Beginner help with first VS

[Qwerky]

I give up on your textcolors. I tested in Basic and Fonts & System Metrics > CAPTIONTEXT:COLOR and INACTIVECAPTIONTEXT:COLOR work just fine. Show me a picture of the text you  want changed. Maybe we are talking about two different things.

In the attachment of the post above, the window is titled "Win7 Style Builder... ".  The title text is black; I wish to change it to white.

[3am]

I have no idea why you are having a problem. Sorry

[Qwerky]

I have no idea why you are having a problem. Sorry

Thanks for trying to help; it is appreciated.

[3am]

Try adding textcolors to Windows & Caption Buttons > Basic > Frames > Window > Top > Active and Inactive. This shouldn't work. But what the hell give it a shot.

[Mr GRiM]

post your msstyles and we will take a look and then see what the problem is lol

[Qwerky]

Try adding textcolors to Windows & Caption Buttons > Basic > Frames > Window > Top > Active and Inactive. This shouldn't work. But what the hell give it a shot.

Unfortunately, didn't help.

[Qwerky]

post your msstyles and we will take a look and then see what the problem is lol

Glad to.  But the forum won't accept that file as an upload...?

[Mr GRiM]

Put it in a zip and it will

[Qwerky]

Put it in a zip and it will

Great.  Here it is...

[Panda X]

It works for me without any modifications:




Are you applying it through WSB or the Personalization control panel?

[Qwerky]

It works for me without any modifications:

Are you applying it through WSB or the Personalization control panel?

Through the control panel.

[Panda X]

Through the control panel.

In the .theme file that you are using the color for the titlebar could be defined and thus overriding the property in the msstyles. If you open the .theme in notepad is there a section named [Control Panel\Colors] ?

[Qwerky]

In the .theme file that you are using the color for the titlebar could be defined and thus overriding the property in the msstyles. If you open the .theme in notepad is there a section named [Control Panel\Colors] ?

Yes, there is, and thank you for reminding me!  I removed that section, and suddenly the window title text became white (as specified in msstyles); I restored the section and the title text returned to black.  BUT... previously (before using Windows Style Builder) I had tried modifying those settings, and the only one which had any effect was 'Background'.  Here is that section from my .theme file; can you tell me which settings should and should not have effect:

Code:

[Control Panel\Colors]
Scrollbar=200 200 200
Background=0 128 255
ActiveTitle=153 180 209
InactiveTitle=191 205 219
Menu=240 240 240
Window=255 255 255
WindowFrame=100 100 100
MenuText=0 0 0
WindowText=0 0 0
TitleText=0 0 0
ActiveBorder=180 180 180
InactiveBorder=244 247 252
AppWorkspace=171 171 171
Hilight=51 153 255
HilightText=255 255 255
ButtonFace=240 240 240
ButtonShadow=160 160 160
GrayText=109 109 109
ButtonText=0 0 0
InactiveTitleText=67 78 84
ButtonHilight=255 255 255
ButtonDkShadow=105 105 105
ButtonLight=227 227 227
InfoText=0 0 0
InfoWindow=255 255 225
ButtonAlternateFace=0 0 0
HotTrackingColor=0 102 204
GradientActiveTitle=185 209 234
GradientInactiveTitle=215 228 242
MenuHilight=51 153 255
MenuBar=240 240 240

Finally, removing that section did not alter the border width?

[Panda X]

They should all have an effect really.

Sizes are defined in [Metrics] section, if that's also in your .theme file, remove it as well.

[Qwerky]

Thanks.  Removing those two sections allowed the msstyles to control the title text colour and the border width.  [Actually, in the Colors section, I removed all but the Background line, otherwise the desktop was just black.  How do you set the desktop background colour in the msstyles?]

