yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Mobile Themes] GallusLongus:
more widges ?...OmG :eek: hahaha...isn´t that hard enough to decide ? haha

Cool, looking forward :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] laurie9300:
NeonIch

Hi Vostradamus, I have admired your widget collection for a while now & have used selected ones from time to time when they suit my theme. Congratulations on your widget manager, this has taken your pack to a whole new level. Your recent "Neon" widgets reminded me of some widgets that used to be available for MS3.5 original version which I really liked, so I dug around & found them. The author doesn't seem to be around anymore. I was wondering if you would like to use the images to add to your, ever growing collection. I have attached all the resources I could find.......Thanks again
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
lol I like drowning in indecision :D must be a masochist :p :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Yep, I remember those graphics... the guy (he was good indeed with graphics) basically fell in love with the neon-like icons on a wm6.5 samsung (at least I guess... those looks a whole lot like the ones on my Omnia II) and reproduced them :)

Dunno if I can use a lot of that in my package though.... I could use the status icons, but not so much more than that.

Wireless icons are nice too, but last time I tried, mobile shell didn't let me add skins to them, or to be more precise: it let me add them, but then it used the default ones no matter what I was selecting from the change skin list... lol :p

I reported this sort of strange behaviour (bug?) on spb forum, but I got happily ignored :rolleyes:

Think I could give it a try again, it was 3.5.2 back then if I remember well... maybe they fixed that issue "silently", but I'm don't put my hopes too up :p

Other than those two things, there's not much to be used for the widgets... even if you or me should find the icons, icons are not part of a widget skin :(
[Windows Mobile Themes] claus1953:
Vostradamus, one more thing with this new version, when i do a restart of MS through your shortcut, the definitions get lost and i have to reapply your definitions xml again to get everything back.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
:confused: I'll try to reproduce the issue (which I didn't see at all), but it sounds quite weird for the restart shell script does nothing more than closing and opening the shell, without even remotely think of qa_layouts :confused:
[Windows Mobile Themes] GallusLongus:
Do not agree, works here perfect after a restart with ReStart script or soft reset.

Where did you paste the definition.xml ?
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released version 3.1 + a small new widgets library :)

ChangeLog, detailed info and download links in the first post ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] O.a.T.:
Update went easily and well. I truly do like this new approach to updating with only having to normally update the small xml definition and a small widgets addition, and on occasion the widget manager. Very efficient.

I was thinking about the day that I reflash my phone with my own updated custom rom that I use, which I do every couple weeks or so. At this point I guess I would have to install the base widgets library and all the incremental widget library additions. Any thoughts on how to support us flash junkies, other than described above? :D

This could also be a problem with new users, who would have to go through the same procedure outlined above. My only thought is to have a roll-up of the base widgets library, but that may also present some difficulties in terms of "timing" for regular users, but who don't keep up with every widget library increment.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Well thought, sort of a "small guide" for flash junkies :)

- Before flashing, make a backup copy of the "widgets" folder (it's inside Widgets Manager main folder)

- After flashing (and reinstalling mobile shell of course) do the following

-- Reinstall Widgets Manager

-- Reupdate the XML Definition file

-- Restore the backed up Widgets folder inside Widgets Manager

Done, all the widgets libraries you had before flashing are back there in their place ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] tacchan23:
Add the guide in the first post, so that when I'll restart flashing savagely I'll be able to find the instructions more easily:D:D:D
[Windows Mobile Themes] O.a.T.:
That'll work for us flash junkies :o. How about the new users? Back to base library and all the increments?
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
You're right :p

Done!
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Well, at least for now....

The base library is quite large already, don't think enlarging it would be too nice.

I could repack a number of other libraries in one every once in a while, like when their total size would reach a certain amount of Mbytes.

So we would have

- Base Library

- addon library 1

- addon library 2

..

..

.. addon library x

for a while, and then switch to

- Base Library

- Addon Libraries Pack 1

restarting the "small libraries cycle" once again.

How does that feel?
[Windows Mobile Themes] O.a.T.:
That's certainly an improvement over updating all the individual increments, but at some point you may still want to consider a base library roll-up.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
well, if the "bigger" packages will reach a notable number I would surely consider repacking them in a laaaaaarge single library, but I think it would be quite far in the future, if ever ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] O.a.T.:
I understand. Thanks for thinking about this.
[Windows Mobile Themes] GallusLongus:
That´s cool, can live with it very well.

