Ty Anderson

Video: Customizing a ClickTwice deployment package of your Office add-in

When you build an Office add-in, your users’ first impression will be based on the installation experience.

I know…it isn’t fair…but it’s true. This fact means they will judge your app before they have encountered it. So you need to provide a quality installation experience. When you take care to assure the user they are installing the correct software, to display a EULA, and to help install software pre-requisites… you reinforce the fact that you have built a solid a product.

Add-in Express supports MSI, ClickOnce, and ClickTwice :-) deployment models and provides you with many customization options.

This video shows how you can create a ClickTwice installation package that:

  • Includes the correct name and description of your add-in,
  • Displays an End User License Agreement (EULA)
  • Is capable of installing missing pre-requisite components required by your add-in

As always, I promise this video is worth a look. I don’t know about the rest of your day but if you watch this video, you’ll be better off by doing so.

This video was captured in Visual Studio 2010 with Add-in Express for Microsoft Office and .NET.

You may also be interested in:

2 Comments

  • Gerald says:

    How would you go about customizing the Look and Feel of the MSI wizard. I know you can edit the banner but, is that all you can do? I like to look like a Office 2010 installation?

  • Ty Anderson says:

    Hi Gerald,

    Unfortunately your options are limited here. The banner is about it along with adding pages and custom actions to the install wizard.
    I am working on Part 4 of the End-to-End demo for Add-In-Express for Office and .NET. This video will cover the various deployment options.
    I’ll include info regarding customizing the UI. But to do what I think it is you want to do, you will need third-party tools like InstallShield

    Ty

Post a comment

Have any questions? Ask us right now!