Classic Shell: Forum

i think "DocumentsItem" should default to the name "Recent Documents" instead of "Recent Items" to avoid possible conflicts with recent Programs or Recent Apps Folders, which are created by the "RecentItems" function

It is named to match the Windows 7 menu.

And also for localization purposes so that it is auto-translated.

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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.

actually, what are the rules for "recent Items"?

There is a command entitled "RecentItems"

and when I add it, it contains the list of items from the Recent Programs Menu, in the Start menu.. just moves it from a scrolling list to the new folder

but it seems to add programs sporadically.. like, i dont think its adding new programs as I launch them, certainly not all the programs

so what has to happen for a program to be added? are they only C:\ Drive programs, or are they only programs that have made certain changes in the registry, or are they only programs that have been completely installed and not portable executable files.. or how does it work?

I clicked "Track Recent Items" as well..

It seems if it doesnt get a name in the Label, then it just shows up blank without any arrow or anything

which folder or part of Windows is it getting its information on recent programs?

thanks

The menu that shows recently opened documents is called "Documents" in the classic menu and "Recent Items" in the Windows 7 menu. Why they renamed it to Recent Items I don't know. But it still shows only documents.

The "RecentItems" item contains "the menu items recently launched from the start menu". For something to end up there it has to be launched from a menu with the "track recent items" enabled. Most people don't need to deal with RecentItems. It is for people who want to separate the recent programs in a sub-menu because their main menu is getting too big.

yep, fixed it perfectly

I just had to enable "Track Recent Items" in my "Program Launcher" folder, and it worked

great, thanks

out of curiosity, can I add programs which launch from the Quicklaunch to be tracked as recent Items as well?

well, i tried adding a new Start Menu button that was a link to %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch, and place high on the right side of teh menu, near where I have my "Programs Menu" (which i have there only for quick pinning of newly installed items), just to keep it out of the way as well.

but it didnt register anything launched from the quicklaunch bar

but then I moved that Quicklaunch folder over to the Left side of the menu, by my search box and my "program Launcher" (which contains all my program shortcuts as a multi-column solution) and it worked..

yes, both times I had already selected to track items..

so why does it work on th left side of the menu but not the right.. I've noticed this alot.. what is the difference with the left side of the menu?

anyway, its not beautiful, but it works, since im not using my programs menu on the left side much anymore anyway

None of the columns should work. Items launched from the quicklaunch bar are not tracked because it is not part of Classic Shell.

hmm.. well it works in the left column

that DOES NOT need a fix.. so i hope you can either leave it at that, or make the right column behave the same

I had similar behavior when adding the search bar.. it didnt function the same in the right column.. i cant remember exactly how now, but something like tracked items, or something else like that..

anyway, thanks, but dont make that not work..

Are you saying that you managed to make the start menu track items launched from quicklaunch in the taskbar? That's just not possible. Maybe you started the same program from the start menu.

oh, maybe i made a mistake in my workflow somewhere

I might have tested it from teh Quicklaunch Menu, rather than the bar, i forget.. but i swore i thought it worked the first time

I just tried it again and that seems to be the behavior now

So, i guess its Classic Shell doing the tracking internally, and not tracking any folder's location, but only the presence of the folder on the start menu.. so any item in any folder can be added to recent items, so long as "track items" is checked in each folder, and they are launched only from the start menu

so, what location are you monitoring exactly?

and is the problem that a Shortcut placed on the Start Menu from the Quicklaunch is really just a Shortcut to a Shortcut, and that the second Shortcut I place on the start menu which I created from the Quicklaunch folder, would just point to the original .exe file in the installation folder, so its actually like cloning the shortcut in quicklaunch, rather than pointing to the shortcut that exists in Quicklaunch then launching from there?

otherwise, it seems that if you had a shortcut to an item from your start menu, and you placed it in your Quicklaunch Folder, then it should register in Classic Explorer when clicked from your Quicklaunch..

maybe there is a way to make Classic Shell point to the Location of the Shortcut, then launch the shortcut, rather than just cloning the shortcut. probably a built in windows thing

its not a big deal, since quicklaunch is the fastest method to start a program anyway.. but i think "recent Items" would make more sense if it tracked all programs you ran from anywhere.. imo..

anyway, thanks

I don't monitor anything. I only remember what programs you launch from the start menu.