...interaction with the document actions pane in Office (Word) 2003?

We want to create a managed add-in for Word that will support both Word 2003 and 2007. Ideally, we'd like to create a core assembly that contains the main functionality, and then create a separate DLLs for 2003 and 2007 that implement UI specific stuff (i.e., menu code for 2003, riboon code for 2007, etc).

With 2007, we'll be taking advantage of custom task panes. We'd like to have the same sort of interaction with the actions pane in 2003 (just like we do now with VSTO 2.0 document level customizations).

Are there any plans to support add-in level interaction with the actions pane in 2003 with the release of VSTO 3.0?

Thanks!

I think there was a mention of this in a thread during the last month or so, but I can't turn it up... As I recall, the answer was no. The document actions pane was designed to be document-specific (it's actually part of a Smart Document; "traditional" VSTO implements that interface for you in the background). So it can't be part of a global add-in... Just as the custom task pane isn't available for earlier versions of Office.

There have been various attempts to create something that works like a task-pane in Office apps, using ActiveX controls on command bars, docking non-modal Userforms over an anchored command bar and placing a Windows Form next to an application window. The discussions I'm familiar with took place over the last couple of years in the word.vba.general and the office.developer.automation newsgroups. You might want to do a Google group search.

Apparently, there was an abortive attempt at a common project on CodePlex. No idea what's happening with that

http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=ptp