BUT... though the borders are now four pixels, as per the images, yet the left/right borders are still stretching all pixels including the first (black) pixel (undesired), even though left/right sizing margins are set to two:

[Panda X]

Edit the sizing margins (or the image itself) here: Windows & Caption Buttons > Basic > Frames > Window > Left and Windows & Caption Buttons > Basic > Frames > Window > Right

We gave you the location to DWM Window as we assumed you were making a DWM/Aero theme instead of an Aero Basic theme which is why editing the image or sizing margins in your screenshot aren't changing anything.

[Qwerky]

Edit the sizing margins (or the image itself) here: Windows & Caption Buttons > Basic > Frames > Window > Left and Windows & Caption Buttons > Basic > Frames > Window > Right

We gave you the location to DWM Window as we assumed you were making a DWM/Aero theme instead of an Aero Basic theme which is why editing the image or sizing margins in your screenshot aren't changing anything.

Those Sizing Margins were set to:  2, 1, 91, 0 (Left) and 1, 2, 91, 0 (Right).  I changed them to 2, 2, 91, 0 for both Left and Right, but it made no difference.  Should they be something else?

[Panda X]

Try setting it to 7, 0, 91, 0 for left and 0, 7, 91, 0 for right. It'll look like this:




If you want to remove the black border entirely, you'll have to edit the image itself.

[Qwerky]

Try setting it to 7, 0, 91, 0 for left and 0, 7, 91, 0 for right. It'll look like this:

If you want to remove the black border entirely, you'll have to edit the image itself.

The black border is there by design, but intended to be exactly one pixel wide.  I tried your settings, which resulted in the left border being as desired, but the right border still had two pixels of black, the outer pixel being full black as designed, and the one next to it being a lighter shade of black.

Since the images are four pixels wide, and that the sizing margin of 7 is wider than the image, I tried changing the 7 to a 3 in each setting, but this resulted in the return of undesired black pixels on both borders, with there always being one more black pixel on the right border than on the left border.

Just to see the effect, I swapped the 0 and the 3 in both sets of settings, so that the sizing threshold would begin from the inside of the border rather than the outside.  The result was that the left border was all four pixels the same shade of blue (as one would expect), but on the right border, the outside pixel was still black, though a lighter shade of black.  So it seems that Windows is always giving the right border an additional, lighter, black pixel.

EDIT:  Next, I changed the 3's back to 7's, so the settings were as yours above, but with the 0 and 7 reversed.  Now, the right border was as intended, while the left border had the outermost pixel being a lighter shade of black then the intended full black.  Does all this tell us anything?

EDIT ONCE MORE:  Finally, I reversed the 0 and 7 in the left border settings, so that now both left and right border settings are 7, 0, 91, 0, and finally achieved the desired result:  both left and right borders have the outer pixel full black, and the inner three pixels blue.  But the settings make no sense!?

[Panda X]

Did you change the image that was there, because in the versions you uploaded had side border images with a width of 8 as you can see in my screenshot where it says 8 x 184.

The image in the one you uploaded is this:




2px of black, 5 blue, 1 translucent (which shouldn't be there since Aero Basic can't draw translucency like that)

Based on that image, the sizing margins would have to be 2 on left so the two black columns wouldn't stretch, 1 on the right so the trans parent bit wouldn't stretch which is what you set it to.

And when I zoom into what the frame looks like you can see that the two black pixels are there as in the image:




If I color pick the last two pixels on the top frame and apply them to the side frame like this:



I get this result



and zoomed in you can see it looks perfect:




So it isn't the sizing margins, it's the color of the black pixels that aren't matching those of the top frame, or at least that's what I assume the problem you're having is.

[Qwerky]

Did you change the image that was there, because in the versions you uploaded had side border images with a width of 8 as you can see in my screenshot where it says 8 x 184.

The image in the one you uploaded is this:




2px of black, 5 blue, 1 translucent (which shouldn't be there since Aero Basic can't draw translucency like that)

No, I didn't change the image.  If you look at reply #30 on page 1, I uploaded the actual image that I imported.  BUT... when I now export the border images from my msstyles file, they are as you say, 8 pixels wide instead of 4.

So it isn't the sizing margins, it's the color of the black pixels that aren't matching those of the top frame, or at least that's what I assume the problem you're having is.