Didn´t had time for the pix :(...but will do it this week...:eek:
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
I'm sure german users are looking forward to it ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] formula84:
Love your work, Is there any chance you could add the Diamond Style Manilla Clocks to you collection, this is one of the only things I find wanting. I like the clear with sliver numbers... If thats possible, mskip has them but I would prefer not to install the whole package just for one clock.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
If mskip is ok with me adding it to my package there's no problem on my side :) Try asking him about it (or he could even set up a single widget cab for you)
[Windows Mobile Themes] xaa:
It there are any way to see preview for widgets instead of installing them one by one from widget manager, restarting SPB shell, just to see how it looks like? There are to many of them :)

I've found that images are packaged to .dat archives but I can not extract them as these archives are password protected.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
The password for mobile shell dat files is b0fm18zq

I would love to show preview before actual widget activation, but I don't have any "quick" way to do it :(

I should store all the images somewhere (and that would not be a problem) and make the script open them using the default picture viewer of the device, but I fear it would be sort of "heavy" and not too nice to see.

Would be better if I had a way to show the images directly inside the widgets manager, but I don't think mortscript can handle that.
[Windows Mobile Themes] xaa:
Thanks a lot!
[Windows Mobile Themes] MattOG:
Thanks so much for all your work. There's a lot of hard work gone in to these. The new system makes it very easy and is impressive. Two suggestions for the manager if I may. Firstly, its not very 'finger friendly', is there any way to increase the font size in the manager to help this? Secondly, just a minor note, i think switching the word 'cancel' for 'back' on the bottom right of the menu would make more sense.

Matt
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
no problem in increasing font size, I just did it but I can increse it more :) no-can-do about the "cancel" word I fear, for it is handled by mortscript and I have no control over it
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
Do I have to install the widgets on a clean SPBMobile Shell because I installed everything as you wrote on page 1 and I can open the manager and choose all the good stuff, but nothing happens on my screen. I cannot choose your widgets as I can't see them in the list.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Nope, you don't need a clean install, it's sufficient being sure not to have any of my 2.x widgets installed. :)

Where do you look for the widgets? They're not going to show up in the "add widgets" menu, but in the "change skin" list for standard widgets.

Let's assume you activated a digital clock, you will have to add a standard digital clock to your screen, then edit layout, change skin and you should find the activated digital clock available in that list (I'm fairly sure I wrote this in the FAQ inside the manual)
[Windows Mobile Themes] MattOG:
Quick bug report:

Running HTC HD2, SPB MS 3.5.3, Newest Widgets cab with manager.

Clicked 'ok' to enable 'JH Space Text' on the weather tab (I think that's the top one) and got the following error:

Invalid Value " For 'HexToNumber'

Line 169 (\Storage Card\Program Files\Vostradamus\Widgets Manager\widgetsmanager.mscr):

regWriteDWord

('HKLM',Key,'Index',hexToNumber(index))

Also, is it me, or is the multifunctional-Digital 2 Weather widget blank?

Regards.

Matt.
[Windows Mobile Themes] meanmug:
Also delete old libs, because so far its getting better and better. I love it.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
About the error: it sounds like your widgets manager is not the latest version, are you sure you installed the 01 Mar 2010 cab? I should have fixed that in it (that error used to happen on the previous version) :confused: gonna try to reproduce the issue

Multifuntional Digital 2 Weather is supposed to show a piece of landscape as wide as the whole screen... I checked right now both vga (your one) and qvga versions and they're working fine over here :confused:

EDIT: I managed to reproduce the issue about that error, gonna fix it and release a new version soon (probably today) :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Yes, of course once I'll pack several smaller libs in one I'll strip the old, unpacked ones from the post :) (or did you mean something else?)

Glad you like it! ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released version 3.2 + a new widgets library :)

ChangeLog, detailed info and download links in the first post ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] formula84:
love you work and your widget manager revolution. Prior to the widget manager i was cooking a custom ms layout using some of your widgets. I really like the idea of only activating the ones you need to save on ram! Only problem is when cooked it gets stored to local storage, even though i have the space in my touch pro 2, i would prefer not to need the 40mb base library to get the select choices i want from it, would it be possible for me to somehow edit your base widget pack and slim it down leaving only the catagories or widgets that i want? If i can not do it myself would you consider maybe having a 2nd base package that is split up into catagories of widgets?

Thanks for your great work!
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks for your appreciation :D

What you're writing is kinda worrying, though....

By local storage do you happen to mean device memory?

If the answer is yes, then I

strongly

advise

against

this for several reasons....

1) widgets libraries are stored where the widgets manager is, so if you will want/need to add some of them they'll eat up more mbs from device memory

2) (and this point is the worst) having it on device memory will DOUBLE device memory usage for ALL the activated widgets :eek: and I highly doubt this is what you want ;)

Widgets Manager, when installed on storage card or similar as I suggested, helps keeping things clean and comfortable by storing all the widgets on the additional memory, bringing on device memory only the files needed to use the selected, active widgets.... if you place everything on device memory the only good it will do is keeping your "change skin" menu clean, but you would be wasting precious resources...
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
Thanks! Didn't find the faq by then but it's working now!

