Jorge:

When installing 6.11, WinStep installed several duplicate QUICK-LAUNCH icons. They were installed as duplicate HOTSPOTS which I then had to go & delete via the HOTSPOT editor.

This might freak some newbies out!!!

Thanks John! This, well, err, it's not actually a bug. Or rather, it is, but it won't be seen by new users.

What happened is because of the correction of a problem in the old quick launch area update code. It should be more reliable now, and quick launch items should update automatically - and immediately - if a program addes or removes a quick launch item from the Quick Launch area.

Anyway, this should be a one time event - won't happen again.

For future reference, you can delete Quick Launch items by right clicking on the item and selecting 'Delete' from the context menu. No need to use the Hotspots Editor.

I don't think so!!! I tried that & the deleted (via R-clicking) items would always reappear upon rebooting the computer!!! Give it a try!!

John

They re-appear because NextSTART is set to refresh the Quick Launch section based on the Windows Quick Launch area on startup. To disable this, open the Startbar tab in NextSTART Preferences and uncheck 'Retrieve from Windows' in the QL section.

Muito obrigado

De nada.

Is there a limit on how many things can be displayed in nextStart's quicklaunch area. I have 26 items and it's only displaying a 5 x 4 = 20 item grid.

I have turned off the start button to get more screen space at the bottom for tasks and have the bar set 3 "lines" high.

When I check the NextStat QuickLaunch menu selection in the NextStart Menu it shows them all, but not in the lower left corner of the startbar.

Maybe there's a limiting setting that's turned on I don't know about, but I can't seem to find it.

cef1000

There is no limit on the number of Quick Launch items per se, but on the total number of hotspots which is 76 (items in the Quick Launch area are actually NextSTART hotspots, so you can use them to display menus and run internal commands as well). Can you check on the Hotspots tab in Preferences how many hotspots you used up so far?

Also, make a backup of your NextSTART settings into a nbk file (Global Preferences -> backup button) and send the file to support@winstep.net so I can have a look at it and try to figure out what the problem is.

With so many Quick Launch items, you might be better off using NeXuS (the dock) to store them instead, no? Otherwise your Startbar will become gigantic as more and more items are added!

There are 28, all created when I installed WinStep, which must be those that are pulled from the windows quicklanch bar when WinStep installs. The only thing I did in this area was to change" number 0 so that it would show the NextStart menu when I sent the mouse to the top left corner.



sure np I'll email it shortly.



I'm in the process of doing that, just need to figure out what I want to do and how to do it ( A noob's dilema).


Some feedback for the WS dual monitor issues I've run into (since your working on solving some of them).

(Primary Display) Monitor 1

Top = Nexus (with clock, Cisco VPN Client, RDP, Windows Explorer, Recycle bin, Display properties, Screen Saver trigger, Web Browser (Opera), My billing program, Email, Word, Excel

Bottom = NextStart startbar with the start button turned off and the clock/button turned off in systray.

Weather Desktop module from Brisa theme just above the startbar

(Secondary Display) Monitor 2

Top - WorkShelf with tabs inverted (when I can get it to go there without complaing that there is some other toolbar docked at that locaton)

CPU Meter, Email Checker, Network Monitor Desktop modules lower right going up the right side

WS Behavior - 1. very hard to get it to the secondary monitor docked at teh top without it complaining that there's already something docked there. 2. When I get it docked there I invert the the tabs to make it more intuitive for me. 3. after a fresh reboot, I usually can make a double click pop open all the icons in that specific shelf, but not always. After the system has been running a while ( a couple hours more or less of productivity opening and closing things (and lots of reconfiguring WinStep to learn how to use the interfaces) a double click will only pop down the first row in the shelf and to get to the other rows I have to use the buttons on the right.

If WS is sitting in it's default doc position over the NextStart startbar, tabs not inverted, it will open properly everytime with a double click showing all the rows.

Hoping some of that will help in your efforts.

cef100

Is your secondary monitor at the left or right of the primary?

In my setup the Primary is on the left side and secondary is on the right side.

Left | Right

Primary | Secondary

Monitor 1 | Monitor 2


Re: QuickLaunch (above), where I emailed you my .bk file - I think I see whats going on: Let's just say a combination of operator head space error and ignorance as to how Hotspots work (I'm not much smarter now than I was, but) I see by deleting "hot spots" I can remove icons from the NS quicklanch bar (and likely add some as well) regardless of the fact that under "startbar preferences" "Quick Launch" is set to retrieve from Windows. It looks like regardless of that setting; if I delete one of the "pre-made at installation" hotspots ( ie. hotspots that appear associated with the quicklaunch area) they start to go away form the NS QuickLaunch bar, regardless of what native Windows shows when I unload NS.

I'm going to make a list of what's in the native Windows quicklaunch bar and compare it to the hotspots list in NS and what's displaying in the Ns quicklaunch bar.

I believe my QuickLaunch situation is just me not understanding how "hotspots" and WsX work.

Your monitor settings are correct. I was asking this because WorkShelf and NextSTART will list your secondary monitor as '1' if it is at the left side of your primary monitor.

Regarding the Quick Launch buttons: yes, QL buttons in the NextSTART startbar are real hotspots. The QL section in the startbar is not just a 'view' into the Windows QL section, but a little more than that, since the only thing Windows QL shortcuts can do is launch programs, while NextSTART QL buttons can also display menus, run internal commands, etc, i.e; all the things a real hotspot can do.

You can say that the QL section in the NextSTART Startbar will hold all the Windows QL items PLUS any NextSTART QL items you add later. Two issues that might be potentially confusing though:

a) if you delete a Windows QL button from the NextSTART startbar, it will be back on the next reboot.

b) Windows has no idea what NextSTART QL buttons are and even that they exist. That is why these items will not appear on the Quick Launch menu or WorkShelf's Quick Launch shelf, since these only display Windows Quick Launch items.

