Distribute customized ribbons by using a firm or environment folder

Company administrators can distribute the customized ribbon files to other users in the company by placing the ribbon files in a firm or environment folder (not in the project folder). For example, the administrator can create company ribbons and save them in the firm folder. These ribbons will be displayed in the Tekla Structures user interface for all users who use the same firm folder.

Add ribbons to a firm or environment folder

In the Ribbon editor, create the modeling and drawing ribbons that you want to share.

The ribbons are saved in the ..\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\UI\Ribbons folder.

If you cannot find the folder, ensure that you are able to view the hidden files and folders on your computer.
Copy the entire \Ribbons folder either to your company's firm folder or to the system folder.
If the ribbon contains user-defined commands, create a sub-folder named \Commands on the same level as the \Ribbons folder, and copy the UserDefined.xml file from the ..\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\UI\Commands folder to the \Commands folder you just created.
Restart Tekla Structures.

Loading order of custom ribbons

Tekla Structures loads the ribbons in the following order:

Tekla Structures default ribbon
Company ribbons in the environment folders
Company ribbons in the firm folder
User-defined ribbons under %localappdata%

Note that the ribbons which are loaded later will override previously loaded ribbons that have the same configuration + editing mode combination. For example, a ribbon defined in the firm folder will take precedence over the ribbons in the environment folders.

If you have a customized ribbon in the ..\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\UI\Ribbons folder, it will take precedence over company ribbons. To override this, open the Ribbon editor and click Restore. The ribbon in the environment or firm folder will now be used. Alternatively, you can remove or rename your own customized ribbons.

Naming convention for ribbon files

The customization tool saves the custom ribbons as .xml files. The naming convention for these files is:

<Tekla-Structures-configuration_identifier>--<Tekla-Structures-editing-mode>.xml

The name consists of an internal configuration name, a separator of two dash characters (--), an internal editing mode name, and the file name extension .xml. For example, the Full license modeling ribbon is called albl_up_Full--main_menu.xml.


Configuration identifier	Configuration name
`albl_up_Diamond`	Tekla Structures Diamond
`albl_up_Graphite`	Tekla Structures Graphite
`albl_up_Carbon`	Tekla Structures Carbon
`albl_up_Construction_Modeling`	Construction Modeling
`albl_up_Developer`	Developer
`albl_up_Drafter`	Drafter
`albl_up_Educational`	Educational
`albl_up_Engineering`	Engineering
`albl_up_Full`	Full
`albl_up_PC_Detailing`	Precast Concrete Detailing
`albl_up_Rebar_Detailing`	Rebar Detailing
`albl_up_Steel_Detailing`	Steel Detailing
`albl_up_Tekla_Structures_Primary`	Primary
`albl_up_Viewer`	Project Viewer


Editing mode	Purpose
main_menu	Modeling ribbon
edit_draw_menu	Drawing ribbon
plan_main_menu	Importing ribbon