office 2007 it was common for addins to add a tab page to the main Options dialog (Tools|Options) where users could configure the addin's settings. While this essentially still works in Office 2010 the way it is implemented seems like a backwards-compatibility clutch similar to the "COM-Addins" tab on the new ribbon where buttons went that in previous versions would have been placed on a toolbar:

In order to get at an addin's Options page you now have to go to Files|Options then switch to the Add-ins page and look for the "Add-In Options" button, click it and then select the relevant addin's tab. I find it hard to believe that this is the way things are supposed to be, or is it? Surely there should be some way to put my addin options directly on the File|Options dialog?

Where can I find a document describing best-practices for addin developers that explains where to put my addin's Options page (and how) in Office 2010?

Jonathan Leffler
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Oliver Giesen
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2 Answers2

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I now found the following quote in the "Extending the User Interface in Outlook 2010" article on MSDN which was linked to from the "What's New for Developers in Outlook 2010"-document:

"Consider customizing Backstage view to replace the property page extensions that were accessible when you clicked Tools and then Options in earlier versions of Outlook."

Oliver Giesen
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    I still find it a bit hard to believe that they really want addin developers to clutter the very top-level menu with addin options... but if that's going to be where users will expect the options to be then so be it... – Oliver Giesen Jun 29 '10 at 21:36
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    I mean, the backstage view is essentially the successor to the "File" menu - would anyone ever have considered putting "My Addin Options" on the "File"-menu??? And what happens if a user installs a dozen addins? It seems to me that the available vertical space in the backstage view is rather limited. Will it scroll when there's too many items? And if so, would that be a good thing? – Oliver Giesen Jun 29 '10 at 21:40
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I'll be adding mine straight to the Backstage View in Office 2010, which is a sister technology to the Ribbon.

Todd Main
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  • I knew about the Backstage View. Do you have any information on whether this is the officially recommended place to put addin configuration GUIs? Somehow it doesn't seem right to me: Backstage View should be reserved to more task-like functionality... – Oliver Giesen Mar 08 '10 at 14:08
  • The "Introduction" article defines BackStage View thus (emphasis mine): "A full-screen user interface model that exposes **file-level functionality for the active document**." - doesn't really sound like the right place to put my addin's global configuration GUI... – Oliver Giesen Mar 08 '10 at 14:27
  • It probably depends on how often you need your add-in to be configurable. If it is pretty much one-and-done, Backstage is probably not the right place for that - that should happen on install. There are other options, like you mentioned above. If you're also installing with a Ribbon, then you can have your addin settings available via a button from there. I'll be using Backstage because my add-in offers file-level customizations. – Todd Main Mar 08 '10 at 15:58
  • And did you place those file-level customization options under Tools|Options in previous Office versions? The options I want to set are indeed ideally only touched once but I couldn't move them all out to the installer - sometimes minor adjustments will be necessary. – Oliver Giesen Mar 08 '10 at 19:18