You are correct that the colours don't match; I'm aware of that, but will address that by correcting the images.  The problem I'm having is with the border width which, as we've now found out, is because the images in msstyles don't match the images I imported--how is that possible?  And, what needs to be done to cause msstyles to import and use the exact images I have?

[Panda X]

The images don't have to be the size of the border itself, windows will scale down or up depending on the width of the actual border. The sizing margins just tell it where to not scale. You could make the image the same width as the border and it will make it easier to deal with.

[Qwerky]

The images don't have to be the size of the border itself, windows will scale down or up depending on the width of the actual border. The sizing margins just tell it where to not scale. You could make the image the same width as the border and it will make it easier to deal with.

My images are the size of the desired (at least for testing) border (four pixels wide).  The problem is that I import the four pixel images, and then when I export those same images from Windows Style Builder, the exported images are eight pixels wide!  What's going on?

EDIT:  Don't know if this helps, but my four pixel images that I am importing are all in the neighborhood of 3kB in size, while the images when exported from WSB are all less than a kilobyte, many around two- or three-hundred bytes?!

[Panda X]

You probably imported and clicked the wrong button on the import dialog. Make sure to click the button 'Replace old image' rather than 'Resize new image'.

[Qwerky]

You probably imported and clicked the wrong button on the import dialog. Make sure to click the button 'Replace old image' rather than 'Resize new image'.

No, I've tried several times.  It seems to import, but when the image is exported, it is the old image rather than the new.

Now, the interesting thing is that, in other parts of WSB, such as the taskbar, when I import an image that is a different size than the current image, I get the dialog that you mentioned above.  BUT... in the Windows section, I get no such dialog, the dialog is missing--it seems that WSB simply discards the new image in favour of the current one.

On a happier note, I re-sized my caption/border images to the size of the current images, and was able to successfully import them.  Now the settings such as SIZINGMARGINS seem to work as intended, because the intended images are in place.

One thing that is a little puzzling:  with PADDEDBORDERWIDTH set to zero, the title bar (top frame) is 32 pixels high, and the other frames are four pixels wide (even though the actual left/right border images are now eight pixels wide); when PADDEDBORDERWIDTH is increased to one, the top frame becomes 33 pixels, and the others become five pixels, an increase of one pixel all the way around; when PADDEDBORDERWIDTH is increase to two, the top frame becomes 35 pixels, and the others become seven pixels, for a total increase of three pixels, rather than two:  so it seems that PADDEDBORDERWIDTH is not linear--this obviously is controlled by Windows rather than by WSB.

One further question regarding the windows:  is there a setting that controls the vertical placement of the caption text with the top frame (the title within the title bar)?

[Panda X]

No, I've tried several times.  It seems to import, but when the image is exported, it is the old image rather than the new.

Now, the interesting thing is that, in other parts of WSB, such as the taskbar, when I import an image that is a different size than the current image, I get the dialog that you mentioned above.  BUT... in the Windows section, I get no such dialog, the dialog is missing--it seems that WSB simply discards the new image in favour of the current one.

On a happier note, I re-sized my caption/border images to the size of the current images, and was able to successfully import them.  Now the settings such as SIZINGMARGINS seem to work as intended, because the intended images are in place.

One thing that is a little puzzling:  with PADDEDBORDERWIDTH set to zero, the title bar (top frame) is 32 pixels high, and the other frames are four pixels wide (even though the actual left/right border images are now eight pixels wide); when PADDEDBORDERWIDTH is increased to one, the top frame becomes 33 pixels, and the others become five pixels, an increase of one pixel all the way around; when PADDEDBORDERWIDTH is increase to two, the top frame becomes 35 pixels, and the others become seven pixels, for a total increase of three pixels, rather than two:  so it seems that PADDEDBORDERWIDTH is not linear--this obviously is controlled by Windows rather than by WSB.

One further question regarding the windows:  is there a setting that controls the vertical placement of the caption text with the top frame (the title within the title bar)?

