Related
I installed some software which caused the fonts on the "clock" item on my today screen to become unreadable.
I also miss having the clock on the top toolbar as was the case previously on my xda II
Does anyone know of any software i can purchase that will display the time on either the top or bottom toolbar?
find TBOpt in the registery and change its value from "0" to 1, 2 or 3 for time, or date, or both to be displayed in the top ringh of the screen
John
can't find the registry on this device? do i ned something like resco file explorer to locate it coz the "find" facility is useless
yes sorry you need some registery editing software, (i usesd resco on mine)
there is a link on here somewhere to proper instruction to get the clock back
John
Okay, so I've trawled the net in search of a definitive answer to this, and I know it has something to do with the tdyater image file, but I can't get mine to change.
To cover my back I decided to make the file in 3 different formats, and with 3 different names. So in my windows folder I now have:
tdywater.gif
tdywater_480_640.gif
tdywater_640_480.gif
tdywater.jpg
tdywater_480_640.jpg
tdywater_640_480.jpg
tdywater.png
tdywater_480_640.png
tdywater_640_480.png
And still the background of the start menu is just clear, with my background picture visible underneath. This isn't helpful since my background image is very busy and no font colour can make the menu clearly visible. Is there a certain size the image has to be? I'm trying to use a 640x640 image. And is there anything I need to alter in the registry to make the picture appear?
Basically I am trying to use a plain white image, so would also be happy if someone could inform me of a registry key that can change the colour of the start menu.
Thank you
Hi,
tdywater = Today screen picture
stwater = Start menu picture
My start menu picture is a darkened version of the picture I use for my today screen but you can have anything you want.
G
I have to disagree. Though that would be logical based on the file names, I have just done a little test, and my today screen background is governed by stwater_480_640.jpg (for portrait) and stwater_640_480.jpg (for landscape).
If I rename those files to tdywater, then the default windows background appears. And none of these files, be it stwater or tdywater have any effect on the start menu at all.
I sense something odd i happening with my device, since the way you said it sounds like it should be right.
But having said that, I did originally read somewhere (think it was ppcsg) that the correct filenames for portrait and landscape backgrounds were the ones I am uing, hence why I use them, and hence why they work. So basically it's just the start menu I'm struggling with.
I quote from "How to Create an Extended Theme" from Spb Pocket Plus:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/pocketplus/themetutorial.html?en
# Select your Today screen image (tdywater.gif) from the folder you created. Press Next.
# Select your Start menu image (stwater.gif) from the folder you created. Press Next.
These have been the standard filenames for the images for as long as I can remember...
G
gquipster said:
I quote from "How to Create an Extended Theme" from Spb Pocket Plus:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/pocketplus/themetutorial.html?en
# Select your Today screen image (tdywater.gif) from the folder you created. Press Next.
# Select your Start menu image (stwater.gif) from the folder you created. Press Next.
These have been the standard filenames for the images for as long as I can remember...
G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well bugger the standard. If you read my posts you will see that is not the case on my device. Suppose I'll just keep trying
Are you just copying the images onto the device or using a TSK theme file?
I could never get it to work just copying the images.
This was the program which was recommended to me for building TSK files:
http://www.codeppc.com/telechargements/themegence/themegence.htm
Or do what I did for my first theme and use a CAB editor and just change the images in an existing theme
Not doubting you that it's not working on your device, just not a lot I can do but offer you the information which I have.
Hope this helps
G
Found a way round it
1. Make the theme using the standard microsoft theme generator
2. Apply it on the device
3. delete tdywater.gif
4. Insert my own tdywater_480_640.jpg and tdywater_640_480.jpg files
5. Bingo!
Only thing is, I have to re-do most of that (from step 2 onwards) every time I soft reset, because by default my universal is showing stwater as the background image (ie: a think white bar which I have as my start menu background). It only recognises tdywater after applying a theme
Just use Wisbar!! :lol:
GaZ said:
Found a way round it
1. Make the theme using the standard microsoft theme generator
2. Apply it on the device
3. delete tdywater.gif
4. Insert my own tdywater_480_640.jpg and tdywater_640_480.jpg files
5. Bingo!
Only thing is, I have to re-do most of that (from step 2 onwards) every time I soft reset, because by default my universal is showing stwater as the background image (ie: a think white bar which I have as my start menu background). It only recognises tdywater after applying a theme
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
OK I was working in the customization of the HTCHomeplug.
What is HTCHomeplug? If you own a HTC X7500 Advantage (the HTC make of Athena or Ameo) then in the Today screen you got a plugin that shows some icons like Battery, Rotation, Comm Manager, Screen Light, Quick GPS and TVOut. What I discovered is who to deal with this plugin in order to change the icons and applications associated there.
I used PHM Registry to edit entries at the PPC registry, but you can use the editor of your like.
First is access using the registry editor to this entry:
/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/HTC/HTCHomeplug
There is the configuration of the plugin. There we will find two entries pointing to the first two icons (Battery and Rotation) that seems to be configured in a different way that the rest of the icons. Those are the two DWORD entries:
PowerIconSlot with value of 0 (this means the first position in the plugin)
RotateIconSlot with value of 1 (this means the second position)
The rest of the positions in the HTCHomeplug appears like KEY entries with names from 2 to 5 meaning positions 3 to 6 in the plugin bar.
Inside each key (2 to 5) we find 3 values (or entries):
1- iconindex DWORD type of Decimal which contains 103 in the case of entry KEY 2
2- LaunchApPath STRING contains the path to the executable file associated to the icon
3- ResPath STRING contais the path to the resource file which contais the icon image poited by iconindex entry. This path points to a DLL or EXE file containing the icon image.
So... since we want to add a icon/application we need to create the entry KEY 6 and we must create both STRING entries and DWORD one inside the KEY 6.
To add Tomtom Navigator in the HTCHomeplug (as an example) I added:
iconindex = 101
LaunchApPath = \Program files\Navigator\Tomtom Navigator.exe
ResPath = \Program files\Navigator\Tomtom Navigator.exe
So I'm using the icon storaged in the Tomtom Navigator executable file itself and my Tomtom is in the path I show in the entry. Off course this could not match your installation.
How I found the iconindex information that points to the icon in the Tomtom's EXE file??? Easy I used a program called RViewer (for PPC) develop by Vicott Wong. The program can by found in Google or in the web page shown in the About screen.... http://mobile-sg.com
Running that program and browsing the EXE file (or a DLL) we can see the index for each resource and if it's an image the image is display in the screen, so I found the 101 is the index for the Tomtom icon inside de EXE file.
Once the entries in the Registry are done the rest is easy. Just go into Start - Configuration - Personal - Today and int the Elements Tab. There unmark the HTCHomeplug and exit the configuration going into the Today screen to check that the plugin is not in the screen. Then we back to the Today configuration and select again the HTCHomeplug to mark it. Once we are back into the Today screen we will see the new icon.
