Favorite Customized Shortcuts

Everyone likes their software set up a certain way.  In Autocad everyone had their favorite tool bars, settings, colors, shortcuts that were tranferred from release to release and Revit is no exception.  While the introduction of the ribbon a couple years ago initially frustrated many people, in the end it turned out to save time because similar tasks were consolidated.  I have come up with a couple features that I always implement in my seat of Revit that increase my efficiency and workflow and thought I would share them.  Today is part one.

1. Adding 'Reload Latest' button to the quick access toolbar.
  Reload latest is an operation that I have seen many people overlook and not use to its potential.  When working on a workshared model and someone else saves to central, you can use reload latest to simply load into your model anything that has changed since your most recent 'save to central' operation.  This is especially handy if 5 minutes after you save to central, someone else makes an important update that affects work you are doing.  Reload latest is much quicker than save to central.

  Adding the button to the quick access toolbar is simple.  Find the operation under Collaborate|Syncronize|Reload Latest.  Right click on it, and select 'add to quick access toolbar'.

By default, it adds it to the end of the toolbar.  I like to reorganize it and place it next to the 'synchronize with central' button (since the operations are somewhat related).  To do this, click on the down arrow at the far right hand side of the quick access toolbar and select "customize quick access toolbar".

Now select the command you want to relocate, then on the left hand side use the up arrows to move it up to the location you want.

You can do this with any command, however this should only be reserved for tasks that you use often, or want quick access to no matter where you are.  I use it primarily for auxiliary tools.

Tune in next week for more suggestions to increase your efficiency.