Mini-Contest for Start8 Start Buttons!
Monday, August 5, 2013 by Island Dog | Discussion: WinCustomize News
I thought it would be fun to have a quick mini-contest as we think about a bigger competition for the end of the year. I chose Start8 as it’s easy to make start buttons for and can include a broader reach of people. This is also a great to get some exposure as Start8 has been downloaded millions of times and is in the top lists of sites like download.com.
Link: Start8
A start button for use in Start8 is just an image file with 3 vertically stacked images in a .png format.
Here’s a short guide on creating them: https://forums.wincustomize.com/436004/page/1/
Rules
- This is a quick, casual contest so the rules are few. Most importantly the images used must be yours or have the relevant permissions included, which is the case for most skins uploaded on WinCustomize.com. Judging will be done by WinCustomize admins and moderators by voting to determine the top 3 start buttons. We will be looking for the most creative buttons you can come up with, that still works well with the start menu.
Uploading
- Upload your Start8 start buttons to the Start8 gallery by clicking here, or through the Upload page on WinCustomize. In the description, make sure the first line is “Start8 Mini-Contest” so we know which ones to include in judging. Submit as many as you like, just remember quality goes a lot farther than quantity.
Dates and Prizes
Entries can start today, August 5th, 2013 and we’ll conclude the contest on Monday, August 26th, at noon. Judging will commence after that and the winners will be announced shortly after that.
1st – One year subscription/renewal to Object Desktop.
2nd – One year subscription/renewal to WinCustomize, and a license for Start8
3rd - License for Start8
Have fun and lets see some cool buttons!
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Reply #22 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 11:43 AM
I was a few seconds when late and Spencer had the answer. Do remember that it will only work with the default wb skin applied. It's the first WB and says default just in case I thought I would add that.
Reply #23 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 11:44 AM
No need, Dave, but thanks. By unloaded, I meant using the default Windows8 skin.
Thanks ID. I thought I was missing something. Was getting frustrated trying to use both. 
Reply #24 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 12:29 PM
I'm on Win7. I can still make a button or three. Don't need Start8 to do that.
Although I think someone will have to test it.
Reply #25 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 12:41 PM
As long as the spacing is the same on all 3 states, it should work. My advice would be to download an existing start 8 image from the gallery and use it as a sizing guide.
Of course I would never upload anything before testing it (or having someone who has windows 8 test it), but if the spacing and size were correct, then it would really be necessary.
Reply #26 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 12:44 PM
There are also several included images which you can find in the Start8 directory for reference.
Reply #27 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 1:23 PM
I think that anyone that works skinstudio will be able to create the image and enter their work. It's a pretty basic 3 image count, vertical placement image. I don't have win8/start8 so I would need some help in determining how size impacts the overall scheme by testing them and giving me back a screenie. Just piddling here...
Thanks Dave, I'll do that, are you using win8/start8?
Reply #28 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 1:27 PM
gmc2 I'm a user of skins not a skinner and I'm not running Windows 8 so pretty much useless. 
Reply #32 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 3:16 PM
I checked out some images. They're pretty straight forward. Just make sure spacing is even all around.
Reply #33 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 8:29 PM
OK, Wizard1956 has enlightened me.
We can use WindowBlinds on Windows8 and still use the Start8 start button by going into WB Config and setting it to always use the OS start button.
Then the button may be changed with Start8.
Reply #34 Wednesday, August 7, 2013 8:56 AM
Here is a question that at least makes sense to me. Since the start8 button is so small would it make sense to say if you had 5 buttons done. Make a screen shot for each and upload them all in one folder to WC?
Reply #35 Wednesday, August 7, 2013 9:06 AM
Here is a question that at least makes sense to me. Since the start8 button is so small would it make sense to say if you had 5 buttons done. Make a screen shot for each and upload them all in one folder to WC?
As with anything on WC, only bundle them if they the same style with minor differences.
Reply #36 Thursday, August 8, 2013 9:48 AM
Just a reminder:
In the description, make sure the first line is “Start8 Mini-Contest” so we know which ones to include in judging. Submit as many as you like, just remember quality goes a lot farther than quantity.
Reply #37 Thursday, August 8, 2013 10:47 AM
Is there a maximum size recommended for the preview. Mine is kind of skewered, I'd like to remedy that.
Reply #38 Thursday, August 8, 2013 11:23 AM
GMC2, It would appear that you uploaded some, but didn't enter them into the contest?
Reply #39 Thursday, August 8, 2013 11:58 AM
Is there a maximum size recommended for the preview. Mine is kind of skewered, I'd like to remedy that.
You will want to stick with a somewhat square image.
Reply #40 Thursday, August 8, 2013 12:19 PM
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Reply #21 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 11:40 AM
Quoting RedneckDude, reply 9Is it just me, or do you have to unload WindowBlinds in order to use these buttons?
I ask again...
This is all I know. I have windowblinds installed as you know I need that for making skins. Start 8 will only work if the default WB skin is applied. I could uninstall WB to check for you but it's running good so don't want to mess with it.
The only other thing I can guess at is this. i'm sure many people only run start8 from all the things I have read all over the web. I find it hard to believe it won't run on win8 without WB. Hopefully someone will come in and have something else to add.