[AccessD] The list

I'm one of the old farts on this list, and like some others, I've learned a
ton here and know how to accomplish most of the common tasks.

However, there are at least two significant areas that I know almost
nothing about. Not surprisingly, these cover features introduced in
2007/2010. The features are the Ribbon and the Navigation pane.

Quite by accident I happened upon a feature of the Ribbon that I didn't
know about, even though I've been using Access 2007 since its introduction.
If you place the cursor anywhere on the Ribbon and then use the mouse
wheel, you can cycle rapidly through the Ribbon tabs and quickly see what's
available on each tab.

Some years ago I got some code somewhere that customizes the standard
switchboard so that merely moving the cursor over an item highlights it. A
nice little touch. Then I got some other code that customizes the
switchboard in a different way, breaking the items into two listboxes, the
first being the main or default switchboard and the second being the list
of items on each sub-switchboard. That's nicer than the standard one. But
let's face it, the switchboard is a pretty dated way of presenting options.

What I'd really like to know is how to create a custom ribbon that would
serve essentially the same purpose as the old switchboard technology.

Alternatively, I'd love to learn how to customize the Navigation pane,
hiding all the items that are normally visible and adding custom items that
again would be somewhat equivalent to the switchboard. That appeals to me
immensely, for at least two reasons: a) you can "minimize" the Navigation
pane; and b) unlike some developers, I don't like to present maximized
forms; I prefer to allow the user to have several forms open at once, if
she wishes, so she can hop from one task to another as her immediate need
changes (for example, the phone rings and in the middle of one task she
must do another). What I love about the Navigation pane is that as you open
new objects, they automatically become tabs. I think that is beautiful. But
in order to do what I'd like, I need to know a lot more about customizing
the Nav pane than I currently do.

So. This old hand doesn't know everything. Unfortunately, despite my Google
searches for material about these subjects, I haven't found a lot that's
useful. I did find a few basic things but nothing really in depth.

If anyone can point to some URL that offers in-depth stuff about either the
Ribbon or the Navigation pane, I'd be grateful.

-- 
Arthur
Cell: 647.710.1314

Prediction is difficult, especially of the future.
  -- Niels Bohr