Classic Shell: Forum

I note from the docs that it is possible to set some icons, such as All Programs.

Is it possible to set any of the other icons which the user can make available, such as This PC, Documents, Control Panel etc?

Thanks,
Dave

Icons can be customized in any Start Menu style from the Settings UI. Go to the Customize Start Menu tab in Start Menu Settings and double click the icon to bring up the Edit Menu Item dialog. However, for the right-side column, only the "Classic with two columns" style will show icons (when "No icons in the second column" is unchecked from the Skin tab). For the Windows 7 style, the right-side column icons will show at the top where the user picture is.

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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.

Thanks, Gaurav, that's great!

Looks like icon customisations are also saved to the settings backup, which is great.

My plan is to replace all the stock item icons with Windows 10 equivalents. I can do this myself as you've suggested, but do you know if it's at all possible to change the defaults, so each time I add a new item to the menu, its icon is pre-set?

No the default icons are obtained from the item itself. What do you mean by Windows 10 equivalent icons and where did you get them? Are the glyphs used in the left side of the Windows 10 Start Menu stored in some DLL?

_________________
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.

Not that I know of.

Instead, I'm compiling a dll with icons from Icons8: https://icons8.com/web-app/category/win10/Very-Basic

If you could share them here after you convert them in ICO format, it will be appreciated.

_________________
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.

Of course!

Here's how the icons look in-situ.

Not as sharp as the core Windows 10 icons, but certainly look more in-keeping with the OS.

I did my own icons in the end, only took a couple of hours

I think these look much better.

Fantastic job. Your own icons are much better. Can we download them?

_________________
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.

Thanks

I'm just finishing off a few things, then I'll stick the whole lot on GitHub.

You don't happen to know if there's a variable (for use in Customize Start Menu bitmap paths) to directly reference the Classic Shell folder do you?

I have CS installed in "Program Files/Utilities/Classic Shell" so it would more user-friendly to be able to distribute a settings.xml file with something like "%PROGRAM_FOLDER%/Windows 10 Icons/someicon.ico" rather than my path, and some notes in the readme for people to edit this before installing.

Actually, thinking about it some more, a good option might be:

Yep some folder inside %localappdata%\ClassicShell is a good idea since %ProgramFiles% is UAC protected.

_________________
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.

OK, everything is uploaded to Github.

https://github.com/davestewart/classic-shell-win10

If you'd like to check it out and give me any feedback, that would be great.

What's the best way to announce a new skin? Is there a thread for this kind of thing, or do I just make a new one?

You could edit the first post of this thread if you want, change the title or create a new thread. If possible add some screenshots with a generic user picture so I can post about it on the Facebook page.

Edit: Downloaded. Nice icons. We still need glyph icons for Music, Videos, Downloads, Apps, Games, Monitor off, Default Programs, Recycle Bin, Programs and Features, WiFi, Recent/Frequent folders, if anyone else wants to pitch in. And high res/high DPI icons (64x64 or higher) for all items.

_________________
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.

Edit: I've added these issues to the Github repo: https://github.com/davestewart/classic- ... n10/issues

Yeah. I've just completed:

• Music
• Videos
• Downloads
• Desktop

I will look to add:

• Games
• Recycle Bin
• Default Programs
• Programs and Features

I could possibly add:

• Menu Settings
• Taskbar Settings
• Homegroup, Libraries, Administrative Tools (from Edit Menu Item > Link)

Not sure about:

• Apps (I copied the "All apps" icon from Windows 10 for the "All Programs" icon, so it works for both in my view)
• Monitor off (this doesn't have an icon at the moment)
• WiFi (this doesn't have an icon)
• Recent/Frequent folders (I don't have this)

Really behind on work at the moment anyway, so this will all probably be a couple of weeks away!

High res icons will be the same amount of work again, so certainly a task for the future! (The settings for these icons are 24px; what are the specs for high res? 48px?)

Weirdly, I've just tried to install the skin on a 2nd computer, and Classic Shell doesn't see it.

I've downloaded it from my Github repo, as well as copying the actual .skin file, and it's the same each time - no skin shows in the list.

The skin opens in Resource Hacker on that machine too.

Both machines are running Classic Shell 4.2.4.

Any ideas?

OK, I figured it. The default setting were on "Windows 7 style" and I don't have a .skin7 file.

after copying the skin to the skins folder in classic shells install directory, you might need to re-open the settings window for the change to take effect

Thanks to davestewart's awesome work, my Start Menu looks very native on the crappy Windows 10. Not that I would leave Windows 7 for it or anything but still.

_________________
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.

Fantastic

I've set up a bunch of different Start Menu configurations which I'll be uploading for the next release, hopefully with an expanded icon set, and even more hopefully 16px and 48px icons.

