Vista skinning questions.
Help me,help you...God help us all.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 by I.R. Brainiac | Discussion: Skinning
Vista,WB and me got off to a rocky start but after some super tweaking help and finally getting WB installed correctly...my hatred of Vista has cooled to merely annoyance with some of the gui decisions microsoft made.With the right tweaks it runs fine even on my mediocre system.(turn off LOTS of stuff,all animations,popup thumbnails,superfetch and on and on...)
WB now does some pretty neat stuff on Vista and thats what finally won me over...well,at least I dont leave Vista at the earliest opportunity. 
SKS6 still cant touch 5 for ease of use(and never will in its current layout),but to skin Vista you have to get over it and dig in.You may click yourself silly but it DOES have some nifty features.It supports all the latest tricks now and the subframe builder is pretty cool.Vertically stacked images are back!YAY Neil. 
So I'm gonna use this screeny to ask some questions while I test different areas to see what they do.If you KNOW the answer please chime in.If you have a question,please fell free to ask.
My first tip for the counterintuitive section is...User pane icon would not move DOWN on the pane til I used NEGATIVE top content margins in the text tab.
 |
|
Page 4 of 5 | |
|
|---|
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #62 Friday, August 8, 2008 12:28 AM
Reply #62 Friday, August 8, 2008 12:28 AM
Heres a question about backgrounds(window)...the glass ones are fine in a restored window but maximized they grow very dark and even with non glass backgrounds assigned,WB dosnt use them on the maxxed windows.(like it does with other window parts)
Most elements so far have an alternate state or image for maxxed windows.Do the list view header bars have one?I made it translucent but on maxxed windows it goes dark too.(there is the normal one that would be fine there but it only shows when you first apply a skin and the window was already open)
Little help?
Most elements so far have an alternate state or image for maxxed windows.Do the list view header bars have one?I made it translucent but on maxxed windows it goes dark too.(there is the normal one that would be fine there but it only shows when you first apply a skin and the window was already open)
Little help?
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #63 Friday, August 8, 2008 1:51 AM
Reply #63 Friday, August 8, 2008 1:51 AM
Something I missed the first time around...you can assign text colors for glass window back grounds,that I knew...but I missed the drop down box for the text,normal and maximized.
Wondered why my maxxed window text was black...thats default for glass maxxed. Changed it and its mucho bettererer.
There seem to be no text settings for window backgrounds non-glass.
(be great if they did and they would show when a glass window is maximized)
Wondered why my maxxed window text was black...thats default for glass maxxed.
Changed it and its mucho bettererer. There seem to be no text settings for window backgrounds non-glass.
(be great if they did and they would show when a glass window is maximized)
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #64 Friday, August 8, 2008 2:02 AM
Reply #64 Friday, August 8, 2008 2:02 AM
All those dark grey areas are supposed to be translucent...and are until I turn the preview pane on in Layout.
Thats also what my maxxed windows look like even tho I have normal backgrounds assigned also.
Thats also what my maxxed windows look like even tho I have normal backgrounds assigned also.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #65 Friday, August 8, 2008 5:47 AM
Reply #65 Friday, August 8, 2008 5:47 AM
It would be very nice to have the maximized glass and the minimized glass to each have seperate images. When transparent and maximized a layer of darkness is added and i HATE IT!
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #66 Friday, August 8, 2008 5:54 AM
Reply #66 Friday, August 8, 2008 5:54 AM
you mean maxxed and restored?...thats what normal nonglass background should do...but it dosnt use them...maxxed windows get real flaky too. 
Maxxed windows should not be that different from restored.
Maxxed windows should not be that different from restored.
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #68 Friday, August 8, 2008 6:18 AM
Reply #68 Friday, August 8, 2008 6:18 AM
if your info pane is glass AND normal...inactive maxxed windows have this crappy mouseover color blocks.
vStyler
Reply #69 Friday, August 8, 2008 11:30 AM
me too
Reply #69 Friday, August 8, 2008 11:30 AM
When transparent and maximized a layer of darkness is added and i HATE IT!
me too
SKoriginals
Reply #70 Friday, August 8, 2008 11:49 AM
All 'glass' images should use the solid images for maxed windows. Also for all glass elements I've noticed its better to have the option "Copy alpha channel directly' enabled.
Where are you turning this on at? Never seen it (still finding stuff in Vista after all this time lol)
Yeah it does but only when you mouseover items... thats something I think Niel will have to address over time, nothing we can do about it and maybe nothing wb can do about it.. time will tell.
