Transparency Manager [Beta v. 0.9.9.9]

Adjusts the transparency level of the Windows taskbar and Desktop Sidebar

Developed by yyy

Original idea by: hanlin

Released on: December 29th 2004

Compatible: Desktop Sidebar Build 75 and above, Windows XP and above - the panel han't been tested on previous builds or Windows version. Please test it on your own system and tell me.

Special Thanks to:
All Neowin.net forum members who helped me to develop that panel (especially to The_Decryptor whose help was vital for this panel creation)
Thanks a lot all of you !!!
Thanks to all Desktop Sidebar development team for developing this wonderful software for us and all beta testers for their helpful advises and testing

Description
The Transparency Manager panel allows you to adjust the transparency level of the Windows taskbar and Desktop Sidebar !

Beta v. 0.9.9.9 Features and Bugs Fixes

• Desktop Sidebar transparency adjustment - No need to go to the Options dialog box
• Disable/enable animation feature
• Ability to reset all settings after Desktop Sidebar closes
• Bug fixes

Beta v. 0.9.9 Features and Bugs Fixes

• Option to disable transparency after the panel unloads
• Aniamtion - animated the transparency adjustement
• Taskbar stucks after the panel loads
• Fixed some bugs and added more small features

I know that when you undock or move the panel there's a problem with the transparency adjustement - I'll try to fix it.

Known bugs:
Desktop Sidebar gets black when it initializes - I'll try to fix it.

Dear user
Thank you very much for using the panel - enjoy it I did my best in order to ensure that the panel will work on any computer and in any condition. If you find a bug or if you have any questions please ask me here in this thread.
Notice that this is an Open Source panel which means that you can use, distrobute and modify it for free !!! The panel is programmed in C#.NET using SharpDevelop. Fell free to use the code or modify it.

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Notice that this is a Beta version - not all features are available yet. Please help me to test this build by giving me the right information:

Win 98 Users
Please tell me if you can use this panel - does it adjust the taskbar transparency level?

Win 2000 Users
Please tell me if you can use this panel - can you adjust the taskbar transparency level?

Also tell me which DS build do you use. This will help me to know the right system requirements for this panel. Thanks in advance


And now - for the download :

Woow!
It works oke on my computer(windows xp, DS version 86)
As many i want this for a long time
yyy and the developers from neowin thank you so very much!


Thanxs!

It won't load. I get an error saying unknown progid, error: 800401f3 and asks if I want to disable it.

Works fine with XP SP1 and DS Build 75.

Thanks for the panel, I would love to see the other tranparency controls such as start menus and context menus. Great job!

Works well. Minor bug. when i first installed it, the taskbar disappeared till I moved the slider.

It works fine for me the only thing i had is when i start it up it will show the taskbar before the sidebar was started and then i need to move the slider a bit and then it will show the new stuff also. After that it will work fine again.

Thank you all for using the panel (or trying to ) - I hope you enjoy it.

hanlin - I'm sorry for that - What Windows version do you have? What DS build do you have have?

guitarist24 - I've tried to add start menu transparency but it then the start menu gets black I might try context menues transparency.

eitaneko - it didn't disappeard, it just became fully transparent. I set the panel to automaticaly set the transparency level to 100 % but aparently it didn't work for you. I'll again in the code and try to see what's wrong.

Demolition man - I didn't understand you - didn't it automaticaly set the transparency level after the panel loads?

Works well for me... On closing you should set the transparency back. Right now I close it and have a perma transparent bar.

Thanks for using the panel - enjoy it
The panel shouldn't change the transparency level when you close it. If you want me to add such feature I can.

Ok - that's a nice idea. I think that some people will prefer having their taskbar always semi-transparent but some might not. Thanks for the idea.

You can combine this panel with yours. I just think that some people only want a scroller to asjust the transparency and no more than that. Having also a taskbar can catch more space and will take longer to load. You are right, some might want both panels but I leave this panel alone for those who want just this feature. I will add some more features that don't releate to the taskbar so that's another reason to leave it alone.

You can combine it with your panel, I don't mind and it might improve the taskbar panel.

I have XP Pro SP2 and DS 85. I've also tried 86 with the same results.

