Before you start, locate the Explorer.ini file and open it in a text
editor. It is recommended that you read the instructions in the ini file
first.
Then locate the line that starts with: ;ToolbarItems=UpItem, CutItem, ....
The semicolon in the beginning of the line means it is disabled. Remove the
semicolon to enable the customization features.
The ToolbarItems property describes what items (buttons) go in the toolbar and
in what order. For example: ToolbarItems=UpItem, SEPARATOR, CutItem, CopyItem
means that there are 3 buttons called UpItem, CutItem and CopyItem, and there
is a separator between the first and the second. The names of the items
"UpItem", "CopyItem", etc. are arbitrary. The important thing is that each
item is described later. For example this defines "UpItem":
UpItem.Command=up
UpItem.Tip=$Toolbar.GoUp
UpItem.Name=Up
UpItem.Icon=shell32.dll,46
The first line is the command. It can be one of the predefined commands like
"up", "copy", "properties", "refresh" (look in the ini file for a complete
list). The command can also be an executable string. You can use environment
variables, or the paramters %1 and %2. %1 is the current path, %2 is the name
of the selected file. For example: %windir%\notepad.exe %2- this will open the selected file in notepad. %windir% will be replaced with the windir environment variable. %2 is the selected file
The second line is the tooltip. This is the text that shows when you hover the
mouse over the button. The text can be set directly: UpItem.Tip=Go up one level- direct text
or it can be a localized item from ExplorerL10N.ini: UpItem.Tip=$Toolbar.GoUp- look up the Toolbar.GoUp text for the current language
The third line is the name of the button. The name appears under the icon on
the button. If it is missing, the button will not have text. Just like the
tooltip, this can be a direct text or a localized item.
The last line describes the icon. The icon can be a path to an ico file, like: UpItem.Icon=C:\Program Files\MyIcons\UpButton.ico
Or it can be an icon resource extracted from a DLL or an EXE. You need the
resource ID of the icon you want to use. The resource ID can be found if you
look at the DLL/EXE with a resource editor like Resource Hacker. For example: UpItem.Icon=%windir%\notepad.exe,2- use icon with ID=2 from notepad.exe
Usually you need to specify the full path to the file. If the file is a DLL
that is guaranteed to be already in use by the Explorer process (like
shell32.dll or imageres.dll) the path can be omitted: UpItem.Icon=shell32.dll,46- use icon 46 from shell32.dll
So there you have it. In short - list all your button items in ToolbarItems
and for every button specify the text, the icon and what it does. Save the
Explorer.ini file, open a new Explorer window and you should see your changes.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Few more details. Check out these settings in the Explorer.ini file:
SmallIconSize, LargeIconSize - set the size of the small and big buttons. For example if you have icons that are 32x32, they will look best if you set the icon size to 32
ToolbarSameSize - set this to 1 if you want all buttons to be the same size. By default every button is as wide as it needs to be to fit its text
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Before you start, locate the Explorer.ini file and open it in a text
editor. It is recommended that you read the instructions in the ini file
first.
Then locate the line that starts with:
;ToolbarItems=UpItem, CutItem, ....
The semicolon in the beginning of the line means it is disabled. Remove the
semicolon to enable the customization features.
The ToolbarItems property describes what items (buttons) go in the toolbar and
in what order. For example:
ToolbarItems=UpItem, SEPARATOR, CutItem, CopyItem
means that there are 3 buttons called UpItem, CutItem and CopyItem, and there
is a separator between the first and the second. The names of the items
"UpItem", "CopyItem", etc. are arbitrary. The important thing is that each
item is described later. For example this defines "UpItem":
UpItem.Command=up
UpItem.Tip=$Toolbar.GoUp
UpItem.Name=Up
UpItem.Icon=shell32.dll,46
The first line is the command. It can be one of the predefined commands like
"up", "copy", "properties", "refresh" (look in the ini file for a complete
list). The command can also be an executable string. You can use environment
variables, or the paramters %1 and %2. %1 is the current path, %2 is the name
of the selected file. For example:
%windir%\notepad.exe %2 - this will open the selected file in notepad. %windir% will be replaced with the windir environment variable. %2 is the selected file
The second line is the tooltip. This is the text that shows when you hover the
mouse over the button. The text can be set directly:
UpItem.Tip=Go up one level - direct text
or it can be a localized item from ExplorerL10N.ini:
UpItem.Tip=$Toolbar.GoUp - look up the Toolbar.GoUp text for the current language
The third line is the name of the button. The name appears under the icon on
the button. If it is missing, the button will not have text. Just like the
tooltip, this can be a direct text or a localized item.
The last line describes the icon. The icon can be a path to an ico file, like:
UpItem.Icon=C:\Program Files\MyIcons\UpButton.ico
Or it can be an icon resource extracted from a DLL or an EXE. You need the
resource ID of the icon you want to use. The resource ID can be found if you
look at the DLL/EXE with a resource editor like Resource Hacker. For example:
UpItem.Icon=%windir%\notepad.exe,2 - use icon with ID=2 from notepad.exe
Usually you need to specify the full path to the file. If the file is a DLL
that is guaranteed to be already in use by the Explorer process (like
shell32.dll or imageres.dll) the path can be omitted:
UpItem.Icon=shell32.dll,46 - use icon 46 from shell32.dll
So there you have it. In short - list all your button items in ToolbarItems
and for every button specify the text, the icon and what it does. Save the
Explorer.ini file, open a new Explorer window and you should see your changes.
Few more details. Check out these settings in the Explorer.ini file:
SmallIconSize, LargeIconSize - set the size of the small and big buttons. For example if you have icons that are 32x32, they will look best if you set the icon size to 32
ToolbarSameSize - set this to 1 if you want all buttons to be the same size. By default every button is as wide as it needs to be to fit its text