Windows Vista Desktop Theme
Introduction
This is a
work in progress tutorial. This is aimed towards an novice user attemping to create a Windows Vista-like "desktop" for their PDA. For this, I used a Dell Axim x51v (A06) in landscape mode, so please be aware that this setup is assuming you have a VGA device. I don't really care for QVGA, but you can follow this if you want. I have also created my own custom images in these examples and have taken some images from a Windows Vista theme for PC. Most of the graphics are from Xcilions' Windows Vista theme. The background image I have used is customized for personal use; if you want to know how i created that effect we will get to that later.
CURRENTLY EXPLAINS:
- methods of initializing, obtaining files
- set own wallpaper
- creation of taskbar with clock and system tray icons
- creation of start button with working start menu
COMING SOON:
- Sidebar
- Windows
- Log in page
- More ways to add to your pocket Vista desktop
Requirments:
- Wisbar Advance 2*
- Wisbar Advance Desktop*
- Windows Vista Portable Edition theme by Xcilion
- Any graphics you want to use in your theme, be it custom made or found somewhere else
* Personally I use the latest WA2 and the 1.0.7 WAD. However, the download link to WAD points to the latest beta.
SECTION ONE: OBTAIN AND INSTALL NECESSESARY FILES
Get these files from their respective locations:
Wisbar Advance 2 CAB for WM5:
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/dow...4i.2_7_0_2.cab
Wisbar Advance Desktop CAB for WM5:
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/dow...4i.1_2_0_9.cab
Windows Vista Portable Edition Theme WA2 by Xcilion ZIP:
http://www.sbsh.net/forums/index.php...e=post&id=9954
Windows Vista Portable Edition Theme WAD by Xcilion ZIP:
http://www.sbsh.net/forums/index.php...e=post&id=9956
For the Windows Vista theme, you have to register an account at SBSH.net in order to download the files. Registration is free.
- When you have all of the files, install WA2 first, then WAD. Turn on WA2.
- Connect your mobile device or place expansion card in card reader. Extract the Windows Vista theme somewhere. Personally, I extract the theme in the \Themes folder in the WA2 directory (usually found in \Program Files\Lakeridge\Wisbar Advance 2)
- Load the Vista theme by going into the WA2 Configuration > Themes. Select which version of the skin you want to use. Press Close.
- The theme is now loaded
- Extract the Windows Vista WAD files somewhere. Personally, I extract them in wherever I extracted the Windows Vista WA2 theme (usually \Program Files\Lakeridge\Wisbar Advance 2\Windows Vista Theme\WAD Files)
- Load WAD by going into the WA2 Configuration > Plugins. Check the Desktop plugin and press Close.
- WAD is now loaded, with the default skin present.
SECTION TWO: DESKTOP CREATION
Now that we have loaded WAD, we now see the default WAD skin. We would like to start a new WAD theme from scratch.
- Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop
- Select Theme Manager, then select Desktop Theme
- Select the Landscape tab and then press the New button
- Assign your theme a name and press Close
- Select the new theme and press Close
- WAD now loads your new theme with a blank page
The first thing we can do now is hide the taskbar and the today bar located at the top and bottom respectivley.
- Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop
- Go to Page > check Full Screen. The taskbar is removed
- Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop
- Go to Page > uncheck Show today bar. The today bar is removed
Instead of using the default background, lets use our own. Personally, I use a Vista inspired wallpaper.
- Tap and hold on somewhere on and empty space on the desktop
- Go to Page > Wallpaper
- Select your wallpaper in whatever directory they are located in.
- Optionally, if you want the image to stretch to the whole screen, check the box "Stretch the wallpaper".
- Press OK. We have a wallpaper now.
We now have a blank page with our new wallpaper. Since we disabled the today bar, we can start creating our own taskbar that will be at the bottom. This is where remembering the location of where we installed the Windows Vista WAD files is important. For this, %X refers to the root directory of where you installed everything (example: \Program Files\Lakeridge Software\Wisbar Advance\Themes\Windows Vista\WAD Files)
- Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop
- Go to New > Dock. The new dock window appears.
- Select the button that will browse to where our taskbar image is located.
- Point all the way to \%X\Interface by tapping on the arrow located upmost right hand corner. You will see an image named "taskbar". Select that and press OK.
- Check the box "Visable by default".
- Make sure you select the bottom edge to dock this to.
- We will give this dock a name: bottombar
- Once done, press the OK/Close button.
The result is an empty taskbar located at the bottom.
What is a taskbar with nothing on it? We are going to add the time to the right side of the bar.
- Tap and hold on the new taskbar dock
- Go to New > Text. The new text control window appears.
- For object type, select Custom Text
- For Text to Display, input %T12% (this means to show the current time in 12-hour format).
- Set the Align to right.
- Tap Action is optional, but I have mine pointing to the Clocks and Alarms control panel applet (To acheive this, select the box beside the action, then select Control Panel at the top. Then select Clock & Alarms)
- Font is optional, but I have mine using the Segoe UI font using a font size of 4 and white text color.
- Once done, press the OK/Close button.
The result is a taskbar showing the current time in 12 hour format. Position the time over to the right. Do this by dragging the object to wherever. Alternativly, you can tap and hold on the item, then select Position. This lets you move the object a pixel over in whatever direction you want.
If you have actually read the requirements, you will see where I said you could use any custom images you like. In this example below, we will create an icon representing Volume for our system tray. Please note that the WAD files for the Windows Vista theme by Xcilion does not include a volume icon; you will have to find one somewhere else. An example regardless:
- Tap and hold on the taskbar dock
- Go to New > Shortcut
- For Path to Executable, you can select Executables at the top, then select the arrow to the right of that. Browse to the directory of where you installed Wisbar Advance 2.
- Once there, the list populates. Select the WisVol.exe application.
- Uncheck "Use Default Icon"
- For Path to Image, select the browse box to the right. Point to an image you want to use for your volume shortcut. Press OK.
- For Text Settings, do not display the shortcuts' text. Press OK, then OK.
The result is a volume icon in the system tray. When tapped, it will temporarily bring the taskbar back so you can change the volume. Once you are done, select somewhere on the desktop. The taskbar is gone. This is just an example. If you want to have more icons on the system tray, repeat the steps above for the desired application you want to have a shortcut to. A WiFi button is a good choice, as well as a Power button.
So let's get a start button happening here. For your information, we will be creating a button control. A button controll lets us do some important things, such as going to the next virtual page, or toggling a dock. In this case, we want our Start button to show/hide a dock that resembles a start menu. Let's go ahead and create the actual button first. For this, %X refers to the root directory of where you installed everything (example: \Program Files\Lakeridge Software\Wisbar Advance\Themes\Windows Vista\WAD Files)
- Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop*
- Go to New > Button
- Select the button that will browse to where our start button image is located.
- Point all the way to \%X\Interface by tapping on the arrow located upmost right hand corner. You will see an image named "start". Select that and press OK.
- For Tap Actions, we will select the first dropdown as Toggle Dock. On the dropdown box to the right of that, don't worry about that just yet becasue we haven't created our start menu dock yet.
- Press OK. You should see the new Vista start button. Drag it on top of the taskbar to the left side.
*The reason why I say select somewhere on the desktop for this button is so that we can get the overlapping effect with the button on top of the taskbar. Any image on a dock cannot overlap; it will get cut off.
Part 2 on next post.
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