Just got to remember.. its going to take some time to get Vista and WB to play well togeather... it took XP and WB how long to get to where its at? And even that still has its own set of quarks (we've just gotten used to them over the years).
Maybe we all should start a new thread on things we would like to see addressed in upcoming SKS and WB updates
Reply #70 Friday, August 8, 2008 11:49 AM
if your info pane is glass AND normal...inactive maxxed windows have this crappy mouseover color blocks.
All 'glass' images should use the solid images for maxed windows. Also for all glass elements I've noticed its better to have the option "Copy alpha channel directly' enabled.
Most elements so far have an alternate state or image for maxxed windows.Do the list view header bars have one?
Where are you turning this on at? Never seen it (still finding stuff in Vista after all this time lol)
All those dark grey areas are supposed to be translucent...and are until I turn the preview pane on in Layout.
Yeah it does but only when you mouseover items... thats something I think Niel will have to address over time, nothing we can do about it and maybe nothing wb can do about it.. time will tell.
Just got to remember.. its going to take some time to get Vista and WB to play well togeather... it took XP and WB how long to get to where its at? And even that still has its own set of quarks (we've just gotten used to them over the years).
Maybe we all should start a new thread on things we would like to see addressed in upcoming SKS and WB updates
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #71 Sunday, August 10, 2008 5:28 AM
Reply #71 Sunday, August 10, 2008 5:28 AM
Tip...the toolbar-like button section seems to have the states out of order...it is using disabled for pressed.
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #72 Monday, August 11, 2008 1:56 AM
Reply #72 Monday, August 11, 2008 1:56 AM
Still some things that need skinning.(for a complete restored window anyways)
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #73 Monday, August 11, 2008 2:22 AM
Thats sorta what we have here...but if it will get us noticed,I'm all for it.
I've never understood why Stardock tends to ignore its skinners.Who's better than skinners at breaking something or exposing flaws?
Neils job is a tough one...I couldnt do it...but he dosnt communicate with us much.
Some simple answers would be nice...this we know,its being worked on,this we didnt know,we'll look into it,this is impossible,quit whining,this is fixed,do it this way...etc...
I see stuff like premultiplied alpha and wonder what it does...why do some images seem to need it...how do you know when to use it...and the help tab is useless.
Ovelays that slide to the left?WTH is that?Copy alpha channel directly?Why?
Reply #73 Monday, August 11, 2008 2:22 AM
Maybe we all should start a new thread on things we would like to see addressed in upcoming SKS and WB updates
Thats sorta what we have here...but if it will get us noticed,I'm all for it.
I've never understood why Stardock tends to ignore its skinners.Who's better than skinners at breaking something or exposing flaws?
Neils job is a tough one...I couldnt do it...but he dosnt communicate with us much.
Some simple answers would be nice...this we know,its being worked on,this we didnt know,we'll look into it,this is impossible,quit whining,this is fixed,do it this way...etc...
I see stuff like premultiplied alpha and wonder what it does...why do some images seem to need it...how do you know when to use it...and the help tab is useless.
Ovelays that slide to the left?WTH is that?Copy alpha channel directly?Why?
vogliadicane
Reply #74 Monday, August 11, 2008 5:22 AM
some of the questions/requests here were already adressed a long time ago, like this one from January 2 (half a year ago!!!!!)
WWW Link
(there were some more like that...)
at that time there were not so many skinners here into Vista so there wasn´t as much reply as it is now, but there WAS some trying to help from the few skinners that already worked with vista.
But what´s more notable is there was NO reply/explanation/statement for future plans or whatever from stardock itself, which could have at least clarified some things and stopped that ´guessing´ and ´trial and error´ about certain things - and that´s lame, I think.
It´s a pity because this way WB/SkS will never really adapt to our needs...
Reply #74 Monday, August 11, 2008 5:22 AM
I've never understood why Stardock tends to ignore its skinners.
Still some things that need skinning.
some of the questions/requests here were already adressed a long time ago, like this one from January 2 (half a year ago!!!!!)
WWW Link
(there were some more like that...)
at that time there were not so many skinners here into Vista so there wasn´t as much reply as it is now, but there WAS some trying to help from the few skinners that already worked with vista.
But what´s more notable is there was NO reply/explanation/statement for future plans or whatever from stardock itself, which could have at least clarified some things and stopped that ´guessing´ and ´trial and error´ about certain things - and that´s lame, I think.
