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HALO_WB5

Coming soon....

Monday, January 23, 2006 by JJ-Ying | Discussion: Skinning

Due to the hard disk error on last Monday, I have to put off the release

And now, it's on the right way again!

ObjectDock Plus – Editing Non-Tabbed Docks 102

A mini tutorial for beginners

Sunday, January 22, 2006 by Corky_O | Discussion: Tutorials

ObjectDock Plus – Editing Non-Tabbed Docks 102

This mini tutorial is designed for beginners who want to understand the steps involved in adding entries to non-tabbed docks using ObjectDock Plus, as well as a few additional features available via the dock context menu.

An assumption has been made that users have already installed ObjectDock Plus, so please do so before using the procedures in this tutorial (note – make sure that any free version of ObjectDock has been uninstalled previous to installing ObjectDock Plus). If you have any content files that you have downloaded for use with the free version, it is recommended that you copy these files to a temporary folder on your computer before uninstalling the free version of ObjectDock.

For this mini tutorial I will be using a dock similar to the one created in "ObjectDock Plus – Create A Non-Tabbed Dock 101", which can be found here http://corkyo.wincustomize.com/Articles.aspx?AID=98639

This mini tutorial has been created using the default Windows XP installation and settings.

Before adding anything to the dock, let’s remove some of the default content to get us closer to a "blank canvas", by removing two of the entries as shown in the image below:

Note – leaving one default entry until you have added one of your own entries will prevent the dock background from stretching across the screen in strange ways. The final default entry can be removed after adding one of your own entries.

ADDING AN ENTRY TO A NON-TABBED DOCK

You can create a new dock entry (icon) using either the context (right-click) menu, or using the "drag-n-drop" method. Both of which are illustrated below.

Context Menu Method

1 - Right-click on the dock > mouse-over the "Add Entry" option > select a new entry type to add to the dock (in this case, a "New Shortcut") as shown in the image below:

Please notice that the context menu is divided into groups, with new links and system related entries in the top group, with Docklets in the lower section, and at the bottom you will see the "My Docks" option (which invokes the current dock listing dialog).

This will place a purple ‘question mark’ icon on the dock, which represents the new entry. At this point, let’s go ahead and drag the final "default" entry (which we left to prevent the background from stretching) off the dock to delete – releasing the mouse button will result in the entry disappearing in a "POOF" as shown in the image below:

2 – Right-click the remaining "New Shortcut" that was just added, and then select the "Dock Entry Properties" option as shown in the image below:

This will result in the display of the Dock Entry Properties dialog shown below:

The "Title" text box at the top of the dialog contains the text that will display on mouse-over of the dock entry. You can change this text, or delete it. Deleting the text will result in no text being displayed on mouse-over. To change the text font and size, you can use the "ObjectDock Properties (AKA the "Dock Settings) > General category > Advanced Options" dialog, which is discussed in the "ObjectDock Plus – Create A Non-Tabbed Dock 101" mini tutorial.

2 – Assign a link for the new dock entry by using one of the following methods: (1) use the preset drop-down list, (2) use the Browse button to locate an "executable" file, or (3) type or paste the address to a folder or file in the "Link" text box. In this case, we will select "My Documents" from the preset drop-down list as shown in the image below:

Note - the "Arguments" text box is for command specific actions, and is beyond the scope of this mini tutorial.

3 – Select an image for your entry by clicking the "Change Image" button as shown in the image below:

This will invoke the Choose Image dialog, which is a basic explorer window allowing you to select a folder in the left pane, and then an image from the selected folder in the main pane as shown below:

Alternatively, you can use the "Browse" button to navigate to any ".ico" or ".png" file. Note – for editing and designing a theme which you intend to distribute, it is recommended that you keep all files in the ObjectDock sub-directory. This will make your theme more likely to be compatible with another users’ computer.

