Great news, the latest version of Actipro Ribbon for WPF now has full mini-toolbar functionality.  With this addition, Actipro Ribbon now implements 100% of all required and optional Microsoft Ribbon UI specifications.  We're very proud because we are the first company to achieve 100% implementation of the specs in a WPF ribbon.

Mini-Toolbar

The mini-toolbar is a great new concept introduced in Office 2007. Any controls, including galleries, can be used on the mini-toolbar.

Mini-toolbars are typically used in two scenarios: following a mouse selection in a document and for display along with a context menu to provide additional options.

Showing a Mini-ToolBar After a Mouse Selection

When a selection is made in a document, a mini-toolbar can be made to semi-transparently appear above the mouse. As the end user moves the mouse closer to the mini-toolbar, it becomes more opaque. Moving the mouse farther away makes the mini-toolbar more transparent until a point where the mini-toolbar disappears completely. After a certain threshold distance is passed, the mini-toolbar is closed completely and does not reappear until another selection is made.

Configuring a Mini-ToolBar for Pairing With a Context Menu

A mini-toolbar can optionally be paired and displayed with any ContextMenu. Normally the mini-toolbar appears above the context menu. If a menu item on the context menu is chosen, both the context menu and mini-toolbar close. Alternatively, if the end user clicks a control on the mini-toolbar, the mini-toolbar remains open but the context menu closes. After this point the mini-toolbar behaves as if it was opened standalone.