Seems like just the other day TWiS was posted, but hey, it’s a new month so lets start it off right.  I have to say the Desktop galleries have really been taking off lately.  With sViz’s new feature and the new DX gadget gallery, maybe DX is making a big comeback!

I have also been grabbing some really sweet wallpapers from the gallery as well.  All these new skins are just making it difficult to get a new desktop together, just too many choices!

Now for this weeks picks!

	Intoxica by Vampothika Oh the animations, oh the design, just do me a favor and check it out.
	Fools Gold by CarGuy1 I really liked the wallpaper, and the animations that CarGuy1 put to this was fantastic.
	Copper Carbon Fibre by bk13GarbageMan Carbon Fibre is an awesome DX theme, and so is this matching RightClick skin.
	StealthOS (TM Suite) by Philly0381 StealthOS is one of my all time favorite skins, so I was glad to see a complete Theme Manager suite for it.
	Red Box bird by ahabkaba I can always expect some creative wallpapers from ahabkaba, and this one is right on.

February blew by real fast, so it’s hard to believe just one more day left until March.  With just a couple of months into the year, the skin submissions have been showing some really great numbers.  Many of the galleries are getting increased downloads from old and new members alike.  Lets try to keep this momentum going!

Now for this weeks picks!

	CCF FX by PuterDudeJim This is a matching cursor for his Copper Carbon Fibre skins, and it’s a sleek addition.
	Bronze Planet by DEVJIT This is a subtle .dream, but the wallpaper is great and a bit of motion really enhances it.
	Sifourd by PiscDong This was an entry in the 2008 GUI Champs, and this Icon Pack has a simple design that works well with many themes.
	Tigris dock by Tiggz The Tigris Master skin is very popular, and these dock backgrounds are the perfect addition.
	Siroco by Xiandi I have been using RightClick more and more lately, and I was happy to see a bunch of new themes.  This one by Xiandi definitely needs to be downloaded.
	Initial. by Skinhit This design just caught my eye, and it’s great for a more minimalist desktop
	Fools Gold (Vista/XP) by 2of3 The color contrast of this skin is what really attracted me to it.  I love the dark skin, with the bright accents, it’s just about perfect.  Great job.

Once of the coolest features of DeskScapes, is unfortunately one that .dream creators don’t use too much.  That is the ability to create triggered .dreams.  One of the best examples is the Blissful Sunset .dream that will change from day to night based on the time of day.  There are a few other .dreams like that out there, but I would love to see more.

Another example is the Night & Day .dream by Stardock Design.

No worries though, today we will take a look at how to actually create triggered .dreams.

Obviously, you need to have a couple of videos that are ready to be turned into .dreams, and how you want to create the triggered content is completely up to you.  Once your content is ready, open DreamMaker, and select the ‘Dream Contents’ tab.

Now select ‘Add Trigger’, and a new option box pops up.

Here you can set the time for the video to be triggered, and just repeat for the other videos making sure to check the times the triggers are set for.

That’s pretty much it. Just finish creating the .dream with the other info, and then be sure to upload it to WinCustomize.com. 

Wow, where did this week go to?  This one certainly zoomed by, but no complaints here.  I have been overly impressed with the gallery submissions this week, as all types of great skins were coming in throughout the week. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Glassy Rainbow by KrondailX The colors of this cursor for CursorFX immediately caught my eye, and the animations made this a definite pick.
	Snowy Mountain Pass by CarGuy1 Since there are still so many with freezing temperatures, this .dream just fit perfectly.
	Obsid for Vista by PiscDong This is my new favorite icon pack.  It’s a very sleek and smooth design, and it goes well with a variety of WindowBlinds skins.
	Basic Clear Suite by hallv5 I like simple dock backgrounds such as this, simply because they will match so many themes, and many of them recolor very well, so that opens up even more options.
	Asteroidea Acrylic by Tiggz I really love the simplicity and design of this.  Fantastic work!
	Tones by LightStar This is a wonderful and classy WindowBlinds skin that is perfect for everyday use.  Nice work.

With February half over, it’s time to post the January moderator picks.  Yes, it is late, and completely my fault.  Regardless, the WinCustomize moderators picked out a few skins that caught their eyes last month, and here they are!

Snowman picked Anonymity by Voidcore.

“Minimalism + great color combo + well put together skin = Anonymity. 'Nuff said.”

HG_Elminator chose Rainbow Clock by Vad_M.

“An innovative clock, that utilizes images from Windowblinds to skin its self. Just pick the WB you wish it to emulate and let it do the rest.. “

WOM went with Ionic Breeze by kittycat670.

“Colorful, nice depth and balance.”

Lantec’s pick is Xpired by Michael Brandt.

“It's good to see a talented skinner return to WC.
He's got a great knack with the dark skins and this is a perfect skin to get back into the groove with.”

