WindowBlinds 6 and Explorer Backgrounds
Friday, April 18, 2008 by neophil78 | Discussion: Customization Software
It's a nice to have back in WindowBlinds features the possibility of Explorer Backgrounds ... I don't know how it's going on Vista but on XP, for special folders (pictures, music, control panel, ...) it's bringing a glitch because of shell images .bmp defined in skins ...
example:
... and in that skin it's not too ugly because the shell image is not too big.
1°) Will Stardock introduce a way to correct this ?
2°) Is it possible to add our own explorer backgrounds ?
Philly0381
Reply #2 Friday, April 18, 2008 4:12 PM
Reply #2 Friday, April 18, 2008 4:12 PM
Maybe more resonses would have happend is this was under Stardock Support. 
Wizard1956
Reply #3 Friday, April 18, 2008 4:25 PM
Reply #3 Friday, April 18, 2008 4:25 PM
They were working fine on my machine ...right up to the time they got removed without any explanation with the last update. If it was announced or posted and I missed it, my apologies to support. I'm sure it will be fixed , I just wasn't aware that it was broken.
neophil78
Reply #4 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:05 PM
Though everything (or nearlly) should be in Stardock support ...
Reply #4 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:05 PM
Maybe more resonses would have happend is this was under Stardock Support
Though everything (or nearlly) should be in Stardock support ...
neophil78
Reply #5 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:12 PM
They have been working like it's figured on the screenie since the begining of "Explorer Backgrounds" with WB6 on my XP SP2
but with the same trouble of shell-pictures displaying and it's also the same with latest beta version which didn't change anything for me ...
Wizard1956, do you mean that on a XP machine you had correct explorer backgrounds with correct shell_pictures ? no texture/color difference ?
Reply #5 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:12 PM
They were working fine on my machine
They have been working like it's figured on the screenie since the begining of "Explorer Backgrounds" with WB6 on my XP SP2
but with the same trouble of shell-pictures displaying and it's also the same with latest beta version which didn't change anything for me ... Wizard1956, do you mean that on a XP machine you had correct explorer backgrounds with correct shell_pictures ? no texture/color difference ?
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #6 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:12 PM
Reply #6 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:12 PM
I noticed this also...only 2 ways I can think of for it to be usable...have the backgrounds hide the shell images(not my fav solution)...or,get shell images to support translucency.
One of them already does.I forget which,either control or system.
One of them already does.I forget which,either control or system.
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #7 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:16 PM
Reply #7 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:16 PM
If you must have backgrounds but dont want the shell images to show...you can delete them from the folder...or edit the window color slightly in SKS and they will disappear.
I'd prefer a way to keep both back and images but on XP the backgrounds went wonky and turned black...plus they slowed folder navigation and use way down. (
I'd prefer a way to keep both back and images but on XP the backgrounds went wonky and turned black...plus they slowed folder navigation and use way down. (
neophil78
Reply #8 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:26 PM That's what i'm asking for : having both explorer backgrounds AND shell images displaying correctly 
I think it will not be possible as they are .bmp's (
Reply #8 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:26 PM
That's what i'm asking for : having both explorer backgrounds AND shell images displaying correctly 
or,get shell images to support translucency
I think it will not be possible as they are .bmp's (
neophil78
Reply #9 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:34 PM
Reply #9 Friday, April 18, 2008 5:34 PM
I think there may be kind of alternative solution : if you see explorer background there is two places in: one coresponding to "name" and the second for the other column titles ... Though if there's an option in WB which let user define if he want's to apply explorer backgrounds just on first part (name) it will be ok ... well not all the explorer background will be covered but at least one part ...
(of course that's a cheap solution and there's probably better to do for developpers as Stardock has ...
)
(of course that's a cheap solution and there's probably better to do for developpers as Stardock has ...
)
Wizard1956
Reply #10 Friday, April 18, 2008 6:24 PM
Reply #10 Friday, April 18, 2008 6:24 PM
No, sorry.I have Vista and I was referring to the fact that the entire option was removed by the last update. That's "how it's going on Vista" on my end. 
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #11 Friday, April 18, 2008 10:48 PM
But as I said...one of them already does support tga.It would be a matter of getting them all to support tga...and I doubt Stardock will see this as important,as explorer backgrounds are unsupported on XP(for obvious reaons...they dont really work)
Reply #11 Friday, April 18, 2008 10:48 PM
I think it will not be possible as they are .bmp's
But as I said...one of them already does support tga.It would be a matter of getting them all to support tga...and I doubt Stardock will see this as important,as explorer backgrounds are unsupported on XP(for obvious reaons...they dont really work)
neophil78
Reply #12 Sunday, April 20, 2008 2:51 PM
Reply #12 Sunday, April 20, 2008 2:51 PM
Is there a way to convert the shell-bmp's to .tga's ?
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #13 Sunday, April 20, 2008 3:26 PM
Reply #13 Sunday, April 20, 2008 3:26 PM
any image format can be converted to another...it just wouldnt do any good to convert shell images...they do not support translucency...
unless Ive' missed some new developement.
unless Ive' missed some new developement.
Neil Banfield
Reply #14 Sunday, April 20, 2008 4:44 PM
Reply #14 Sunday, April 20, 2008 4:44 PM
I.R.Brainiac: Where did you see explorer backgrounds are unsupported on XP?
Semi transparent explorer backgrounds are unsupported on XP, but normal explorer backgrounds are supported.
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #15 Sunday, April 20, 2008 6:28 PM
Reply #15 Sunday, April 20, 2008 6:28 PM
My mistake...transparent backgrounds are unsupported...still needs a hide shellimage option or/and translucency support on shell images.
This could be a neat and handy feature if used right.You could have a dark window skin so that light Text-Normal would be on dark areas of the skin...but the window could be light with dark text if there was a font color choice for explorer backgrounds.(there used to be a feature like that at one time)
And of course,the opposite scenario could have uses too...light to dark,dark to light.
I like background options...always thought they were a good idea,but as with all WB features...they need to be implemented correctly or they are just another way to screw up your blind.
This could be a neat and handy feature if used right.You could have a dark window skin so that light Text-Normal would be on dark areas of the skin...but the window could be light with dark text if there was a font color choice for explorer backgrounds.(there used to be a feature like that at one time)
And of course,the opposite scenario could have uses too...light to dark,dark to light.
I like background options...always thought they were a good idea,but as with all WB features...they need to be implemented correctly or they are just another way to screw up your blind.
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Reply #1 Friday, April 18, 2008 4:09 PM
BUMP