I would like to know how I can customise Nexus dock.

The existing options are somewhat limited. Moreover, despite the claim that dock backgrounds etc. are compatible, I have not been able to install anything of my choice (with exception of icons) despite following the instructions.

There are some customising options, but not enough. I'd have thought that there would be a way to change the colour of the text (on mouse hover labels as well as for the docklets/widgets things like weather).

Oh, and despite checking the relevant box, none of my folders are opening as menus.

Are there any more clock widget/modules out there that are compatible? I've looked all over deviant art and other skinning sites but can't find a mention.

Can any one help?

I'll need to know in detail what you did/tried.

For instance, all the default skins under 'Backgrounds' (SDVZx, Tapped) are native ObjectDock themes.



Ok, my turn to rant!

IMO, the color of the icon labels is a really MINOR configuration thing, especially compared to all that Nexus can do. However, you make it sound like Nexus is severely handicapped in the customization department when it's exactly the opposite. I suppose you just haven't played with it for long enough.

This said, I do agree with you, users should be able to customize the hell out of the icon labels - expect to see an Advanced or Label Settings button in the Appearance tab in the next release.



Guilty as charged on this one. My apologies, a bug in the conversion of the code from Winstep Xtreme to the free stand alone version of Nexus prevented this feature from working properly. Good thing this is a first beta release.

The good news is that this bug has already been fixed.

Ah, and yes, before you ask, I've also added the ability to customize icon spacing.



That's because there aren't any. Nexus does not currently support 3rd party widgets.

The reasons for this are a bit too complex to explain here, so lets just say that it's something I have looked at already and I'm convinced I will be able to solve in the near future.

Thanks for your quick reply! Sorry about the ranting (I did warn you! )

Perhaps I should have also posted all the good things about nexus dock too. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great, and I do appreciate the amount of customising/tweaking that is available. And yes, I know the text colour is really minor. It's just a shame that can't be changed. These docks are all about customisation for me, otherwise i'd stick with the horrible windows default. As you point out, there is sooo much that can be customised, but it is a let down that i can't change the font colour - it sticks out like a sore thumb on my black minimalistic black theme desktop theme black icons black all black.

Ok, so my background problem. In keeping with my black minimalistic theme, I want a really simple background like this one:
http://aroche.deviantart.com/art/Chill-29594434
This works fine for object dock. However it won't work with nexus. I tried changing some things around but most times, despite the chill background being selected I got blue tiles At best I was able to get a chill background but it was the wrong colour and when i changed the names of files etc etc. i was back to the blue tiles again. It would be nice if there was an easy way of installing themes/backgrounds. In face the whole 'theme' thing is a bit confusing the way it's done on nexus. My understanding of theme is it effects all elements right? doesn't seem to work like this....

That's enough ranting for today.

You know, as you can imagine, I perfectly understand the need to be able to customize every little tiny bitty thing. But there's one thing called 'too much customization': the human being when presented with an overwhelming amount of choices and/or information, simply has a brain fart (pardon my French) and his thought processes come to an abrupt halt.

I know this because the current version of Winstep Xtreme suffers from this problem. Tons and tons of customization options, many of them that won't ever be used and will only confuse the first time user. Looking at Winstep Xtreme Preferences right now is like looking at the cockpit of a 747: fine if you are a pilot, absolutely overwhelming and confusing if you are a normal passenger.

And the problem is that regular users out number power users 100 to 1. So, if you are running a business, who do you want to reach? Well, if you're me, you want to reach both.

The solution to the above problem (how to be a power user's wet dream while avoiding at the same time giving the regular user a stroke) is to spoon feed information. Get them used to the information they already have and then give them some more.

Or, in other words, make a UI that only displays the most basic settings at first glance, with lots of nice, clean, white space, and bury the most advanced - and least used - settings in second level dialogs. The regular user can thus learn to use the basic settings and then, when he is ready, learn the more advanced settings by exploring the program some more.

In theory it works well, in practice we all think of ourselves as experts and sometimes we go over our heads. But that is a story for another day.

As for the Chill theme: I downloaded it to see what the problem was. I did get a gray chill dock background, and, obviously, a single 'Chill' entry in Background themes.

This is because the theme author store all the INI configuration files in a single folder, which prevents Nexus from enumerating the various sub-themes in it.

I'll have to look at this some more to decide what to do when a OD theme has multiple configuration files.

ok so I fixed the background problem, but only by editing the png of an existing background.
I did the same for the clock png too so that's ok

Oh dear, pardon me, my brain just farted again. he he he he he he he Whoops there it goes again. Bloody Nexus dock preferences.
Damn another one. Oh my ears are bleeding.