Help with Skin Installer

[LuciferVisuals]

Hello All
I'm new to Rainmeter, and to computers and to any kind of code. That said thanks to various help I'm getting on OK and have built several good things. What I hope to do is make them all modular, but also capable of working together in a suite, sharing more than just resources. But that's my problem and in principle I think I have worked out how to do that.

The actual problem that I cannot see a way round (without using external code), comes when installing the skins. What I would like to do is create a new skin (module), install it in the main suite, without over writing whats already there, just add to it.
I have been told how to achieve that using the advanced settings by preventing RM making a backup, which does work.

HOWEVER, the reason I'm not happy with that solution, is personally I do not need this ability at all, after all I am making all this on my PC, so I do not need to install it at all. I am thinking of any one else who might download some of this when its finished. Because Rainmeter "appears" to overwrite when new modules are installed into a suite by default.

Unless of course you go into the advanced settings to stop it. But I could easily be missing something obvious.

Obviously instructions or warnings in the skin will not be seen until it's too late, and in any event, lets be honest no one reads read-me files until after they have installed it and had a quick play, to see if its worth the effort. And its too late then.

So is there any way to force the skin installer not over write by default? Without the new user having to manually prevent it?

Keith

PS (I do know how to make my own installer using Bat files and VBS), but I'm hoping to find a native solution if possible.

PPS IF this isn't possible, perhaps it could be considered, for the future as a tick box option on the Skin Installer, e.g. Over-Write and back-Up.... OR Add to existing suite/collection.

Basically this looks like it would only need the box moving from advanced options to the main screen of the skin installer... Again pointing out the obvious..... novices are very unlikely to look at advanced options... possibly a minor modification to the accompanying message "Add to an existing Suite"

[SilverAzide]

PPS IF this isn't possible, perhaps it could be considered, for the future as a tick box option on the Skin Installer, e.g. Over-Write and back-Up.... OR Add to existing suite/collection.

It sounds like what you are describing is the "Merge skins" option on the skin packager's Advanced tab. This will allow you to create patch-type installations that preserve the existing skin/suite install while overwriting only the files included in the patch. The "Variables files" option will be used to merge two files together, so that a user's configuration will not be changed and only the new variables (if any) will be added.

Screenshot 2023-05-11 074300.png

[LuciferVisuals]

It sounds like what you are describing is the "Merge skins" option on the skin packager's Advanced tab.

Thank you, TBH someone else mentioned that to me, but I misunderstood them, I didn't realize it was an option I could set up when making the skin. That now sounds promising.

Keith

[Yincognito]

Thank you, TBH someone else mentioned that to me, but I misunderstood them, I didn't realize it was an option I could set up when making the skin. That now sounds promising.

Well, that someone does read extensive user posts to try and help them, but if users don't help themselves by checking out the indicated paragraph from the posted links, possible solutions will continue to be misunderstood...

[LuciferVisuals]

Well, that someone does read extensive user posts to try and help them, but if users don't help themselves by checking out the indicated paragraph from the posted links, possible solutions will continue to be misunderstood...

Ouch, !!! As you know Reading is a bit of an issue for me, I did read your post, but I misunderstood it. When it was repeated above, it clicked, and then I understood what you had previously said, which was obvious with hindsight...

Even then I wont actually understand it until I try and do it myself. But to paraphrase some earlier advice "I can keep hypothesizing or theorizing, but sooner of later I actually have to start writing it to see what needs to be done to it. So that's what I'm doing.

But I did think I would see if anyone else knew of a better way to achieve the "installation part", but now I understand that this option is in the Skin Making part of the process, it sounds much more promising. The word "Merge" let me to believe this was referring to the install part of the process, such as when Merging directories when copying them in file explorer. In fact in my mind the word merge is usually associated with
mixing finished components together, as opposed to making them, so an easy enough mistake to make....

But much more promising now I understand that it will force Rainmeter to Merge the finished skins, it sounds exactly what I need.

Keith

[Yincognito]

Ouch, !!! As you know Reading is a bit of an issue for me, I did read your post, but I misunderstood it. When it was repeated above, it clicked, and then I understood what you had previously said, which was obvious with hindsight...But I did think I would see if anyone else knew of a better way to achieve the "installation part", but now I understand that this option is in the Skin Making part of the process, it sounds much more promising.

Well, the past is the past and now I look like the bad guy for being direct in stating the facts, but I did repeat myself for that very reason, both before and after that post, so I mentioned this three times, the third time even said that:

for example, I packaged the 3rd part (the flying pigs one) below by ticking Merge Skins

which basically means exactly what you mentioned above (a tick in the skin making part of the process), while your answer in the following reply was:

thank you, Ill give all of that consideration, I'm finally started, so don't want to get side tracked atm, I'll go back to that [...] but I decided to actually get some stuff done and working, then come back to worry about installing.

so you basically ignored checking out the link from the manual altogether. It's not about the misunderstanding, which is normal and I've been in your place as well so I know it, but about the fact that experimenting yourself would be more productive if you considered checking out one or two lines written in the manual, when such a link is mentioned - good fundamentals and practice always complement each other, and excluding either from the whole is not helpful. Remember, we don't personally gain anything from this besides the satisfaction of offering some help and giving back what we also benefitted from others, the main beneficiary is YOU, the helped one, so that works in your favor.