Store Common Shortcuts in a Shared Network Folder

In the Reader to Reader article "Create a Custom Toolbar," June 2004, InstantDoc ID 42524, Tim Fenner suggested creating a toolbar on each user's PC for common shortcuts that are stored locally or on a network. At my company, users also need access to a number of shared shortcuts, but we use a slightly different system that I think is easier for users and administrators.

All users have access to shared reference material on our network through a common mapped drive letter (i.e., R:). One of the folders in this location contains the shortcuts needed by all users. Each PC has a shortcut to this folder on the desktop (All Users\Desktop) through the mapped drive letter. We have about 300 users spread over four sites, and the users haven't encountered any problems with this system for sharing common shortcuts.

We don't use a local copy of the shortcuts folder because it would be more difficult to maintain. When you use a network folder, you can update shortcuts as needed without making any changes to users' PCs. The users' folder shortcut automatically displays new or modified shortcuts. You can also add subfolders if necessary. If you need to restrict specific users' access to the shortcuts, you can adjust permissions on the server, which is also easier than if the shortcuts folder is stored locally.

—Terry Scheihing
tscheihing@stlwater.com

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