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The status toolbar is the gray area located horizontally across the top of aFileMaker Pro 11 window and can be easily customized to suit your needs. If you’re using older versions of FileMaker, the status toolbar combines all of the functionality of the old status area, which was located on the left side of the window, and the optional standard toolbar, both of which existed in versions prior to FileMaker 10. By default the status toolbar comes loaded with commonly used features, such as record navigation (the book), Show All, New and Delete Record, and Find. Depending on how you use FileMaker, there may be other buttons that make more sense for you to have on the toolbar. With a few clicks, you can set up your FileMaker toolbar however you’d like.

The button section of the status toolbar is completely customizable so you can remove buttons you don’t use and add functionality that you use often. You no longer have to click through the menus to find your favorite features. The changes you make are specific to your copy of FileMaker, so your favorite buttons are the same no matter which database you have open and don’t have any effect on other users logged into the same database.

When using FileMaker on Windows, right-click in the button section of the status toolbar and then click the Customize button. The Customize dialog box will appear and you can then move the existing buttons to different positions by clicking and dragging them to the new location. Remove buttons by simply dragging them off of the toolbar. On the Commands tab, select buttons from the Customizable or Standard categories. Add new buttons to the toolbar, by dragging them from the dialog box to the desired position. On the Toolbars tab, click Status Toolbar and then the Reset button to restore the toolbar back to the default buttons.

When using FileMaker on a Mac, the process is very similar to Windows but looks a little different. Control-click (or right-click) on the status toolbar and select Customize from the shortcut menu to display the sheet that contains all of the customizable buttons. To add elements, click and drag buttons, spacers, or separators to desired locations on the toolbar. To remove them, simply click and drag them away from the toolbar. To restore the default toolbar, click and drag the entire default rectangle from the sheet. You can also change the toolbar to include text only, smaller icons, or the default large icons.

While toolbar customization cannot be programmed, as it is specific to each user’s FileMaker installation, the button names can be changed using Custom Menus. Since each button corresponds with a menu item, any change to the name of the item will also change the button on the toolbar. Also, if privilege settings prevent a user from accessing a menu item, the corresponding toolbar button will appear gray and be inoperable.

If you have any questions about customizing toolbars in FileMaker or would like more information, feel free to contact Jason Mundok at jason.mundok@itsolutions-inc.com.

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