Preferences

Configure the entire addin — API keys, AI models, UI language, default behaviors.

Open the dialog

DVD Addin → group About → split-button About → menu Preferences.

The Preferences dialog is organized into tabs by feature group.

Tab General

UI language

• Vietnamese (default).
• English.

Switching → all ribbon button labels + dialog text update accordingly. Stored in %APPDATA%\DVDAddin\lang.txt + HKCU registry.

Auto-check update

• Tick (default) → on every addin load, check for new version.
• Untick → manual check via the menu.

Telemetry

• Tick → send anonymous usage stats to dvdpm.net (helps prioritize features).
• Untick → send nothing.

Tab Text and Number

Default Translate language

Sets the defaults shown when opening the Translate dialog:

• From: auto (Detect language).
• To: Vietnamese (configurable).

Auto-detect symbol when applying italic

When applying italic to translated lines, the addin auto-detects the symbol (/ or \n) by:

• Tick → reads the first cell, detects which symbol appears.
• Untick → must set symbol manually.

Multilevel numbering format

Default for the Multilevel Numbering dialog:

• Decimal (1.1.1) — default.
• Roman (I.A.1).
• Letter (A.1.a).

Tab AI Models

Primary service

Set the default service for Translate and AI Assistant:

• Google (free, no key needed).
• Gemini (default for AI).
• OpenAI / Groq / Cerebras.

Models per service

Service	Default model	Recommended
Gemini	gemini-2.5-flash	gemini-2.5-flash-lite (fast) or gemini-2.5-pro (accurate)
OpenAI	gpt-4o-mini	gpt-4o (more accurate, costlier)
Groq	llama-3.3-70b-versatile	mixtral-8x7b-32768 (large context)
Cerebras	llama3.1-8b	llama3.1-70b (more accurate)

Temperature

• 0.0 — deterministic, output identical each call. Best for data transformation.
• 0.5 — balanced (default).
• 0.7-1.0 — creative. Best for original writing.

Recommended 0.5 for Translate, 0.3 for AI Assistant (less hallucination).

Tab API Keys

Manage all API keys in one place:

Service	Where to get it	Notes
Gemini	aistudio.google.com/apikey	Free tier 1500 req/day
OpenAI	platform.openai.com/api-keys	Credit card required
Groq	console.groq.com/keys	Generous free tier
Cerebras	cloud.cerebras.ai	Limited free tier

Click Show to reveal the full key (hidden by default). Update to change. Test connection to verify.

Keys live in registry HKCU\Software\DVD\DVDAddin\API Keys (plain text — Windows DPAPI wrapping planned for 3.0).

Tab Email

Default transport

• Outlook (default).
• SMTP.
• EML file only.

SMTP config (if using SMTP)

• Host / Port / Username / Password / Use SSL.
• Supports Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo, or your own SMTP server.

Signature

Paste HTML or plain text. Will be appended to every email body sent via Send Email.

Sample HTML signature:

<p>Best regards,<br>
<strong>John Doe</strong><br>
Project Manager — XYZ Construction<br>
📞 +1 (555) 123-4567<br>
✉️ [email protected]<br>
🌐 <a href="https://xyz.com">xyz.com</a></p>

Tab Cells and Rows

Default join separator

For Join Text and Join Merged:

• / (default) — space-slash-space.
• , , , ; , \n, custom.

Merge AutoFit padding

Default cell padding (point) when auto-fitting merged-cell row height. Default 0. Increase if cells look cramped (1-3 points).

Tab Graphics

Default rectangle color

Default color for Draw Rectangle.

Picture click-to-enlarge

Toggle: when clicking an image in the sheet, open a full-size popup?

• Tick → open popup.
• Untick → normal click (Excel select).

Tab File and Print

Default PDF folder

Default folder for Batch Print → Export PDF.

PDF merger threads

Number of threads when PdfSharp merges PDFs. Default 4. Increase if your machine is powerful, decrease if low on RAM.

Default print copies

Default copy count for Batch Print → Print.

Tab Schedule (DVD Cons tab)

Gantt default columns

Default column mapping for Gantt drawing — which column is Predecessor, which is Duration, etc.

Auto-calc toggle initial

Default ON when opening a new workbook.

Time format

Format for date labels on Gantt: dd/MM/yyyy / dd/MM / MMM yyyy.

Reset all Preferences

Click Reset to defaults (bottom of the dialog) → wipes all settings under HKCU\Software\DVD\DVDAddin\Preferences\* → restart Excel.

API keys + license are NOT cleared.

PreferencesChanged event

When the user clicks Save in Preferences, a static PreferencesChanged event fires inside the addin. Modeless dialogs (Translate, AI Assistant) auto-subscribe → reload UI immediately without requiring an Excel restart.

Related

• License — activate the license.
• Translate — uses the AI key configured here.
• Send Email — uses the SMTP/signature configured here.