(OK in the previous paragraph I'm translating the menu options and clicks from my spanish release of WM5 into english one so the names could not match... what you need to do is configure Today screen to remove the plugin and to configure again to insert the plugin, that way the plugin is reseted and the new icons loaded).
I did several tests and looks like the HTCHomeplug only supports 7 icons (0 to 6) but since many of the original icons are not use on daily bases we can setup up to 5 programs in that plugin leaving the Battery and Rotary icons in its place.
I hope this is useful... and I beg your pardon for my poor english.
Regards,
mahjong
P.S.: I posted this first at todopocketpc.com in spanish. If you know that language maybe you prefer read it in my mother language. For sure will be much better written.
mahjong said:
OK I was working in the customization of the HTCHomeplug.
What is HTCHomeplug? If you own a HTC X7500 Advantage (the HTC make of Athena or Ameo) then in the Today screen you got a plugin that shows some icons like Battery, Rotation, Comm Manager, Screen Light, Quick GPS and TVOut. What I discovered is who to deal with this plugin in order to change the icons and applications associated there.
I used PHM Registry to edit entries at the PPC registry, but you can use the editor of your like.
First is access using the registry editor to this entry:
/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/HTC/HTCHomeplug
There is the configuration of the plugin. There we will find two entries pointing to the first two icons (Battery and Rotation) that seems to be configured in a different way that the rest of the icons. Those are the two DWORD entries:
PowerIconSlot with value of 0 (this means the first position in the plugin)
RotateIconSlot with value of 1 (this means the second position)
The rest of the positions in the HTCHomeplug appears like KEY entries with names from 2 to 5 meaning positions 3 to 6 in the plugin bar.
Inside each key (2 to 5) we find 3 values (or entries):
1- iconindex DWORD type of Decimal which contains 103 in the case of entry KEY 2
2- LaunchApPath STRING contains the path to the executable file associated to the icon
3- ResPath STRING contais the path to the resource file which contais the icon image poited by iconindex entry. This path points to a DLL or EXE file containing the icon image.
So... since we want to add a icon/application we need to create the entry KEY 6 and we must create both STRING entries and DWORD one inside the KEY 6.
To add Tomtom Navigator in the HTCHomeplug (as an example) I added:
iconindex = 101
LaunchApPath = \Program files\Navigator\Tomtom Navigator.exe
ResPath = \Program files\Navigator\Tomtom Navigator.exe
So I'm using the icon storaged in the Tomtom Navigator executable file itself and my Tomtom is in the path I show in the entry. Off course this could not match your installation.
How I found the iconindex information that points to the icon in the Tomtom's EXE file??? Easy I used a program called RViewer (for PPC) develop by Vicott Wong. The program can by found in Google or in the web page shown in the About screen.... http://mobile-sg.com
Running that program and browsing the EXE file (or a DLL) we can see the index for each resource and if it's an image the image is display in the screen, so I found the 101 is the index for the Tomtom icon inside de EXE file.
Once the entries in the Registry are done the rest is easy. Just go into Start - Configuration - Personal - Today and int the Elements Tab. There unmark the HTCHomeplug and exit the configuration going into the Today screen to check that the plugin is not in the screen. Then we back to the Today configuration and select again the HTCHomeplug to mark it. Once we are back into the Today screen we will see the new icon.
(OK in the previous paragraph I'm translating the menu options and clicks from my spanish release of WM5 into english one so the names could not match... what you need to do is configure Today screen to remove the plugin and to configure again to insert the plugin, that way the plugin is reseted and the new icons loaded).
I did several tests and looks like the HTCHomeplug only supports 7 icons (0 to 6) but since many of the original icons are not use on daily bases we can setup up to 5 programs in that plugin leaving the Battery and Rotary icons in its place.
I hope this is useful... and I beg your pardon for my poor english.
Regards,
mahjong
P.S.: I posted this first at todopocketpc.com in spanish. If you know that language maybe you prefer read it in my mother language. For sure will be much better written.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent post and thanks for your efforts and sharing! I'll be trying this out later. Just what I was looking for.
I'll report my experiences later.
Excellent! I will try this!
When using TrueVGA, does anybody know a way of making the icons work? I see only 1/4th of an icon, and it's even the wrong icon. The only icon is the one for the Light Settings...
Anybody know the iconindex for Opera so i can have the Opera icon instead of Web&Walk icon!
Mahjong tells you how to find it...
mahjong said:
How I found the iconindex information that points to the icon in the Tomtom's EXE file??? Easy I used a program called RViewer (for PPC) develop by Vicott Wong. The program can by found in Google or in the web page shown in the About screen.... http://mobile-sg.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Joy I'm afraid...
I'm afraid that it hasn't worked for me on the Ameo. Maybe it's due to how T-Mob have configured/altered things with their customisation of their ROM.
I reverted to using the TrayApplet in the same regedit folder that the HTCHompeplug resides in, but to no avail.
Quote "Just go into Start - Configuration - Personal - Today and int the Elements Tab. There unmark the HTCHomeplug and exit the configuration going into the Today screen to check that the plugin is not in the screen. Then we back to the Today configuration and select again the HTCHomeplug to mark it. Once we are back into the Today screen we will see the new icon.
(OK in the previous paragraph I'm translating the menu options and clicks from my spanish release of WM5 into english one so the names could not match... what you need to do is configure Today screen to remove the plugin and to configure again to insert the plugin, that way the plugin is reseted and the new icons loaded). " End Quote.
No HTC Plugin on the Ameo Today settings menu either, but visible in HLKM...software etc...as the HTCHomeplug.
I can get some of my choice of programs in the TrayApplet, but not the associated icons!!??!!
Same as before when I tried. Anyone else with an Ameo who has had success in getting it to work with the right icons?
Hi,
Thanks for the tip, it's really useful! I wanted to customize the plugin but didn't have the patience to go through all the registry.
Twp questions though:
- I made a shortcut for the calculator (calc.exe) but the icon is too big (both res. index 0 or 100 in calc.exe). Is there a way to scale it down, or a smaller calculator icon in another file? What's the "main" icon library for Windows Mobile (the equivalent of shell32.dll under Windows)
- I tried to make a shortcut to the phone application, but I can't find the exe file (the Start menu shortcut doesn't point to an exe file, but to :MSCProg?......). And I can't find the icon either...
Please help.
Regards,
Silviu
Hi silviu.h.
Which Athena device do you have, Advantage, Dopod or Ameo?
Hi, I have the HTC Advantage (not Ameo, not Dopod), and the vanilla french ROM.
silviu.h said:
Hi, I have the HTC Advantage (not Ameo, not Dopod), and the vanilla french ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. That would explain why to a large extent it works on your device.
