Next version teaser!

[blinkdt]

Im going to be honest, I fell you are taking wpi down a road to suit your own needs. There isnt really any reason to change the default theme , we should still keep the original XP luna theme that was included in all the prevoius releases. you could release you new version as a seperate theme.

Now remember this is just my opinion and not an attack in any way.

Maybe the next version can ship with two themes, "Classic" and "Gloss"?

In the early going the emphasis was on functionality maybe, 'cause the graphics were pretty basic and I never did hanker to them. I know whoever made the title worked long and hard on it, but.... Moving the title to the top area was smart, in my opinion, as that top area represents 10% of the viewable app. The move creates more room for all of your apps where it counts.

And those buttons.... Of course, Kel- has included the buttons I made so my opinion is hardly neutral. The reason I busted my butt was to help improve the look and feel of the app. The transparent .gif effect simply does not work, so something needed to be done, IMHO. For example, the old buttons included a highlight effect, but is was hardly noticable, and had a choppy white outline. Again, if the original creator is reading this, my apologies up front but that's the way I feel.

I also feel the emphasis on functionality remains at the top of the agenda, and that's a good thing. A lot has been done under the hood with this new version. For example, getting the audio player working, and working as well as it does, is nothing short of miraculous to me. Am I ever going to use it? Probably not. But it's there, and it's much easier to remove than to create. The category selection feature is nice, and several bugs have been ironed out from features beneficial to n00bs. Did I need or desire those features? Heck, I still edit the config.js file directly and probably always will 'cause I'm a stick-in-the-mud that way.

No attacks intended or implied, this is a discussion worth having.

[oioldman]

I don't even notice the buttons on the left, just click on them to install etc, so those effects can be minimal.

Same as you blinkdt, no need for the audio player and yes bug fixes are more important as most people will play with the theme to suit personal tastes and so would hate for kel to spend so much effort and time when 90% of people won't use it.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

@oioldman = I like spending all the time on this thing. Personally, I don't care if 90% of these people won't use the new features it is the 10% I am shooting at. For those 90% the under-the-hood changes are great and the new changes can be easily disabled in the options wizard. I want WPI to be as feature rich as I can make it. (Plus everyone has wanted the checkable categories.)

@glent = Point taken! A slightly modified "Classic" theme will be included also but as a lot more people are enjoying the Royale or Longhorn look I am going to make the new theme the main one. The main reason for this is all themes have become outdated and will take some time to update because none of them support the manual, the audio player or even the checkable categories. But not to worry I am already making a new blank theme file so all themes can be updated...

@sonic = Yeah I know I kinda hate when updates are released on after the other but, there has been a HUGE jump in development since the release of 3.6.1 (We have each spent a couple of hours a day or more on WPI) we have made some of the biggest changes in WPI that have ever happened. After that I feel with the exception of multiple configs WPI has begun to hit a plateau and will remain there for some time.

For everyone I would like to itroduce you to the WPI development team.

Blinkdt

&

Almulder.

MANY hours have gone into WPI 4.0 (yes 4.0) and we feel that we have done the best to fulfill everyones wishes (Except adding in selectable cd identifiers it just wont happen) The new audio player is nothing short of awesome! It allows you to play chosen music during the WPI ineterface and then will play from a second songlist during install and is very easy to configure.

Current changelog =

Fixed forced installs bug, they now work.

Added in predefined categories.

Made the tooltips work for the User Manual button. (Thanx Blinkdt!)

Cleaned up the theme .htm file some.

WPI now has the much requested category selection feature! (Thanx Blinkdt!)

Major facelifts in both themes.

Fixed a bug that was causing custom backgrounds not to be displayed. (Thanx Almulder!)

Edits in the options wizard.

Fixed UNC paths. (Thanx athomsen!)

Integrated Audio player. (Thanx Almulder!)

Edits in the manual.

Now there are 2 two officially supported themes "Glossy" & "Classic".

Removed Unnatended Audio Player. (Thanx for the use Bi0haZarD!)

MAJOR edits in the lang file.

Edited July 28, 2005 by kelsenellenelvian

[ptrut]

Guys thanks for all the good work.

I know for myself that i like something apealing to the eye, even if it is just a frontend to starting some appz

[Sonic]

I have just tested the force option and it would great if the checkbox is un/selectable (grayed ?).

@dev's : Okay for the 4.0 dev !

[glent]

great work guys cant wait ..hehe any chnabe of a beta