Shelf Editor

Related topics

• Shelves
• Select actions on a shelf
• Add a tool, action, or Maya script to a shelf
• Edit the contents of a shelf
• Use a custom name or icon for a shelf item
• Change the display of shelves

Tabs and controls

Shelves

The Shelves section displays existing shelves. Select a shelf name here to display its contents in the Shelf Contents section. You can rename a shelf by typing a name in the Rename field. You can also create, delete, and reorder shelves using the appropriate icons in the upper-right corner of the section.

Shelf Contents

The Shelf Contents section displays the items contained in the shelf selected in the Shelves section. You can rename shelf items by typing a name in the Rename field. You can also create, delete, and reorder shelf items using the appropriate icons in the upper-right corner of the section.

Icon Preview

Displays the current image assigned as the selected shelf item’s icon.

Icon Name

Displays the name of the current image assigned as the selected shelf item’s icon. You can choose an image for an icon by clicking the folder icon next to the Icon Name field and navigating to the file you want to use. Alternatively, you can choose from existing Maya icons by clicking the Maya icon and choosing from the list of available files.

Tooltip

Specify a brief description of the tool. This description appears with the icon in the icon or text modes, as well as in the tooltip (the pop-up description when the mouse hovers over the icon).

Icon Label

Type a label for the icon. This text appears over top of the icon to distinguish it from other items that use the same icon.

Icon Label Color

Select a color for an Icon Label text by clicking the colored box and selecting a color from the Color Chooser. You can adjust the shade by moving the slider.

Label Background

Select a background color for the Icon Label. This background appears over top of the icon, but behind the Icon Label. You can use it to make the Icon Label more legible over the icon itself.

Background Transparency

Allows you to adjust the transparency of the Label Background.

Custom Background Color

Turn this on to customize the background of the selected shelf item’s icon.

Button Background

Select a background color for the selected shelf item’s icon in the Shelf. This option is only available if Custom Background Color is on.

Repeatable

Turn this on to allow the command to be repeated from Edit > Repeat.

Command / Double Click Command

Click the Command or Double Click Command tab to view and edit the MEL / Python code that is activated when the shelf item is clicked or double-clicked respectively.

Popup Menu Items

Click the Popup Menu Items tab to view and add custom right-click menu items to the currently selected shelf. You can create new menu items, rename / reorder / delete existing menu items, and assign behavior to menu items by entering MEL or Python scripts in the Menu Item Command panel.

Save All Shelves

Click Save All Shelves to save all changes immediately and write the information to the user shelves directory. The file name for a shelf file has the prefix shelf_.

Close

Click Close to accept your changes but not write them to the disk immediately. If your UI preference is to save shelf changes only when explicitly requested, the changes stay in effect only for the current session. Otherwise your changes are saved the next time you save a file or quit the application.

Options menu

Icon Only

Displays only the icon. This is the default.

Text Only

Displays only the shelf item names.

Icon/Text Below

Displays the label below the icon.

Icon/Text Beside

Displays the label beside the icon.

Save Automatically

When this option is on, your changes to the shelves are saved when you exit Maya. This is the default.

Save Only on Request

When this option is on, your changes to the shelves are only saved when you select Save All Shelves in the Shelves window. If you don’t save your changes, then they are lost when you exit Maya.