TranslucentRM

[oZone]

I know that there is arkenthera's Translucent Taskbar plugin.

There is also theAzack9's popular FrostedGlass plugin.

Looking through both source codes I noticed that they are very similar. And to learn more about c++ I have decided to try to merge them and to look at some of their issues.

And this is the result TranslucentRM plugin.

This plugin has two measure mode one for taskbar and other for skin.
"Translucent Taskbar mode" options:
Taskbar=1 will enable taskbar mode
taskbar mode has some specific options:
Info=1 will change information showed in log (Skin Tab)
Instead of selected accent it will return monitor count and instead of measure mode it will return used color in hex format (RRGGBB).

SecondMonitor=1 will enable support for 2+ monitor setup and allow to use child measures

child measure has 2 options:
ParentName=NameOfParentMeasure
Index=N where N is index of secondary taskbars, it is in range from 0 to (number of monitor - 1)
each time you move taskbars, refresh skin to calculate new index for each taskbars
Index=0 will disable measure


with Taskbar=0 plugin will work in "FrostedGlass mode"
Border=1 unlike "FrostedGlass" where you can choose which border you want, this will add all 4 borders

General options:
Type=N will allow you to choose accent:

Type=0 disable
Type=1 opaque, transparency is ignored
Type=2 transparent, border option is ignored
Type=3 blur, border option will disable color
Type=4 acrylic, for "FrostedGlass mode" this is broken in Windows 10 build 10.0.18362, 1903 (May 2019 Update).
I cannot fix it, this is Windows bug.

Color=RRGGBBAA color in hex format RRGGBBAA or RRGGBB
AccentColor=1 will use Windows 10 accent color, with transparency from color option (last 2 number - AA)


Take a note that this is an unofficial and undocumented method of using Win10 API and with future Windows 10 version this plugin might stop working correctly. You are using this plugin on your own risk and I am not responsible for issues this plugin may cause.

You have been warned!

And another important note, I am not programmer and I still beginner in c++ (I am learning c++ in my limited free time), so there may be some issues.

Minimal requirements is Windows 10. For acrylic option Windows 10 build 10.0.17134, 1803 (April 2018 update) .

Also for skin to show correctly you will need "Segoe MDL2 Assets" font installed, which is installed by default on Windows 10.

If there is some issues, reply here. I will try to fix it, but I won't promise anything.

transparent_color.png

transparent.png

opaque.png

blur.png

acrylic.png

measure example (for other example get skin in attachment):

Transparent skin with accent color

Code: Select all

[TranslucentSkin]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=TranslucentRM
Type=2
Color=00000050
AccentColor=1

Measure count monitor and accent color without changing skin and taskbar

Code: Select all

[Info]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=TranslucentRM
Taskbar=1
AccentColor=1
Info=1

Set only main taskbar

Code: Select all

[MainTaskbar]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=TranslucentRM
Taskbar=1
Type=2
Color=6311B250

Set different style to taskbars

Code: Select all

[MainTaskbar]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=TranslucentRM
Taskbar=1
SecondMonitor=1
Type=4
Color=0063B1A0

[SecondTaskbar]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=TranslucentRM
ParentName=Taskbar
Index=1
Type=1
Color=A70013

Known issues:

"Translucent Taskbar mode"
When clicking on start menu, taskbar will flicker. This is because Windows is reapplying default theme for taskbar.

"FrostedGlass mode"
Type=4 acrylic, for "FrostedGlass mode" this is broken in Windows 10 build 10.0.18362, 1903 (May 2019 Update).
I cannot fix it, this is Windows bug.

Source code, latest releases and latest documentation
https://github.com/ozone10/Rainmeter-TranslucentRM

for better taskbar customization I recommend you to use TranslucentTB instead of rainmeter plugin.

Changelog

28.02.2022
Support for Windows 11 features and tweaks
21.04.2020
Update files and tweaks
05.10.2019
Code refactoring, should be more stable.

[eclectic-tech]

Thanks for sharing!

I have my taskbar at the top of my screen, so in your example taskbar skin, your info icon appears under my Windows Start button. I might suggest initially placing it vertically slightly below the taskbar height. I already moved it to a different position, so Rainmeter will remember where I want it.

So far, it blends the taskbar into my desktop color schemes very nicely!

[oZone]

I also moved it else and I mainly use that skin to fast refresh (when you leave skin it will refresh it), so it didn't occur to me.

I will adjust position next time, when I am done with code cleaning.

[oZone]

I have updated plugin and added source code.

Plugin should be more stable.

[oZone]

Updated plugin.

For now I consider this plugin is complete.
But with new Windows 10 version, there may be another plugin update.

[oZone]

Windows 11 feature update.

Rounded corners and border color.

[StArL0rd84]

Windows 11 feature update.

Rounded corners and border color.

The example skin in your original post does not give away any juicy secrets of the plugins functions pertaining to colors, borders and rounded corners in Win11. And the option Corners=2 should be changed to Corner=2.
I think it's time you updated the example skins to reflect updates to your plugin.

I cannot figure out which combination of options to use to control the colors correctly.
And I also see a problem with the forced hex colors.
In all of my suite I use RGBA, so I would like an option to flip a switch in the measure allowing me to use RGBA.

Or if there's a way to disable the border altogether, or even make it completely transparent,
Then I could just overlay with an shape meter using RGBA colors.

I think Corner=2 and Type=3 are the right options for my application, but yeah, I struggle with the colors.

Code: Select all

[mMica]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=TranslucentRM
Type=3
Corner=2

[oZone]

Sorry currently I am too busy, but you can use https://github.com/ozone10/Rainmeter-TranslucentRM.
It contains example how to use Windows 11 features.

IIRC rounded corners require border, I don't know how it is in latest stable Windows 11.
If I get some time I will check it.

Also if you don't define

Code: Select all

BorderColor

the color will be gray and border will be thinner I think.

[etl]

So on Windows 11 version 22621,

Code: Select all

Type=2

still works to make the Blur effect on Skin, just not on Taskbar. Is this the expected behavior?

[balala]

So on Windows 11 version 22621,

Code: Select all

Type=2

still works to make the Blur effect on Skin, just not on Taskbar. Is this the expected behavior?

Same question here as well. Couldn't get this skin to work on windows 11, to blur / get transparent taskbar. I used this feature on Windows 10 and loved it, but in meantime I switched to Windows 11 and would like to use it, but can't. Is there a fix, and update or something?
Thanks in advance.