Is there any way I can add thumbnail support for the MKV video format? I have been slowly converting all of my avi movies to MKV since the quality is as good or better than the avi, plus on average the MKV movies are 40% smaller. I have MKV thumbnails when I open their folder, just not on WorkShelf. The screenshots below show how AVI's and MKV'S are being handled.

No worries, added MKV thumbnail support for next release.

my friend you must have ESP. that is great news. thanks

p.s. there was one other thing i thought of. maybe having the ability to drag folders to workshelf(and have it auto create the tab) like you can with nexus. as i said before between nexus and workshelf i rarely have to use windows explorer. this is one thing you might mention in your new video. i cannot speak for other winstep users, but the nicest benefit of winstep is the ease of access to files and folders without having to use windows explorer.

When you right click a file in Explorer, you can select 'Send to -> WorkShelf' to have it placed in one of the Shelf's tabs (a dialog pops up asking you which tab you want to place that item in).

I've changed the routine a bit so that if you right click a folder and select 'Send to-> WorkShelf', a new tab displaying the contents of that folder is automatically added to the Shelf, no questions asked.

First I think you should clarify that you are talking about a 'Show Folder' tab type, second, that is not quite true.

Dropping a file or folder into a regular tab will always create a shortcut to it. Nothing will ever be copied, even if only because there is nowhere to copy them to (regular Shelf tabs are 'virtual folders').

Show Folder tab types, on the other hand, act just like real Explorer folders (because they *are* folders). As such, if you drag a file between folders in the same disk drive, the file is moved by default. If between different disk drives, the file is copied by default.

You can change this behavior by pressing either CTRL or SHIFT while dragging. SHIFT forces a move, CTRL forces a copy.

To create a shortcut, you can right click drag the file/folder. When you drop it, a menu pops up asking you if you want to copy, move, or create a shortcut.



Open WorkShelf Preferences -> Advanced -> Advanced button. Is the 'Enable Send to WorkShelf in Explorer menus' setting checked?

[b]for what i am referring to the type of tab should not matter. regardless of what kind of tab i'm dragging something to it should create a shortcut when i leftclick the item and drag and drop to workshelf. as you can see in the above image i browsed to a folder in one of my drives, leftclicked on it and dragged and dropped it to workshelf where workshelf or explorer attempted to copy the contents not just create a shortcut. since i am dragging and dropping to workshelf with leftclicking the default action should be to create a shortcut, and not to attempt to move the contents. i should not have to rightclick and drag and drop to workshelf to create a shortcut. if i drag the same folder to nexus by leftclicking it and then drag and drop it to nexus a shortcut is created, and the contents are not copied and or moved. i like the idea of rightclicking and having the options of moving, copying, or creating a shortcut on workshelf, but the default leftclick action should be to create a shortcut when an item is dragged to workshelf. the main thing is that the mouse actions for copying, moving, or creating a shortcut should be the same for both nexus and workshelf. if leftclicking and dragging to nexus creates a shortcut, then leftclicking and dragging to workshelf should create a shortcut.

the only reason i didn't notice the behavior before is because i normally rightclick workshelf and do everythingcreate all my tabs through the rightclick menu.

'Enable Send to WorkShelf in Explorer menus' is now enabled, but when i used it the popup window to select which tab i wanted to send the item to didn't list my tabs.

Both issues are related.

The reason the 'Send to' dialog didn't show any tabs is because you have *no* Regular tabs on your Shelf! They are all either special tabs or 'Show Folder' tabs, the latter being just viewports into real folders in your hard drives.

If you did have Regular tabs on your Shelf, then dragging a file to one would create a shortcut to it as you mentioned (i.e.; behave the same as the dock).

Let me quote from the User Guide regarding the several different types of tabs a Shelf can have:

Shelf Types

Currently, there are 18 Shelf types available - some of them are set up by default when you start Workshelf for the first time.

The 'Regular' shelf type

This is the default shelf type and will probably be the most used - a standard shelf where normal Application and Data Objects can be dragged to and from. Objects may be added very easily to a regular shelf by dragging a file, executable or shortcut from a NextSTART menu, Windows Explorer (or other file manager), the Windows Start Menu or, indeed the Windows Desktop.

Let's try an example:

Open the Windows Start Menu by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard (or CTRL-ESC if you don't have a windows key).

Move your mouse pointer through 'programs' and 'accessories' and select the 'Notepad' application with the left mouse button.
Keeping the button depressed, drag the icon to an empty point on the body of the shelf.

Release the button.

