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One of the most powerful aspects of application configurations is that they allow you to customize the Explorer user interface to meet the specific use-case you are targeting. For example, if your application requires some specialized add-ins, you can place those add-ins on the Ribbon next to the built-in Explorer controls, or you can add an entirely new tab to the Ribbon that contains your tab groups with add-ins and built-in Explorer controls of your choosing.

In addition to adding controls, you can also remove standard Explorer controls that aren’t relevant for your application. For example, if your application doesn’t require users to find driving directions, you can remove the driving directions button from the Find group on the Ribbon. Controls can be removed from tab groups and menus, including the application menu. You can also remove entire groups or entire tabs from the Ribbon.

##### You can customize these parts of ArcGIS Explorer with an application configuration

- Remove tabs from the Ribbon
- Remove built-in groups from Ribbon tabs
- Remove controls from built-in groups, menus or split buttons
- Create new Ribbon tabs
- Create new groups in built-in or custom Ribbon tabs
- Add add-ins and built-in controls to custom groups
- Suppress context menus
- Add extensions

##### Remove tabs from the Ribbon

To remove a built-in tab, select it in the list of tabs and click Remove. Any tab that is removed will not appear in ArcGIS Explorer’s Ribbon. You can include any tab that you’ve removed by selecting it and clicking Include.

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##### Remove built-in groups from Ribbon tabs

To remove a built-in group from a tab, select it, then click Remove. Any group that is removed will not appear in the tab. You can include any group that you’ve removed by selecting it and clicking Include.

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##### Remove controls from built-in groups, menus or split buttons

You can remove a built in control from a tab group, menu, context menu or split button by selecting it and clicking Remove. Any control you remove will not appear when you run ArcGIS Explorer. You can include any control you’ve removed by selecting it and clicking Include. Note that a control may occur in more than one place on the user interface, and each is removed independently (for example the Remove button appears in several groups and on several context menus).

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##### Create new Ribbon tabs

To create a new tab in the Ribbon, select Tabs and click Add New... In the Tab Properties dialog, specify a caption for the tab, and if you want the tab to appear to the left of an existing tab, you can select that tab in the Place before list. If you don’t pick a tab to place it before, it will be placed at the end of the Ribbon.

You can also specify a condition for the tab. If no condition is specified, the tab is always visible in the Ribbon. If you specify a condition, then the tab is only visible when that condition is met. For example, if you only want your tab to be visible when a feature layer is selected in the contents window, specify the A feature layer is selected condition.

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##### Create new groups in built-in or custom Ribbon tabs

To add a built-in group to your Ribbon tab, select the tab and click Add Existing Group..., then choose the group you want to add.

You can add your own group to a built-in Ribbon tab or a custom Ribbon tab by selecting the tab and clicking New Group.... In the Group Properties dialog, specify a caption for the group, and if you want the group to appear to the left of an existing group, you can select that group in the Place before list. If you don’t pick a group to place it before, it will be placed at the end of the tab. Once you have created a group, you can add add-ins and built-in controls to it.

Note that when adding groups to a custom tab, they are always added to the end of the tab. You can re-organize the groups for a custom tab by dragging and dropping them in the list.

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##### Add add-ins and built-in controls to custom groups

You can add add-ins and controls to a custom group by selecting the group and clicking Add Custom Control... or Add Existing Control... respectively. When you add a control to a group you can specify whether it’s displayed using a large icon, or a small icon.

When adding a custom control, you specify the add-in file that contains the add-in, and then select the add-in(s) you want to include in the group and their icon size.

When adding a built-in control, you can choose which control to add and a size.

Note that when adding controls to a custom group, they are always added to the end of the group. You can re-organize the controls for a custom group by dragging and dropping them in the list.

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##### Suppress context menus

Context menus provide an alternative place to access the various functionality that is displayed on the Ribbon. You can choose to not display context menus in ArcGIS Explorer by selecting Context menus and clicking Don’t display context menus. To make the context menus available again, click Display context menus.

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##### Add extensions

An extension is a special type of add-in that starts up when ArcGIS Explorer starts up and runs in the background. Extensions don’t have a user interface, but they may work in conjunction with other add-ins. To add an extension, select Extensions and click Add Extension.... Choose the add-in file and the extension(s) you want to add.

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