Tip: If the add-in does not load when it should, you can debug it by setting the environment variables VSTOSUPPRESSDISPLAYALERTS to 0 or VSTOLOGALERTS to 1. VSTOSUPPRESSDISPLAYALERTS hides or displays dialog boxes when exceptions occur and VSTOLOGALERTS creates a log file in the same directory as the executing assembly, if an error occurs.

Problem: Add-in installs without error, but I don't see the Toolbar when I start Word.

• In Word 2003, choose the Tools menu, then "Templates and Add-ins"
  • under "Global templates and add-ins", do you have an entry for "Word2MediaWikiDotNetTemplate.dot"? Is its checkbox checked?
  • (Note: On my development PC it is checked.)
• In Word 2003, choose the Tools menu, then Options. On the Security tab, click the "Macro Security..." button.
  • on the Security Level tab, which radio button is selected?
    • (Note: on my development PC it's "Medium".)
  • on the Trusted Publishers tab, is the checkbox labelled "Trust all installed add-ins and templates" checked?
    • (Note: on my development PC it is checked.)
• In Word 2003, choose the Help menu, then About Microsoft Office Word, and then click the Disabled Items... button
  • are there any entries in the Disabled Items dialog? If Word2MediaWikiDotNet is listed, click it and choose Enable.
• Start REGEDIT.EXE and browse to HKEYCURRENTUSER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins
  • Does the Addins folder (aka Key) contain a folder named Word2MediaWikiDotNet?
  • If so, what are the values for the settings labelled LoadBehavior and Manifest?
    • (Note: on my development PC, LoadBehavior = 3 and Manifest = C:\personal\VS Projects\Word2MediaWikiDotNet\Word2MediaWikiDotNet\bin\Debug\Word2MediaWikiDotNet.dll.manifest. Hopefully that isn't the path specified in your PC's Registry.)
• Unknown: what minimum version of VSTO PIA's is required
• Unknown: does the installer check for the required VSTO PIAs? (I thought it did, but perhaps not)
• Unknown: what minimum version of Word 2003 is required
• Unknown: what level of trust is required in the CLR CAS Policy
• Unknown: whether the installer needs to explicitly grant partial or full trust to the assembly
• Unknown: whether the self-signed code-signing certificate (aka Strong Names security) possibly creates any additional headaches??

References

Debugging Application-level Projects