P.S. try \Windows\HTCICON.dll (I think that is the equivalent to shell32.dll)
Let us know how you get on.
Thank you for your answer.
The hack from mahjong works OK, except for the quirks I have already posted above (the Calc.exe icon is too big and I can't find the main icon store). htcicon.dll doesn't exist
However it's OK for Tomtom.
I'll keep you posted on my findings (I'm not giving up, I just have to go to bed )
See you,
Silviu
mackaby007 said:
No HTC Plugin on the Ameo Today settings menu either, but visible in HLKM...software etc...as the HTCHomeplug.
I can get some of my choice of programs in the TrayApplet, but not the associated icons!!??!!
Same as before when I tried. Anyone else with an Ameo who has had success in getting it to work with the right icons?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that was the reason for adding this to my note: "If you own a HTC X7500 Advantage (the HTC make of Athena or Ameo) then in the Today screen you got a plugin..."
Only for HTC users I'm afraid.
Best Regards,
mahjong
mahjong said:
Yeah that was the reason for adding this to my note: "If you own a HTC X7500 Advantage (the HTC make of Athena or Ameo) then in the Today screen you got a plugin..."
Only for HTC users I'm afraid.
Best Regards,
mahjong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you can simply enable it on the T-Mobile Ameo using the following Reg-Keys:
- Navigate to: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Today\Items
- Create a new Key named: HTC-Homeplug (or whatever you like)
- Navigate into that key
- Create the following items under that key:
String: DLL
Value: htchomeplug.dll
DWORD: Enabled
Value: 0 (or 1 if you want to enable it directly)
DWORD: Flags
Value: 0
DWORD: Options
Value: 0
DWORD: Order
Value: 0
DWORD: Type
Value: 5
After doing the above go to your today-screen settings and the Homeplug plugin is there...
Cheers
I seem to have BOTH HTCHomeplug and Trayapplet on my Ameo
It seems that there is a today item [email protected] or something I can turn on/off that doesnt appear to do anything, I beleive this is turning on/off the HTCHomeplug.
Because Trayapp is already on, and overwriting the HTChomeplug you only see its icons, therefor the homeplug is hidden.
I will experiment with turning off trayapp then turning on the @home today item and see what happens, but it looks like a lot of the confusion for Ameo users is the fact both are installed.
I did a hard reset, and didnt fiddle with the home/tray stuff, so this is how the rom set it up!
HKLM/software/htc/HTCHomeplug
HKLM/software/htc/TrayApplet
Both have keys of (and ONLY of),
PowerIconSlot=0
RotateIconSlot=1
In them.
Under HKLM/software/microsoft/today/items/[email protected]
DLL=hztdplug.dll
enabled=0
flags=0
options=0
order=1
type=5
Pyrofer said:
I seem to have BOTH HTCHomeplug and Trayapplet on my Ameo
It seems that there is a today item [email protected] or something I can turn on/off that doesnt appear to do anything, I beleive this is turning on/off the HTCHomeplug.
Because Trayapp is already on, and overwriting the HTChomeplug you only see its icons, therefor the homeplug is hidden.
I will experiment with turning off trayapp then turning on the @home today item and see what happens, but it looks like a lot of the confusion for Ameo users is the fact both are installed.
I did a hard reset, and didnt fiddle with the home/tray stuff, so this is how the rom set it up!
HKLM/software/htc/HTCHomeplug
HKLM/software/htc/TrayApplet
Both have keys of (and ONLY of),
PowerIconSlot=0
RotateIconSlot=1
In them.
Under HKLM/software/microsoft/today/items/[email protected]
DLL=hztdplug.dll
enabled=0
flags=0
options=0
order=1
type=5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T-Mobile plugin has nothing to do with the HTC-Homeplug. HTC-Homeplug provides the sam functionality as the TrayApp.
The [email protected] Today Plugin is only useful for T-Mobile customers as it provides functions for HomeZone users.
The dll name hztdplug.dll means HomeZoneTodayPlugin...
If you want to use the HTC-HomePLug plugin you have to create the registry key I've posted above.
Cheers
Ok, I dont want the homezone rubbish.
But im still stuck with both HTCHomeplug and Trayapp
How do I enable/disable the trayapp? That doesnt seem to have any today element to it. I cant get icons working at all in trayapp and wanted to try the HTCHomeplug as that looks a much more userfriendly app.
Pyrofer said:
How do I enable/disable the trayapp?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to HKLM\init
Delete the Launcher for TrayAp.exe. On mine it is Launch92...
Make a Softreset after you changed this setting and the TrayAp is gone.
Cheers
Thanks!
I now have the HTC Homeplug working, and the trayapp gone! W00t!
I like the bigger icons, and now I can edit them better im happy. Much nicer.
Anyone thought about coding a contol panel applet for this homescreen plugin??
Moskus said:
Excellent! I will try this!
When using TrueVGA, does anybody know a way of making the icons work? I see only 1/4th of an icon, and it's even the wrong icon. The only icon is the one for the Light Settings...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use combination of Spb pocket plus and Commmgrpro, you don't need to deal with these problems of wrong size icons in the comm manager and home plug. Both of these need not be used at all.
I'm yet to find a replacement for Spb GPRS monitor though. SPb GPRS monitor also have problem displaying in true VGA. There are some but they do not show the kbps figure - only the downloaded volume.
[REF] *Blackstone Hints & Tips* - Things you may not have known. UPDATED 30th July.
MOD Edit HDuser
This thread has now gone Wiki and can be found under
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Blackstone_tboy2000
I would like to thank Screec for his help on formatting the Wiki page and tboy2000 for this great collection of information.
End MOD Edit
1. Using the Back Key
You can use the actual back key at the bottom of your phone to go back a web page or two in Opera, instead of bringing up the Opera menu and selecting the back arrow.
2. Exiting Volume Screen
For quick exit of the volume screen, tap anywhere in the dark grey background surrounding the vertical slider button.
3. Reduce Errors in Typing
In Input options, disable the number of words to show in T9 for less mistakes when typing and thus faster entry.
4. Improve Photo Thumbnail Resolution in Photo Tab
Modify or tweak a photo (such as adjusting brightness) using a image editor directly on your HD (eg: Resco Photo Viewer) and save and overwrite the original. This makes the photo thumbnails on your Photo Touchflo 3D tab hi-res instead of low-res.
5. Change the Order of Photos in Fav Album
Modify or tweak a photo (such as adjusting brightness) using a image editor directly on your HD (eg: Resco Photo Viewer) in the order you want your photos to appear on your Photo Touchflo 3D tab, as they are displayed in order of last modified/created date. The first photo you modify will be the last to show in your Photo Touchflo 3D tab and vice-versa.
