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Quicklaunch extended: html
[*kmr:] What would you think about adding a local web page or a folder content to your taskbar(!)? It has absolutely no size restriction and can contain about anything you can think of (icons, jpeg files, text, forms...). In the end it will probably replace your quicklaunch icons forever (it does for me at least).
HtmlQL example


Installation
Rightclick your taskbar and choose "Toolbars..." -> "new Toolbar" then write in the box provided:
javascript:window.location.replace("file:///pathtofile")
instead of selecting a folder in the list (replace pathtofile :).
It has been shown that various syntax in the path may work (backslashes, double backslashes, forward slashes, with and without the file:// and 2 or 3 slashes after it), you should experiment until you find one that works for you. Also try to save the file directly in the drive root (c:). One way that worked often is using forward slashes and file:///...

There's two type of errors encountered: a dialog may appear telling you the path you entered is not good ("Cannot find... Make sure the path...") or a 404 page may open and in that case you should check your syntax again.
Then, it may still not work for you, not quite sure why, maybe you don't have some dlls installed... in this case I'd recommend you at least download the latest version of Internet explorer.

An alternative method, submitted by Chris Simons:
about:<a href="the location of the toolbar">link</a>
He notes that after clicking the link, content sticks at your page after a restart.

Bottom line, it works for some, not for all. Nobody has been able to pin the problem(s) down so far.
One definite problem, the "permission denied" errors after installing Win2k SP3, XP SP1 and/or IE6 SP1... MS disabled the use of linking with res:// or file://. Visix6 found a workaround. You need to go into the registry, at:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs

Add a new string value there, give it a custom name, say "mybar", then set its value to "file://x:/path/to/yourpage.html".

Then, add new toolbar, and in the folder field enter only this: about:mybar
Running programs from a webpage
It's almost no use to have html in your taskbar if you can't runs programs from it!
Everything on how to launch apps in a web page is described in the HTML in the UI page.
More info
Kobi L pointed out the way to blend the file into the taskbar: you should set the body border-width in css to 0, like that (also set the background color to your buttonface color):
<Style> body { border-width : 0 ; background-color: buttonface; ... }</Style>
A good thing to do also would be to set <body scroll="no"> to avoid those two little arrows...

Due too the fact IE never stops when having a html toolbar, Evan Edwards suggested to manually clear your browser cache from time to time, or at least place a limit on it's maximum size (settings button in Tools, Internet Properties) to prevent your cache from getting too large.

And great (!): the trick works in Windows XP and, even better, the html page is displayed in the total taskbar height! This means you have total control on what to show and aren't limited to a smaller box. To fake that your html is on top of the taskbar make a screenshot of the taskbar, edit it then apply it as a background.

For even more check here.

If you don't specify an html page but just a folder, its content is displayed (like it would in a normal window). Then if you customize the folder's webview you could also use it as an html page. What's the use? If you use scripting to get the content of the folder, you could make the quicklaunch change as you add/remove shortcuts in the folder... Just an idea really.
Uses / Example packs
Imagine what you could do with that! Check the HTML in the UI page for some ideas.
Also, Dave's Quick Search Deskbar, a search box with lots of other functionalities uses a similar system.

[*kmr:] I've made some example packs you can download, maybe you could use them as a base for further edition (see a screenshot on top of the page).
  • QuickBar shows basic images linking (just a few yellow rectangles really).

  • SelectBar contains a dropdown menu.

  • QLTime is a javascript clock.

  • SquareBar contains another example of basic linking [by hifiki] (a blue square per link).

  • FusionBar is an advanced popup menu with the looks of Fusion band [by Sparafucile].

  • PlasticBar is a recreated quicklaunch (with buttons and all) Vp style.

  • NextBar is a cool popup window. Contains various icons.

  • RunBox works the same as a command line, but with a cool animation effect, and you can type ?query to search in google.

  • AmpBar is a winamp control. You need the WinampCOM plugin for the page to work properly. I made a small text file that lists the WinAmp COM object methods.

  • AmpBar 2.0 is more advanced (and has a clickable progress bar, see screenshot just below).
You can also download the old versions that still use WSH here (contains QuickBar, SelectBar, QLTime, SquareBar, FusionBar and PlasticBar).

Note you'll probably need IE5.5+ for these to work with no errors.
Recreate the task switch
example of use. Task switch HTML is a COM object created by grigri that gets the task items in use.

This allows for example to move/resize a "fake" taskbar around, or re-arrange/ re-size items. Just make a toolbar and drag it out of the taskbar, then hide the taskbar using Tclock 2 for example (make it transparent).

A little more info can be found at the HTML in the UI page. Download it at a temporary page (has an example in it).

I'm using/making a page for it, called OmegaBar.
Features include:
  • Multiple and combinable states styles.
  • Moveable items (drag holding Ctrl and drop over an item, the dragged item will follow just after it).
  • Solves the icon problem (mostly) by matching the title with an icon in the "icons" folder (add more icons and get better results, like Scrow's glyphs for example).
  • Clock updated evey second.
  • Progressbar inside task item when downloading files in IE (!).
  • etc...





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