Erk picked AX-26 by oAREAo.

“It's a nice well-made skin. Sharp & functional”

Zubaz liked Troll Thumping Day – Year of the Beserker by theAVMAN.

"This is a wonderful update of a great skin.  It's interesting to see how new concepts and people get involved with community events.  Great work!  Make sure to look for other, matching skins."

TWiS skipped a week last week, but once again we are back this Friday with some more skin goodness.  It was another good week, and don’t forget the WinCustomize Subscription Drive is still going on, so be sure to tell your friends.

Now for this weeks picks!

BootSkins (XP and Vista)

Cursor Themes

ObjectDock

Wallpapers

WindowBlinds

The first edition of This Month in Dreams for 2009!  I’m very excited to get this one done, the only thing that didn’t get in was the new intro I wanted, but that will have to wait.  Maybe I should get one of our .dream creators to make one for me.

Now for this months video!

To use .dreams (animated wallpaper) you need to have Windows Vista or XP, and Stardock's DeskScapes installed.

The .dreams featured in this months video can be found at the links below.

If you were a Windows XP user you are probably familiar with the drab theme that was included.  Vista improved with the Aero look, but still didn’t offer much variety, and after a few weeks of usage, even Aero gets dull to look at.  The good news is you don’t have to settle for just one looks for Vista, as there are many Vista themes available to download and use. 

To use these Vista themes, you will first need to get WindowBlinds.  This is the absolute best way to change the Vista visual style to one of thousands that are available for download on sites such as WinCustomize.com.  WindowBlinds doesn’t hack or modify system files, so it’s completely safe to use.

Once installed, you have an easy to use interface to browse and apply the skins you download.  Other features are included such as changing the themes colors, adjusting blur and transparency, changing sidebar skins, and much more.

As mentioned before, there are literally thousands of Vista themes available for download.  Below are just a few examples of some of my favorite skins that look great on Windows Vista.

7 Plus	Plastic Fantastic

Aero Midnight	LED3: Dot Matrix

Well, after much deliberation, I finally decided to blog...er, publish. In addition to highlighting and reviewing great DesktopX skins, "I Love DesktopX" will have tips and tricks as well as frequent rants...er, commentary.

Enough with the introductions. Let's get on with the show!

My four favorite skins from the month of January.

Outstanding General Info

Prowler Widgets by Bilbo1930

Bilbo1930 has always turned out gorgeous general info widgets and this one is no exception. Slick is the word for it. I love how small this thing is, because when a widget takes up too much real estate, I minimize it. And when I minimize a widget, it'll be closed not long after. Not with this, though.

It displays a lot of infomation for such a small package: weather (including a ten-day forecast), calendar, meters, cursor--I love combination widgets.

Did I mention the animations? Signature Bilbo stuff. I like the way it splits apart, but the scrolling weather does tak a bit more CPU. Graphics are killer--by vStyler, no less. My only nit is that the text is a bit small. But I suppose if you're going to make a compact widget, somthing's gotta give. Overall, though, it's awesome.

It comes with two widgets: one light and the other dark. I prefer the dark one.

Most Creative/Original

Tread Plate Effect by theAVMAN

I haven't visited the DesktopX objects gallery very often, but for this article I had a look, and I was delighted to see the place was still alive. Not only that, but there were also some pretty cool objects uploaded in the last month or so. I was lookign for something out of the ordinary and I certainly found that with the Tread Plate Effect object.

I know theAVMAN mostly for his 'blinds and cursors, so it was a surprise to see he's been turning out DX objects. When I saw this, I thought, "Now that's pretty clever!" And it's so simple, too--one of those, "why didn't I think of that" ideas.

This object basically gives your wallpaper (any wallpaper) that treaded metal look. The only setback is that it overlays your icons--not so minor, but there's really no way around this in DX. It looks perfect on black and white walls, medium gray, and lighter shades.

AVMAN's already done one with raindrops and I can just imagine the texture possibilites to come.

Most Innovative/Resourceful

Rainbow Clock 1.0 by Vad_M

Rainbow Clock 1.0 is a clock that can skin itself to match any WindowBlinds theme. Let me say that again. This is a clock that will match ANY WindowBlinds theme...automatically...as in, you don't have to crack it open in DX Builder adn do it manually. My mind is officially blown. AND it's a gadget, so if you have WB but not DX, you're good.

It's technically still a beta version, but I can't begin to imagine how many lines of code and how many months of hard work have gone into this already. If you know Vad_M, you know you're getting a worhtwhile, high-quality product.

DX Theme of the Month

Flash Live System DX by PuterDudeJim

If you're not familiar with PuterDudeJim's DX stuff, just have a stroll thruogh the DesktopX themes gallery and you'll get acquainted real fast.