DRAG-N-DROP METHOD

On your keyboard, hold down the "Windows" key (key with flying window symbol), and immediately press the "E" key – to invoke "Explorer". Alternatively, you can open "My Computer" and click the "Folders" button in the toolbar. You can then drag-n-drop any icon from either the left pane, or main pane onto the dock – as illustrated by dragging the "My Computer" icon onto the dock - in the image below:

The result of dragging My Computer onto the dock is shown in the image below:

Note – change the text and image the same way indicated for the context menu method.

I have added a few other entries using the methods above to add some functional content to the dock, including the "Recycle Bin" – which I used the context menu method to illustrate it’s location in the menu as shown in the image below:

Make sure to change both the "Empty" and "Full" images for the recycle bin as shown in the image below:

DOCK BACKGROUND

Let’s polish the theme off with some increase in icon size, and a matching background for the dock, by right-clicking the dock and selecting "Dock Properties" as shown in the image below:

Click the "Appearance" category and use the "Icon Size" slider to increase icons to 72 pixels, and then use the "Background" drop-down list to select a background – as shown in the image below:

LOCKING FEATURE

You can lock the icons in place on the dock to prevent deleting one by accidentally dragging if off the dock and watching it disappear in a "POOF" – which I have managed to do a few times previous to the addition of this feature. To lock the icons in place, right-click the dock > select "Lock Dragging" as shown in the image below:

Well, that is all for this lesson.

I hope you found this mini tutorial useful. Until next time, have fun and "Keep On Customizing".

ObjectDock Plus – Create Tabbed Dock 101

A mini tutorial for beginners

Sunday, January 22, 2006 by Corky_O | Discussion: Tutorials

ObjectDock Plus – Create Tabbed Dock 101

This mini tutorial is designed for beginners who want to understand the basic steps involved in creating tabbed docks using ObjectDock Plus.

An assumption has been made that users have already installed ObjectDock Plus, so please do so before using the procedures in this tutorial (note – make sure that any free version of ObjectDock has been uninstalled previous to installing ObjectDock Plus). If you have any content files that you have downloaded for use with the free version, it is recommended that you copy these files to a temporary folder on your computer before uninstalling the free version of ObjectDock.

This mini tutorial has been created using the default Windows XP installation and settings, and illustrates procedures using the main ObjectDock Plus dialog boxes.

STARTING OBJECTDOCK PLUS

Start ObjectDock Plus by clicking Start > All Programs > click either the Stardock, or Object Desktop folder > click ObjectDock Plus icon.

If this is the first time you have started any ObjectDock program (Free or Plus version) on your computer, you may see a message from your firewall program informing you that ObjectDock.exe is attempting to access the internet. This message may be similar to the one shown in the image below:

Note – in this case, ObjectDock is attempting to access the weather information from the internet for use by the Weather docklet on both the tabbed and non-tabbed docks that load by default. Allowing this access is safe, and no personal information is given out by the ObjectDock program.

CREATING OR EDITING A TABBED DOCK

1 – Right-click the ObjectDock icon in the notification area (A.K.A. the ‘system tray’) of the taskbar, and then select and click "My Docks" as shown in the image below:

Note – this tutorial will use a blank "My Docks" dialog (starting with no docks). If you want to start with a "blank canvas" when designing a new theme, simply select any current docks in the list, and then click the "Remove this dock" button to delete the dock – as shown in the image below:

2 – Once you have removed all docks, click "Create new tabbed dock" as shown in the image below:

This will place a default tabbed dock on your desktop, and invoke the ObjectDock Properties dialog (A.K.A. the "Dock Settings" dialog) to allow dock editing. Note – if you wish to edit an existing dock listed in "My Docks" dialog, simply select the dock in the list, and click the "Edit this dock" button to invoke the same dialog.

To complete the creation of a "blank canvas" tabbed dock, we can remove entries by dragging them off of the dock where they will disappear in a "POOF" when you release the mouse button, as shown in the image below:

EDITING A TABBED DOCK

1 – Click the "Positioning" category in the left-hand list of the dock settings dialog to display the options as shown in the image below:

This will allow you to edit the dock’s screen position, z-order alignment, and mouse-over activation speeds (when mouse-over activation is selected). You can also enable or disable taskbar buttons using the radio buttons (note – the system tray option will add additional ObjectDock icons to the system tray, in addition to the one that is displayed when ObjectDock Plus is loaded. Currently, you cannot remove the one system tray icon displayed when ObjectDock Plus is loaded – this may or may not change in future builds).