It's not WSB that's doing it, you're importing an image of the same dimensions, WSB doesn't have a bias toward location (as those locations are really arbitrary), all it does is check the current image record's dimensions against the new image that you're importing.

[Qwerky]

It's not WSB that's doing it, you're importing an image of the same dimensions, WSB doesn't have a bias toward location (as those locations are really arbitrary), all it does is check the current image record's dimensions against the new image that you're importing.

Try it with the 1.5.0.0 version.  Try importing the left border image I posted on the previous page, which is a four-pixel wide image (the original is eight pixels wide).  There is no dialog?

[Panda X]

Try it with the 1.5.0.0 version.  Try importing the left border image I posted on the previous page, which is a four-pixel wide image (the original is eight pixels wide).  There is no dialog?

[Qwerky]

Okay, then, thanks for checking.  I don't know why, on my system, there is no dialog in some places, while there is in others.  I just noted that it seems you are importing an image which is larger than the current image, whereas I was importing an image smaller than the current.

By making my images the same size as the originals, I was able to import them and had success.  So, though I wish I could use other-sized images, I don't think it's worth pursing at this point.

Still have the question regarding the vertical positioning of the caption text.

[Panda X]

Try adjusting the content margins of the top frame, not entirely sure if that'll work but in theory it should.

[Qwerky]

Okay, have tried adjusting CONTENTMARGINS in the various caption nodes (Caption, MaxCaption, CaptionSizing Template, etc.) and also tried adjusting CAPTIONMARGINS in those nodes where it appears, but nothing had any effect on the vertical placement the caption text.

Also, tried importing my images into the frames of the Aero window (previously have been working on the Basic window), but here again I get no dailog at all when the image size is different than that of the current image; have tried both versions of WSB with same result.

Finally, though I have searched and read much on this forum, I have been unable to determine which image/setting controls the colours for the menus in the menu bar of standard applications, such as the FILE, EDIT, HELP, etc. menus; a pointer would be appreciated.

[Panda X]

Okay, have tried adjusting CONTENTMARGINS in the various caption nodes (Caption, MaxCaption, CaptionSizing Template, etc.) and also tried adjusting CAPTIONMARGINS in those nodes where it appears, but nothing had any effect on the vertical placement the caption text.

Also, tried importing my images into the frames of the Aero window (previously have been working on the Basic window), but here again I get no dailog at all when the image size is different than that of the current image; have tried both versions of WSB with same result.

Finally, though I have searched and read much on this forum, I have been unable to determine which image/setting controls the colours for the menus in the menu bar of standard applications, such as the FILE, EDIT, HELP, etc. menus; a pointer would be appreciated.

Can you create a video with Jing or something showing what you're doing when the dialog doesn't appear. This function hasn't changed since it was introduced and this is the first time anyone's claimed to have that problem.

Menus are here:
Lists, Menus & Tabs > Menu
Explorer & Shell > Explorer > Menu > Toolbar
Explorer & Shell > Explorer > Menu Bar
and for toolbar
Toolbars, Headers and Rebar > Toolbars & Headers > Toolbar

There are many toolbars, menu bars, rebars in Windows unfortunately so if you still can't find one show us a screenshot of a specific bar and we'll track it down.

[Qwerky]

Can you create a video with Jing or something showing what you're doing when the dialog doesn't appear. This function hasn't changed since it was introduced and this is the first time anyone's claimed to have that problem.

Having a look in Jing now.  Really, though, in the case of a successful import, when I click Import and then navigate to an image and click OK, the Open File dialog goes away and I'm back at WSB.  In the case of a non-successful import, it is exactly the same thing.  Once I click OK in the Open File dialog, it goes away and I'm back at WSB exactly like a successful import.  At the times when I have had a file-size dialog from WSB, it appears immediately after closing the File Open dialog.

One more piece of information:  in the unsuccessful (but no dialog) cases, previously the image never imported at all--I could immediately do and export and it would be the original image, not the one I tried to import, and in those cases the image I was trying to import was smaller in size than the original.  Now though, I've tried to import an image that is larger than the original, and in this case (tried many times) though there is no file-size dialog, the image actually does import, but it gets cropped to the size of the original image!