It´s a pity because this way WB/SkS will never really adapt to our needs...
SKoriginals
Reply #75 Monday, August 11, 2008 10:34 PM
yes but there have been many updates since then and one never knows (without asking/testing) sometimes if that has changed. Skinning Vista is still relatively new comparatively. Some things have been added to skinning Vista and I know for a fact more features will be coming (like being able to skin the 'Large' IE7 and Explorer Navigation buttons). It never hurts to see or ask again.
Yeah I was thinking maybe something that could be restricted exclusively for SKS/WB request. Maybe even restricted to Masters and Developers only. Nothing against anyone else but at least this way the developers will know this group of skinners knows what they are talking about and why.
Reply #75 Monday, August 11, 2008 10:34 PM
some of the questions/requests here were already adressed a long time ago, like this one from January 2 (half a year ago!!!!!)
yes but there have been many updates since then and one never knows (without asking/testing) sometimes if that has changed. Skinning Vista is still relatively new comparatively. Some things have been added to skinning Vista and I know for a fact more features will be coming (like being able to skin the 'Large' IE7 and Explorer Navigation buttons). It never hurts to see or ask again.
Thats sorta what we have here...but if it will get us noticed,I'm all for it.
I've never understood why Stardock tends to ignore its skinners.Who's better than skinners at breaking something or exposing flaws?
I've never understood why Stardock tends to ignore its skinners.Who's better than skinners at breaking something or exposing flaws?
Yeah I was thinking maybe something that could be restricted exclusively for SKS/WB request. Maybe even restricted to Masters and Developers only. Nothing against anyone else but at least this way the developers will know this group of skinners knows what they are talking about and why.
vStyler
Reply #76 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:06 AM
Trial and error
Reply #76 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:06 AM
wonder what it does...why do some images seem to need it...how do you know when to use it
Trial and error
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #77 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:10 AM
We've suggested this before and were told no...
Its a good idea and restricting posting access to at least journeyman level means less confusion about what is and is not a bug,possible,impossible,etc...
All should be allowed to follow along tho.
I suspect the developers dont want to do it...there would be too many questions and issues to address.
I havnt seen them in any of these threads to help put an end to our misery or any misinformation we might be spreading.Neil came in once on NT's post to say something shouldnt be happening...we KNEW it shouldnt be happening...no mention of even looking into the problem.No answers for any of the other issues...mostly nothing at all.
So far just a few tips from Pixel Pirate and Danilloc.
Reply #77 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:10 AM
Yeah I was thinking maybe something that could be restricted exclusively for SKS/WB request. Maybe even restricted to Masters and Developers only. Nothing against anyone else but at least this way the developers will know this group of skinners knows what they are talking about and why.
We've suggested this before and were told no...
Its a good idea and restricting posting access to at least journeyman level means less confusion about what is and is not a bug,possible,impossible,etc...
All should be allowed to follow along tho.
I suspect the developers dont want to do it...there would be too many questions and issues to address.
I havnt seen them in any of these threads to help put an end to our misery or any misinformation we might be spreading.Neil came in once on NT's post to say something shouldnt be happening...we KNEW it shouldnt be happening...no mention of even looking into the problem.No answers for any of the other issues...mostly nothing at all.
So far just a few tips from Pixel Pirate and Danilloc.
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #78 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:11 AM
Your a big help John!...idiot.
Reply #78 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:11 AM
Trial and error
Your a big help John!...idiot.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #79 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:04 AM
Reply #79 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:04 AM
How mnay hours have we spent with "trial and error" only to find out a section is not supported?
I.R. Brainiac
Reply #80 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:00 AM
Reply #80 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:00 AM
True...trial and error can many times be inconclusive...doubt becomes a skinners constant companion...does this work,or am I just doing it wrong?
Its amazing to see how fast you can do an XP skin now because you KNOW what to stop screwing with...and then get into vista and the process bogs down to a crawl because Stardock dosnt document anything worth a damn.
Its amazing to see how fast you can do an XP skin now because you KNOW what to stop screwing with...and then get into vista and the process bogs down to a crawl because Stardock dosnt document anything worth a damn.
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
|
|
Page 4 of 5 | |
|
|---|
Reply #61 Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:14 PM
With sizing margins at all 4's,it was putting a true size version inside a stretched version(that had just the button face color showing inside the margins)