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How to add plugin for Excel Online?

I would like to use Excel functionality from a browser. I currently have an excel based Microsoft office application. It adds an icon to the ribbon and does C# based custom application logic to communicate to a database server.
Since it requires application releases for any changes in the schema I am curious if I can convert this into an web application and still benefit from Excel's built in functionality.
I am expecting this to be possible since Microsoft Excel Online is run inside a browser. My question is, is it possible to add plugin to such online excel document? If yes, any example would be much appreciated.

You absolutely can, and depending on approach you can do so with nothing more than a VSTO project template. This is little more than a ClickOnce application. This can launch a browser within a window to perform the logic.
You may use the Office Interop assemblies to decouple your application from Office apps, yet still communicate easily. Make sure you set Embed Interop Assemblies to true once added as a reference.
For those using Office in the browser, it seems as though Microsoft is shifting into CSOM/JSON/REST, meaning this solution is coded entirely differently than COM. This should help you get started:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/office/dn268594.aspx.

Update app.config file after installer upgrade

I'm currently working on a Microsft Word Application-Level Add-in using C#. My application contains an app.config file. In this file I save user-settings (userSettings-Section) and some data defined by a custom ConfigurationSection. The data stored inside of custom ConfigurationSection is also user-specific.
I access the user-settings as follows:
Properties.Settings.Default.MyUserSetting
The custom ConfigurationSection I'm using like:
ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoamingAndLocal)
.GetSection("MyCustomConfigurationSection")
My questions are:
Do I even use the app.config the "correct" way? (I know that there is probably not only one correct way, but is "my way" one of these?)
Which ConfigurationUserLevel does Propeties.Settings.Default use? Is there a way of setting/changing it?
And Most importantly: Is there a way to automatically keep the user-specific settings during an upgrade of my application, but at the same time add newly created settings?
I deploy my Add-in using an installer built with WiX. At the moment I use CustomActions, which manually insert code for each added/removed/changed setting. But I was wondering whether there is a built-in way of doing this.

I did some researches the whole day now and I think I can answer my questions for myself:
Q: Which ConfigurationUserLevel does Propeties.Settings.Default use? Is there a way of setting/changing it?
A: It seems that Propeties.Settings.Default use ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoamingAndLocal, what sounds logical as they only contain userSettings... I don't know whether it is possible to change it, but for me it is not necessary.
Q: Is there a way to automatically keep the user-specific settings during an upgrade of my application, but at the same time add newly created settings?
A: I found out that there is an Upgrade()-Method in Settings which should take care of copying user settings between an older version of the product and the new one. For more information see http://ngpixel.com/2011/05/05/c-keep-user-settings-between-versions/. I must confess that I haven't had occasion to test it, since I have no permissions to build the installer, but I will rely on it. I will come back to this post after I tested my solution.
Furthermore I am not using a custom ConfigurationSection any more. Instead I derive from System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsBase, which means that I am able to handle the custom data exactly like the Properties.Settings, including the Upgrade()-Method. See this post for more information about how to use it.
Hope this helps somebody.

Using Settings.settings or a SQL database?

I am learning C# using Visual Studio and I am running into some issues.
I am developing a Windows form application. The application is meant to track user's running stats.
In settings: they select how many days they run and for each day they add their workout (ie: 1: 100m sprints 2: 50m sprints 3: Run a mile).
Then in the main windows form the user will be able to add their times and save it. Meanwhile a graph is projected of their times- this will allow the user to track their progress.
My question is where should I store their times? Right now I store all settings in the settings.settings doc. For the times should I use the settings file or a SQL database of some sort?

SqlCE or SQLite or any other simple inproc database will be better than Settings file.
Settings are not meant to grow with every user input, this is a task for a database, also it will be much easier to query your data using SQL.
Answering your question in comments:
There is a difference between user data and user preferences. You have to decide which is what in your app.
I would go with Settings file with everything regarding user preferences. Like form layout, colors, sounds, window size and so on.
Since Settings managing framework is pretty sophisticated, you will save yourself some time designing tables for user preferences and developing access to that tables.
Another possibly bright side of Settings file - it can be edited manually with text editor.