You can effectivelly separate items in the QL section of the NextSTART startbar in two groups: those provided by Windows, and those you've put there yourself through NextSTART.

This is what happens:

Provided the 'Retrieve from Windows' option is selected in the QL section of Statarbar Preferences, whenver NextSTART starts up it scans the Windows Quick Launch folder and synchronizes the NextSTART QL section with it, i.e.; it adds any new items that exist in that folder but not on NextSTART and deletes any items that have been removed from the Windows Quick Launch area in the mean time.

Throughout the life of the program, NextSTART will 'keep an eye' on the Windows Quick Launch folder. If a program is un-installed and its QL icon deleted, NextSTART will do the same to the button in the NextSTART QL area. Likewise, if a new program is installed and adds an item to the Windows QL folder, NextSTART automatically adds the same item to its QL section.

Hope this explains things a bit better.

Ah, regarding WorkShelf complaining: it should not complain UNLESS something (like a dock) is already docked at that spot. Anyway to reproduce this 100% of the times?

For me it seems as close to 100% as I can determine.

It's docked bottom of Monitor 2 (Secondary Monitor on the right)

I just tried to tell it to dock to the top and got the message.

To get it to the top I clicked ok on the error, undock WS and it pops to the top (close but not all the way there about 3 inches down) and it never will dock there since it thinks there's something already there. I can push it there undocked but can't "dock it" (Nexus is on the primary monitor and I'm thinking that it "senses" Nexus at the top of the left/primary monitor and doesn't like it)

I moved Nexus to the left side of the left (primary) monitor and when I told it to dock it jumped from the right side to the left side and docked at the top of the primary monitor,

This is the behavior using scarebears theme Recur mini.

The WS menu in this theme doesn't have a choice for the monitor placement in WS so...

Results with Aero Low Res Theme (start point as above):

1. Changed theme

2. used WS menu to place WS on the second monitor / docked top (secondary right side) went there np (remember screen(s) still have NeXus docked to the left monitor / left side)

3. Told Nexus to move (dock) top / left monitor (primary), no problem

4. told WS to dock to bottom / right (secondary monitor) no problem

5. Told WS to dock on the right side / top again and get the message about a dock is already attached.

6. Told nexus (monitor 1 / top) to go back to monitor 1 / left side and told WS to go back to monitor 2 / top and it's happy.

7. After WS is docked top right monitor; Nexus is happy as can be to go back to the top of the left monitor!

My Conclusion:

When NeXus is alreedy docked on the top primary monitor, before telling WS to move to secondary top, WS will fail sensing something is already docked (WS "sees" Nexus is occupying top of the left monitor/primary thinking that it is on the top of ALL monitors {spanning?})

If NeXus is on the left side (primary monitor) then WS will go to the Top on the right (secondary monitor) without issue; after that NeXus can go back to the top primary monitor without complaint.

Nexus appears to "know" that WS is NOT docked on the top of it's monitor, but WS seems to think that when Nexus is docked at the top of one monitor it's docked at the top across both {spanning?}.



This potentially leads to the issue(s) concerning "spanning" monitors with the tool bars.

If I had to choose between these functions (spanning vs. "tool bar placement control"), my vote would be to cleanly place whatever I wanted on any edge of any monitor over the ability to spann across them all.

IMHO, Spanning has the visual downside of the unnatural "break" of the bezel between monitors (regardless of how thin the bezel) and is not all that desirable (if a choice must be made).

I've had a dual monitor setup for about 4 years and for screen real estate management, specific control over location (within each individual monitor real estate) is MUCH more desirable than spanning a tool bar across top or bottom of all monitors.

I will say this, if I had my way I'd have 4 monitors, based on my enhanced productivity experience. At minimum my next dual monitor set will be matching lcd's in the 21-24", possibly wide form factor, hopefully able to at least do 1620 x 1280.

I installed WinStep to check it out 3 or 4 days ago (happily paid for it last night) and controlling screen real estate is the main thing I found so compelling about it, the eye candy doesn't hurt either.

I've only just scratched the surface of what it WsX can do to help me have an organized uncluttered screen work environment.

Frankly this and anything else that can make my workspace work better and look cooler, is my Xmas present to myself this year, and WsX is only the first one I've started to unwrap (lol).




********* Update #1 **************

If I start messing with the themes after I got WS to dock at the top of rght monitor (secondary) and NeXus back at the top of the Left Monitor (primary) Then it appears on "theme" refresh WS sees the Nexus and gets undocked and pushed down. I guess a fresh reboot will do the same thing, so it's only stable when nothing causes WS to (re)check it's current situation and, therefore, any Docking conflicts.

********* Update #2 **************

No matter what, WS doesn't like to be docked to the top of the secondary monitor. I have NeXus docked on the right side of left (primary) monitor (to get it out of the way) And had WS docked to the top of the right (secondary monitor) I'm working on NS menueing system and showed the icons on the desk top, went to click on WS drawer to check something and it droped about 1/3 the way down the right monitor. It still works but it's not at the top of the screen anymore, but WS menu still thinks it's status is docked at the top, only choices are to "Dock at Bottom" or "Undock" it on the menu.

Sorry didn't notice this till I had posted.

Whatever caused WS to drop down the screen also opened the WS config menu. When I closed the config menu it poped back to the top of the screen again on the secondary monitor where I had put it! Manually opening the WS config menu with F11 (after the fact to check) doesn't cause it to occur.

Sorry for the late reply, been really busy with lots of things.

Anyway, I've checked into this and I think I tracked down the problem... should be fixed for next release.