It's so much nicer having a Start Menu that behaves like Windows XP, but feels like Windows 10, I'm really glad you're enjoying it!

wow
i love it
where can i download it?
does it work with the last version of classic menu?
thanks

hi
it'a amazing , but i can't find where download it
https://github.com/davestewart/classic-shell-win10 here there is not a file (skin) to download
thanks

Click the "Clone or download" button -> Download ZIP. It's inside the ZIP -> Dist folder.

_________________
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.

thanks
about your skin where can i get it ?

about the zip files there are several files inside and Windows 10.skin 129kb


thanks

Well it's not the same exactly but instead of using icons, if you use Unicode text symbols, you can have some glyphs in Windows 7-style, 2nd column as well.

If in the future, Ivo can add support for color fonts which are supported using DirectWrite on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, we can have full color emojis. Then fonts like Segoe UI Symbol or Segoe UI Emoji can be used.

_________________
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.

Here are the glyphs for easy copy-pasting if anyone wants to use them in the Classic Start Menu:

Follow the instructions here: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5091#p33545

Note: These glyphs will display properly on Windows 7 and up with the Segoe UI Symbol font present. You might want to change the font used in your skin(s) to Segoe UI Symbol. The rest of the non-glyph characters should display the same as regular Segoe UI.

_________________
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.

Hi, I'm just putting a test 7 style opaque skin here, and not really expecting any feedback at this late stage.
But hey, if Gaurav is still around to answer questions when on Windows 10, would be great, but I know Gaurav and many people are not happy about Win 10, and may not even be using it.

Putting the .skin7 in skins folder and loading the xml file will put glyph symbols in the second column.
The font used is Windows 10 "Segoe MDL2 Assets".

The biggest problem is the symbol is too high up making the y and g text get cut off at the bottom.
Is there by any chance some symbol to be put in between the pasted glyph and the text
to tell the program to use "Segoe MDL2 Assets" for glyph
and then normal "Segoe UI" for the text?
If no response, no problem. I put as a request over on GitHub.

Ok, this is weird. Classic Shell is just following what Windows 10 is offering!

If I look at "Segoe MDL2 Assets" font file in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Fonts
even the g,p,y,q tails are cut off as well.

Two possibilities:

1. Windows 10 1809 has a bug for showing this MDL2 fonts text.
I really don't want to go back to an earlier version to find out if true.

2. This MDL2 font does not have any text elements to speak of (only glyphs),
and falls back to using a smaller Segoe default text,
which does not line up correctly with the glyph element? Maybe uses "Segoe UI Symbol" as a fallback?

OK, I'm stuck in the mud again.
I went back to my old Windows 8.1 harddrive.
Downloaded, and installed earlier version 1.55 Segoe mdl2 assets.ttf font.
So, on a Windows 8.1 system, CSM start menu skin can show the Win 10 glyphs,
but still has the same problem with the text tails cut off.
Too bad

Here is the 7 style Metro test skin for glyphs with the Symbol or MDL2 font text setup in skin file.
Can load xml file for the font like one from Gaurav, or load the one like Startisback.

Read the note Glyph 'Readmet' inside zip to see issues.
There are more.
No cures, unless all text is in CAPITALS to avoid the cutoff.

By turning off the shutdown button, and replacing with the shutdown, restart shortcuts,

one can just have the glyphs on the second column.

Now, where have I seen that look before?

Heh...reminds me of a few old XP themes which pulled a similar trick.

Was this kind of thing what you were referring to about having seen "that look" somewhere before?

_________________
I'm sorry for getting your hopes up, only to shatter them. Best wishes, wherever you're all headed next.

Hi Splitwirez
Yes, there were a lot of xp themes like that. Can do similar on CSM classic 2 style.

What I was kind of saying is the Windows 10 glyphs on the left side of the default menu,
are now on the right side of the Classic Shell menu. Like a mirror.

How is it going with https://github.com/StartNine/start9
Is it too big of a project?


About XP
Steam won't let me play all my old games (eg, Serious Sam) on XP anymore.
I'm going to have to download all of them, including the one from Jcee,
and put on Windows 10 instead. Bye, bye XP.
It was nice using os for all these years.

youll find with some tweaking windows 10 isnt the worst thing in the world. it does like to randomly install new apps for you, even if like-me you haven't opened the windows store in over a year
The recent insider version introduces clipboard history support. (IE you can get that text you copied 10 minutes ago. it even syncs across devices, so you can ctrl+C on desktop and ctrl+v on laptop. (very convenient) however Afaik it doesnt work with files yet.