Menus are here:
Lists, Menus & Tabs > Menu
Explorer & Shell > Explorer > Menu > Toolbar
Explorer & Shell > Explorer > Menu Bar
and for toolbar
Toolbars, Headers and Rebar > Toolbars & Headers > Toolbar

There are many toolbars, menu bars, rebars in Windows unfortunately so if you still can't find one show us a screenshot of a specific bar and we'll track it down.

Thanks very much for all the help to this point.  The attached image shows Firefox with the File menu pulled down... this is the type of menu I'm looking to modify.  I was under the impression that the same setting would probably affect all of the menus in all of the normal programs one uses (browser, e-mail, etc.).

[3am]

Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > PopUpBackground, PopUpGutter, PopUpItem etc

[Qwerky]

Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > PopUpBackground, PopUpGutter, PopUpItem etc

Thank you!  I'll give those a try.

[Qwerky]

Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > PopUpBackground, PopUpGutter, PopUpItem etc

Okay, so I've modded the images for Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > PopUpItem > Hot and DisabledHot to give the selection bar some colour.  So far, so good.  Each of the four items in PopUpItem has a TEXTCOLOR:COLOR property, and I changed Hot (default black) to white, so when the item is selected, the text colour changes from black to white; also good.  But when I change the TEXTCOLOR property for DisabledHot, it has no effect; I cannot find a way to change the colour of the text for a disabled, selected item.  Any ideas?

Strangely, changing the TEXTCOLOR property in Hot changed the text colour of the selected menu in the menu bar as well -- BUT only in my e-mail program, and not in my browser or other programs!?

Which brings me to the next question:  what are the settings the change the menu bar itself (background, item test colour, selected item text colour)?

[Qwerky]

Since I still have had no luck in importing different sized images into the DWM window, I created images that were identical in size to the default ones, and was successful in importing them all except:
    Windows & Caption Buttons > Aero > DWM Window > Frames > Window > Top > MaxActive, MaxInactive
refuse to import; they give no error or other dialog, they react exactly like the successful imports, except the image is never changed.  Top > Active, Inactive import okay.

Any possible thoughts on this?

[Panda X]

There are no image records at MaxActive, MaxInactive. Those states only control the text color and the opacity of the window and/or glow.

[3am]

Okay, so I've modded the images for Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > PopUpItem > Hot and DisabledHot to give the selection bar some colour.  So far, so good.  Each of the four items in PopUpItem has a TEXTCOLOR:COLOR property, and I changed Hot (default black) to white, so when the item is selected, the text colour changes from black to white; also good.  But when I change the TEXTCOLOR property for DisabledHot, it has no effect; I cannot find a way to change the colour of the text for a disabled, selected item.  Any ideas?

Strangely, changing the TEXTCOLOR property in Hot changed the text colour of the selected menu in the menu bar as well -- BUT only in my e-mail program, and not in my browser or other programs!?

Which brings me to the next question:  what are the settings the change the menu bar itself (background, item test colour, selected item text colour)?

In Firefox:

1) All disabled popup menu textcolor is Fonts, Colors, & System Metrics > Fonts & System Metrics > GRAYTEXT:COLOR

2) Menu bar (File, Edit etc) background is Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > BarItem . Textcolors are Fonts, Colors, & System Metrics > Fonts & System Metrics > MENUTEXT:COLOR and Lists, Menus, & Tabs > Menu > PopUpItem > Hot > TEXTCOLOR:COLOR

[Qwerky]

There are no image records at MaxActive, MaxInactive. Those states only control the text color and the opacity of the window and/or glow.

Okay, thanks.  They actually have an image, it is 21 x 27 pixels, the same as the other states under Top, but the image is simply a black rectangle.  So, a maximized Aero window title bar cannot have an image, texture, etc., but simply a colour?

Speaking of glow, how to eliminate the glow around the text of the window title?