Note – in the image above, I have selected the "Show dock as drawer" at top of screen.

To make the dock easier to work with, you can right-click the dock and select "Detach from edge", which I have done to complete this mini tutorial as shown in the image below:

2 – Click the "Size & Appearance" category on the left-hand list of the dock settings dialog to display the options as shown in the image below:

This category allows you to enable and set icon zooming options, work with tab positioning, tab size, tab alignment, and entry (icon) name options. Note – the "Tab Position" options will be grayed out when the dock is set as a drawer in the "Positioning" category.

3 – Click the "Tabs & Styles" category in the left-hand list of the dock settings dialog to display the options as shown in the image below:

This category allows you to add a tab to the dock, and to edit the current tab styles. To edit a tab style, select the tab name in the tab names list. This will display the style options in the lower half of the dialog as shown in the image below:

To change the name (text) on the tab, simply highlight the text in the "Name" field, and type the new name. To change the tab and background style, use the drop-down "Style" list to select and apply a background from the list (the background style is applied in real-time when selected). You can colorize the tab and background by using the "Color" drop-down list – which offers (1) preset colors, (2) "None" (the tab style default), and (3) "Other" option to invoke the color picker to set a custom color.

4 – You can reattach the dock to the edge by right-clicking a tab, and then selecting the "Attach to edge" option as shown in the image below:

5 – You can use the "Hotspots" option, which is found in the top section of the left-hand list in the dock settings, to set a hotspot on the screen; that when bumped with the mouse, will display the tabbed dock on top of all windows, or hide the dock. The image below shows this dialog, in which you simply click one of the areas indicated by the black arrows to assign the hotspot and use the drop-down list to select an action.

Note – selecting "Do nothing to this tabbed dock", and then clicking the dock will clear any assigned hotspot.

6 – Finally, you can set ObjectDock to load at startup by selecting the option under the General category as shown in the image below:

This concludes the basics on creating a tabbed dock. More to come in "ObjectDock Plus - Editing Tabbed Docks 102".

I hope you found this mini tutorial useful. Until next time, have fun and "Keep On Customizing".

ObjectDock Plus - Creating Non-Tabbed Docks101

A mini tutorial for beginners

Sunday, January 22, 2006 by Corky_O | Discussion: Tutorials

ObjectDock Plus - Creating Non-Tabbed Docks101

This mini tutorial is designed for beginners who want to understand the basic steps involved in creating non-tabbed docks using ObjectDock Plus.

An assumption has been made that users have already installed ObjectDock Plus, so please do so before using the procedures in this tutorial (note – make sure that any free version of ObjectDock has been uninstalled previous to installing ObjectDock Plus). If you have any content files that you have downloaded for use with the free version, it is recommended that you copy these files to a temporary folder on your computer before uninstalling the free version of ObjectDock.

This mini tutorial has been created using the default Windows XP installation and settings, and illustrates procedures using the main ObjectDock Plus dialog boxes.

STARTING OBJECTDOCK PLUS

Start ObjectDock Plus by clicking Start > All Programs > click either the Stardock, or Object Desktop folder > click ObjectDock Plus icon.

If this is the first time you have started any ObjectDock program (Free or Plus version) on your computer, you may see a message from your firewall program informing you that ObjectDock.exe is attempting to access the internet. This message may be similar to the one shown in the image below:

Note – in this case, ObjectDock is attempting to access the weather information from the internet for use by the Weather docklet on both the tabbed and non-tabbed docks that load by default. Allowing this access is safe, and no personal information is given out by the ObjectDock program.

