Is it possible to add control elements?

[werehamster]

Hello everyone,

I'm fairly new to Rainmeter and I have a question about the feasibility of what I'm trying to do. Is it possible to put control elements, such as buttons and checkboxes on a skin? Ultimately I'm looking for a way to simplify convoluted menus.

I'd be grateful for any help.

[rbriddickk84]

Greetings!

Well, i can say yes, and no.
The "no" part means that Rainmeter is not like Delphy or other visual programming software. But with Rainmeter you can do much more then just button and checkbox controls. There are many ways to do that, but you have to make yourself the graphical elements, and write the script which positioning, animating, controlling and changing their behaviour.
With time you can make a very complex control UI, also Rainmeter is a friend with LUA scripting! ;D

There are lots of helpful topics on this forum to begin with, and also on Rainmeter's Manual is the best place to start!

If you are more comfortable with reverse-engineering, then browse the DevianArt website for designs, download some, and try to find some simple ones to check which part doing what.

Hope i was helpful, but ask away if you have more specific questions any time

[werehamster]

Thank you so much for your help.

I did the tutorial and was impressed by how easily you can get something that looks good. I'll definitely check out DevianArt and see if I can find something I can build on, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[rbriddickk84]

Glad that my info was helpful!

Have fun with coding and creating!