Can someone point me to a very basic tutorial?

Hello geshe,
Here is a tutorial on WindowBlinds written by our own Cordelia!

http://cordelia.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=65447&SID=5314&UID=2153378

If this doesn't clear some things up for you, let me know and I can pass on your inquiry to tech support.

Ok tech support will be following up on this shortly   

I appreciate it. I can open wb3's but nothing else.

geshe: What is the filename and extension (of the format: "filename.extension") of the file you're downloading?

Could you please copy and paste the information from the System Information section located within the WindowBlinds Configuration window?

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

I'm downloading zip files. Once the zip file is open and what appears to be the executable appears, like a .desktop file, Windows says it doesn't have a program to associate with it.

Here's the message I get from configuration-

WindowBlinds 5.0 System Information Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+ TRAY+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

Your machine does not support per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

This is because :

Your computer graphics hardware does not support acceleration of per pixel alpha. WindowBlinds requires this for per pixel alphablended borders as without it performance would be poor. Please see if you can obtain new drivers for your graphics hardware. Recent ATI & NVIDIA boards should support this feature. Onboard graphics tend not to.

You have one monitor in total.

(Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to Radeon 7000 (Microsoft Corporation)

Wblind.dll 2006/03/20 11:56:04
Wbsrv.dll 2006/03/19 13:37:20
Wbconfig.exe 2006/03/19 15:32:58
Wbload.exe 2005/12/21 01:04:40
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 16:37:00
Wbui.dll 2005/11/26 19:09:46
Tray.dll 2006/04/28 19:27:00

geshe: WindowBlinds uses files of the extension .wba. These files may be contained within a .zip file and would need to be extracted, but WindowsXP provides support for the .zip format.

When you look at the file in the folder you've downloaded it to (or your desktop) how specifically is the filename and extension shown?

How to show file extensions:

 -Go to Start->My Computer
 -Click Tools->Folder options
 -Click the "View" tab
 -Uncheck where it says "Hide file extensions for known filetypes"
 -Click the "OK" button

You should actually be able to use the "Install skin from disk" feature in the WindowBlinds Configuration Dialog

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

When I unzip the file, all that shows is a .desktop file, and that's what Windows doesn't know what to open with.

geshe: .desktop files require DesktopX to run, which can be found here: https://www.stardock.com/products/desktopx

The skins and themes offered here at WinCustomize are actually targeted to a number of different applications (though WindowBlinds is arguably the most popular).

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

By the way, here is a list of some files you may find on this site and their extensions:
.bnskin = BeatNik
.bootskin = BootSkin Boot Screen
.curxptheme = CursorXP
.desktop = DesktopX Theme
.docktheme = ObjectDock
.dxpack = DesktopX Objects
.dxtheme = DesktopX Theme
.hvd = HoverDesk
.iptheme = IconPackager
.ipz = ICQ Plus
.logonxp = LogonXP
.mmz = MusicMach Jukebox
.obpack = Objectbar
.suite = ThemeManager Suite
.wal = WinAmp3
.wba = WindowBlinds
.wst = NextSTART
.wsw = WorkShelf
.wsz = WinAmp
.xptheme = WinStyles Theme

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

I think it would be really customer-friendly of you to keep the .wb3's separate from the .desktop files, so that those of us that are test-driving can find the wb3's. Then, of course, if after the trial period we are "hooked" on Windowblinds would be more inclined to buy it. I'm going to go over to the gallery and see if there's a way to sort for wb3's, but in the meantime I hope you can tell me how to separate out the wb3's from the rest.

geshe: From https://www.wincustomize.com, if you look along the left hand side you will see the links for the Gallery. You only want to be browsing the gallery for WindowBlinds themes, so click the WindowBlinds link and you can go from there. When performing a gallery search, be sure that WindowBlinds is the section you want to be searching from.

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

geshe: There is no ".wb3" extension. What may be happening is that XP is changing the file extension to ".wb3" from it's native extension. For example, it is a known issue that WindowBlinds files (.wba) are converted to a ".zip" sometimes when downloading them. In that situation, you simply rename the file extension to ".wba" and either double-click on it to install the WB skin or use the "Add skin" feature within the WindowBlinds GUI main window. This also happens with other file types.

It is assumed, of course, that you have the appropriate application installed to use whatever skin you are wanting to download and install. You didn't say what type of skin you were trying to download, e.g., WindowBlinds skin, CursorXP theme, etc. IF you have the associated application installed and you are trying to download a skin for it, when downloading the file, in the Download Manager dialog you can change the extension of the file to the appropriate extension using the chart Mike supplied above.

What I'm finding based on Mike's intructions is that wba's are opened automatically and then Windows gives me a prompt to apply.

Thanks to all.

geshe: Glad we could help.  

Happy skinning!

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

As far as the extensions and such (even though Mike's list above is more extensive) - there's also 2 posts at Wincustomize Forum - one by Koasati "Tips for New Users" and one by Skarnivorous (i believe) "Problems Installing Skin and Themes?" that both have real useful info.

I may have gotten the titles wrong - I at work and my employer blocks WC - so I can't go look and get a link.

Koasati's Post should be under the "New Users" tab (pinned in there somewhere)
Skarn's is pinned somewhere under "Stardock Support" if I remember correctly.