CREATING OR EDITING A NON-TABBED DOCK

1 – Right-click the ObjectDock icon in the notification area (A.K.A. the ‘system tray’) of the taskbar, and then select and click "My Docks" as shown in the image below:

Note – this tutorial will use a blank "My Docks" dialog (starting with no docks). If you want to start with a "blank canvas" when designing a new theme, simply select any current docks in the list, and then click the "Remove this dock" button to delete the dock – as shown in the image below:

2 – Once you have removed all docks, click "Create new dock" as shown in the image below:

This will place a default dock on your desktop, and invoke the ObjectDock Properties dialog (A.K.A. the "Dock Settings" dialog) to allow dock editing. Note – if you wish to edit an existing dock listed in "My Docks" dialog, simply select the dock in the list, and click the "Edit this dock" button to invoke the same dialog.

EDITING A NON-TABBED DOCK

1 – The "ObjectDock Properties" dialog will display with the "Appearance" category selected as shown in the image below:

This category allows you to enable and set icon size (both static and magnified sizes), enable/disable magnification, and work with the dock background. Note – the difference between the static icon size and the magnified icon size gives you control of the amount of zoom.

2 – Click the "Positioning" category in the left-hand list of the dock settings dialog to display the options as shown in the image below:

This will allow you to edit the dock’s screen position, edge alignment, and z-ordering. In this case, I have set the dock to the "Top" screen position, and I have left the "Center" alignment and "Always on top" Z-Ordering alignment default settings. Note – Z-Ordering refers to the "depth alignment" on screen (where X-axis is horizontal alignment, Y-axis is vertical alignment, and the Z-axis is the depth – or front to back alignment).

3 – Click "Dock Contents" category to display the dialog shown in the image below:

Note – I have deselected the "Show running tasks on the dock" option, to display only the static entries, which will be used in the next tutorial "ObjectDock Plus - Editing Non-Tabbed Docks 102".

4 – Click the "Appearance Tweaks" category in the left-hand list of the dock settings dialog to display the options as shown in the image below:

This category allows you to adjust (tweak) the zoom appearance, as well as some running task oriented tweaks in the lower portion of the dialog. The image also illustrates the "zoom" process while set to "Wide Mode" (note – the Wide and Normal modes refer to the expansion of the dock during "zooming", where the dock will expand at the ends more in "Wide Mode" than in "Normal Mode").

5 – Click on the "General" category, and then click the "Advanced Options" button as shown in the image below:

The resulting pop-up dialog:

This dialog allows you to select a few interesting settings. In addition to the top 4 check boxes, which are fairly self-explanatory (and can be experimented with), there are a few that may benefit from a bit of explanation as follows:

- The "Entry Label" font and size are changeable, though these changes only apply to "mouse-over" text displays.

- The "Attention" effect drop-down allows you to designate the effect displayed (or animated) when an entry is selected. This can be helpful if you are running a system tray dock and using an Instant Messaging program that animates the icon to show a new message, etc.

- The "Temporarily disable docklets" option is provided for troubleshooting purposes (which I have selected for emphasis in the image above), and would be used by anyone who is experiencing issues with a dock theme. Disabling the docklets will help narrow the search for the cause by removing them as a possible cause. If disabling the docklets fixes the issue, then the cause is likely in one of the docklets.

6 – To save a theme, notice the "Save Theme as" and "Load Theme" buttons in the General category. Click the "Save Theme as" button as shown in the image below:

Just type the name of your theme in the "Save dock theme" box (shown in the image above), and then click "Save" button.

7 – To load a theme, click the "Load Theme" button, select a saved theme from the list, and click the "Open" button as shown in the image below:

Note – it is highly recommended that you save your themes. This will allow you to reload a theme later, or recover from a crash of some sort. If you do not save your theme, and there is a problem which removes the theme from the screen, you may need to rebuild your theme.

This concludes the basics on creating a non-tabbed dock. More to come in "ObjectDock Plus - Editing Non-Tabbed Docks 102".

I hope you found this mini tutorial useful. Until next time, have fun and "Keep On Customizing".

Anyone want to help me kill my computer?

