Can a submenu be managed by a menu administrator for the benefit of read-only users?

Yes. Shared menus is an easy and convient way for a person or group in managing information for their colleagues to distribute links to documents, applications, folders or any other resource. Designed for controled management, a centralized shared menu is read-only for all users except those configured as menu administrators. The shared menu file can be saved on a network drive or a shared folder using a file synchronization tool (like Dropbox). Of course, users having write-access to the shared menu settings file could edit it using a text editor.

Note: See notes and other types of shared menus: Can a submenu be shared on different PCs or by different users?

Adding a Centralized Shared Menu

1. To create or add a shared menu, in the Add Favorite dialog box, select Shared Menu and press Continue. If the Shared Menus Catalogue is enabled, you are offered to add a menu from the catalogue (you can also add a shared menu or create a new shared menu regardless of the catalogue).
2. In the Shared menu settings file location, enter the path and file name of the external settings file. File extension must be .ini. If the settings file already exists, its content will be added to your popup menu. If it does not exist, it is created as an empty submenu.
3. In the Short name for menu text zone, enter or edit the name of the new submenu if required.
4. For a new shared menu, in the Shared Menu tab, select Centralized and enter the shared menu settings (this info is saved in the shared menu file itself for future users of the menu):
   • Shared menu name;
   • Users with write access to this shared menu: enter one or multiple Windows logon names separated by comma;
   • Shared menu write access message: message displayed to read-only users when they try to edit the shared menu.
5. Set Menu Options as usual and save the new favorite.

When read-only users try to edit a centralized shared menu, the write access message is displayed. Here is an example:

Only menu administrators named in the Users with write access to this shared menu text box can edit the content of the shared menu. If more than one user have this privilege, Quick Access Popup prevents the current user to overwrite changes done by another administrator since its QAP menu was loaded. It avoids files modifications conflicts and alerts you if:

• another administrator is making changes to the menu;
• the centralized menu was updated by another administrator since you refreshed QAP (external menus are refreshed when you open the Customize window and, again, when you open a Shared menu in the Customize window).

  

Generating a shared menu

If you want to generate a Shared menu settings file from an external application, see the structure of the favorites in a settings file and important instructions: What is the content of a shared menus settings file (for advanced users)? See also: What is the structure of QAP settings (ini) file?

Important note: the last file modification date-time is stored in the shared ini file in the [Global] value LastModified in “yyyymmddhh24miss” format (for example “20191004224941”). This value should be updated if the content of a centralized shared menu file is changed outside QAP by an administrator or by an automatic process.