i was wondering how do you get a DP to appear on the login screen of messenger, i have seen the effect on many of the screenshots in the skins database yet none of those skins or any as far as i can see have actually implemented such a feature.

i want to add a option in my options panel to allow users the choice of having the dp on login screen or not but cannot find anything to hide / unhide and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction.

i did post this questing in the how to hide elements thread yesterday however as i was not getting any response i felt i might be more likely to get one if i deleted this post from that thread and start off this new help thread. i hope i dont upset anyone by doing this.

now then ive stumbled across what seems to be the right area to focus on as shown below.

quote:

---

element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)]
{
padding:rect(9,8,14,15);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Medium"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,9,9);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Small"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,7,8);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)]
{
background:rcbkd(1524);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Medium"]
{
background:rcbkd(1525);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Small"]
{
background:rcbkd(1526);
}
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = false)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=false]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = true)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=true]
{
layoutpos:top;
}
</*PlusSkin*>

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by stuartbennett
i was wondering how do you get a DP to appear on the login screen of messenger, i have seen the effect on many of the screenshots in the skins database yet none of those skins or any as far as i can see have actually implemented such a feature.

i want to add a option in my options panel to allow users the choice of having the dp on login screen or not but cannot find anything to hide / unhide and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction.

i did post this questing in the how to hide elements thread yesterday however as i was not getting any response i felt i might be more likely to get one if i deleted this post from that thread and start off this new help thread. i hope i dont upset anyone by doing this.

now then ive stumbled across what seems to be the right area to focus on as shown below.

quote:

---

element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)]
{
padding:rect(9,8,14,15);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Medium"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,9,9);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Small"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,7,8);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)]
{
background:rcbkd(1524);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Medium"]
{
background:rcbkd(1525);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Small"]
{
background:rcbkd(1526);
}
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = false)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=false]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = true)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=true]
{
layoutpos:top;
}
</*PlusSkin*>

---

now then as per the quoted code usertileborder refers to images 1524, 1525 & 1526 which according to willz skinning guide are the outer edging for the DP box so i naturally assumed that usertilevisibility controiled whether or not the DP was present or not, ive created the checkbox in my options panel and as you can see coded in the plusskin tags but it still has no effect, could someone possibly tell me what i have done wrong? im not getting any skin trace file so syntactically its correct but its not doing anything so somethings is wrong somewhere.

thanks in advance.

---

You need to make sure the window is bigger than a certain size else it doesn't show up. I noticed this when making my own skin.

Hiding it should be the exact same method used to hide anything else (unless prefs for skins are stored per user and not read until you sign in)

thanks guys, i can expand the window by dragging it and i see dp after i reach a certain height but as soon as i release my mouse i loose it again, i guess that in 800x600 resolution you just cant make the login window large enough to see the dp.

as for hiding it im still having trouble trying to find exactly which element i need to be manipulating with my plusskin tags to make it work.

quote:

---

Originally posted by stuartbennett
as for hiding it im still having trouble trying to find exactly which element i need to be manipulating with my plusskin tags to make it work.

---

In style files, the square brackets [ ] denote a condition. So element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)] would be the element with the condition that id=atom(idUserTileVisibility), that is:
IF id = atom(idUserTileVisibility) THEN give the element the following style

Following the same logic, element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=false] is saying:
IF id = atom(idUserTileVisibility) AND visible = false THEN give the element the following style

Now as you can see this is creating a problem, because you're not actually specifying that the element should not be visible, rather you're asking if it is not visible.

So what your existing code is doing is defining the style for when the element has its visibility set to true or false.
You are not actually telling it to be either visible or not, only what to look like if it is visible or if it is not visible.
In order to fix that you need to get rid of the [visible=true] and [visible=false] tags you added. So that it will apply the style codes regardless of if visible = true or visible = false, instead depending only on your ShowDP PlusSkin variable.

NOTE: I have not actually tried your code so I am not sure if it will work or not, but I don't think it will. You will most likely have to add your condition to the Definitions file instead (well you probably wouldn't have to, but it would be easier that way).

ive tried everything, every possible way imaginable as far as i can tell it is not humanly possible, if it can be done then patchou is the only person in all of human existance who would possibly know how.

quote:

---

Originally posted by stuartbennett
ive tried everything, every possible way imaginable as far as i can tell it is not humanly possible, if it can be done then patchou is the only person in all of human existance who would possibly know how.

---

code:

---

element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)]
{
padding:rect(9,8,14,15);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Medium"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,9,9);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Small"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,7,8);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)]
{
background:rcbkd(1524);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Medium"]
{
background:rcbkd(1525);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Small"]
{
background:rcbkd(1526);
}
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = false)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = true)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=false]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>

---

Well heres a thought, just do it through the definition file...

create an element that wraps around the tile container that is only activated when the plus condition is true.

And if you want the dp to always appear (as is never disappear on resize) then just set the contact list to have a fixed minimum height, thus eliminating the possibility of hiding it on resize.

Look it up in the skin docs (the schema is your best friend) if you're not sure. You have to learn

i tried your example volv and it doesnt work, willz im not sure how to wrap that in definition files as there are so many stray element tags around that area of the 947 definition files that i cant really tell where to put the tag your suggesting, however thanks for the heads up on forcing users to have a minimum height in contact list that has helped considerably and now my dp will always appear unless i manager to figure out this damn dp hiding thingy which appears to be totally impossible.

quote:

---

Originally posted by stuartbennett
i tried your example volv and it doesnt work

---

actually volv i just realised when i tested

quote:

---

element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)]
{
padding:rect(9,8,14,15);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Medium"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,9,9);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Small"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,7,8);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)]
{
background:rcbkd(1524);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Medium"]
{
background:rcbkd(1525);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Small"]
{
background:rcbkd(1526);
}
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = false)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = true)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=false]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>

---

No problem

quote:

---

Originally posted by stuartbennett
by the way <element layout=filllayout() id=atom(idUserTileVisibility) padding=rect(4,20,0,17) visible=<*PlusSkin ValueOf(ShowDP)*/>> did not do anything in the 947 definition file.

---

yes ive changed both dark and light now so everything is perfect.

So we will see a new version of 365 skin soon?

yes, i have a couple more features to add, about 2 or 3 but with any luck we could be looking to release either this weekend or the next.

I tried the code for the hide/unhide dp but my messenger just didn't show up. Is it sure that it works?

quote:

---

element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)]
{
padding:rect(9,8,14,15);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Medium"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,9,9);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileContainer)][class="Small"]
{
padding:rect(5,5,7,8);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)]
{
background:rcbkd(1524);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Medium"]
{
background:rcbkd(1525);
}
element[id=atom(idUserTileBorder)][class="Small"]
{
background:rcbkd(1526);
}
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = false)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>
<*PlusSkin Conditions(ShowDP = true)*>
element[id=atom(idUserTileVisibility)][visible=false]
{
layoutpos:none;
}
</*PlusSkin*>

---

Ok thanks. I will try it and let you know.