New to Rainmeter, questions about plugins and settings

[Saito S]

Hello Rainmeter'ers!

So, just downloaded and started using RM for the first time a couple days ago, on a brand-new desktop PC that I just finished building last week. I'm sure I will have many more questions beyond these going forward if I continue trying to use Rainmeter, but these are my primary issues for the moment.

One: plugins. How exactly do these interact with a given skin or skin suite? For example, if I want to use the SpeedFan plugin to monitor fan speeds, temps, etc, do I then have to find a skin suite that specifically has support for SpeedFan already coded into it?

For that matter, where do I get them? There's some information about various plugins in the Rainmeter manual, but where do I find the plugin itself (using, again, SpeedFan as an example)? A google search didn't really reveal much either.

Two: settings. Specifically, the Display Monitor drop-down. My setup uses a desktop monitor and an HDTV. The monitor is for browsing, writing, etc, and is where I would want all my skins to stay, pretty much at all times. The HDTV sits near my computer, and is used for movies, gaming, etc. However, to run games on the TV in fullscreen requires switching it to the primary. By default, it seems most (all?) Rainmeter skins use the "stay on primary monitor" setting, which would mean they would all jump over to the TV when I switch... which would not be good, since I would want them to STAY on the smaller desktop monitor so I can still view them while the game is running in fullscreen on the TV. Is there any way to mass-change this option in multiple skins at once? Or just change a setting in Rainmeter itself so that all skins default to "use monitor #1" rather than "use primary monitor"? Having to change this setting for every last skin I want to install/use would be rather tedious...

Three: code. I basically know next to nothing about using code, heh. But I'm certainly open to learning a bit more, at least enough to be able to tweak some settings. Is there any kind of beginner's guide to Rainmeter coding laying around somewhere?

Thanks in advance for any information!

[Bekarfel]

One: plugins. How exactly do these interact with a given skin or skin suite?

plugins allow Rainmeter to read data from external resources* and display them within the skin (for example, the Speedfan plugin reads data from the Speedfan program). If the external resource is unavailable, then Rainmeter will display 0 (or whatever null value the plugin provides) for that plugin's meters.

For example, if I want to use the SpeedFan plugin to monitor fan speeds, temps, etc, do I then have to find a skin suite that specifically has support for SpeedFan already coded into it?

yes, however most skins will require you to go in and set the correct values for your own system (since different systems are, well, different)

For that matter, where do I get them? There's some information about various plugins in the Rainmeter manual, but where do I find the plugin itself (using, again, SpeedFan as an example)? A google search didn't really reveal much either.

all plugins listed in the manual are included with Rainmeter and can be used with the associated external resource, provided the resource is available

Two: settings. Specifically, the Display Monitor drop-down. My setup uses a desktop monitor and an HDTV. The monitor is for browsing, writing, etc, and is where I would want all my skins to stay, pretty much at all times. The HDTV sits near my computer, and is used for movies, gaming, etc. However, to run games on the TV in fullscreen requires switching it to the primary. By default, it seems most (all?) Rainmeter skins use the "stay on primary monitor" setting, which would mean they would all jump over to the TV when I switch... which would not be good, since I would want them to STAY on the smaller desktop monitor so I can still view them while the game is running in fullscreen on the TV. Is there any way to mass-change this option in multiple skins at once? Or just change a setting in Rainmeter itself so that all skins default to "use monitor #1" rather than "use primary monitor"? Having to change this setting for every last skin I want to install/use would be rather tedious...

I have no idea if this is doable because of the way Windows draws to the displays

Three: code. I basically know next to nothing about using code, heh. But I'm certainly open to learning a bit more, at least enough to be able to tweak some settings. Is there any kind of beginner's guide to Rainmeter coding laying around somewhere?

yus! there are myriad examples in the online docs, and you can edit any script in any bog standard text editor, even notepad (although some of the better ones {not notepad!} have color formatting)

Thanks in advance for any information!

don't be afraid of breaking anything, just keep copies of what you got, and you will be fine!
Speedfan can be found here: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

*An external resource is defined by the plugin itself