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01-27-07, 11:46 PM

We now have our wallpaper, taskbar, clock, and start button. Starting to get somewhere with this...so let's create our start menu.

Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop
Go to New > Dock. The new dock window appears.
Select the button that will browse to where our start menu is located.
Point all the way to \%X\Interface by tapping on the arrow located upmost right hand corner. You will see an image named "startmenu". Select that and press OK.

Do not check the box "Visable by default".
Check the box "Hide this dock after executing a subitem"
Do not dock this to any edge.
We will give this dock a name: startmenu

Once done, press the OK/Close button.

Personally, I used the dock included with the Vista WAD package but I resized mine to be a little smaller. Also, I had taken the start menu divider from the start menu on my PC that is using a Windows Vista theme to give it a better look.

The result is a start menu that we will be able to toggle after we do this:

Tap and hold on the start button we created
Go to Properties
For Action 1, select Toggle Dock. For Control, select Dock: startmenu

Press OK.

Move your start menu dock over the buton. If you have to, tap and hold on the start menu dock, and select the Bring to Front option. This will make it so that the start menu will overlap the start button. To toggle the start menu, just tap on the start button.

I'd say at this point, we have about half of the look we are trying to obtain. We have created our own custom taskbar with the clock, and additional sytem tray shortcuts. Along with that, we have a start button with a working start menu that appers when you tap on the button. However, we don't have any shortcuts on our start menu. If your start menu dock is hidden right now, tap the start menu to open it. We are going to make an Internet Explorer shortcut.

Tap and hold on the taskbar dock
Go to New > Shortcut
For Path to Executable, you can select Installed Applications. Scroll down until you see Internet Explorer. Select it and press OK.

** there are 2 ways to go about this
A)

Uncheck "Use Default Icon"

For Path to Image, select the browse box to the right. Point to \%X\Icons\Normal Icons\Applications. Scroll down untill you see 2 Internet Explorer icons. Select whatever one you want to use.

For Text Settings, do not display the shortcuts' text. Press OK, then OK.

Position the new shortcut icon over on the top left of the start menu dock.

B)

Check "Use Default Icon".
Check "Use Small Icon".

For Text Settings, set it to whatever you want.

Press OK/Close, then OK/Close
Position the new shortcut icon over on the top left of the start menu dock.

If you followed step A, do this:

Tap and hold somewhere on the start menu dock
Go to New > Text. The new text control window appears.
For object type, select Custom Text
For Text to Display, input whatever you want it to display.
Set the Align to left.
Tap Action is optional, but I have mine pointing to Internet Explorer (To acheive this, select the box beside the action, then select Installed Applications. Select Internet Explorer.)

Font is optional, but I have mine using the Segoe UI font using a font size of 4 with bold and black text color.
Once done, press the OK/Close button.
Postiion the new text control over beside the new shortcut icon.

Personally, I followed the step A actions. As mentioned before, I have also added dividers to the start menu using the divider image from a Vista theme I am using on my PC. You can follow these steps in order to create more shortcuts. Personally, for any item after Internet Explorer (we bolded the text), I do not set the text to be bold, as seen in Windows Vista.

So after we add more shortcuts to our menu, we have a start menu that works. On the right hand side of the menu, we can add links to other things, like My Documents, My Pictures, Search, etc. I don't add icons to these.

** Will add more tommorow

01-27-07, 11:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
[AFX] Guest Posts: n/a	Windows Vista Desktop Tutorial - Landscape We now have our wallpaper, taskbar, clock, and start button. Starting to get somewhere with this...so let's create our start menu. Tap and hold somewhere on an empty space on the desktop Go to New > Dock. The new dock window appears. Select the button that will browse to where our start menu is located. Point all the way to \%X\Interface by tapping on the arrow located upmost right hand corner. You will see an image named "startmenu". Select that and press OK. Do not check the box "Visable by default". Check the box "Hide this dock after executing a subitem" Do not dock this to any edge. We will give this dock a name: startmenu Once done, press the OK/Close button. Personally, I used the dock included with the Vista WAD package but I resized mine to be a little smaller. Also, I had taken the start menu divider from the start menu on my PC that is using a Windows Vista theme to give it a better look. The result is a start menu that we will be able to toggle after we do this: Tap and hold on the start button we created Go to Properties For Action 1, select Toggle Dock. For Control, select Dock: startmenu Press OK. Move your start menu dock over the buton. If you have to, tap and hold on the start menu dock, and select the Bring to Front option. This will make it so that the start menu will overlap the start button. To toggle the start menu, just tap on the start button. I'd say at this point, we have about half of the look we are trying to obtain. We have created our own custom taskbar with the clock, and additional sytem tray shortcuts. Along with that, we have a start button with a working start menu that appers when you tap on the button. However, we don't have any shortcuts on our start menu. If your start menu dock is hidden right now, tap the start menu to open it. We are going to make an Internet Explorer shortcut. Tap and hold on the taskbar dock Go to New > Shortcut For Path to Executable, you can select Installed Applications. Scroll down until you see Internet Explorer. Select it and press OK. there are 2 ways to go about this A) Uncheck "Use Default Icon" For Path to Image, select the browse box to the right. Point to \%X\Icons\Normal Icons\Applications. Scroll down untill you see 2 Internet Explorer icons. Select whatever one you want to use. For Text Settings, do not display the shortcuts' text. Press OK, then OK. Position the new shortcut icon over on the top left of the start menu dock. B) Check "Use Default Icon". Check "Use Small Icon". For Text Settings, set it to whatever you want. Press OK/Close, then OK/Close Position the new shortcut icon over on the top left of the start menu dock. If you followed step A, do this: Tap and hold somewhere on the start menu dock Go to New > Text. The new text control window appears. For object type, select Custom Text For Text to Display, input whatever you want it to display. Set the Align to left. Tap Action is optional, but I have mine pointing to Internet Explorer (To acheive this, select the box beside the action, then select Installed Applications. Select Internet Explorer.) Font is optional, but I have mine using the Segoe UI font using a font size of 4 with bold and black text color. Once done, press the OK/Close button. Postiion the new text control over beside the new shortcut icon. Personally, I followed the step A actions. As mentioned before, I have also added dividers to the start menu using the divider image from a Vista theme I am using on my PC. You can follow these steps in order to create more shortcuts. Personally, for any item after Internet Explorer (we bolded the text), I do not set the text to be bold, as seen in Windows Vista. So after we add more shortcuts to our menu, we have a start menu that works. On the right hand side of the menu, we can add links to other things, like My Documents, My Pictures, Search, etc. I don't add icons to these. Will add more tommorow Last edited by [AFX]; 01-28-07 at 01:46 AM.