Monday, January 16, 2006 by lifehappens | Discussion: Personal Computing

I dont' really want to kill my computer but I am having EXTREMELY irritating problems with it. I don't know where the problem lies and I need help.

I have Vonage and get phone service without interuption, so I know the modem and router are working fine. But somewhere between the router and the computer it all goes to heck. The computer says I have a LAN connection, but I can't access the internet. The only think that works is turning everything off and rebooting....to include unplugging the modem and router.

I've tried everythingk I know to figure out the problem. Sometimes i get a warning that no IP connection can be established and than other times I see a warning about a gateway. i am very frustrated. HELP!

And for bonus credit, I could use advice on whether I really need to upgrade. I run Adobe Photoshop CS2 and I'm locking up the computer constantly. I've tried to not mulittask too much, but I'm still running very slow. I have 1gig of ddrsdram and a 200 gb hd I have an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (Emachines T6520) Do I really need a new graphics card and more Ram? I know I have 2 512 sticks so I'd have to buy 1 gig sticks and lose out on the money I paid for the 512s.......right?

I confess, I'm an idiot when it comes to the magic workings of computers....I know they work, I'm just not big on knowing how. But if you could explain it to me or give me an affordable recomendation.....I'd really be grateful.

PART 3 -My windowblinds Anti-Tutorial Tutorial

Po' Frames

Saturday, January 14, 2006 by PoSmedley | Discussion: WindowBlinds Tutorials

This chapter applies only to WIndow Frames/Borders. If anything here applies to any other area of WB Skinning, I haven't gotten that far yet.

What I Didn't Know-
The WB5 version of SKINSTUDIO allows you to make skins for WB5 AND previous versions of WB. Well, I knew that. What I didn't know is that you can make a skin for either version, say...you don't want to get mixed up in all the new stuff v5 has to offer and you want to keep it simple...or you want to make a skin only WB5 can run. OR make one skin that works well in both. This last one is the rub.

If you want to make a skin that works for both and or all...you essentially have to make 2 copies of everything for the WINDOW FRAME/BORDERS. (See opening statement..only talking about the frame here)

Having gotten frustrated trying to work with MagicPink on my STARTMENU, I decided to try TGA and PNG format, being under the impresion that I would NOT need the MagicPink. Which I wouldn't...IF...
I were making JUST a wb5 skin.

What I tried to do was this..(I told you I would flaunt my errors..lol) I attempted to use PNG and TGA formats in the WRONG skin format. If you are not making a WB5 skin, you will have to use the MagicPink for your frame. Here is a pic of what I kept getting.

That was trying to use TGA. When I tried to use PNG, I got a little black corner instead of a white one. For anyone using MagicPink and getting a pink corner...stick with ME, I'll get to that.

Now, after some whining and tylenol..it was explained to me that TGA and PNG were for the WB5 skins when making the frame. In SkinStudio's preview window, there are 4 sub-pre-views in the dropdown menu. Idiot I am, assumed they just SHOWED your skin in different states. And they do! But they are also there to APPLY AND/OR/EDIT your images for each of those states.
So I scrapped my mess and started a new one (skin, not mess. Not yet, anyway). I used PNG's in the per-pixel states as applies to WB5.

As you can see, the corner is much better. (This is the same template as previous image, just different color)

To do the same skin for versions previous to WB5, I will have to go back to BMP and MagicPink..but I can include both versions in the same wb file.

There are some differences in making the images,(You can save your files as PNG's in your Image Editor...SKINSTUDIO will convert them to TGA for you!) and I strongly urge you to read the following tutorial several times to understand this. Plus, it will make clearer what I have said here.>>Link

Now if you are still with me...

Those pesky corners and such in the frames. No matter what format you are working in...pixel, pixel, pixel...MagicPink, TGA,PNG, or BMP...pixel, pixel, pixel.
As I was advised when I started this..PIXEL BY PIXEL.

Let me put it this way...BE THE PIXEL!

You can easily skip over this and that, a detail here and there..etc. IT WILL show in the end and you WON"T like it. You might TELL yourself you do, but you won't.

