Okay, a few quick questions... I have been looking for some of these answers already, but finding them has been difficult... thanks for the help! :) What do I have to do to get rid of the Winamp bar thingy? And the three icons on the main theme... how do I get another one so I have, say, four, and maybe eight programs at my fingertips that way (I would like a way to open not just Tinn as my text editor, but also a way to open OpenOffice's Writer). Also, when I move the mouse around, I seem to somehow get to the different virtual desktops. What are the ways I control which virtual desktop I am in?

Also, is there any way to map the start key on my keyboard to open up the start Litestep equivalent? I liked being able to, when I pressed the start button, see each command had an underlined letter, which I would then press to execute that command. like, the start button, then u, then u shut down the computer.. does litestep have an equivalent way to turn that on? Also, what is the keystroke to open up the calendar?

Ah! Figured out how to do the winamp controls... now all I really need to do is figure out some ways to modify this thing... the "move the mouse to each of the four corners of the screen to do things" feature is neat, though. How do I turn it off?

Everything you asked for is possible. It will take you a lot of reading to get done. You are new and have stepped into one big shit storm. Give it time and patience and you will come out on top.

Okay. I figured out that I accidentally turned on the feature that has the four corners be hotspots, and I managed to turn it off... a couple other things. it says that I have to right click on the date and time to get rainlendar back up. I did that, and rainlendar didn't come back up, and instead I lost my icons, like the gaim icon and my antivirus icon and stuff! ARGH! How do I get those -- and rainlendar -- back?

And any links to places where it says how to do this stuff would be great. I would really like a fourth icon, heh.

Also. I cant seem to select stuff on the desktop and interact with it the same way I can in normal windows. I cant see which desktop icon I have selected, I cant click and drag to select multiple desktop icons... how do I get that behavior to be more like I'm used to?

Here's your fish...

http://wiki.litestep.com/
http://wiki.litestep.com/Themes:Development

Also, look in the \modules\docs folder in your Litestep directory.

I've been looking all over the Wiki... and I couldnt find where the answers to my specific questions are. Thats why I posted here. Could anyone help point me to links with answers to my specific questions, or just answer them here?

Oh, also, Litestep seems to have hidden my links to Windows Update. It even stopped the updater from nagging me to install the next service pack. Where do I get control of whether or not it does this?

You aren't going to find specific answers to your questions. The things you are trying to do require rewriting the code of the theme.

Don't be scared.

The first and best thing to do is to go onto the 'themes' section of the site and download a couple of themes that look cool. Install them (if you ask how to do this you will be shot). If you go to whatever directory you set up to store your themes, you will find a folder for each of your themes. Inside each folder is a '.rc' file that can be opened with your favorite text editor. This is how the themes are built. The code is actually pretty intuitive to read; the trick is learning the specific commands you need. If something you're trying to do isn't handled by any other theme, go to loose-screws.com (currently down) and check out their list of modules.

The start menu thing is a little different; check out "personal\hotkey.rc".

And that's all the help you're going to get :).

It even stopped the updater from nagging me to install the next service pack.

And that's a bad thing because...?

Well, cause I want windows update to remind me to update, so I actually do it. Anyway, I installed Service Pack 2, after this massive orgy of getting neat free software.... but regardless... how do I get access to my bookmarks/favorites and my recent documents again in the 'start' menu? I used those...

But I guess asking specific questions isnt the best way to do it, hmmm....

The "problem" you are having with your "specific" questions are that while they may be "specific" they don't show that you have done any research on your own. LS is NOT a hand holding community. You will have to put your own time in and learn on your own.

The problem you were having with Windows Update is caused by Windows Update actually being part of the Explorer Shell. M$ was dumb and you have to pay the price for it with LS. You can get it to work with the write settings; but those settings should only be used by those that know what they are doing...and you don't know what you are doing yet.

As for your Favorites and Documents and all that other crap from the Start Menu...those are easy enough to do and a simple look through the docs will get it done. However, I will tell you now that LS won't update the information in them so I really hope the docs that you had used recently is what you want to see for all eternity.

We like questions that aren't answered already in documentation readily available to the user.

For your last question, hold shift+ctrl and press F1.

*sighs*

I've been trying... and I've been reading the documentation. I figured out what happened with rainendar. When I had changed resolutions, it had popped under to the places that were no longer visible in my current, lower resolution. and no recent documents? Not with any theme?

Okay... figured out the start button thing... are you all completely sure you dont really want to help give me more specific answers? Not even "where do I find some more bluecurve icons"?

Yes...recent documents is not updated by LS at any point. Sux...I know.



Whats bluecurve?

Bluecurve is -- I think -- the style of icons that austerity uses, and i think its from Redhat.

maybe google can help you with the icons ;)