Maybe I'm just missing something obvious. Can I have Nexus without having a workshelf?

The quick answer is "probably not". As far as I know, nexus relies on workshelf for its functionality, so WS must be running.

What you can do is make workshelf collapse all the way down so you don't see it.

-paul

It was mentioned elsewhere that even though the two are connected one can at least have workshelf start collapsed. That way it's barely visible at the bottom of the screen.
Plus if you don't have the bump edge thingy activated it won't pop up accidently either.

I've asked the same question. Its best to think of Nexus as a optional Workshelf implementation so you can't run one without the other. But starting with Workshelf collapsed and no bump edge activation means Nexus appears to run alone.

Pete

I'm using also Nexus without workshelf, here is my solution:

In the Workshelof Preferences on the first Icon set the following parameters:

Shelf Position:

Floating / Show Shelf Always On Bottom

Under Docked Options:

deselect all

Shelf Transparency Open: Slide to Full
Shelf Tranyparency Collapsed: Slide to Full

And Workshelf is gone.

To call up the Workshelf Preferences you can now right click on the Nexus Icon and select Preferences

Looks like I should add an option to hide the shelf.

I'm just afraid that, if I do this, newbie users might hide the shelf while playing around with the settings and then not know how to get it back.

Furthermore, I'm not sure if hiding the shelf window won't create z-order problems with other objects.

I understand... maybe if there was an additional "buried" option in the global preferences page to hide the WS "main shelf" for Nexus-only configuration? You could then provide a warning about hiding or trying to disable WS...

So far, I've set the WS main shelf to be floating, fully invisible, with no mouse activation, and lowest z-order.
With the clock, cpu and net meters and weather each set to "on top", and the nexus docks set likewise, there haven't been any problems with repainting or activating. Touch wood (bangs on head...)

I did notice that occasionally, once the main shelf is "hidden", if I bring up the WS preferences dialog, it sometimes "falls under" the underlying window, but alt-tabbing always brings it back on top. This happens when the "apply" button is pressed too - so it looks like the preferences window is getting its z-order set by the main shelf's setting. But that's not a big deal at the moment, and it does seem to work.

I just realised that we're asking you to take away one of the most useful and sophisticated tools ever developed for Windows, so we can play with another tool you created as a sub-function... We really do like WS, honest!


Maybe it might make sense to make nexus a standalone application? Although, I can understand there must be a lot of links to functions in the WS code, so that might be a gigantic ask... But I look at Rocket Dock, and compare that with Nexus, and Nexus is much more flexible than RD, even though RD itself is a nice little app. Like comparing Volkswagens and Jaguars... (I'm sure I'll offend someone with that comparison... )

This is not the same to the OS as setting the shelf window as invisible - to the OS the shelf window is still visible, you're just playing with the translucency settings.



Not really, for a HUGE variety of reasons. The problem is that WS started with no NeXuS and only the shelf, so much of the basic functionality depends on the shelf itself.

As I said, I'll figure it out eventually and come up with a nice way to properly hide the shelf when required by the user.

Thanks, Jorge, I understand the complexity of the Nexus integration a little bit better.

Re: transparency, yeah, I'm just stopping it from being visible, not removing it from the z-list.

And interestingly, when WS is set to lowest z-order, opening the config dialog immediately puts it at the same z-order as WS (i.e. on th bottom/top).

Likewise, clicking on the config tabs for either "Shelf Icon Preferences" (2nd tab), or "Shelf Appearance Preferences" (6th tab) immediately forces the dialog to the same WS z-order, but clicking on any of the other tabs, doesn't.

If that sentence makes sense, you should take a break...

I'm using tbeller's technique and have no problems. Shelf is 100% hidden, no Zorderproblems. Desktop modules work (trash, cpu, RAm, wheather) and NEXUS Dock is works as I want it. It would be nice if there was a way to just click a button and have the shelf portion "go away" but not the options for it. With some sanity checks to make sure the novice doesn't turn it off and cannot get it back.

What about the possibility of spinning off nexus as a standalone tool? A l? Rocketdock? I know there's a huge amount of history for Workshelf, and it obviously works really, really well for a large majority of users, but...

Or would it be possible, sometime after you've released the next big revamp (I'm really looking forward to seeing the new config UI, BTW) to "re-skin" Workshelf as Nexus? I know there's some continuity in the code, being able to create a dock from a shelf, so maybe this might be a third alternative - WinWorkNexDock?

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Workshelf at all - it's just that so much of the functionality is duplicated between NS and WS (tasks, tools, shelves, subdocks), I use NextStart almost exclusively for the brilliant menu management, and WS exclusively for Nexus - which then becomes my right-hand-tool for my day-to-day application/tool/launch bar and task list manager (given the issues with x64 control panel and quicklaunch, this is a really good alternative), while poor old Workshelf just sits in a dim, dusty corner of the desktop, grumbling about these new users who don't understand the meaning of LIFF. The bastards.