6. Panning Around Zoomed Photos
Touch and hold a zoomed in photo until you see a white outlined box appear in the corner. You can now remove your finger from the screen and drag and pan the photo to see more of it.
7. Hi Res Contact Photos
Assign contact photos on your SD card directly to specific contacts for hi-res thumbnails. If you assign contact photos in Outlook and then sync, the contact photos on your phone will be low-res.
8. Better Contact Scroll Search
When scrolling Contacts, tap the letter AFTER the name you are looking for to make your results list from the top of the screen instead of the bottom of the screen. Eg: If you want to get to the 'P' names such as Paul tap 'Q' instead.
9. Hidden Weather Animation Easter Egg
In the Weather Touchflo 3D tab, tap on the black background to the left of the title 'Weather' and then immediately to the right of the title, again in the black background to see a hidden Easter Egg where the weather animations are cycled through. You have to be quick with your 2 taps.
10. Have Category Folders in Start Menu
Using a file explorer, add 5 new folders to your 'Start Menu' folder. Name them like: Web, Travel, Utilities, System and Media. Copy relevant shortcuts from you 'Programs' folder in your 'Start Menu' folder to each of these new folders. You will need to use a 3rd party file explorer to unhide system files and rom files to see the pre-installed icons to copy them to your folders. These icons are '.ink' shortcuts. Also copy the entire 'Games' folder and 'Office' folder from your 'Programs' folder direct to your 'Start Menu' folder. Finally uncheck all checked boxes in Menus in Settings page. This will allow all 9 folders to show in your Start menu on your home page, where you can access specific apps much quicker. Remember each time you install or remove a program/game, you have to either copy the new 'ink' icon to your category folder or delete it.
11. Use 3rd Party Tweaking Apps
Use 3rd party apps like 'Advanced Config', 'HD Tweak' and 'SKTools' to tweak and optimise your HD further.
12. Disable Beam
Disable 'Beam' in Settings to conserve power.
13. Haptic/Vibration Feedback on HD
Use 3rd party app 'Touch Response' 0.02.2 to add haptic feedback on your phone to feel small vibration everytime you touch the screen in any app. Ideally useful for Keyboard entry.
14. Protect Screen from Breaking
If you carry your phone in your jacket pocket, make sure it is with the screen facing your body to protect the glass from accidental external jolts/pressure.
15. Cover Up Blemishes on Casing
You can use a black permanent fine tip marker pen to cover up scrapes on paintwork of housing. Rub firmly back and forth with your fingertip after a few seconds wait after applying pen.
16. Power Off Reset Action
Turn the phone off and on if you want to reset without taking the cover off or the latest version of HD Tweak installs a Reset icon which you can tap.
17. Temporary Stylus Attraction to Casing
Once you have taken your stylus out and you need a spare hand for a quick second, you can temporarily stick it magnetically underneath your HD along the right edge - instead of having to put it back in and then take it out again.
18. More Contacts per View
Show more contacts per page if you check "show contact names only" in 'Contact' options. You get 18 names per view as opposed to 12 and a half.
19. Fastest Way to Write New SMS
Quickest way to write a NEW text message is through the 'Contacts' list and NOT through the SMS Touchflo 3D tab. Best to assign a softkey to 'Contacts' so it is instantly accessible from your home page.
*Number of taps through Contacts is 3 or 4:
1st: Tap 'Contacts'.
2nd: Scroll to a name.
3rd: Tap the name
4th: Tap 'Send text message'
Automatically ready to start typing.
(Can be only 3 taps if your contact is within the first 18 contacts listed so no scrolling is required. This is based on using middle font size and "show contact names only" checked.)
*Number of taps through Messaging is 6 or 7:
1st: Tap Message tab
2nd: Tap new message icon
3rd Tap 'To:' text
4th: Scroll to a name
5th: Tap the name
6th: Tap the message area to shift the cursor from the 'To: field to the message field.
Now ready to start typing.
(Sometimes this can be 7 taps if you have more than one number for a contact and it asks you to choose which number to send the text message to. Amazing it does not automatically recognise a mobile number.)
20. Super Fast Text Entry
Use the standard built in (non HTC) Keyboard for super fast text entry with a stylus. Don't forget the gestures. Stroking upwards from a lowercase key inputs a capital letter. Stroking rightwards from any key to another inserts a space. Stroking leftwards from any key to another deletes a character. Stroking downwards from any key creates a new line. Using the Small keys means you don't have to switch to the numbers keyboard as all numbers appear above the QWERTY line. Even faster entry.
21. Keyboard Usage
When using the HTC keyboards, pressing and holding a key for a second or two will input the small grey character inside the key.
22. Contact Entry in SMS
If you start typing part of a name in the 'To:' field and hit enter, you will get a possible contact name to approve by hitting enter again. If there are more names to choose from, the arrows will turn white for you to scroll through the names by using the dpad buttons at the bottom of the keyboard.
23. Zoom Size and Zoom Location in Photo
When viewing a photo in the 'Album', you can not only choose where to zoom into but how much to zoom into. If you gesture a clockwise circle in the middle of the photo, then the photo zooms in with the middle of the photo filling the screen. If you gesture a circle near the top right corner, then that specific area zooms in to fill the screen. Also if you gesture a small circle you get maximum zoom. If you gesture a large circle then the photo only zooms in a little. An anti-clockwise circle gesture will zoom out the photo. Vary your circle widths to zoom in at various degrees.
24. HD Friendly Facebook Website
For a HD screen friendly Facebook website, rather than go to the full website, try the iphone version: iphone.facebook.com
You may need to double tap to zoom out.
25. Messaging Gestures to Ease Use
In 'Messaging' you can move from message to message or account to account just by swiping your thumb left or right across the screen. Imagine each message/screen is laid out before you horizontally in a row, left to right with the most recent message on your far left and your oldest message on your far right. By shifting all messages to the right gets you to the beginning of the row and to the newest message. Vice versa for older messages. Visualising this as you swipe lets you know if you are going up or down your email/sms list.
26. Activate Links Without Zooming-In in Opera
If you are tired of having to double tap a web page to zoom in just to activate a link, try this:
In the Opera url bar, type: 'opera:config' (without the ' ' ). Click on 'Adaptive Zoom'. Next change the default number in 'Minimum Overview Zoom' to 70 or higher. Scroll down a bit and hit 'Save' and restart Opera. You can now click on links with your stylus when you are fully zoomed out on a web page.
27. Using the Casing Buttons in Darkness
To see the four hard buttons in the complete dark, place one hand parallel with the bottom of the phone. The light from the screen reflects back onto the buttons making them clearly visible. Alternatively it is also quite easy to estimate where the buttons are by visually dividing the lower edge of the backlit screen into quarters and pressing below the relevant section.
