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First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

A package of skins with a "theme" or by a single author
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jsmorley
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Posts: 22628
Joined: April 19th, 2009, 11:02 pm
Location: Fort Hunt, Virginia, USA

Re: First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

Post by jsmorley »

nosanctuary wrote:Turns out, that's not as big a problem as I was thinking. I just changed the AM/PM X value to be relative to the Time meter. Not sure why that didn't occur to me before. :confused:
Yes. I would be tempted to right align the time string, then have the AM/PM string relative to that. That way that AM/PM meter won't move around as the time changes.
nosanctuary
Posts: 24
Joined: February 21st, 2018, 4:51 pm

Re: First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

Post by nosanctuary »

jsmorley wrote:Yes. I would be tempted to right align the time string, then have the AM/PM string relative to that. That way that AM/PM meter won't move around as the time changes.
Also a fantastic idea! I just read the whole thread on the chameleon plugin, it may be worth considering for when wallpapers are switched out...at least as an option. I kinda like picking the colors personally, but it might not be such a bad thing to have the option to do it via chameleon as well.

I also want to add a link to the weather.com page for additional forecast info and find some way to integrate a hurricane tracker as well. Then I was thinking although I use the imperial system, it might be nice to use the metric barometric pressure measurement since that's usually what is used during hurricane season.

I also mostly have a Reminder skin to add, then I can tweak it and make it more accessible for users with other screen resolutions. :)
F!.OW
Posts: 22
Joined: April 1st, 2018, 12:42 pm

Re: First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

Post by F!.OW »

I like the cleanliness, but the weather information that you do have displayed is a little overwhelming.

From a design point of view, it needs some breathing room and a little more variation in font sizes. Plus all those "line" arrows point your eyes away from the information. Below is an example to better illustrate.

Tips (to start you off):
- Reduce the size of your PNGs, specifically Top & End Divider.
- Use MeterStyles to reduce your code. I've marked my changes with leading ;........
- Measure=WebParser is sufficient, you can safely remove Plugin=WebParser
Note: WebParser was previously a plugin measure.
https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/measures/webparser/
WeatherCenter.zip
(4.22 KiB) Downloaded 63 times
Weather_spaced.jpg
nosanctuary
Posts: 24
Joined: February 21st, 2018, 4:51 pm

Re: First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

Post by nosanctuary »

Thanks, I'll take a look at this.

One other question I have...I use imperial measurements mostly, EXCEPT for barometric pressure. Is there a way to have just that info returned in metric? The way it's currently set up, I think I would have to add a url to a measure but am unsure of how to change the unit of measurement for just that measure as it's pulled from the variables file.
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jsmorley
Developer
Posts: 22628
Joined: April 19th, 2009, 11:02 pm
Location: Fort Hunt, Virginia, USA

Re: First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

Post by jsmorley »

nosanctuary wrote: February 14th, 2019, 3:46 pm Thanks, I'll take a look at this.

One other question I have...I use imperial measurements mostly, EXCEPT for barometric pressure. Is there a way to have just that info returned in metric? The way it's currently set up, I think I would have to add a url to a measure but am unsure of how to change the unit of measurement for just that measure as it's pulled from the variables file.
Rather than making another entire trip out to the internet to get one value, you could create a Calc measure that multiplies the value you already have:

Converting from millibars to inches of mercury
Value in millibars X 0.0295300 = value in inches

Converting from inches to millibars of mercury
Value in inches X 33.8639 = value in millibars

Code: Select all

[Rainmeter]
Update=1000
DynamicWindowSize=1
AccurateText=1

[MeasurePressureInInches]
Measure=String
String=30.05

[MeasureConvertInchesToMillibars]
Measure=Calc
Formula=Round(MeasurePressureInInches * 33.8639,1)

[MeasurePressureInMillibars]
Measure=String
String=1017.6

[MeasureConvertMillibarsToInches]
Measure=Calc
Formula=Round(MeasurePressureInMillibars * 0.0295300,2)

[MeterPressure]
Meter=String
FontSize=12
FontWeight=400
FontColor=255,255,255,255
SolidColor=47,47,47,255
Padding=5,5,5,5
AntiAlias=1
DynamicVariables=1
Text=[MeasurePressureInInches] in inches is [MeasureConvertInchesToMillibars] in millibars#CRLF#[MeasurePressureInMillibars] in millibars is [MeasureConvertMillibarsToInches] in inches 

1.jpg


Naturally, the String measures in my example will be the WebParser child measure returning the barometric pressure in your actual skin.
nosanctuary
Posts: 24
Joined: February 21st, 2018, 4:51 pm

Re: First attempt at desktop suite...constructive criticism?

Post by nosanctuary »

I will have to try that - that makes more sense than trying to pull another string. :)
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