It is not possible to answer you without a lot more information about what a "user's running stats" is and how it is used. I can give a few general guidelines, though.
System.Configuration.ApplicationSettings are designed for customizing an application for a specific user; for example, what language the user wants the application to use, where he wants windows to appear, or default values. Settings are part of the application; they are created when the application is installed and deleted when the application is uninstalled. If multiple users run the application, each typically gets their own settings. You typically define settings when you create the application and users never add or remove them.
Databases are used to persist user data. They are typically not tied to a specific user or application; users add the data, which is available to other users or applications. Applications typically aren't installed with all user data, nor is user data deleted when the application is uninstalled.
SQL databases are used for relational data; data that has internal structure, like "all users must have exactly one address", or "any user may have zero or more phone numbers". If your data is not relational you do not need a relational database.
These are general guidelines, specific applications may do things differently for specific purposes. If you tell us more about your application we will be able to provide more specific information.

Windows application storage location

I am working on a windows app. The user has to register first to use this application. So in order to store user information, I am using MS-Access as a database. There is not much information to be stored as this application will be on individuals machine. There are few settings and some user information to be stored.
What I am feeling is that with the use of MS-Access, my application will be dependent on other application as MS-Access. It is not necessary to have the MS-office on the end user's machine.
So can you suggest me the best way to store the data safely without any dependence.
One thing I want to clear is that, the information will be of different types like it will consists of user information, some folder/files paths and some other information. I would like to keep these information separate from each other.
Thanks
Abhie

I think I found the solution.
Best practice to save application settings in a Windows Forms Application
I hope this will help others facing same problem.
Stackoverflow Team You are doing fabulous job. One suggestion; can you put some chat option for developers to discuss their problems. I think this would make it more easy to find answers to complex problems...:)
Regards

you need to include Access Database Engine drivers in the client PC, in order to connect it .
MS Access Database Engine

If you're using .NET, the best bet for getting the recommended folder locations for application data (e.g. your mdb file) is probably best retrieved using Environment.GetFolderPath
See:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.environment.getfolderpath.aspx
You're likely interested in ApplicationData or LocalApplicationData for user specific data or CommonApplicationData for data shared by all users as your storage location (and then the proper company / product subdirectories appended to it).

Alternate (user-scoped) settings in a C# desktop application

1) I use Visual Studio 2008 (C#)
2) I want my desktop application to "remember" certain settings (preferences) for every user individually.
3) The application would use its own database of users (logins + passwords), so they have nothing to do with Windows accounts.
How can I accomplish that? Trying to find an answer
4) I've found the "Using Alternate Sets of Settings" subject on MSDN => http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa730869%28VS.80%29.aspx - but
5) it suggests that even these alternative settings need to be added in design time. That's a bit of a problem, because:
6) I don't know in advance, how many users would be in the database - and I want the "main user" (admin) to have an option of adding more accounts any time he wants.
So
7) how do I accomplish that?
So far I thought about:
8) using isolated storage files? (but they, too, are user-scoped in the sense of referring to Windows accounts)
9) deriving my own class from ApplicationSettingsBase class and supplying it with a SaveAs() method (which it lacks by default)?
Thanks for any answers / suggestions.
If my problem is not quite clear, I'm happy to clarify

If you have a database that stores users and passwords, why not store the application settings there as well? I'm assuming you're using SQL Server (Express or commercial)
All "Settings" are in .NET are key, value pairs, and I don't see why you couldn't accomplish this exact same functionality with a name value pair in the database.
I've found that the "Settings" and Configuration management tools are confusing and tricky to use, so if you have a database with users in it already, you might as well leverage your existing infrastructure.

You could use a SQLite database to hold all the data. (See System.Data.SQLite)

You should think about using the ASP.NET Membership provider. It allows for per-user personalization settings as well as 'all user' settings.
It was built for web sites, but you can configure it for use in a desktop application pretty easily. Also, there is a whole API that is already written for it.