28. Increase Quality of Photos
To increase the quality of photos, open the Camera, go to Settings, Advanced, then Image Properties. Increase Contrast to 5, Saturation to 5, and Sharpness to 4. Now you will have better definition and much more realistic colours. Also don't forget to choose Super Fine under Quality in Advanced Settings menu.
29. Reduce Blurriness in Photos
To focus better, have shutter set just to Touch. After you have touched you have the whole three seconds to steady your hand and take a non-blurry photo.
30. Charge when Powered Off
Always charge your device switched off if possible. This makes the charging time shorter and helps the battery to "calibrate".
31. Activate Hidden Photo Modes
You can activate hidden photo modes using the 'HD Tweak' app. Make sure to leave the resolutions for these modes at 1 megapixel though or they may not work properly. For for the more advanced users, use the following reg entries:
To enable Burst mode:
Mobile Device\HKLM\Software\HTC\Camera\P6
set "Enable" on "1"
To enable Sports mode:
Mobile Device\HKLM\Software\HTC\Camera\P8
set "Enable" on "1"
To enable Video Share mode:
Mobile Device\HKLM\Software\HTC\Camera\P9
set "Enable" on "1"
To enable GPS Photo mode:
Mobile Device\HKLM\Software\HTC\Camera\P10
set "Enable" on "1"
32. How to Hard Reset your Phone
To hard reset your phone which means to delete ALL personal data and settings and have the phone in factory default conditions as if you turned on the phone for the first time after purchasing, press the following buttons:
1. With the device turned off, press and hold the VOLUME UP and VOLUME DOWN buttons, then briefly press the POWER button.
2. Continue pressing the VOLUME UP and VOLUME DOWN buttons until you see this message on the screen:
"This operation will delete all your personal data, and reset all settings to the manufacturer default settings. Press VolUp to restore manufacturer defaults, or press other keys to cancel."
3. Release the VOLUME UP and VOLUME DOWN buttons.
4. Press the VOLUME UP button to perform the hard reset, or press any other button to cancel the reset.
You can also use Clear Storage to reset your device back to factory default settings.
1. On the Home screen, slide to the Settings tab and then tap All Settings.
2. On the System tab, tap Clear Storage.
3. Enter “1234” and then tap Yes.
Make sure you back up all your data such as Contacts, Appointments etc or they will be gone forever.
33. Clean your Camera Lens Often
Remove the back cover and gently clean your camera lens with a soft cloth. You would be amazed to find fingerprints or dust on it.
34. Install Official HTC Hotfix
Sometimes your screen may stop responding for about 3 to 5 seconds when running an application that needs to use the stylus to click the screen repeatedly within a short time. Apps like SMS, email, solitaire, etc. The Hotfix will enhance the response time. Almost everyone should install the official hotfix from the link below. Please read the instructions carefully in the link as it only works if your rom is LESS than version 1.19.xxx.x.
http://www.htc.com/europe/SupportViewNews.aspx?dl_id=448&news_id=16
35. Quick System Status Menu Exit
When you tap the status icons on the top bar and want to immediately exit the screen, just tap anywhere in the grey background.
36. Enable Analogue Clock
If you prefer to see an analogue clock instead of a digital clock on your title bar, tap on the main clock on your home page, then the 'More' tab and then check "Display the clock on the title bar in all programs". Finally, when you see the digital clock on the title bar, tap and hold it and choose 'Analog'.
37. Resolve Squeaky Back Cover
A temporary solution is to use small Post-It notes paper to stick to the inside of your cover.
38. Cheap Security Measure for Lost Phone
If you were to lose your phone how could someone know who it belongs to, to return it? What if your battery dies and the finder cannot access your Owner page? What if you have a lock code on your phone that your finder cannot enter to get access to your Owner or Contacts page? A simple solution to all this is to write on a 2"x2" piece of paper the following words or similar: "If you find this phone, please call 07890 xxx xxx to reunite the phone to its rightful owner and claim a cash reward of £XX. Thanks!" Stick this slip to either the battery or the inside of the back cover. You are hoping when someone finds the phone, the first thing they will do is take off the cover and try to put their sim in it and discover the message. Of course you will have enabled sim lock on your phone to prevent them using the phone straight away. Seeing as they can't access or use the phone to their advantage, they may go the easy route and go for your cash reward. If you offer say £40 reward, it is still cheaper than buying a new phone and having all your personal data back - especially if you have no insurance. Let's just hope that there are honest people out there that just might pay attention to the message. You never know so you may as well try it.
39. Tube/Subway Map for HD
Do you want a train map for your HD? Simple. Go to 'Google Images' and find your underground train map for your country and right click to save it. In 'Photoshop' or any PC image editor, tweak it to make it more sharp and crop it if necessary. Choose 'Save for web' option to optimize file size and speed loading on HD. Save the image to your 'Favourite Album' on your Storage Card. The map will be there in your Touchflo Photo tab for you to zoom in and pan to find your routes and plan your journey. Very useful.
40. Clean your Pouch
Use sellotape wrapped around your fingers (sticky side out) to clean all the pocket fluff stuck to your suppllied pouch.
41. Unlock the First 6 Shortcut Slots in the Programs Tab
Using a registry editor, go to: HKLM (local machine) - Software - HTC - Manila - Programlauncher. There you will find 24 directories for the 24 shortcut locations. The first 6 (i.e. numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) have a value of 1 in the "read only" section. Change that to 0. Now you can go to the programs tab and erase those and then add the ones that you want in their place.
42. Add the Option to Reflow Text in Adobe Reader
To make pdf files easier to read on the HD, you can change a registry setting to activate the "Reflow" option in Adobe Reader.
In the registry go to current_user/software/adobe/adobereaderle.25/Enablereflow and change the value from 0 to 1.
Now, when reading a pdf file, go to Tools - View and select Reflow. Now zoom all you want without having to pan back and forth to read the text.
43. Exit Fullscreen Mode in Adobe Reader
If you are viewing a pdf file in fullscreen mode, just double tap on the screen to exit that mode. FYI: This still works even if you have activated the Reflow option mentioned in the previous tip on this list.
44. Faster Opera Browsing
For faster browsing use opera in portrait mode
45. Choose Which Default Number to Use in Phone Application
Touching the contact name in the Phone application list dials the default telephone number. This number may not be the one that you wish to use.
In order to use a different number, slide the "m", "t" (etc) letter on the right hand side of the contact line. The top of the screen will show you the number. In this way, you're able to choose the desired telephone number.
46. Opening Contact Details in Phone Application
Sadly if you tap on a contact name in the Phone application list, it automatically calls the contact. The only way to get around this is to swipe left or right on the contact which will highlight the name but not call it. Now you can tap on 'Menu' and then 'Open Contact'.
