Setting up the desktop

Ease of use and eye candy. To me you can't one without the other. Ease of use means that everything is there for you when you need it. Eye candy means that it has to look cool and one very important thing: it has to match. Colors, the elements (widgets etc) should be of a theme. Like if your using Sirus than it should be all Sirus. The colors are very important. Sometimes you have to tweak the colors. Pretty simple concepts.

A vertical taskbar looks bad with most skins. A lot of that is due to the limitations in controll over certian elements of the taskbar. Finding a startbutton that will work with all configurations is a near impossible task, for example.

Let me put it this way: I skin the vertical taskbar because it's there and I know that someone would complain if I didn't

Some docks just can't be made to look right at all positions.  There are tons of docks sitting in my backburner folder because I just couldn't get OD to do what I wanted.  Sometimes, I'll use a dock that isn't fit for public consumption, because I know just where to put it and what size to use it at.  OD is very limiting in what we can do with it graphics wise.  Hopefully, one day, it'll be very versatile on that end.  Hopefully.

B U M P

I like moving my taskbar around ,it makes my deaktop look different along with all the other apps i use to set it up. but i hate clutter ,im totally lost with too much stuff on there.But i have found that not all blinds like to be vertical .

i just change it until i find one that does .Iprefer window blinds to other sidebars.

so no complaints from me you guys do great work and i benifit from it so thanks for all your time and effort incase we don't say it enough.

I only use the taskbar at the bottom. I've tried using it elsewhere, and it's hard to get use to. I'm sure most people use it on the bottom too, but since there are some that prefer it on the sides or top, I skin the blind for all possibilities. Sometimes it looks good....sometimes not, depending on the style of the buttons, start button and shape of the taskbar.

The same is true for other brousers. I only use IE. Lots of people use Firefox, so the skin should be compatable with both.

As far as the positioning of things, I move everything around quite a bit depending on the wallpaper I'm using. I like to see my wallpaper without alot of clutter over it. I have lots of apps that I use frequently, so Objectdock is a 'must have'. I have tabbed docks on top right now (5 of them) and one zoomer dock on the left side. I also have one tile dock with just the weather docklet on it. That gets moved quite often. 

I rarely put the zoomer on the right side, just because that is where my mouse ends up alot of the time. The scrollbar for the open window is there, the titlebar buttons are (usually) there, and if you get too close to the edge, a dock on the right side pops up over your window. That can be irritating when you are trying to hit something else and end up clicking an icon on the dock instead.

...and now that I have described all that....I think I might move things around again.

I'm extremely fussy on how my desktop looks. Everything has to match, I get really ticked if I can't change something, like maybe the font color in the start menu, or not being able to make my dock icons slightly transparent, or not being able to take away the user picture box in the start menu, etc. I even have to change the icons in the start menu to match in color or theme.

I take forever tweaking the colors, transparencies, fonts - it's not that I don't like them the way the skinner designed them, I just enjoy finding different skins and putting them together for a totally different look. That way you can recycle all your skins over and over again.

I usually keep it more minimal than in my screenshots, but WC requires a certain amount of coverage over the wallpapers in a shot. I usually keep my taskbar on the bottom except if the wallpaper has an interesting bottom that I don't want covered up. And I really like it when things hide off to the side till I need them.

I try to keep the right side clear for the  Vista/Win7 sidebar gadgets when not running a DX theme,which I am most of the time. I keep no icons on my desktop other than a recycle bin. I like to see my wallpaper. OD plus with tabbed docks for me,I never found a need for fences.

To me less is better. I hide my taskbar and desktop. I love the tabbed docks, I load them up and all you see are the tabs and the wall. I normally keep the taskbar on the bottom.

One word....

Use Fences....;)

OK, so that's two words...

Alright.....seven.

Yes, nine.....

Eleven.

Bollocks.

13

Usability is key. In my line of work, I have to be able to work quickly, and it helps to have things quickly at my disposal. And of course, they have to look good. I agree with Chasbo; I like a unified look. However, I only ever use 2 Icon Packages--Aero Midnight or Cosmos.

As far as placement; I keep my taskbar on the bottom. Really, the only reason i even use a taskbar is for WB skinning purposes. I prefer no taskbar with ObjectDock. I keep one main zoomer at the bottom center (usually a tray-style dock), and a 5-category tabbed dock on the top-center.

Yes. Right now, I'm trying to perfect how to make the taskbar buttons look exactly right on top as well as bottom. Side taskbars are a lost cause. I just try to make them look as good as I can. I've always hated side taskbars, even before I discovered WindowBlinds!

Yes. Tabbed backgrounds need to look correct whether they are set up in a more traditional manner, with several tabs in a wide layout, or whether they're set up as a single, skinny tabbed drawer. Tray docks will not look right on the sides, so I always make the side versions of trays to be regular zoomers. etc...

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