Customization

TeXnicCenter allows you to customize nearly every aspect of the graphical user interface (GUI). To customize the user interface of TeXnicCenter select in the Tools ‣ Customize... This will open the Customization dialog.

Customizing commands

To customize commands which are available on several toolbars and menus open the Customization dialog and select the Commands tab.

Command customization dialog

When this page is active you can simply drag & drop commands from one menu to another, from one toolbar to another, from a toolbar to a menu and vice versa. Further on, you can drag & drop commands, not already available on the toolbars or the menus from the Commands list on the dialog page.

You can also change the text and/or the image of menu items and toolbar buttons. Simply select a menu item or a button, right click on it and choose button Appearance...

The controls of the page are having the following meaning:

Categories

Choose the category of commands to display in the list Commands.

Commands

Commands available for the selected categorie. You can drag & drop the commands listed here to the toolbars and menus.

Description

A short description of the currently selected command in the list Commands.

Customizing toolbars

To customize the toolbars, open the dialog Customization and select the tab Toolbars.

Toolbar customization dialog

The meanings of the controls are:

Toolbars

A list of all toolbars available at the moment. The toolbars which are checked, are visible at the moment.

Reset

Resets the toolbar currently selected in the list Toolbars to the default configuration. All the changes you have made to the toolbar since the installation of TeXnicCenter will be lost.

Reset All

Resets all toolbars to the default configuration. All the changes you have made to the toolbars since the installation of TeXnicCenter will be lost.

New...

Creates a new toolbar. You can place commands on the toolbar using the page Commands.

Rename...

If you have selected a toolbar in the list Toolbars, that has been created by you using the New... command, this button allows you to rename the toolbar.

Delete...

If you have selected a toolbar in the list Toolbars, that has been created by you using the New... command, this button allows you to delete the toolbar. Show text labels If this option is enabled, the buttons on the bar, selected in the list Toolbars, will be displayed with labels below the icons.

Customizing the tools menu

You can add several commands to the menu Tools, that allow you to invoke external tools. This is a very powerful feature. Using placeholders for the Arguments, this feature allows you to integrate external tools like spell checkers and other tools which should work with the current document or currently selected word or elements like that.

To customize the menu Tools, open the Customization dialog and select the tab Tools.

Tools menu customization dialog

The meanings of the controls are:

Menu contents

A list of the menu items to display in the menu Tools. You can create a new entry by choosing the new button (rectangle), remove the selected entry by choosing the delete button (cross) and move the selected entry up or down in the menu by choosing the up or down button. To change the entry name, simply select an item and press F2.

Command

Specify the full path of the application to start, when the selected entry will be choosen.

Arguments

Specify which arguments to pass on the command line to the application. You can use place holders for dynamic arguments.

Initial directory

Specify the working directory for the application to start. You can use placeholders for dynamic directories.

Customizing keyboard shortcuts

TeXnicCenter allows you to customize the key combinations (shortcuts), necessary to invoke a command without using the mouse.

To customize the shortcuts, open the dialog Customization and select the tab Keyboard.

Keyboard shortcuts customization dialog

The meanings of the controls are:

Category

The category of the commands to display in the list Commands.

Commands

Commands available for the currently selected category. Select a command here to specify a shortcut for it.

Description

A short description of the selected command.

Set Accelerator for

Specifies the menu, for which to change the shortcuts. Has to be Default.

Current Keys

List of shortcuts currently assigned to the command selected in the list Commands.

Press new Shortcut Key

Press the key combination here, you would like to assign to the selected command.

Assign

Add the shortcut shown in the field Press new Shortcut Key to the list of shortcuts for the selected command.

Remove

Remove the shortcut selected in the list Current Keys from the list of shortcuts for the selected command.

Reset All

Reset all shortcuts to the default. All the changes that have been made to the shortcuts since the installation of TeXnicCenter will be lost.

Customizing menus

TeXnicCenter allows you to customize the main and the context menus. To customize the menus, open the dialog Customization and select the tab Menu.

Menu customization dialog

The meanings of the controls are:

Application Frame Menus

Show Menus for

List of available main window menus. Select the menu you would like to customize. For TeXnicCenter only the Default Menu is available.

Reset

Resets the selected main window menu. All the changes that have been made to the menu since the installation of TeXnicCenter will be lost.

Menu animations

Specifies, which animation to use when opening a menu.

Menu shadows

If this option is enabled, menus in TeXnicCenter will have a fading shadow, otherwise the menus are displayed normally.

Context Menus

Select context menu

List of available context menus. Select the menu you would like to customize. Context menus pop up, when you click the right mouse button. TeXnicCenter uses the following context menus.

Editor

Shown when you right click into an editor window.

Main Window Area

Shown when you right click into the main window’s background or on the editor’s scrollbars.

Navigator View

Shown when you right click onto an item in the navigator bar.

Reset

Resets the selected context menu. All the changes that have been made to that context menu since the installation of TeXnicCenter will be lost.

Customizing the look and feel

TeXnicCenter allows you to widely customize the look and feel of the graphical user interface including downloadable skins.

To customize the look & feel open the Customization dialog and select the Options tab.

Options customization dialog

The controls of the page are having the following meanings:

Show ScreenTips on toolbars

If this option is enabled, a small yellow window (ScreenTips) with a short description will appear when you move the mouse cursor above a toolbar icon and wait for a moment.

Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips

If this option is enabled, the ScreenTips will contain the shortcut for the specific command besides the short description of the command.

Large Icons

If this option is enabled all toolbar icons will be displayed in double size.