47. Increase Number of Tabs in Opera
To increase the number of allowed tabs from only 3 (default) to any other number, type 'opera:config' (without the ' ') in the url bar. Next scroll to 'User Prefs' and tap on it. Find the entry 'Maximum Allowed Tabs' and alter the number here. Scroll down to save and then restart Opera to see changes.
48. Contacts - Alphabet Bar Scrolling Up v Down
If you slide your finger down the Alphabet bar and stop at a letter, the first entry for that letter will show at the bottom of the list. However, if you scroll UPWARDS and stop on a letter, the first entry for that letter will show at the TOP of the contacts list which is how it should be.
49. Show Vertical Alphabet Scroller in Contacts
In 'Contacts', click on Menu then Options. The first option is called "Show alphabetical index". When this option is enabled you get an alphabet index at the top of the screen - "old style". If this option is disabled, you get the bar on the right side of the screen, which is much better. Some of you may already have the vertical scroller enabled.
50. Get True 5 Mega pixel Resolution When Using Camera
To get 5MP instead of 4MP resolution when using your camera, you must switch off Widescreen mode in the 'Advanced' Menu.
* Normal screen = 2592 x 1944 pixels = 5,038,848 pixels = 5MP
* Widescreen = 2592 x 1552 pixels = 4,022,784 pixels = 4MP
51. Use Gestures to Advance Days and Weeks
When using 'Calendar', if you are in Agenda or Day view, swiping the screen left or right will advance or go back one day at a time. If you are in Week view, swiping the screen left or right will advance or go back by week. If you are in Month view, swiping the screen left or right will advance or go back one month.
52. Get Better Video Quality When Using Camera
Use MPEG format instead of H.263 for better quality video output. This option can be found by going to the Advanced Setting from the Video Settings menu. Once there, go to Capture Format and change format if necessary.
53. Set MP3 as a Ringtone
In Windows Explorer, you can right click an mp3 file and choose to set it as a ringtone.
54. Improve Speed Access of Micro SD Card
Most Micro SD cards come already formatted as FAT 32 using 32kb clusters. To speed up your Micro SD access, reformat your Micro SD card to use 64kb clusters instead of 32kb clusters (FAT 32 remains the same). Warning: formatting will permanently erase all data on your Micro SD card so be sure to copy all data on it to your PC and the copy them back again after the format. You can use SoftWinter's StorageTools app to reformat the card.
55. Use Titles Instead of URLs for Opera Bookmarks
When adding and saving a new bookmark in Opera, be sure to let the web page fully load and THEN save it as a bookmark. Doing so, your bookmark will use the friendly title name for the web page. If you add a bookmark while the page is still loading, your bookmark will be using the url address as your bookmark's title.
56. Increase Frame Rate of Camera
If you want to increase the FPS of the camera to speed up picture processing, just turn down the brightness to -1.5 or -2.0.
57. Increase Wrting Space in SMS
Go to this site: http://www.ghisler.com/pocketpc.htm and download the 'arm/xscale/pxa'.cab file. Go into Explorer and run the cab file from wherever you saved it, and install it. Now go to Start > Programs and run 'Total Commander' that you just installed. Open the directory 'Windows' and scroll down to find 'thread_sms.htm'. With 'thread_sms.htm' highlighted click 'File' then 'Edit'. Scroll down through the file until you find the line
'<Inbox:content id="COMPOSESUBJECT" width="98%" height=35'
Change the value for height from 35 to 70 and then click 'File' then 'Save'. Soft reset the phone and your space for typing a message should be bigger.
58. Increase Speed and Fix Lag of Keyboard Tapping
Use a registry editor to make the following changes. Go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Keybd
Find "InitialDelay"=dword: dec - change to 775
Find "RepeatRate"=dword: dec - change to 23
Also set the suggested words to a lower number such as 0 and disable auto-correction of words. Now you should no longer hvae misspleled wrods.
59. Increase Resolution of Panoramic Photos
By default, panoramic photos are less than 1 mp. This registry tweak increases resolution to about 7 mp.
Go to: HKLM/Software/HTC/Camera/P3
Adjust MainCamCaptSize to 1024 and MainCamSupportCaptSize to 1744. Soft reset.
60. Quick Access to Manila Alarm Page
You can go direct to the Alarm page from the Manila Home screen by tapping the alarm info text in the lower right corner below the flip clock.
61. How to Calibrate Screen if Stylus Can't Navigate the OS
To align screen if it is not usable, press and hold Vol Up and Vol Down buttons together and tap the screen. You are now automatically taken to the screen calibration screen.
62. Improve Suggested T9 Dictionary With Custom Words
The Blackstone has a very useful hidden application in the Windows directory. You need to unhide hidden system and Rom files in order to find it and you can do this by using a 3rd party file explorer such as 'Resco File Explorer'. Find the file "eT9MyWords.exe" in the Windows directory and add a shortcut to this file in your Windows/Start Menu folder.
When in the application, add the most common words you use when using the keypad such as names, locations, user names, email addresses and other words not common in the standard T9 dictionary. For example if you are based in London, UK you could add the following locations:
Leicester, Piccadilly, Tottenham, Soho, Charring, Euston, Trafalgar, Clapham
and words such as BRB, DVD, coz, lol, xoxo, [email protected], ciao, etc.
63. Quick Access to Last Manila Tab
Go direct to the last tab of Manila by flicking towards the right anywhere on the screen above the tabbed scroll bar
64. Add Favicons to your Opera Bookmarks
Make sure a bookmarked web page is fully loaded and save and overwrite your existing bookmark with the same title to also save the favicon icon for that bookmark. This even works with pre-installed bookmarks. Just save as the same bookmark title. You can only see the icons when accessing the bookmark page through Opera and not through Manila.
* Latest update: Added entries 60-64
MOD Edit HDuser
All entries up to number 52 have now been added to wiki
One more reserve for luck!
Hi Tboy,
are the latest updates the highest numbers? - or they grouped by functionality
Thanks
Hi! The latest entries will always be the last few numbered (highest numbers). You can always check what has been added that day at the end of the list.
Reset button hole
Probably gone unnoticed because of the new thread:
Take a tiny drill, remove the backcover from the Touch HD
and drill a tiny hole in the backcover on the exact spot where the reset button is.
Re-attach the backcover on your HD.
Use a paperclip everytime you need to reset your device.
Works like a charm, no hassle of removing the backcover anymore.
Don't understand why HTC didn't do that.....
Fab idea. You probably can use hand nail drills that women use to add diamond studs to their nails. How would u know where to drill a hole and make sure it is lined up exactly? I guess a safer alternative is just to use the software reset apps like in Tweak HD or made by Singh.
Dodger said:
Probably gone unnoticed because of the new thread:
Take a tiny drill, remove the backcover from the Touch HD
and drill a tiny hole in the backcover on the exact spot where the reset button is.
