Set width of "Icons With Text" menus - feature request

Hi Yuri --

I really like the new appearance style options. Great improvement. However I would like to display my "Icons With Text" menu so that the text is never cut off. Could TLB please figure out how to stretch the menu width to fit the whole text?

Thanks,

-- emit

You can already change the maximum allowable menu width (so that text isn't cut off). Just right click anywhere on TLB, select "TLB Settings...", then click the "Metrics" tab. From here you can change the max menu width. A large number here will not make all your menus larger, it will just increase the size the menu can be before it is cut off.

Hope this helps you.

Thanks but this is not a good option. Firstly, what I am talking about is the min size. You recommended that I change the max size which doesn't change the min size at all. Secondly I would like the menu to automatically size, not be dictated manually.

If you increase the max menu width, your menus will be as wide as the longest link OR the max size that you set, whichever is SMALLER. To demonstrate my point, refer to the two screenshots below. In the "Before" shot, the max menu width is set to 200. Since there is at least one link that is longer than 200 pixels, the menu is 200 pixels wide, with everything longer cut off. In the "After" shot, max menu width is increased to 1000. The menu is not 1000 pixels wide because there are no links that long. The menu is only as wide as the longest link (and will resize itself dynamically as the menu's contents change). Note that you do not have to adjust this setting for all your menus. It applies to the entire toolbar (though settings change from toolbar to toolbar). Yuri is trying to accomodate everyone who uses his product. Some people (like me) don't want their menus to be too large, so he has included this setting.

Please re-read my posts and realize that I am talking about menus when they are set to "Icons With Text"

I have enclosed a picture so that you can see what I am referring to is different than what you are talking about.

shapeshifter I would like to request that feature too because of I'm starting to create *.png for every of my menu and it would be nicer if I could set the min size because then I can use the same image for every menu without a lot of work, as it is now I have to make each png with the exact size of the menu to get the right shading, that means a lot of work that should not be needed.

Please re-read my posts and realize that I am talking about menus when they are set to "Icons With Text"

Ok, similar concept, but the setting to change for menus set to display Icons with Text is "Max width of large buttons with text" or "Max width of small buttons with text", depending on the size of your icons. These settings are also located on the Metrics tab.

IceCaveman, a new setting for min width would be ideal for your situation, and would be no doubt easier to implement than having TLB stretch the pngs. However, did you know that images used for menu backgrounds in skins (not overlays) are stretched? You can also specify a margin for each side to indicate areas that should not be stretched on the edges. If you are interested, the skin specification is
here.

Shapeshifter --

This does not work. One might think that you don't actually try your answers out before you suggest them.

I've set both metrics settings to 600 (px i assume) and set my menu appearance to use Large Icons and Icons with Text. The metrics setting have no effect.

If you have tested a method that works please let me know. Otherwise, Yuri, please add this functionality.

Thanks

I test everything I suggest before posting, usually multiple times. Why would I bother wasting everyone's time posting an untested solution?

If you don't believe me, here's another screenshot. The "Before" shot was taken using the default value of 72 as the "Max width of large buttons with text". Note how all the text is cut off. The "After" shot was taken using a value of 500. The menu automatically sizes itself to fit the longest link OR 500 pixels, whichever is smaller. In this case, the longest link is smaller.

The only thing I did differently than I had listed in my previous instructions was that I refreshed TLB (Right click on TLB, Refresh) after making the changes. This is so often necessary when making changes to TLB's settings, that it has become second nature to me, and I neglected to mention it. Keep that in mind when you are tweaking your TLB: if a change does not take affect right away, try refreshing.

That worked!! Thank you for this. Perhaps Yuri should automatically invoke the Refresh method after all appearances changes.

Hey, that actually looks like quite a nice alternative to having the text at the side. Good work Mr. Shapeshifter

/Mark