Craig Bailey

VSTO: Visual Studio Tools for Office resources

By Craig Bailey
In Main, Microsoft, VSTO
September 13, 2008
3 Min read
8 comments
V

This is a follow on from my overview of Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO). If you are interested in learning more then here’s a list of resources.

General VSTO resources

VSTO MSDN Developer Portal MSDN VSTO Developer Portal

Start here.

This is the best place to start in terms of getting up to speed with what is happening in the VSTO world. See also the MSDN Intro to VSTO.
MSDN VSTO forums MSDN Forums

This is where I learn most of the tips for coding with VSTO, simply by reading through what problems people are having and how they are being solved by experts like Cindy Meister and Sue Mosher.

Cindy also has an excellent VSTO 2008 Resource List on the forum.
VSTO How Do I videos How Do I videos

I love this site. Steve Hansen and Ty Anderson do most of these excellent videos. Most videos are between 10 and 15 minutes long which makes them ideal for watching when you need a quick break.

Highly recommended.

Microsoft VSTO blog VSTO Blog

The  Microsoft VSTO blog. Contributed to by a number of authors including Christin Boyd, Harry Miller, Mary Lee and Beth Massi, this is a useful (and sometimes entertaining!) resource.

Make sure you watch Harry’s videos.
VSTO Code Gallery VSTO Code Gallery

Download code for a range of VSTO add-ins. Most come with documentation and each has a discussion thread for asking questions.

This is where you’ll find the code samples for the VSTO MSI Installer walk-through.
VSTO videos Visual Studio Tools for Office videos

A collection of simple videos demonstrating key VSTO techniques.

Make sure you also check out the MSDN section on VSTO architecture.
VSTO on Office Zealot VSTO on Office Zealot

Office Zealot is a great resource for all things office, including VSTO.
Outlook Code Outlook Code

Since my focus is predominantly on Outlook 2007 add-ins this is a favourite site of mine. And make sure you check out the Forums – very helpful.

This page alone is worth viewing, as it gives a comprehensive overview of VSTO and links to a number of references.

The site is managed by the amazing Sue Mosher.
   
   

VSTO related Blogs

VSTO blog VSTO blog

As mentioned above the official Microsoft VSTO blog is well worth reading.
Andrew Whitechapel Andrew Whitechapel

An excellent resource that dives into the nitty-gritty of VSTO.

Eric Carter Eric Carter

Eric is a long time VSTO expert (and author).

John Durant John Durant

John blogs about VSTO, SharePoint and a whole bunch of Office related stuff. Aside: John is one of the most energetic presenters I’ve ever seen!
Nikhil Khandelwal Nikhil Khandelwal

Nikhil covers a range of topics including VSTO and SharePoint workflow.
Misha Shneerson on VSTO Misha Shneerson

A fantastic blog, especially covering setup and deployment.
Kris Makey Kristopher Makey

An excellent resource for deployment details.
Kris was recently featured in this Channel 9 video with Beth Massi.
Kathleen McGrath Kathleen McGrath

Primarily a VB blog, but includes VSTO content as well. Kathleen wrote one of the first books I read on VSTO.
Steve Fox Steve Fox

More focused on OBA in general than VSTO specifically, but definitely one to keep on your regular blog reading list.
Andrew Coates Andrew Coates

A Sydney based Developer Evangelist, Andrew often blogs about VSTO. I was fortunate enough to co-present with Andrew recently at TechEd on VSTO deployment. The demo videos are here and here.

Andrew has a useful collection of deployment related resources here.

Other VSTO blogs (that haven’t been updated lately regarding VSTO but are worth keeping an eye on) include: Chris Castillo, Ken Getz,  Mike Hernandez, Tim Huckaby, Maurice, Maarten van Stam.

Have I missed something obvious? Please leave me a comment and I’ll add it to the list.

8 comments

  • Hello Graig,

    Setting my first steps in VSTO I indeed find this a welcome resource. Also the site
    of Sue Mosher is one particularly of my liking. I am a strong believer of new ways of interconnecting businesses via Internet to bring unprecedented possiblities to businesses. Only not trying to get too overexcited from the new technologies but more tending towards the perspective of the business-owners to see and persuade and convince them what it can do for their business. Very interesting times I think.

    Reply

  • Hello Graig,

    Setting my first steps in VSTO I indeed find this a welcome resource. Also the site
    of Sue Mosher is one particularly of my liking. I am a strong believer of new ways of interconnecting businesses via Internet to bring unprecedented possiblities to businesses. Only not trying to get too overexcited from the new technologies but more tending towards the perspective of the business-owners to see and persuade and convince them what it can do for their business. Very interesting times I think.

    Reply

  • Craig — you rock!

    Thanks for promoting the VSTO developer portal (http://msdn.com/vsto). We’re always improving the site (working on better navigation, UI, and learning content) so please pass along anything you’d like to see to make the site better. It’s still a work in progress.

    Oh and you forgot to mention that you are one of our featured bloggers on the site, right on the home page ;-)

    Thanks,
    -Beth

    Reply

  • Craig — you rock!

    Thanks for promoting the VSTO developer portal (http://msdn.com/vsto). We’re always improving the site (working on better navigation, UI, and learning content) so please pass along anything you’d like to see to make the site better. It’s still a work in progress.

    Oh and you forgot to mention that you are one of our featured bloggers on the site, right on the home page ;-)

    Thanks,
    -Beth

    Reply
By Craig Bailey September 13, 2008
8 comments
Craig Bailey

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