Re-attach the backcover on your HD.
Use a paperclip everytime you need to reset your device.
Works like a charm, no hassle of removing the backcover anymore.
Don't understand why HTC didn't do that.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or install the HD Tweaks utility. The latest version also provides a HD Soft reset option in your start menu. No need to drill anything.
Dodger said:
Take a tiny drill, remove the backcover from the Touch HD
and drill a tiny hole in the backcover on the exact spot where the reset button is.
Re-attach the backcover on your HD.
Use a paperclip everytime you need to reset your device.
Works like a charm, no hassle of removing the backcover anymore.
Don't understand why HTC didn't do that.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC doesn't do that because they think that Diamond user use it too many time (so they need to use it)
On HD their rom are really stable, so why have a reset button when concurrent doesn't have it ? it's a proof of weakness.
So just hide it
Sometimes my HD hangs and is really doing nothing.
Mostly during use of Opera and sometimes as a result of invalid logins.
The 4 buttons on the bottom vibrate when touched,
but no other response.
Even after 30 minutes nothing happens.
Therefore, no software solutions is possible.
And so, this solution works fine for me.
What is about pressing the power button for 5 seconds (or something like that). Other users were saying that this is exactly the same as a soft reset.
As I haven't my device yet, I can't check it, would somebody of you mind?
johnpatcher said:
What is about pressing the power button for 5 seconds (or something like that). Other users were saying that this is exactly the same as a soft reset.
As I haven't my device yet, I can't check it, would somebody of you mind?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Single press would lock the phone and shut down the display panel, continously holding the powerbutton would shut the device down completely. So al you need to do is to power it up again, works the same as soft resetting the device but only takes a little longer, advantage is that you do not need to remove the battery cover to reset your device.
Even the last one is not working while my HD hangs.
So for me there was no other solution than drilling
the tiny hole and using the reset button.
The problem occurs also when using to much links
to frequent after each other.
Somehow the device gets confused and hangs....
Hi,
Here translation in french of some tips and more (.net 3.5 ...) :
http://celogeek.free.fr/mobile/mobile-trucs-et-astuces/htc-hd-trucs-et-astuces/
Thanks a lot man, it's wonderfull !
lots of useful tips here. someone needs to convince all cookers to include this in their roms as the help file or default start page in browser
needs more stuff though
Dodger said:
Sometimes my HD hangs and is really doing nothing.
Mostly during use of Opera and sometimes as a result of invalid logins.
The 4 buttons on the bottom vibrate when touched,
but no other response.
Even after 30 minutes nothing happens.
Therefore, no software solutions is possible.
And so, this solution works fine for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you add the official Hotfix to fix the problem when phone hangs for a few seconds:
http://www.htc.com/europe/SupportViewNews.aspx?dl_id=448&news_id=16
Will add to post 2.
A tip I learned today... If you set background image using Today applet and image appears almost completely white instead of with original colors, use "Pictures & videos" application instead (not "Album" or "Camera" - these two don't have the option to set image as background). In "Pictures..." you can choose desired transparency level or disable it (to have original colors).
tboy2000 said:
Make sure you add the official Hotfix to fix the problem when phone hangs for a few seconds:
http://www.htc.com/europe/SupportViewNews.aspx?dl_id=448&news_id=16
Will add to post 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this fix is for rom under 1.19, so not concern anymore actually.
To focus better, have shutter set just to Touch. After you have touched you have the whole three seconds to steady your hand and take a non-blurry photo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't understand this sentence
Can you explain it more clearly please, the sense is out of my english knowledge
So, I have understood to push shutter touch button, and don't move at all during 3s? easy to do and common sens but what happen if people you take move ?
Ok so I've noticed a lot of tutorials floating around xda describing how to edit your homescreens so on so forth. I've also noticed most of which are for older phones like the Excalibur. While these tutorials still hold up for the new-ish phones like the Dash 3g, there are a few things I felt I could help with a bit.
With that being said, before I begin I will let everyone know now that I am still very much new to smartphone hacking, but I'm very well versed in skinning itself. I've skinned for most of the Stardock.net programs including but not limited to windowblinds, icon packager, desktop X, and object dock to name a few. Concerning phones i've done entire system wide skins for the old Moto RAZR V3.
Since .xml coding is very similar to the old logon template files I was able to decipher what happens in the .xml and .cpr files.
My hope is to be able to give people here a bit more freedom in how they would like their homescreens to look and feel pertaining to the panel graphics and text placement inside the panels. You'll find that these steps are relitively old and have been gone over before, but I've yet to see the actual graphics themselves changed. It's a lot easier than it sounds and the best thing about it is you'll only need notepad and a graphics editor to do it!
So let's begin and see if we can't completely destroy our phones together shall we?
Firstly you'll need to know exactly what files to look for. From now on I'm going to be assuming that everyone on the planet owns a WinMo 6.1 or 6.5 based phone. I'll be referencing based on my Dash 3G with 6.5.
The first thing we need to do is extract all the necessary files from our phones so we can edit properly and without incident. Make a folder anywhere on your PC that you will remember and call it something like "Dash 3G Files". Within that make three folders and name them XML, CPR, and ORIGANAL. We make the original folder so that all of our untouched files are stored safely away from our edited ones. This creates a failsafe backup folder of all our files in the event we end up editing too deeply or actually damage something.
Before we go further, one thing I should mention is your folder view on your PC. Since the PC has no real discernible view order upon first viewing your phone files I always right click an empty spot in the folder and change the view to type. To do this right click, hover "sort by", then click "type". What this does is re-orders your view type neatly into the types of files in the folder by groups. This will not harm your file structure in any way, but it makes searching for files a helluvalot easier!
After all the folders are prepared go into your phone through active sync or the vista version of, and browse to \Windows. There you will locate a file called, HTCSlidingPanel_myFaves.home.xml
This is the T-Mobile-Default panels layout with the fave five icons. Scrolling down abit more you will also find HTCSlidingPanel_320x240.cpr, both of which you will need to copy/paste into your new folders on your PC. Don't go closing windows just yet! We'll need to grab the panel graphics as well.
Scroll to the png section of windows and look for two files, Focus_Panel_Landscape.png and Focus_Panel_Action_Landscape.png. These are the panel graphics that are targeted by the .cpr file. After you've located them, select them and copy/paste them to your PC folders.
When you have all the necessary files there should be four.
HTCSlidingPanel_MyFaves.Home.xml
HTCSlidingPanel_320x240.cpr
Focus_Panel_Landscape.png
Focus_Panel_Action_Landscape.png
Now that we have all the files on your PC go ahead and select them all, right click, select properties, and uncheck read only, apply and OK.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Since my phone won't allow me to change these attributes on my phone I'll assume the same thing will apply to all other phones. Since Windows wants to be a jerk and not allow these changes we will have to actually change the name of our files so that those rules no longer apply. Keep in mind that what ever you change them to you will also have to change them in both the cpr and xml files because those files are targeted by them. We'll get to that later.