That's it! You now have a working object on the shelf which will launch the 'Notepad' application. You may also change the icon displayed for any item quite simply by dragging your favorite .ico or .png file onto the desired object.

Please note that it isn't only applications that can be added to a regular shelf with this method - documents and folders may also be turned into shelf objects in exactly the same way. Any document launched from a shelf will automatically open with the default application associated with that type of file.

In addition, objects may be moved between regular shelves simply by dragging an item from the open shelf over to the the tab of the desired destination shelf - the destination shelf will then open and the object may be dropped in the desired position. Holding down the CTRL key whilst dragging an item between shelves will cause the shortcut to be copied rather than moved.

The 'Desktop' shelf type

This type contains the objects/shortcuts as found on your normal Windows Desktop. It's important to keep this in mind when you modify an object on this type of shelf. Delete something from this shelf and it is also removed from your Desktop and placed in the Recycle Bin - likewise dropping an item onto this shelf type will copy that item to the Windows Desktop (this remains true even if you've hidden the standard windows desktop with the 'hide desktop icons option).

You will also find to extra objects at the beginning of this shelf, 'Hide/Show Desktop Icons' and 'Display Properties'. The first object will enable you to reduce desktop clutter by hiding desktop icons - you can then access desktop contents through WorkShelf's Desktop shelf. The second item allows you to access Windows Display Properties, since hiding desktop icons also de-activates your ability to right-click on the Windows desktop.

The 'Recent Documents' shelf type

This contains an automatically-updated listing of recently accessed documents. Note that under XP and above you can control how many recent documents appear here - the default is 15. This setting is located in the Global Preferences tab.

The 'Control Panel' shelf type

Displays those objects contained in your Windows Control Panel.

The 'Active Tasks' shelf type

This shelf displays those applications that are currently running, allowing you to switch between them.

The 'System Tray' shelf type

Displays system tray icons.

The 'RAS Connections' shelf type

This shelf displays the contents of your Windows 'dial-up networking' folder, allowing you to manage your internet / network connections.

The 'Drives' shelf type

Displays those objects contained in your Windows My Computer Folder.

The 'Startup' shelf type

Displays those objects contained in the Startup folder of the Start Menu. Useful as a quick way of adding and removing startup items. You can drag & drop items here, and add or delete them manually.

The 'SendTo' shelf type

Displays the targets usually found in the Sendto context menu. You can use drag & drop to send a file to most of the items in it.

The 'Printers' shelf type

Displays those objects contained in your Windows Printers Folder.

The 'Network Connections' shelf type

Displays those objects contained in your Windows Network Connections Folder.

The 'Templates' shelf type

Displays those objects contained in your Windows Templates Folder. Useful to open pre-formatted blank documents.

The 'My Documents' shelf type

Displays the objects contained in your Windows My Documents Folder.

The 'Recycler' shelf type

Displays the items contained in your Windows Recycle bin. You can undelete items directly from this tab.

The 'Show Folder' shelf type

Allows you to display the contents of any folder in your hard drive in a shelf. You can manipulate items here as you would in Explorer, including drag & drop operations. You should, however, avoid displaying extremely large folders as shelves due to performance reasons.

The 'Quick Launch' shelf type

Displays the items in your Quick Launch toolbar.

The 'Themes' shelf type

Displays your currently available WorkShelf themes for easy and quick theme switching. This shelf takes advantage of WorkShelf's ability to create thumbnails from image files, and, wherever possible, displays a thumbnail of the theme's screenshot for easy recognition. Note, however, that some of the older themes do not have a screenshot - in that case WorkShelf will display the default theme icon instead.

To apply a specific theme, simply click on that theme's icon. You can also right click on the theme icon and select 'Show Container' from the context menu to open that theme's folder in Windows Explorer - useful if you are a skinner and want to change some of the theme's bitmaps.

Man... that's one damn ugly desktop!

Because, as it says on the dialog, only 'Regular' tabs get listed in that dialog. I don't think you have any on your Shelf.

No, it's not a bug, you're just not 'getting' the purpose.

First, you can't move items to a 'Control Panel' tab type.

Second, the idea is to make it somewhat convenient to add shortcuts to the 'Regular' tabs on the Shelf because for Regular tabs you do not then have to take the extra step of deciding if you want to copy, move or create shortcuts to the files. They are all shortcuts. Otherwise, drag & drop is faster and much more convenient.

Where I think the 'Send to WorkShelf' is more useful is in making Shelf tabs out of folders in Explorer windows, though.