Configuring Context-Sensitive Custom Tabs MOC2007

Configuring Context-Sensitive Custom Tabs MOC2007

How to configure custom content sensitive tabs in Microsoft Office Communicator MOC2007?

Well its very simple to do. For more indepth information see Communicator_2007_Deployment_Guide from pagr 14.

Setting up a custom tab requires:

• A network-accessible custom tab definition file in XML format that gives the location of each tab’s main page and controls the information Communicator passes to this page.
• A registry entry in the \Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator registry hive that gives the location of the tab definition file.

· A graphic in Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format for the tab. The graphic can be:

• Up to 16 pixels high by 16 pixels wide, or
• Exactly 32 pixels high by 32 pixels wide.

One or more Web pages for display in the Office Communicator window.

Step 1. Create a custom XML file to prepare your MOC2007 configuration:

Example:

<?xml version="1.0" ?> 
<tabdata>
<tab>
   <image>/.png">http://<COMPUTERNAME>/<IMAGE>.png</image>
   <name>Smoelenboek</name>
   <tooltip>Tooltip text</tooltip> 
   <contenturl> /">http://<WEBURL>/</contenturl>  
   <userid>true</userid>
   <contactid>true</contactid>
   <accessibility>inside</accessibility>
</tab>
</tabdata>

Step 2. Customize the registry in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator

The TabURL setting can be added to either section of the registry. However, settings in the hkey_local_machine\software section take precedence.

The HTML file containing the tab content must be in a trusted location on the network. The XML and PNG files can be stored in the same location as the HTML file, or on a network server or local machine. For example:

· file:///\\contonso-it\oc\tabs.xml

· file:///c:/myTab/tabs.xml

Example:

file:///c:/temp/customtab.xml

Step 3. Restart your MOC2007 client and there you go ;-)