ObjectDock Plus – Editing Non-Tabbed Docks 102

A mini tutorial for beginners

Jan 23, 2006 2:25 AM 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".

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ObjectDock Plus – Create Tabbed Dock 101

A mini tutorial for beginners

Jan 23, 2006 2:02 AM 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".

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ObjectDock Plus - Creating Non-Tabbed Docks101

A mini tutorial for beginners

Jan 23, 2006 1:43 AM 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".

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IconPackager activation limit reached.....

Dec 27, 2005 10:21 PM by Corky_O Discussion: Stardock Support General

To any support personnel,

Could you please reset my account?

I received an "error 6" indicating an activation limit reached and that contacting support to request a reset would be in order. Unfortunately, the two e-mails I sent were returned with a text file indicating they were flagged as Spam.....

This is going to make it hard to contact support for resets, I think....;p

Anyway, could someone reset my account, or let me know if I need to uninstall and not use IconPackager?

All subscriptions are up to date. ;)

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Maximum activations reached.....again.

Guess I better stop testing the beta....

Nov 20, 2005 8:36 AM by Corky_O Discussion: Stardock Support General

Sorry to bother, but could someone reset my account?

I think testing has reached an end for me, though I can no longer use WB5 beta.

Thanks one way or the other. ;p

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Axialis IconWorkshop 6 ... Now Available.

Full support for Vista icons

Nov 18, 2005 5:23 AM by Corky_O Discussion: Personal Computing

For those like myself who can use all the help they can get creating icons, Axialis has released the newest version of IconWorkshop in version 6.

"IconWorkshop loads, creates, edits, saves Vista® icons. Microsoft® Vista®, the next version of Windows to arrive, includes a new PNG compressed icon format".

Current owners can use the Help > Online updates link in the program to access the upgrade, which also includes a link to free "Image Objects" which makes creating icons easy and fun for the artist in all of us. Look for the link in both the tip dialog, as well as the release note dialog that pops-up after updating.

Have fun, here is a link as well http://www.axialis.com/iconworkshop/ ;)

1 Reply Reply 15 Referrals

Jafo, or another admin capable

TMI posted....

Nov 9, 2005 2:29 AM by Corky_O Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

Jafo, or another with access....

We need a clean up in aisle 93 here https://www.wincustomize.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=153&AID=91293#713200

Issue should be clear. ;)

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Activation maximum reached?........

Have I missed something?....

Nov 1, 2005 12:29 PM by Corky_O Discussion: WindowBlinds

Any knowledge available on this one?

I have been testing WB5 beta on my desktop and notebook for the past couple of weeks, by installing the beta directly (no 4.6 pre-install).

I completed that testing, and moved on to installing 4.6 first, and then beta 5 for further testing, and the desktop installed and applied without issue.

The notebook on the other hand installed 4.6 and beta 5, including the "activation product" showing in the progress text toward the end of installation.

I rebooted the computer after both 4.6 and beta 5 install > loaded beta 5 > selected a skin > clicked "Apply this skin now" > received the two images below. Note - I tried this twice (once through router, once directly - all information is correct in text fields).

Any fixes for this one available, or am I SOL?

Will check back after work.

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My report after testing WB5 beta...

Just a couple of issues, and a fun puzzle..

Nov 1, 2005 1:55 AM by Corky_O Discussion: WindowBlinds

This is probably more for Neil (WB developer) than anything else.

I have done a clean install of the OS (both Windows XP Home and Pro) on my notebook and desktop - 3 times in the last week to test the installation and functionality of WB5 beta on my systems. I will list the Troubleshooting report text at the end.

I have used Stardock Central each time to install the programs I use: WindowBlinds, IconPackager, and ObjectDock Plus - all of which were reinstalled after each clean install of the OS.

Each time, I installed WB5 beta directly (no preinstalling of 4.6) without issue during installation (activation completed each time, with a message from firewall that "Activate.exe" was attempting to access the internet- which was allowed successfully).

I rebooted each time after installing WB5 beta.