[randomly install new apps]
I tried some of those new apps that install themselves. Not really for me, but keep em coming coz I like to see what apps are capable of.
I've never been forced games like Candy Crush Soda Saga. Maybe that only happens with Home version?
I had to download from Windows store. Once I played it, found out it's the same as older games 5 to 10 years ago.
Uninstalled it- It never reinstalled.

[clipboard history]
That multi clipboard feature looks like it could come in handy every once in a while.
It has happened a couple times in recent past where I already copied something,
but needed to copy something else before pasting initial one, and the first got overwritten.
It's a good safety feature, so I enabled it on 1809.

Personally I use rainmeter with a clipboard plugin; but I am keeping an eye on it. if they ever include file support It will be amazing.
Instead of copying a backup of a .dll to your desktop before replacing it. you could simply cut it. then throw the new one in its place, without having to worry about accidentally overwriting the clipboard.

Just for fun, I used a trick from meetHG, to make a closer look to the default Win 10 start menu ( not the tiles part).
I'm not uploading the modified skin/xml files, because it does not fully work.
Only wanted to see how far I could go.

I made the main2 padding a negative number -190,20,125,9 as meetHG had done,
forcing the second column to show before the first column. I changed the other menu views paddings a little as well.
The search, programs, and jumplist views work correctly.

Problems from using a negative number in Main2_padding,
is it makes all the padding zero on the top/left. So there is no free space around its selector button.
The user picture shows mostly off the screen.
It only worked at 100% size. Would need further work for HDPI size.
I actually like it better when the 2nd column is on the right, so flyout menus don't overlap the main menu.

So, I'll leave it at that.
So long

Riiiiiight, okay that makes more sense lol

I wouldn't say that...we're making progress. Slowly, but surely, we're making progress.

...I'd post a few screenshots, but I don't think this is the thread for that

_________________
I'm sorry for getting your hopes up, only to shatter them. Best wishes, wherever you're all headed next.

I doubt the moderators on here are going to ban us at this late stage for an alternative start menu picture or ten.

On a thread from way back:

http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewt ... =17&t=7545

you posted that you would like to use the Windows 10 glyphs on your Start9.
Here is the challenge:
Entice us with at least one screenshot of a Start9 skin using glyphs, along with text that has its tails not cut off.

Fair enough...but since Start9 is far more than just a Start Menu replacement at this point, here, have a Superbar:


That was back when Start9 was just a Start Menu replacement. That having been said, I may still look into it, but honestly...I don't even know. It might make more sense to go for XAML or SVG or something at this point, given what we're dealing with now.



Challenge accepted. What's my prize? (jk ofc)

...also idk about your approach, but mine should work on Windows 7 and 8.1 as well as 10, since they're not dependent on the actual Segoe MDL2 Assets font itself.

_________________
I'm sorry for getting your hopes up, only to shatter them. Best wishes, wherever you're all headed next.

#Banned
JK, Its never really been against the rules unless its blatant advertisements of an unrelated product. I would very much consider start9 related as it shares inspiration with classic shell; and features for one are generally relevant to the other.
Trying to sell shoes on amazon? yea thats against the rules. but not linking to anything Windows/UI related.

D:


Fair enough, makes sense.

In that case, I guess it's safe to post a few more:

_________________
I'm sorry for getting your hopes up, only to shatter them. Best wishes, wherever you're all headed next.

Yeah, I was horsing around with the banned comment.
I read somewhere way back Ivo even offered some of his code to you for Start9,
I think before CS went public.

[We've been busy...here, have some results:]
More pictures, gifs, vids, please.


Dang it. I did not say exactly "Segoe MDL2 Assets" font.
Looking at the pictures glyph, it is not the same as the original.
XAML Code 
FontIcon <FontIcon FontFamily="Segoe MDL2 Assets" Glyph="&#xEB9F;"
Symbol Icon (Symbol)0xEB9F

Can the glyph size in your screenshot be changed easily apart from the text size?

Using Gaurav's approach, the font name and its size have to be put in the skin file.
If on earlier Windows, the Segoe MDL2 Assets font has to be downloaded and installed in font folder to work.



Anyway, you won.

You won ...... the satisfaction of making me supremely jealous.

Good night

Yep.





My apologies, I guess I misunderstood the challenge. Sorry about that.


There's no connection, so yes. I can't take a screenshot of that right now due to being on mobile. A true magician never reveals his/her/its/their means, so allow me to prove the non-magical nature of my methods using this screenshot I happened to take last night:



Not so here - Start9's icon override feature supports PNG icons, and ICO, SVG, and XAML are all on my list to look into. You've got me tempted to look into fonts as well, although until I do some research into the legality of embedding that font, I doubt I'll be using it as an example.



Good thing this is all open-source.


Good timezone.

_________________
I'm sorry for getting your hopes up, only to shatter them. Best wishes, wherever you're all headed next.