Classic Shell: Forum

I am a new Classic Shell user, so my apologies in advance if this functionality already exists and I have not found it yet.

I would like to add a custom banner on the left side of the Classic Design Start Menu where it usually shows the Windows version. Is this possible just in the basic functionality, without creating a custom skin?

Thanks in advance.

You can change the text from the settings, but for anything more than that you need to edit the skin. The blue background is part of the skin bitmap.

To change the text of the caption (banner), go to the Menu Look tab in Start Menu settings. Look or search for the setting called "Menu Caption".

To change the background of the caption, you will need to understand the skin format, how the background is drawn using slices and then edit the skin. The skin format is described here: http://www.classicshell.net/tutorials/skintutorial.html. You will also need to download and install Resource Hacker from http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/ to edit the skin. Next go to C:\Program Files\Classic Shell\Skins in Explorer and copy the skin you want to some other folder, such as the Desktop. (The file extension for classic style is .skin). Now open this skin in Resource Hacker and do the modifications you want, save the skin and copy it back to C:\Program Files\Classic Shell\Skins\. Switch to the new skin from the Skins tab in Settings.

The skin also contains the parameters Caption_font=, Caption_text_color= and Caption_padding= which you can change.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.