Editing Contents of Building Blocks - Pub 2010

[juror58]

While I am new to Publisher, I have used Word and WordPerfect since about 1986, and am fairly proficient with each. Overall, Publisher, IMO, is "almost ok." That is because it does a lot of things well and is fairly easy to use...until you come up on one of its Brick Walls.

The one I am up against now is the Building Blocks. There is tons of stuff in there I don't use, and will never use. For example, I have no use for the "Advertisements" folder, yet I can find no way to delete it. Similarly there are categories under "Page Parts" I don't need, and content within categories I will never use. I would also like to add categories.

I can find no way to do anything except add or delete my own content to existing galleries. Am I missing something or am I stuck?

Part II: Is there a way to prevent Publisher from connecting (or trying to connect) to the internet every time I go open a Building Blocks folder? Can I hack the registry to accomplish this?

TIA

 

[FredWagner]

I am using Pub 2007 at home and 2003 at work - but check under Tools, Options, to see if you can tweak the defaults to be more to your liking. You shouldn't need to mess with the registry.

Fred Wagner

 

[juror58]

Thanks for the reply, Fred.

Can you change the things I asked about in 2003 or 2007? You can't in 2010. Customization is painfully lacking.

I love the Building Blocks concept, but am frustrated by MS's assumptions that you want to use their content first and you want to go on line constantly to get it. If you are dumb enough to click on "Get More Page Parts" you have to wait while it tries to connect. Even with a fast connection you can get old waiting.

While 2010 lets you customize the ribbon, Insert/Building Blocks is an all-or-nothing proposition. You can remove BB entirely from the ribbon but can't remove the block categories you don't need nor can you add others.

I just thought there might be a back-door approach to customization.

 

[FredWagner]

Since I don't have Publisher 2010, I can't help on this one! I ran into some 'improvements' in Acrobat X Pro that have slowed me down. The features you're describing in Publisher didn't exist in the versions I'm familiar with. Are you using the Office 365 version by any chance ? since it lives in the cloud, having it always look to the cloud would make sense. If you are on the cloud version, you might be happier using the version that you can buy separately, or with Office 2010.

Fred Wagner

 

[juror58]

I have the version that lives on my computer, but MS is really trying to steer everyone toward "the cloud." The in-program help files are worthless, and when you go on line for help it isn't much better.

>>>
...I ran into some 'improvements' in Acrobat X Pro that have slowed me down...
<<<

The "Fluent user interface" aka the ribbon interface has done the same. Fortunately there are third-party add-ons to give you back the normal menus, but you still need more steps to complete some formerly simple tasks. Parts of it are also irritatingly intrusive, but MS seems to like to design such elements into its software. (Remember Clippy?)

Since Building Blocks is a new feature maybe the next version will fix my gripes, and, once again, I will be able to help enhance the MS revenue stream.