The only issues I have seen are as follows:

In all three tests on both machines, I installed the WB5 program > rebooted > applied the "StealthOS" skin > unloaded WB using the config panel > attempted to use the Display Properties\Themes tab\Theme drop-down list to reapply the default Windows XP theme. In two of the three clean install procedures on both machines, I ran into an issue with the Themes tab preview, and the Appearance tab preview not displaying a shell image during the initial application of skin and unloading of WB5 beta (see images below).

In all but one of these cases, applying the theme (even though the shell was not displayed) resulted in no application of the default Windows XP theme, and a subsequent reboot of the system to determine if the theme would apply after rebooting - resulted in the StealthOS skin being applied (either completely, or partially).

The fix was to start WB config panel > apply the "Windows Classic" listing in WB > unload WB using link in config panel > use Display Properties\Themes tab\Theme drop-down list, to apply the Windows Classic theme > reboot > apply the Windows XP theme using the Display Properties\Themes tab\Theme drop-down list, after reboot. All instances of this work around were successful.

When this issue occured, it was only after the first attempt to apply and unload during each test procedure. After using the work around listed above, the StealthOS skin applied and unloaded as expected - with the Windows XP shell style displayed correctly in the Display Properties\Themes tab, allowing for the correct application of the Windows XP theme directly after unloading WindowBlinds.

In the one case of applying the Windows XP theme using the Display Properties\Themes tab\Theme drop-down list (even though the Windows XP shell was not displayed) the Windows XP theme applied only after rebooting, with the issues illustrated below.

The issue shown with Photoshop menus was persistent throughout the system and installed programs. The title bar retained the StealthOS sizing (pixel height and button sizes) as well. The Start menu issue was only seen in the menu itself, with the All Programs menu using the default "blue" color overlay for mouse-over.

In the first clean install test procedure (on both machines), I tested a few other skins as well (before using the "work around" listed above) and could not get WB5 to unload cleanly during the initial application and unloading test after installing WB5 beta.

In all cases, WB5 beta seemed to stabilize after a successful reapplication of the Windows XP theme, and then reapplying of a skin and use.

A couple of other issues were:

1 - When applying a system change (say changing the number of programs in the start menu via Start Menu Properties > Customize > OK > Apply), the taskbar will flicker (almost fail) for a second as the application is made.

2 - As I have mentioned in another post, Painter IX had an issue with version 4.6 - where the program's titlebar buttons, Min, Max\Restore, and Close - did not function. WB5 seems to have fixed this so that the program's titlebar buttons function (though this only applies to skins made for WB5, not skins made for WB4.6), but the same buttons on an inner "file" window still do not function in any skin.

That is about it for my part. I am still using, and will continue to use WB5 beta (with StealthOS skin) because all in all, these issues can be resolved in time and do not bother me because the work arounds are easy.

For a bit of fun, I have included a window puzzle titled: "Now where was I?"

Here are the Troubleshooting reports:

Desktop (Home built - ASUS MoBo w/ Intel 845G chipset, P4 2.5 Ghz processor, 400 Mhz FSB, 1.5 GB RAM (PC2100), Antec TruePower 380, Maxtor hard drives (7200 RPM), Plextor optical drives)

WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to RADEON X700 Series
'RADEON X700 Series Secondary ' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

Notebook: Dell Inspiron 9300 (Dell MoBo w/ Intel 915 chipset, Pentium M 1.6 Ghz, 533 Mhz FSB (PCI express), 2 GB RAM (PC2-4200), 40 GB Hitachi hard drive, Teac optical drive)

WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Default Monitor) 1 is attached to ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300
'ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 ' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

Thanks for the great fun, Stardock. ;)

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Happy Halloween...

Did not see any other posts...

Oct 31, 2005 10:59 PM by Corky_O Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

I did not see a post for us to wish each other well (though I may just be blind).

Anyway, for those who are celebrating it, Happy Halloween. :HOT:

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BootSkins XP	Cursor FX	Dream	Icon Packager
LogonStudio XP	LogonStudio	Object Dock	Sound Schemes
Suites	WallPapers	WindowBlinds	All