GRAPHICS EDITING:
Go ahead and fire up your favorite graphics editor and take a look at the two panel graphics. Notice that they're both exactly the same?! Why I have no idea but those are the two the cpr calls for so that's what we edit. If you're lazy like I am you'll most likely see this as a gift from the skinning gods, accept it, and move on....lol. Bear in mind that we don't necessarily want to alter it's size in any way because if we go too crazy we get to edit the ENTIRE panel layout! So for the sake of ease and sanity we will only be editing it's basic shape and look.
I prefer a more tech look so I will be using a very small border with hard edges and angles
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I will also be increasing the transparency to almost nil, say 70 to 80%. I do this because I'm a graphics whore and I actually like to be able to see my nifty wallpapers. Once your graphic is edited go ahead and Save As, and rename the file to whatever you want. I usually stick to basics like for mine it was Focus_panel_Black_LS.png. This causes less confusion for me when I edit the code files.
Ok so this is the part where if you just threw the images in and switched homescreens you'd be cursing me and condemning my soul to rot in hell, but rest assured, we're not done! Now we begin the task of editing so that all our work is seen so we can all gleefully thumb our noses at windows while we hum the funeral march.
The first file we'll open is the xml since there's really not a lot to do. Basically here we can do things like change the order of our panels, remove or add panels within the parameters of the cpr file, and rename the target cpr file so it's recognized by our xml file. I know it's been done before but for completion I'll include order swapping.
Order="CClock;CHome;HTCMyFaves;CMusic;CMyPhotos;HTCWeather;CWelcomeCenter;Settings"
CPRFileName="HTCSlidingPanelEdit">
This tag refers to your homescreen contents and can be re-ordered simply by changing where it is entered in this tag, ie: CHome;CClock; so on so forth.
XML EDITING:
If you look directly under the order tags you will see CPRFileName="HTCSlidingPanel">
This tag denotes the target cpr file the xml is associated with. In order for our work to be witnessed in all it's glory we HAVE to change the target file to the name we gave our edited cpr. For purposes of ease I will simply name my cpr file and insert CPRFileName="HTCSlidingPanelEdit">
into the xml. This new cpr file will have to be placed into the Windows folder of your phone so it exists to the xml. We won't be adding it in just yet since we still have to edit it. Now that we have established our cpr target file within the xml and saved we can now close the xml.
CPR EDITING:
Open the cpr file with notepad and let's take a look. The first thing we're confronted with is the form layout and structure. Well since we're not doing too much here all we really need to look for is what it's looking for for images. Here's exactly what we're looking for:
Opacity="1.0" Source=".\Focus_Panel_Landscape.png" />
<ControlSequence ID="Action Sequence" FramesPerSecond="30" Loop="False">
<Image ID="Image" Left="0" Top="0" Width="320" Height="114" ScalingAlgorithm =
"TriLinear" Opacity="1.0" Source=".\FocusPanel_Action_Landscape.png" />
Opacity=1.0 deals with, you guessed it, the opacity of the image in how it's displayed on the homescreen. I haven't played with it because I do all of my transparencies within the image itself so I have no clue how it reacts. For safety's sake we'll leave it alone. Look right next to it though, and we see exactly what we are looking for!
Source=".\Focus_Panel_Landscape.png" /> Source=".\FocusPanel_Action_Landscape.png" /> tells the
homescreen to display those particular images as the panels! All we need to do now is change the names of those to the names that corrospond to our images and POOF it's friggin magic!! That's literally all we have to do to have custom panel graphics.
Now so far we have changed the order (considering you did), we've customized the panel graphics, and we've associated OUR panels with the homescreen! So what's next you ask? Now we will edit the clock layout and font size for the time text! WHY GOD WHY!? Because I actually HATED the size of the clock time text and it being smack dab in the middle of the panel in some sadistic plot to
purposely obscure my magnificent half-nakie, big-chested anime wallpaper!!!!
That's actually very simple too. The procedure is the same as previous. We locate the tags and edit. Keep in mind that all we really need to change is the Expanded view. The condensed views deal with the material outside of the focused panel image.
Scroll down til you spot this tag:
<!-- Time -->
<Text ID="Time" Left="0" Top="31" Width="320" Height="50" FontFamily="Nina" FontSize="26"
FontStyle="Regular" Wrap="False" VerticalAlignment="Middle" HorizontalAlignment="Center"
Trimming="EllipsisCharacter"></Text>
Where it says Left="0" and Top="31" is what we will be focusing on. the quoted numeric value represents where the text falls in accordance to the actual panel graphic in pixels. So if we were to replace the 0 with 5 the text will bump 5 pixels to the right. Keep in mind that the value is also dependent upon the size of the font. If we have a font size of 29 we don't have to move it very much at all to make a big difference, but if our font is small, say, 12, then we will need to move it by a considerably large distance to have the effect we're looking for. I always like to put my clock in the upper right corner of the panel so it's out of the way.
Here's what I changed to get what I wanted:
<!-- Time -->
<Text ID="Time" Left="230" Top="8" Width="120" Height="50" FontFamily="Nina" FontSize="12"
FontStyle="Regular" Wrap="False" VerticalAlignment="Left" HorizontalAlignment="Top"
Trimming="EllipsisCharacter"></Text>
By changing the size to 9 and moving it Left="230" Top="8" I've moved it to the far right corner and gave myself just enough room to allow for the text to shift as the clock numbers increase. What that basically means is you have to allot yourself room for 12:00PM because if you don't your clock will be cut off by the clipping for the panel. It may look awesome where it is at 1:00PM but as soon as twelve rolls around you're going to be annoyed by the space difference...lol.
INSERTING FILES:
Basically all that's left now is to put the files on your phone. The new xml file you pilfered and edited from the Windows folder will now be placed into \Application Data\Home folder.The panel images and cpr files will all go back into \Windows folder. If you've done everything correctly with renaming and retargetting all that's left to do is go to your Settings>Homescreen page and scroll to where your new homescreen is and select it! You'll know instantly if you did something wrong with the renaing/targetting because it most likely won't show up in the list. Even if it isn't there try clicking it anyways because mine still reads T-mobile Default and there were no extra homescreens.
That's about it for this tutorial, there's all kinds of little panel tweaks as well. All you really have to do is look for Title Text in the expanded panels in the cpr file you want to edit and you can edit it exactly how you edited the clock. This is how my homescreen panels look.
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If there's anything I missed or if you can add to this please let me know I'd love to hear your thoughts. I hope you all get some useage out of this, enjoi!