Mobility Site - View Single Post - Using soft-keys and customizing 'Today' screen

bluevolume · 01-09-06, 11:15 AM

This is a tutorial I put together to help take advantage of the 'softkey' feature in WM5.

By default, our Axim's are not setup with hardware buttons mapped to softkeys. This is unfortunate, as I've found that these softkeys can be very useful in using your PDA without the stylus. Mapping the buttons is very simple -- just go into the "Buttons" program in 'Settings', and change two buttons. I mapped the left softkey to the 2nd button (Contacts button) and the right softkey to the 3rd button (Mail button). This made the most sense to me, but you could map them any way you like.

You can now use the hardware buttons to 'click' the active softkeys on the screen. For example -- in IE, you can click the left button for 'Back' and the right one for 'Menu'.

The only problem with this setup comes on the 'Today' screen, due to the default softkeys that Microsoft chose. If you setup the buttons like I did, you're Today screen will show that the buttons aren't optimal. The 'Calendar' button (1st) will still open the calendar (OK), but the 'Contacts' button (2nd) will also open the calendar since that's what the left softey defaults to. The 'Mail' button (3rd) opens contacts, once again since this is how the right softkey is defined. So lets change it! Follow these steps to Today screen perfection:
1. Open a registry editing program
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Today
3. Under 'Today', create a new key called "Keys"
4. Under 'Keys', create a new key called "112".
5. Click on the 112 key, and you will see a "(Default)" value set to nothing. Change the value to "Contacts".
6. Staying in the 112 key, create a new string value named "Open". Set the value to "\windows\addrbook.lnk".

Repeat those steps to set the right key, making these changes:
4. Use "113"
5. Use "Messaging"
6. Use "\windows\messaging.lnk"

Just to verify, here's what the keys look like:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\112\(Default) = Contacts
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\112\Open = \windows\addrbook.lnk
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\113\(Default) = Messaging
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\113\Open = \windows\messaging.lnk

Return to the Today screen and verify that the buttons have changed. You might need to do a soft-reset to get it to update.

Thats it! Good luck. :approve:

01-09-06, 11:15 AM	#1 (permalink)
bluevolume Aximsite All Star Elite Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 870 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 1	Tutorial: Using soft-keys and customizing 'Today' screen This is a tutorial I put together to help take advantage of the 'softkey' feature in WM5. By default, our Axim's are not setup with hardware buttons mapped to softkeys. This is unfortunate, as I've found that these softkeys can be very useful in using your PDA without the stylus. Mapping the buttons is very simple -- just go into the "Buttons" program in 'Settings', and change two buttons. I mapped the left softkey to the 2nd button (Contacts button) and the right softkey to the 3rd button (Mail button). This made the most sense to me, but you could map them any way you like. You can now use the hardware buttons to 'click' the active softkeys on the screen. For example -- in IE, you can click the left button for 'Back' and the right one for 'Menu'. The only problem with this setup comes on the 'Today' screen, due to the default softkeys that Microsoft chose. If you setup the buttons like I did, you're Today screen will show that the buttons aren't optimal. The 'Calendar' button (1st) will still open the calendar (OK), but the 'Contacts' button (2nd) will also open the calendar since that's what the left softey defaults to. The 'Mail' button (3rd) opens contacts, once again since this is how the right softkey is defined. So lets change it! Follow these steps to Today screen perfection: 1. Open a registry editing program 2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Today 3. Under 'Today', create a new key called "Keys" 4. Under 'Keys', create a new key called "112". 5. Click on the 112 key, and you will see a "(Default)" value set to nothing. Change the value to "Contacts". 6. Staying in the 112 key, create a new string value named "Open". Set the value to "\windows\addrbook.lnk". Repeat those steps to set the right key, making these changes: 4. Use "113" 5. Use "Messaging" 6. Use "\windows\messaging.lnk" Just to verify, here's what the keys look like: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\112\(Default) = Contacts HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\112\Open = \windows\addrbook.lnk HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\113\(Default) = Messaging HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\113\Open = \windows\messaging.lnk Return to the Today screen and verify that the buttons have changed. You might need to do a soft-reset to get it to update. Thats it! Good luck. :approve: Last edited by bluevolume; 01-09-06 at 11:31 AM. Reason: Added reg key listing