Rainmeter Theme Setup Free
Indira Rossetto
I'll be posting my released and WIP Rainmeter skins here, so that they'll be easier to find. I think I'll be keeping the current "format" for each skin, so this thread will turn into one of those TDU "mod shop" threads.
this must be the most original and creative rainmeter work I've seen in a while. any recent progress on it? ever thought about releasing it? I'm also using rainmeter atm Rate My Desktop - deus ex desktop but my desktop really looks dull compared to yours.
Thanks mate! Means alot! :) Yes I am still working on it and have created a lot of new configs/graphics. I'll get around posting an update soon. Also, I will probably release it on somewhere like DeviantArt or Customize.org. I'm not sure when it will happen, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks! It's still complicated for me, but I have to keep reading the manuals and ask for help on their forums because I never knew how much Rainmeter was capable of. Anyway, it's been a bit over 2 weeks so I think it's time for an update!
If you click on the bar on the left, it opens a menu that is like Android's "Recent Tasks" menu. The only difference is it doesn't display the most recent tasks. It's a predefined list that I made but eventually it'll be customizable. Notice that when it isn't open, there is an arrow that points to the right (>) and when the menu is open, it points to the left (
The "lock screen", which is just a full screen image. It's not actually secure as you can right click > close it, so it's mostly for show. You can quickly lock your computer by clicking the lock icon in the status bar. Also, you can't actually drag the lock icon and enter the lock pattern. If you have an Android device, you'll know what I mean. I don't think Rainmeter is that advanced, and even if it was, my coding skills aren't.
The almost completely fake lock pattern. Again, mostly for show and you can't set your own pattern and unlock by drawing it. So what I've done is coded the circles so that when you click the top right one, it deactivates the whole lock screen, as if you are actually unlocking it.
The settings window, which can be accessed by clicking the wrench icon in the status bar. I opened all the menus to show what it is able to do at the moment. And to prove that it works, I changed the lock screen background which you can see below. 12 hr and 24 hr time settings actually work. S**n, I'll code in the ability to change the date format.
The Google search bar looks a lot different now, and that's because I made 4 different versions. The mic icon opens up Window's speech recognition software, but I haven't tested it yet and I think it'll be useless. Top to bottom: Transparent white, transparent black, white, black
Clicking the search bar opens this, a Google Now-style window. It is supposed to display the weather info and search results, but the weather wasn't loading and I haven't figured out how to show the search results yet.
There are also 4 different color versions of even the line above the dock (black, gray/grey, white and transparent). Apart from that, that's all I can show right now. I haven't done anything to the apps window yet as it's too much work for one skin, so that'll be saved for another time.
I got the color values and some of the icons from the Android team itself. A Rainmeter user told me that since Android is open source, they uploaded official color codes, image stencils and even fonts which are all used in the OS. So I took advantage of that and used pretty much all of those in this skin.
Again, I'm impressed by it! :drool: The key question is that when I download it, I'll have to do something, or just I open Rainmeter and install the skin? I've had Rainmeter once, but can't remember all the things and codes. :mhmm:
Once I'm finished, I will have to run the skin packager (like WinRar for Rainmeter skins) so that when users run it, it will extract all the skin files to My Documents\Rainmeter\Skins. It's like an InstallShield wizard for Rainmeter skins. After the extraction is done, Rainmeter should automatically restart itself and load this skin with it. After that, the only thing you have to do is change the weather code and unit (settings skin from the wrench icon) so that a member from Europe or Asia, etc. won't see "New York City 70 F" which is the default. Edit: You might also have to center some skins on the desktop, like the search bar and dock. They'd look weird if they weren't in the center. I'll likely provide a guide on how to exactly pinpoint the center of your screen.
Right now this skin isn't user friendly. For example, Rainmeter users that don't know anything about coding won't be able to customize things like the weather code for their actual location. So to prevent that, I have to code the settings skin to allow every user (skilled or not) to be able to customize it in a few easy steps. I've worked it out for changing the wallpaper and the lock screen wallpaper, and what's left is the date format and weather code.
I made a bigger version of the slot image to allow bigger features so that they wouldn't have to be cramped into the small ones, like before. Since the items are bigger and spaced out more evenly, I had to remake the notifications window image in GIMP and now it's taller. Obviously you can see I added the Google Drive slot and the system monitoring slot, but this may change again in the future. Also, you can't really see the results by just comparing the pictures, but I've revamped the entire code for the notifications. Hopefully it'll allow more usage from users with all types of resolutions.
This is the updated notifications dropdown. This time, I only changed the boring static "Check your Gmail" text to a fully functioning Gmail reader. If there are no new mails it will say "No new mail". If there is 1 new mail, it'll say "1 new mail". You get the idea. Also, the status bar shows a new headphones icon...
The updated "Google Now"-styled skin. Poor thing finally works, apart from the text that says "Washington". It finds out your location based on your IP, but I'm in NYC. :hmmm: The weather values are somewhat similar to what I get on Weather.com, so I guess it's functioning.
Clicking on the headphones icon in the status bar opens this music player. This is based on the music player from the GS3, but eventually I'll make one that looks like Google Play's music player. Every button you see there works properly, with iTunes. Ironic, no? :cheeky:
This is the newest addition. It's like the digital control buttons the newer Android devices have. I'm not sure if it will stay into the first full release because I have found no use for any of the buttons yet. The only thing I find useful as of now is the search bar.
As for the settings skin, I've started working on it again so that you can actually change settings for each of the Android skins. As of now, it's capable of changing the desktop wallpaper, the lock screen wallpaper, time format (12hr vs 24hr), weather unit and the weather location to search. The skin uses XML from Weather.com. Eventually, you'll be able to change what programs are opened by the dock icons, and the icons in the apps window.
What I've done this time is made the dock customizable. You can choose type in your own setting for the width and height of the icons, the space between the icons and, as you can see in the picture, what icons you want on the dock. This makes it a lot better for different resolutions, but the max amount of icons you can have on the dock are 9 (including the apps button). You don't have to keep the boring phone, contacts, messaging and browser icons anymore! :D The actual OS lets you do that, so I integrated it into the skin.
As of now, I am really almost done. I am just going to continue making minor adjustments to the current skins and then finish it off by making the desktop icons, and maybe even the widgets. I have a bunch of high quality icons I found on teh interwebs, and they will make their way into the skin. That's all for now, I can't wait to release this. :D
I've got some things in life that need taking care of, but it's mostly because of all the features I want to cram into the skin. :) It will take some time and a lot of testing to finish, so I'll just let you guys know now.
New and improved desktop. No, I do not have Skyfall on my computer. It's just for show. ;) You will be able to change the pictures and the file path it leads to in the final version. Also, I only have 2 icons because I coded them just for this screenshot. :nods: Edit: Forgot more things! The weird stuff on the left, next to the "My Library" text, is the volume control. Hover over it and it shows the volume level. Clicking the button on the top increases the volume, and the bottom lowers it. And on the right, there is a smaller button. Click it once and it opens the lock screen. Click it twice and it opens the phone options menu, the one you get when you hold the power button on any Android device.
So yeah, that's what's happened so far. Also, the buttons in the navigation bar (the one on the bottom) actually kill any active windows now. :) I have found a way to use them and they will stay in the skin. What do you guys think so far?
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