Shoutbox

Hi,

I have a question 2 questions about this "Search Contact" bar.

I have seen "Word wheel" a couple of times. Is this a synonym for the bar I'm talking about?

Also, this bar doesn't make my skin look any better. I can hide the search bar, but I've some difficulties on that search contact thing. Can it be hidden (or at least made transparent)?

The wordwheel is indeed the name of the element you are looking for The term wordwheel does however extend to the contact search bar in other windows such as contact picker dialogs (for example when you click 'Invite user' in a conversation window).

The design of the wordwheel itself is under its own 'window', 44103, so you can tweak its looks in there (pretty much everything can be modified) to obtain something which suits your skin better.

If you just want to remove it search for WordWheelElement in 1001 and make the necessary changes there (layoutpos=none).
1001 is the container 'window' for the wordwheel + the actual contact/buddy list.

Thanks

I'll do some searching and let you know if it works (or not )

EDIT::

If the word wheel is transparent and one types something in it, why is the same text placed on the background?

quote:

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Originally posted by SmokingCookie
If the word wheel is transparent and one types something in it, why is the same text placed on the background?

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Umm I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean (a screenshot would be nice). If you've just made the background transparent then the element itself will be there (and fully functional) it just wont have any background =/

Here's what I mean (hardly visible in the screenshot, but clearly in WLM itself):

As I said, if you've just made the background transparent then the wordwheel will still be there and work as normal, it just won't have a background. If you want to remove the wordwheel altogether then try inserting layoutpos=none in the 1001 definition (or style) file.

If that's not what you mean, and you just want to make the blue border transparent as well then you need to modify 380.png (or the 44103 style file). If you just want to change the font colour to something more visible then that can also be done in the 44103 style file.

Neither is what I mean.

If I put "hello there" in the bar, you'll see the same text "underneath" that blue border image in the top-left corner.

I'll upload the screenshot itself to my Google page so you'll have a better quality.

EDIT::

http://tom.zegiklekkerniet.googlepages.com/Naamloos.jpg

Open it in Paint so you can zoom in on the red rectangle I've drawn in it, then you'll see "Hello there" within it.

quote:

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Originally posted by SmokingCookie
Neither is what I mean.

If I put "hello there" in the bar, you'll see the same text "underneath" that blue border image in the top-left corner.

I'll upload the screenshot itself to my Google page so you'll have a better quality.

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thats the ghost text effect.

There is nothing you can do about it. Its because of the way the elements are structured, Microsoft decided to have a copy of what you write behind the actual background. This happens when you make the background transparent.

Hmm.. Is that a different element that can be made invisible?

quote:

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Originally posted by SmokingCookie
Hmm.. Is that a different element that can be made invisible?

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No, its actually the element that contains the wordwheel text, if you hide one you hide both. I busted my brain trying to figure out a workaround and there is none.

The only thing you can do is set the foreground of the wordwheel container in 1001 to match your background to make it less obvious.