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Icon bar or Icon list

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nattekeek
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Joined: May 11th, 2020, 12:16 am

Icon bar or Icon list

Post by nattekeek »

Hi Folks,

I would like to create a desktop with 50-100 icons. Preferably in Large (windows) format.
Of course I do not want to clutter the whole desktop with icons but keep it clean and tidy. Looking for some Icon Toolbar , or Icon List than can slide in and out . holding a certain amount of icons. And create a set of these bars, sliders to add all the icons to the disktop but keeping the desktop clean and tidy. I looked around on this forum and Deviantart groups, but could not find what I was looking for. Is the any application or script that can help me achieve that?

BIG thanks in advance.

Ps. if this is the wrong section to post this question my apologies, and let me know, or feel free to move it to another section.\

Cheers, DeadmÆn :D
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balala
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Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by balala »

nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 5:04 pm Is the any application or script that can help me achieve that?
Yeah, Rainmeter is definitely an app, which can help. You probably don't know how to create such skins, right?
nattekeek
Posts: 9
Joined: May 11th, 2020, 12:16 am

Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by nattekeek »

Not Yet! :D not a computer newbie but rainmeter is new for me. :D
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balala
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Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by balala »

nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 5:29 pm Not Yet! :D not a computer newbie but rainmeter is new for me. :D
Alright, firstly have you installed Rainmeter?
nattekeek
Posts: 9
Joined: May 11th, 2020, 12:16 am

Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by nattekeek »

Yes I have and tried several skins and apps. And not to make things complicated, but I also use Dextop to have several different desktops for different purposes, and using raindexer plugin there to apply different rainmaker skins to different desktops.
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balala
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Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by balala »

nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 6:24 pm Yes I have and tried several skins and apps. And not to make things complicated, but I also use Dextop to have several different desktops for different purposes, and using raindexer plugin there to apply different rainmaker skins to different desktops.
Well, me personally have no idea what Dextop or raindexer are, but suppose there is nothing wrong with them. First you have to create the appropriate skins. For first, the skin which slides out a panel would be needed and later we can add the appropriate icons, to slide together, because this is what you want, right?
nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 5:04 pm Looking for some Icon Toolbar , or Icon List than can slide in and out . holding a certain amount of icons. And create a set of these bars, sliders to add all the icons to the disktop but keeping the desktop clean and tidy.
For such tasks (sliding panels) you'll have to use ActionTimer plugin measure(s). To get seen how they are working in Rainmeter, there is a skins package, with eight skins, each using such ActionTimer plugin measures. The package is here (has been posted by Brian, back at the middle of 2015), please download and install it. You can check each skin, but there are two which here make sense, the SlideApps.ini and SlideToolbar.ini. On the first of these two (SlideApps.ini), you get two panels which slides to left when you're hovering the mouse over any of them:
GIF1.gif
Although the two sliding elements are not icons, modifying them is not a too hard work and can be done easily.
On the second skin (SlideToolbar.ini) you get a panel which slides up when you're hovering the mouse over:
GIF.gif
Please try out these skins (obviously, just to see what the ActionTimer plugin is capable of, you can give a try to all those skins) and let me know if these are somehow similar with what you've imagined for yourself.
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nattekeek
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Joined: May 11th, 2020, 12:16 am

Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by nattekeek »

Thanks! The SlideApps.ini and SlideToolbar.ini look promising indeed. Easy enough to additional bars and skin them to your liking. However not sure how I would manage to add a bunch of icons on 1 bar, which is what I would like to do. Perhaps I should read the docs first, I noticed they are now part of default Rainmeter, although I did not find them yet. If you have any easy examples on how to extend the SlideApps or SLideToolbar that would be great.
Btw, https://www.dexpot.de/ is a virtual desktop tool to have multiple desktops, and https://dexpot.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3936 is a plugin that allows you to have seperate Rainmeter skins for each desktop.
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balala
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Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by balala »

nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 8:28 pm However not sure how I would manage to add a bunch of icons on 1 bar, which is what I would like to do. Perhaps I should read the docs first,
Yep, definitely. The documentation is really extremely well written, it can help a lot, if you're reading it.
nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 8:28 pm I noticed they are now part of default Rainmeter, although I did not find them yet.
Yes, the ActionTimer plugin is now an included plugin. To see it, right click the Rainmeter icon in the Notification Area and click About. In the opening About Rainmeter window, click the Plugin tab (the third tab). There you can see a list of all plugins installed onto your computer. The first part of the list has the previously installed plugins and on the Built-in plugins section, you can find the (as its name says) built in plugins. There you can find the ActionTimer (released by Brian Ferguson) plugin.
In codes, the plugin is used in every Plugin measure (the Plugin measures are those which have a Measure=Plugin option), having the Plugin=ActionTimer option. For instance in the code of the SlideToolbar.ini skin, the ActionTimer plugin measure is called [MeasureSliders], while in SlideApps.ini are two such measures: [MeasureSlide1] and [MeasureSlide2].
nattekeek wrote: May 15th, 2020, 8:28 pm If you have any easy examples on how to extend the SlideApps or SLideToolbar that would be great.
No, I don't have, but later today I'm gonna write an example. How many icons would you like to add to a panel? How large those icons are? Do you have them? Maybe post a few of them.
nattekeek
Posts: 9
Joined: May 11th, 2020, 12:16 am

Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by nattekeek »

I have created the icons for windows as .ico, but I noticed Slideapps did not display the .ico so I might have to recreate them in png format. I did not manage to upload one, but Sharex tools shows 256*256. I want probably 10 or so per bar. but if I have an example I can sort out the size and amount of icons myself.
BIG thanks in advance!
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balala
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Re: Icon bar or Icon list

Post by balala »

nattekeek wrote: May 16th, 2020, 1:43 pm I have created the icons for windows as .ico, but I noticed Slideapps did not display the .ico so I might have to recreate them in png format.
I'm surprised, because .ico a supported image format in Rainmeter:
Supported image formats are .png, .jpg, .bmp, .gif (no animation supported), .tif, .webP, and .ico.
However .png is a much better format (especially that this is the default image format of Rainmeter) and I recommend it, instead of .ico.
nattekeek wrote: May 16th, 2020, 1:43 pm I did not manage to upload one, but Sharex tools shows 256*256. I want probably 10 or so per bar.
That is too big, because if you're using 10 (in one line - or column), the size of the pane will be at least 2560 pixels. Might be bigger then the resolution of your screen (depending obviously on the screen).
So their size will be probably reduced, but this is not a problem, can be done easily.
nattekeek wrote: May 16th, 2020, 1:43 pm but if I have an example I can sort out the size and amount of icons myself.
As said, I'm gonna write and post an example, but this moment didn't come yet. Stay tuned...