choice of icons?

wsadkin · Post by **wsadkin** » 09 Feb 2006, 19:00

My staff and I are really thrown by the new Icon for Servant Salamander.
We have been users for years, and are really used to the old one;
so much so that we now keep regularly searching for it on the task
bar and missing the new icon, (which now closely resembles the
Firefox icon in color and shape.) Would it be possible to have the use
of the old icon be an option we could select, so we don't keep losing
SS on the task bar?

Regards,
/Will Sadkin
Parlance Corporation

Post by **Jan Rysavy** » 09 Feb 2006, 19:46

Hello Will,

Could you please use the new Servant Salamander icon for at least two weeks?
In ALTAP it took us two weeks (and we are very conservative) to teach recognize it.

Do you have problem to associate the new icon with Servant Salamander?
Or there is a visual conflict with some similar looking icon? (Outlook, Firefox,...)

There is easy way how to return to the old icon (for example using Resource Hacker, freeware resource editor).
The old icons are available in SALAMAND.EXE.

roger · Post by **roger** » 10 Feb 2006, 05:48

Jan Rysavy wrote:Could you please use the new Servant Salamander icon for at least two weeks?

I use it for two weeks now 27.01. - 10.02.

Jan Rysavy wrote:Do you have problem to associate the new icon with Servant Salamander?
Or there is a visual conflict with some similar looking icon? (Outlook, Firefox,...)

Absolutely, look here:

Jan Rysavy wrote:There is easy way how to return to the old icon (for example using Resource Hacker, freeware resource editor).
The old icons are available in SALAMAND.EXE.

What about letting the user choose one of the different available colors of the new icon from a list? I would prefer the blue one.

KNUT · Post by **KNUT** » 10 Feb 2006, 09:26

Jan Rysavy wrote:Or there is a visual conflict with some similar looking icon? (Outlook, Firefox,...)

As mentioned here: Nice new Icon but clearly near to the MS-Outlook icon

SS-Icon vs. MS-Outlook Icon (via Flickr)

Mem · Post by **Mem** » 29 Mar 2006, 23:30

I agree with above posts - I have usually opened MS Outlook, Firefox and new SS and all these icons are in similar colour .

I'd like recommend to use different default colour, or enable instance colours and let user choose default (see this thread - http://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?t=2 ... c&start=30 - from those colours I would personally choose the green as default)

Josip Tosic · Post by **Josip Tosic** » 30 Mar 2006, 08:51

The way to solve this is to start Servant Salamander at startup, so that it's the first icon in your taskbar... and never shut it down.

That way you don't have to look for the familiar icon, you just click on the first button. Seems a reasonable workaround to me...

KNUT · Post by **KNUT** » 30 Mar 2006, 09:29

Josip Tosic wrote:The way to solve this is to start Servant Salamander at startup, so that it's the first icon in your taskbar... and never shut it down

This ist _not_ a solution

What's about a second SS instance? Or accidentally closing and restarting SS? Or a SS crash (yes, this could happen)?

Mem · Post by **Mem** » 30 Mar 2006, 09:39

Josip Tosic: Or you can hide taskbar icon and place it in systray, but this is not solution for me.

Btw, with some utilities you can change window order in taskbar using drag&drop

jis · Post by **jis** » 30 Mar 2006, 11:47

Mem wrote:Josip Tosic: Or you can hide taskbar icon and place it in systray, but this is not solution for me.

Btw, with some utilities you can change window order in taskbar using drag&drop

Can you recommend any particular tool for this?

rogo · Post by **rogo** » 30 Mar 2006, 13:23

Can you recommend any particular tool for this?

Taskbar++:
http://www.geocities.jp/chihiro718/LZH_ ... arPP12.zip

Rogo

WillM · Post by **WillM** » 30 Mar 2006, 21:34

jis wrote:
Mem wrote:Josip Tosic: Or you can hide taskbar icon and place it in systray, but this is not solution for me.

Btw, with some utilities you can change window order in taskbar using drag&drop
Can you recommend any particular tool for this?

I use TaskArrange available from: http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/p ... range.html

Josip Tosic · Post by **Josip Tosic** » 31 Mar 2006, 08:45

KNUT wrote:This ist _not_ a solution

I know, it's a workaround.

What's about a second SS instance?

It gets grouped right next to the first button, if you use taskbar grouping. Even if you don't you still have the first button sitting right there at the "pole position."

Once Altap guys code the queuing system, we'll never ever need to run another instance.

Or accidentally closing and restarting SS? Or a SS crash (yes, this could happen)?

When this happens to me I start Servant Salamander again and minimize/restore all other apps to/from tray (I use StrokeIt with MinToTray plug-in or TaskSwitchXP, which also enables you to minimize to tray by right-clicking onto minimize button).

I know it's easier to use Taskbar++ or XNeat or a similar utility but I don't feel like using yet another utility for something that happens only once in a while.

Mem · Post by **Mem** » 31 Mar 2006, 12:07

Josip Tosic wrote:Once Altap guys code the queuing system, we'll never ever need to run another instance.

No, you are wrong, when I am programming, I need several instances of SS opened in different folders (working folder for source files and CVS, export folder for packing and uploading to ftp etc.) and switch between them all the time

Josip Tosic wrote:I know it's easier to use Taskbar++ or XNeat or a similar utility but I don't feel like using yet another utility for something that happens only once in a while.

The same as above - when I am working with several applications at once (database viewer and query analyzer, programming IDE, other editors, SS instances, groupware, web browser etc.), it's quite good to have them in place for easy switching (e.g. database viewer vs. IDE) on taskbar. Some people even start their applications in some order to achieve this placement in taskbar, so these utilities are really handy

Josip Tosic · Post by **Josip Tosic** » 31 Mar 2006, 14:58

Mem wrote:No, you are wrong, when I am programming, I need several instances of SS opened in different folders (working folder for source files and CVS, export folder for packing and uploading to ftp etc.) and switch between them alltthe time

Yes, we need tabs too.

The same as above - when I am working with several applications at once (database viewer and query analyzer, programming IDE, other editors, SS instances, groupware, web browser etc.), it's quite good to have them in place for easy switching (e.g. database viewer vs. IDE) on taskbar. Some people even start their applications in some order to achieve this placement in taskbar, so these utilities are really handy

I'm not aying they're not usefull, it's just that I don't need it all that much. I tend to open half a dozen apps when I work and keep 'em open all the time. In fact, I simply hybernate my laptop with all of 'em open.

Mem · Post by **Mem** » 31 Mar 2006, 15:23

Josip Tosic wrote:
Mem wrote:No, you are wrong, when I am programming, I need several instances of SS opened in different folders (working folder for source files and CVS, export folder for packing and uploading to ftp etc.) and switch between them all the time
Yes, we need tabs too.

Good point

Josip Tosic wrote:I'm not saying they're not usefull, it's just that I don't need it all that much. I tend to open half a dozen apps when I work and keep 'em open all the time. In fact, I simply hybernate my laptop with all of 'em open.

I hibernate my desktop too (although 1GB takes some time

), but run different tools and applications according to project (usually 10-20 apps running in taskbar), so it's not the solution for me - reordering windows and ability to find SS icon in one glance is

But I stop this OT and only repeat - please, Altap, give me instance colours or ability to change the default icon (OK, I'll do it now with Resource Hacker

) as it is really similar to other icons (Outlook, Firefox, ...) and thus difficult to be found on taskbar