How do I create guided product tours for Excel Addin

Question

I've developed an Excel add-in using the Excel-DNA library. I'd like to create a guided product tour for when the user first installs the plugin. I'm looking for the traditional product tour workflow where the window is dimmed, and the plugin features are highlighted with textual description and arrows to navigate the tour.

I've found a plugin called AbleBits that has a product tour that i'm looking to build. However, I can't find what library they used to build it, or where I should start.

Answer 1

I work for Ablebits.com, so I am sharing first-hand experience:

We did not use any components (libraries) to build the tour. It was done by drawing on a layered window (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997507.aspx) that is placed on top of the Excel window.

The background of this window is made translucent so that the Excel window can be seen, while the pictures and captions are non-transparent.

To highlight the necessary elements on the ribbon, we find their coordinates using UIAutomation and draw a fully transparent rectangle in that place. The interaction with a user is implemented by making the images of the buttons in different states and processing the mouse and keyboard events.