Try to delete the panel's directory in "C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Desktop Sidebar\plugins\TransparencyManager". Then download the file again and reinstall. It should work. Or - you can wait until the next release - I will fix some bugs so you better wait I'm sorry again

EDIT:
I was able to fix some of the bugs:

-Taskbar gets stuck after the panel loads.
-Disable transparent after the panel unloads.
-Taskbar "disappears" after first install ( I hope I fixed it )

and there are some more changes. I hope to release the new beta version soon.

If you can get this panel stable enough, I going to throw my ideas on it later on

Working on it. I've fixed many bugs and hope to release the next beta version in a few hours.

That problem has been fixed in the new version - download it from the 1st post.

I`m having the same problem as hanlin!

i`m running on a Windows2003Server Ent Ed. and DS b86

It`s because of .NET framework ????

You must have .NET framework v1.1 in order to use my panels. Do you have it installed? If not I'll give you the link to it.

New version is out (Check the 1st post)
Now you can even change the transparency level of Desktop Sidebar
I've done some bug fixes and added some more new features.

yyy ... same problem for me...same error... i dont know why ,i looked in windows folder and i have the latest version of .NET framework.
How do i really know if it is installed ??


10x alot

The panel works great for me.
Just an FYI - when I remove the panel, a message box comes up, and the same thing happens if I click either Yes or No (the panel gets removed).

Thanks for using my panel GoMA - enjoy it

Since this panel changes the transparency level of an important part of Windows (the taskbar) I've decided to ask the user wether the panel should disable the transparency when the panel is being removed. Otherwise, the user might not know how to retrieve it. This is why you got the message box. If you click yes, if I'm not wrong, it should disable the transparency of the taskbar - maybe your taskbar transparency was already disabled so you didn't noticed anything. In next releases I'll disable the message box in case the transparency is already disabled.

Thanks for the clarification, I misunderstood the Message Box's text. You might want to write there something like:
"This panel will now be removed.
Do you want to restore the taskbar's transparency level to 100%?"
No big deal though...

Ok - thanks for your suggestion I'll do it in the next release.

Hi, i'm trying to test your panel but when i try to install it i get the following error:

"Cannot install package: [download path]\TransparencyManager.DSPACKAGE
Error: End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not a zip file, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on the last disk(s) of this archive.
UnZip DLL: cannot find zipfile directory in [download path]\TransparencyManager.DSPACKAGE, and cannot find [download path]\TransparencyManager.DSPACKAGE.zip, period."


Any idea?
I'm using XP with SP2 and DS build 0.88.
Thanks in advance;)

I think that the file you downloaded is corrupted - try redownloading.

This panel isn't finished - I hope to release the real version but I'm busy with other panels so it might delay. Sorry Thank for trying the BETA.

I've redowloaded it several times, deleting the previous downloaded file, but the result is always the same.
It happened to me with DS version 75 and different versions of the transparency panel too.

Try this:
Delete the directory called "TransparencyManager" from: "C:\Documents and Settings\Y\Application Data\Desktop Sidebar\plugins" (while Desktop Sidebar isn't loaded) and then reinstall. Make sure that the file you download is called "TransparencyManager.DSPACKAGE".

If that doesn't help - extract the file's content with a zip application, then zip them to a file called "TransparencyManager.DSPACKAGE" and run it again.

The problem was that i was using Firefox 1.0. I've tried to do the same using IE 6 and the downloaded file has worked fine.

Thanks for the help;)

It works OK.
Will be there something like TGT SpyderBar's "translucency"?
I've tried and i liked the idea.

What do you mean by translucency? The panel can make DS transparented

Anyway, thanks for using my panel - I hope you enjoy it although it is still hasn't been finished

TGT SpyderBar's "translucency" consist in changing the background's transparency level without changing the foreground transparency level.
(excuse my english, i'm improving it)

Sorry but I can't do it - I can change only the whole Desktop Sidebar window. Try asking for that in the New features & requests forum - maybe it will be added by the main developers.

Just great Nothing more to say. Thanx.

Thanks a lot Although it's a beta panel and might have some bugs and errors in it

any instructions on how to install this, sorry im a noob with computers

Do i need a program or what?

You need to install Desktop Sidebar. Then you need to download the DSPACKAGE file from the bottom of the first post of this thread. Then simply run (double click) the DSPACKAGE file while Desktop Sidebar is running.
You will of course need the .NET Framework to run this panel.