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 Post subject: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:33 pm 
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I am a Winstep Xtreme user and I see that I can organise my start menu in to categories.
The Winstep webside says that the "Pro" version of "Start Menu Organiser" is bundled in to Winstep Xtreme. So how do I access and use it please.


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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:01 pm 
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Before anything, please notice that the SMO is NOT compatible with the Windows 10 Start Menu - with Windows 10 MS decided to go with an internal database rather than the old folder structure that served us so well for decades.

This said, the SMO still works to organize the contents of the NextSTART 'All Programs' sub-menu, so it can still be useful in Windows 10 provided you are running Xtreme.

There should be a link to the SMO in the default Main tab of the Shelf, otherwise just look for it in the Winstep Group of the Start Menu or the Winstep folder in C:\Program Files (x86)\

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Jorge Coelho
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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:38 pm 
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Thank you Jorge, but I need you to explain to me what the SMO is.
Thanks
Bobster


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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:46 pm 
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Start Menu Organizer (SMO) :P

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Jorge Coelho
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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:05 pm 
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Actually, SMO does work, to an extent, with Windows 10. But beware - it can prove impossible or next to, to reverse things back to the default. But, as I don't use the Win start menu at all, except on rare occasions when running the system on minimum for various reasons, I'm not bothered...

I find it far more useful to use my own custom start menu, with a custom folder menu which contains all my categorised (local) apps, and another for remote apps, only opened when actually connected - else it can take a bit before it gives up.

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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 1:21 am 
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Interesting reading, I am about to purchase Extreme for Windows 10 -64 and was also going to purchase SMO. I did not realise it was part the extreme package.

Disappointed to learn it does not function well in Windows 10, what problems does it cause?

Nexter what exactly have you done with your start menu which you refer to in the light of the above issues?

T.T


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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:58 am 
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TopTrainer wrote:
Disappointed to learn it does not function well in Windows 10, what problems does it cause?


It probably won't cause any problems (depending on how Microsoft reflects any changes to the Start Menu folder structure), as I explained above it will simply have no effect on the Windows 10 Start Menu (but it WILL still work with the NextSTART 'All Programs' menu).

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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 10:27 pm 
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Jorge

Thank you for the prompt reply.

T.T


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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:30 pm 
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TopTrainer wrote:
Interesting reading, I am about to purchase Extreme for Windows 10 -64 and was also going to purchase SMO. I did not realise it was part the extreme package.

Disappointed to learn it does not function well in Windows 10, what problems does it cause?

Nexter what exactly have you done with your start menu which you refer to in the light of the above issues?

T.T

As Jorge said, it works, to a point... Quite well, but not really what I need. Hence my own custom start menu.

And the main part of that is simply a folder on my data drive of all my app shortcuts/links, in a categorised folder hierarchy. The parent folder for these is simply called 'Local Apps' (as I have another one for a few network apps), and its link sits (as a folder menu) in my 'Start Menu' long with a bunch of internal command items and other folder menus, roughly as you would have found in the Windows Start Menu up to Windows 7. The 'Local Apps' folder menu has its own hotspot also so I can go straight into that and reach whatever app I need within a few clicks.

I've had it like that for nearly 20 years, and it's only ever needed minor adjustments and revisions. In the beginning there also was a separate sub-menu for OPENSTEP apps (as I ran that - and then Yellow Box - on top of NT 4 at the time) and one for the complete IDE.

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nexter - so, what's next?

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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 10:59 pm 
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Start Menu' long with a bunch of internal command items and other folder menus,

Sounds impressive though i am not sure I would have the skill set to create it.

TT


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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:45 pm 
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TopTrainer wrote:
Start Menu' long with a bunch of internal command items and other folder menus,

Sounds impressive though i am not sure I would have the skill set to create it.

TT

Dead easy to do, anybody can learn to do it in minutes I promise you. :) Everything in Winstep was designed from the very start to be easy to use, and easy to configure. And Jorge has always stuck to that.

The only thing outside of Winstep to be done in the above is the categorised apps folder. You just create a hierarchy of folders inside a top level folder - let's call it Local Apps for simplicity's sake here - in some place among your data where it can stay permanently. So you might create folders named, say, Administrative (or Admin), GFX, Music, Games, Web Development/Design, Whatever, etc. Inside each of these you can create further sub-folders either for specific sub-categories, and/or specific programmes that need to have more than one link, e.g., the main exe, some utility exes, etc. Once you've got your folder hierarchy, you put into each of the appropriate folders their respective links. You can do that by dragging and dropping the links from your Windows start menu, for instance.

It's wise to keep a copy of the completed apps menu somewhere safe. You don't want to have to do it all again in a hurry. :)

To create the actual NextSTART menu, it's easiest and quickest to use the Menu Editor in the NextSTART prefs. There, click 'Add Menu' at the top of the tab and an item named 'New Menu' will magically appear down the left-hand side. Rename this to whatever you like, say 'My Menu' for now, and then start adding whatever you feel you want in there, not forgetting the applications menu created separately - you do this by adding a new menu item of type 'folder menu' and then point it to the location of the top level ('Local Apps', e.g.) folder of that hierarchy. Bingo, you've got your custom apps menu! :) To go through the whole process here would take too long, but there is an old NextSTART User Guide somewhere that should explain exactly how you do it. I don't have the URL to hand, but I'm sure Jorge can add that in a jiffy. :)

But before doing anything, it's best to think and plan ahead exactly a) how you want to organise your custom apps menu, and b) what you want on your custom Start Menu besides the custom apps sub-menu, and in what order you want your items.

I know it sounds terribly complicated, but it really isn't. It's almost child's play.

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nexter - so, what's next?

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 Post subject: Re: Start Menu organiser
PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:51 pm 
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You can also add to an existing NextSTART menu via drag & drop and right click context menu options - if that is what you are doing, you don't even need to go into the Menu Editor.

But, like with the different tab types in Shelves, Drawers and Grid Stacks, you must understand the difference between 'regular' menus and 'special' menus (those that show the contents of physical and/or virtual system folders, system tray icons, running applications, etc...). The latter are built dynamically and cannot be added to.

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