My Pixel Problems-

Look at the right edge of my image. See how it's slightly transparent. You won't notice it unless you zoom in on it in whatever image program you use. But you will notice it when you try to use it in your skin. Like here...

I couldn't understand why I was getting that white line when my I set my margins correctly.

To correct this I have tried 2 different things. This is where the pro's may cringe and say 'There's a better way" and I hope they will let us know in this thread if there is. What I did was either go pixel by pixel with my eraser...OR..duplicate the layer. Both worked, depending on waht I image I was working on. Sometimes just 'sharpening the edegs will work'.

Now, I have been 'cutting' my images with a template. Look at this...

See that shadow around the top bar...that kept screwing up my cuts, often creating the semi-transparent pixels like in the previous image.
The fix..(which may be VERY common knowledge...but wasn't for me as I am still learning with Photoshop)...when you create your drawing your template files and you set the size for the image, enable the 'snap to pixel' and your image will come out with edges like in the bottom bar.

Finally...and I'm sorry, I must have deleted the images I would have used for this. When working with MagicPink and you get those pink corners and edges...open the image back up in you image editing program and get in close. The SLIGHTEST varience in that 255/0/255 setting will show. Sometimes the effects (ie, shadows, outer/inner glow, etc) can be MagicPinks enemy. A little outterglow bleed over and it's not true MagicPink anymore.

So, you get in there on those corners and go PIXEL BY PIXEL with that pencil or brush set at 1px. Can't get to that one in the corner or the edge...make a new layer, make your square, and scale it to fit if you have to.

Last time...BE THE PIXEL! Take the extra 5 minutes on an image and check those edges. It's almost amazing how a few changes on a few pixels makes such a difference when you reapply it to the skin.

I don't know if I have helped anyone, so as always, feedback is welcome. And I aplogize for my lack of knowledge in what could have been better terminology and wording on the technichal stuff. I will leave it to the experienced people to fill in what I may have missed. For their help and info I have provided here, I would like to thank Boopish, Bushman, and Night Train. If I left anyone out, I apologize.

PowerUser.TV scoop: Microsoft confirms Aero glass for Vista

Windows Vista user interface finalized

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 by Draginol | Discussion: Personal Computing

Back in 2001 Microsoft's early betas of Windows XP contained a user interface dubbed "Watercolor". But only months before the operating system shipped Microsoft completely replaced it with an entirely different look and feel called "Luna" which became known as "Windows XP Style".

That move has created speculation that current Windows Vista look and feel, called Aero glass, would be replaced by a different look and feel later in the beta process.

However, this week's PowerUser.TV podcast has an interview with Microsoft developers who have confirmed that there will be no major change to the look and feel of Windows Vista from what is being shown in build 5270. In other words, Aero-Glass is it.

Adobe Provides Beta Lightroom App.

Monday, January 9, 2006 by Patriots | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

Hey all,

Don't know if anyone has posted this yet. So, thought I would. Adobe provides Public Beta of Lightroom Application for Photographers.

The new application is designed to meet the workflow requirements of professional digital photographers and complement the abilities of Photoshop.

Check it out

Budget Cards - Sometimes You Get What You Pay For

Sunday, January 8, 2006 by LittleBearJason | Discussion: nVidia

I just got a new Gateway 3310 Desktop Computer a few months ago. It had built in graphics , plus it had no PCI Express nor AGP Slots. So I head on over to my favorite retailer for computer parts - Newegg http://www.newegg.com I ordered a E-Geforce MX4000 64MB 32bit PCI video card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130217

I thought this would be fine as an upgrade to play older games , and improve overall system performance. Yes and No. While it has nice things such as digital vibrance controls , and improved TV Tuner and video playback image quality , its sad to say that my built in graphics (Intel 865G) Perfoms way better in games then this card did. I guess it has mainly to do with the PCI and 32 bit memory interface on this video card I bought. The price was $41 after shipping and tax. So while this was a cheap upgrade , this was also a bit of a let down. Its no big deal , I guess I was expecting more. Just shows in this case you definently get what you paid for