Really great job you are doing here! Keep it up!:p
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks, I'll try to keep improving it ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Tony Kitchen:
new update

Great widget update Vostadamus. I previously had all your widgets from 2.xx installed how do i add them to the widget manager, they dont seem to be in the update. I did not delete them when i installed the Manager. The 2.xx widgets were all Cab files right
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
When you say you did not delete them you mean you still have the cabs or do you mean you did not uninstall them before installing Widgets Manager? :confused:

You should have uninstalled them, as I wrote in the instructions... they could act weird otherwise....

Anyway, all the 2.xx widgets are inside the Base Widgets Library, download link in the first post, all the other libraries (and future ones too) are addons with new stuff.

Try reading again the whole first post, I think I wrote everything in there ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released version 3.3 (Widgets Manager only update) :)

ChangeLog, detailed info and download links in the first post ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] terrien4t:
hello vostradamus love your new wiget manager so much easier to use one thing though i have the previos ver with all the self install cabs on my pc and tried to install the beer battery wiget it shows up in the change icon area but when you select it no pic is shown and it does not work i noticed that these are not included with the latest cab and was woundering if you had a prob with them and just didnt included them.i really like the beer battery wiget.keep up the great work!!!ps i know what you mean by kitty helping you mine likes to sit in front of the screen until i give him some attention or trys to catch the mouse on the screen.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
No problems at all with the beer battery or any other previous widgets... all the 2.x widgets are inside the Base Widgets Library. :)

You don't need to use the old cabs to install them, just download the base widgets library and import it in the widgets manager using the appropriate function.

The weird behaviour you encountered could be because you tried to install the old cab, so just uninstall it and follow the correct procedure with the library.

Before version 3.0, every new release contained all the previous widgets plus the new ones. This was a plain waste of bandwidth.... now the libraries are "incremental", that is no 2 libraries contain the same widgets... if you want the whole set you'll have to download all the available libraries and import them all.

When a new library is released, it only contains the new additions, so it can be much lighter to download ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Tony Kitchen:
Battery widgets

Vostradamus for example how many Battery widgets should be in the Battery section with the new manager, i only have 4
[Windows Mobile Themes] Tony Kitchen:
Battery Widgets

I think i figured it out I was not extracting into the "widgets" I was extracting into the Manager
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
:confused: the import library function does everything by itself, you're not supposed to extract anything by yourself :confused:

Can't tell how many widgets you'll see in that category, for it will not always show the same number of widgets, but only the non-active ones... so it depends on how many you have activated :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] claus1953:
Your tool is getting really perfect, congratulations!
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks! :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] meanmug:
I like the new addition to the widget manager 3.3, but is there anyway to have a link to the additional lifestyle hubs or maybe even making it a third panel with wrap around effect(i.e. professional, lifestyle, and "custom").

Also you and mskip have done wonders for mobile shell, without you guys a lot of us winmo groupies would have abandoned it a long time ago, thanks.

By the way is this your first venture into development other than widgets, if it is I cant wait to see whats next.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Of course you can link to the additional hubs :) Just add to your screen a shortcut widget pointing to the desired panel: during hubs creation I also add a link to each one of them inside mobile shell "tools" menu exactly for that purpose :D

Yep, it's sort of my first venture, I did write a few veeeery small scripts for my personal use before, but they were less than simple (just mimicking a few screen taps and nothing more), but then I thought I would have liked to make "easier" some things I do often (like adding/removing widgets and so on) and I gave it a try, then I realized that maybe others could have found it useful too :p
[Windows Mobile Themes] meanmug:
Thanks, Is there anything you can do about the wrap around thing and also having the new panels to scroll up/down thru? Also have you thought about doing your own shell? If you would I would be more than happy to switch from MS to something you created.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
I don't know if it's possible to make it so that you can vertical swipe between lifestyle - professional - additional 1 - additional 2 and so on... I'll try taking a look around the various xml files, but I'm not that positive about it.