This theme is based on the WindowBlind "Flash Live" by 1MrPaul1. It's done in the sidebar style and the graphics are beautiful. The color combination makes it feel open and lightweight and I love the easy to use, easy to navigate layout.

As with most of Jim's themes, it's got sound effects, too. I especially like the one for weather. Overall, it's clean, usable, and darn near perfect.

Toggle Time Format

Here in the U.S., we use the 12-hour clock, but many places overseas use the 24-hour clock format. How do you decide which format to make your digital clock widget for distribution? How about both? Put this script into a text object to make your digital clock internationally friendly.

Dim timefrmt

'Called when the script is executed

Sub Object_OnScriptEnter

            timefrmt = object.persiststorage("switchfrmt")

            If timefrmt = "" Then timefrmt = 3

            object.SetTimer 1,1000

End Sub

Sub Object_OnTimer1

            ttime = FormatDateTime(now,timefrmt)

            object.text = ttime

End Sub

'Called when L-click is released

Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, dragged)

            If Not dragged Then

                        If timefrmt = 3 Then timefrmt = 4 Else timefrmt= 3

                        object.persiststorage("switchfrmt") = timefrmt

            End If

End Function

The script works in three parts:

-OnScriptEnter, we check storage for the user's preference. If none exists, we set the 'timefrmt' variable to the 12-hour format and start the timer.

-OnTimer, we get the current time in the chosen format using a vbscript function called FormatDateTime, and then set the object text.

-OnLButtonUp, we toggle between formats and save the user's preference to PersistStorage.

Resources:

About FormatDateTime - W3Schools

More tuts on time - Scripting 101 (pdf) ,  Scripting Time Displays

The Gadget Gallery and What it has in common with Carnegie Hall

Huzzah! There's a new gadget gallery and it's just for gadgets. Finally, we get some organization.

For everyone who uploaded a gadget to the widget gallery, re-up in the gadget gallery. Island Dog says to PM him to get your download counts transferred (be sure to include your download count in the PM), but alas, your comments and rating will go bye-bye.

What is a gadget and why is this such a big deal? A gadget is a stand-alone (.exe) mini-application. It does not need DesktopX installed on your computer to use it, which means your friends and family no longer have an excuse not to use your mini-apps. *evilgrin*

I'll probably still primarily upload to the widget gallery, but I'm happy that we now have four galleries showing off the full specturm of cool things you can do with DX, from simple eye candy to handy utilities, and from complex desktop makeovers to high-quality productivity applications.

The announcement of the new gadget gallery did bring up some interesting conversation as to what to expect from the gallery. Well gadgets, of course, but there's a little issue that's come up, on and off, for a while now about the content of the DX gallery. To sum up, there's a boat load of re-skinned clocks, meters, calendars, etc, uploaded to the gallery, making the not-re-skinned clocks and original work hard to find. This is part of the reason why the gadget gallery was created adn I tend to think it's a step in the right direction.

First, to be clear, anyone can submit any kind of gadget there--no restrictions. Second, it will be moderated for quality, so as weith several other galleries on WC, some skins will be visible in the main gallery while others might only be visible on your personal page. Third, and this is very important, if your skin doesn't appear in the main gallery, do not despair!

Do what you like because you like to do it. I can't stress that enough. I love seeing new skinners take such an enthusiastic interest in DX, and it's disheartening to hear talk of being discouraged. It can be frustrating to spend hours, days, and weeks on something, and then not have it recieved as you would like, but do not let a rating or a gallery make you feel like you're wasting your time--nothing is lost when knowledge is gained.

The bar on the gadget gallery may be slightly elevated but that doesn't mean you can't reach it still. Yes, getting better at DX can be hair-pulling maddening, at times. But that's why the DX community is teeming with people ready and willing to help you figure it out. That's why we write tutorials and throw out interesting tidbits, because we've all been there and know that it sucks to go bald.

So, ask in the forums, PM/email a DXer, read the User's Guide, visit the Wincustomize Wiki, see the DesktopX Tutorial section on WC, crack open a widget/theme/object in DX Builder and tinker around, but for heaven's sake do not give up. Practice, practice, and practice some more. That's the only way to get to better, and that's the only way to get to Carnegie Hall, but know that you don't have to travel alone.

I put it to you:

Are you pleased with the addition of the new gallery, and what do you expect its impact will be on DXing and the DX community?

Share your thougths/stories/ideas on learning DX.

What DX skins caught your attention in January?

Sound off below. Thanks for reading.

Another busy week comes to a conclusion, and with that comes the weekly edition of This Week in Skinning.  This week we were overrun with ports, but some original creations also made their way in, and here is where you can catch up with those.

Now for this weeks picks!

Cursors themes, DesktopX themes

Icon Packs

Dreams (Animated Wallpapers)

Wallpapers

WindowBlinds