If you use custom contextual tabs, make sure to implement a fallback experience for when your add-in runs on platforms that don't support custom contextual tabs.

If the functionality that is provided with a custom tab should only be available in certain contexts, use custom contextual tabs.

If your add-in is the primary way users interact with the document and you have a custom ribbon tab, consider integrating into the tab the buttons for the Office functions that users will frequently need.

Giving excessive prominence to your add-in inconveniences and annoys users and administrators. Do not position a custom tab to the left of the Home tab, or give it focus by default when the document opens, unless your add-in is the primary way users will interact with the document.Do not add superfluous buttons to increase the real estate of your add-in.If you have multiple groups, name each group based on the functionality that the commands in that group provide. Name your group to match the name of your add-in.Place commands on a custom tab if you have more than six top-level commands.You can also add commands to the Home tab if your add-in needs to work across Office versions (such as Office on the web or desktop) and a tab is not available in all versions (for example, the Design tab doesn't exist in Office on the web). Place commands on the Home tab if the functionality doesn't fit on another tab, and you have fewer than six top-level commands.For more information, see Office Add-ins XML manifest. Note that not all tabs are available across all Office versions. For example, if your add-in enables users to insert media, add a group to the Insert tab. Place commands on an existing tab (Insert, Review, and so on) if the functionality provided fits there.

Minimize the number of steps an action takes to complete.įor the placement of your commands in the Office app ribbon: Provide granular actions that make common tasks within your add-in more efficient to perform. Do not combine multiple actions in a single button. Use commands to represent a specific action with a clear and specific outcome for users.

Best practicesĪpply the following best practices when you develop add-in commands. For details, see Debug add-ins in Office on the web.

To debug an Add-in Command, you must run it in Office on the web. Punch Software, well known for consumer-level design software for the PC, has created Home Design Studio for the Mac from the ground up, and the Mac version has benefited from the company’s. For information about support in Outlook, see Add-in commands for Outlook. Home Design Studio 11.0, a new consumer-level 3-D architecture program, is aimed at people who want to remodel a room, design a home, or landscape a yard.

Punch home design add ons