Making my own shell? :eek: lol I deeply thank you for your faith in me, but I'm definitely not capable of doing something like that :o

Digging inside some xml files, trying to understand how some registry values work together with the above mentioned xml files and writing some scripts to automate tedious tasks are far from being enough for making a whole product starting from scratch :D

I'm positive, though, that there can be developers on this board definitely able to do that, should they decide to give it a try ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Trevas:
Weather Fullscreen Icons

This skin for manilla has nice fullscreen weather, like rain and transparent clouds, it would be nice if you could put the images to work with mobile shell, unfortunally it doenst show the icons, you have to install and search inside the windows folder to see the icons, I don't know another way to extract the files.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Ehm... what skin are you talking about? :confused: maybe you were going to attach it to your post but you forgot it? :p

Anyway, I fear a real fullscreen weather widget is currently not possible on mobile shell: it would risk to crash the shell... the most I could do would be a widget as wide as the whole screen, but not as tall (480x480 on vga or 240x240 on qvga)

Know, though, that it would be very "heavy" in terms of device memory... the widget skin file on vga, for example, containing the 31 480x480 pictures, would easily be

more than 5Mb

just by itself :eek:
[Windows Mobile Themes] pvezzoli:
Hi Vostradamus,

I just wonder if you coulds add those clock in you widget set like TAG Heuer Carrera or Whiskey Ferrari clock...

Let me know if you can not find them... in the forum..

I wish you a nice weekend,

Paolo
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
I guess I can :)

If you could link them or attach them that would be very helpful ;)
[Windows Mobile Themes] pvezzoli:
Hi Vostradamus,

Here the link: xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=5809304

Thank you very muvch in advance,

Paolo
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks for the link, I sent a pm to the author asking for his permission to port his clocks on mobile shell, if he'll agree I'll proceed asap :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
€€ is coming your way for the nice result of your work! I would love to show you my startscreen but uploading images is still disabled for me :mad:.

TNX anyway..:cool:
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
you could upload your screenshots somewhere like imageshack.us and link them in your post ;)

I always love to see what you guys do with my widgets :p

... and stay tuned... some new widgets coming soon, maybe tomorrow :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
Also linking was disabled; 1.To prevent spam to the forums, new users are not permitted to post outside links in their messages. All new user accounts will be verified by moderators before this restriction is removed.

I'll keep in touch!
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Oops... sorry, I didn't know about that restriction :p

Guess I'll have to wait to see your screenshots then :(
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released version 3.4 :)

ChangeLog, detailed info and download links in the first page ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
Nice! Really usefull to see the amount of installed widgets in the deactivate folder.

Can we somehow see a picture of the widgets as a new option in the manager or can you PLEAAAASE make a nice list in the first post? You're topic will be a lot more attractive for new users :D:D:D
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Actually, I've been thinking about that for a while now :p

I'd like to put preview images in the widgets manager (they would be shown in an internet explorer window), but.... am I to be 100% honest? I'd have to take one screenshot for every widget I made so far.... and that's quite a looooot of screenshots.... so far I didn't have heart to do it :p

The main post of the thread should be updated too, I know... I should make it more "in line" with the widgets libraries concept, sooner or later I hope I'll manage to put my lazyness away and redesign it :p
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
Don't think it's lazyness, it's really a big job to do. Mb if you activate all and show like 3 sort of weather widgets in a row and make a screenshot. I did have a usefull program for sreenshots, shake and save or something, but lost it by flashing a new rom.:(
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks, but if/when I'll do it I surely won't do it on my phone... the emulator on the pc is long way better for something like that :p

If I had to do it on the phone for all the widgets I would go straight to the sanitarium after 15 minutes max :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] raza1:
Whaha, yeh I thought so you would have a better prog for that job, hehe.

Mb it's an option to put the emulator in your downloads...:rolleyes:
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
it's already on the first page of SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 [Tricks, Widgets, Themes, Other, FAQ, Config] thread (post #7) ;)

Veeeery useful tool! I'd be lost without it, used to use it for testing vga widgets when I had the Omnia 1, using it for testing qvga ones now that I have the Omnia 2, couldn't do without it... when you keep experimenting it's always best doing it not on your main device but on something else :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] cincy1020:
Hi Vostradamus:

This is the most amazing app!

I was wondering if you might add neon picture frames? And maybe larger neon backing panels (like for use around/behind digital clock, and large contact pics).

Thanks so much!

PS: Thanks again for helping me on the SPB forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Windows Mobile Themes] WMLover212:
Hola-

Sorry. I have been offline for a while now (my work decided to block the internet! LMAO). So, I have the manager now but how do I update the widgets? I was also hoping that you could tell me how to get some of your older widgets like the diamond clock and the dark diamond clock.
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Hi there! :)

Neon picture frames would not look that good... the neon effect would have a glow both outside and inside the frame, but the the inside part would be covered by the picture or I should keep the frame quite far from the picture inside of it... both ways it does not look good :(

Larger backing panels are possibile, what size did you have in mind? :)
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Thanks a lot, glad that you find my stuff useful :o :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] Vostradamus:
Released Version 2.08 :)

ChangeLog, detailed info & download links in the first post ;)

Enjoy! :D
[Windows Mobile Themes] Veritech:
Is it possible to make the number invisible as well until there is an incoming item. If that's not possible what about completely eliminating the text count and having the icon invisible until something received. :D