Merge branch 'master' of https://github.com/torchgm/ActiveDesktopPlus

Author: torchgm

README.md

@@ -1,38 +1,58 @@
-# ActiveDesktopPlus
-A simple app that lets you pin windows to your desktop and use fullscreen programs as interactive wallpapers.
+# Active Desktop Plus
+A simple app that lets you pin windows, videos and webpages to your desktop and use fullscreen programs as interactive wallpapers.
 
 <img src="/img/1.png" width="250"> <img src="/img/2.png" width="250"> <img src="/img/3.png" width="250">
 
-## How do I use this?
-0. Make sure desktop icons are turned off. These get in the way otherwise.
-1. Focus the app, hold B and hover over the titlebar of the app you wish to send to the desktop.
-2. Click on "Send to Desktop"
-3. If it worked, the app should now appear under "Current Apps" and also have the Aero Basic theme.
-4. Select a window from the list on the "Current Apps" tab then use the Pin/Unpin buttons to toggle its borders and the ability to move the window.
-5. Alternatively if your app supports a fullscreen mode, enabling it should work fine.
+### What does this do?
+If you've ever looked into customising your desktop wallpaper further than what Windows allows, you may have come across a feature called "Active Desktop". It allowed you to use webpages and files as your wallpaper or overlay small windows on top of your desktop that stayed behind everything else. ADP attempts to reintroduce and supercharge this feature, allowing for any app, webpage or video you want to be kept on the desktop either as a full wallpaper or a small widget.
 
-## What apps can I use this with?
-This utility should work with most applications. It's not compatible with UWP apps or anything that draws its own titlebar though. Some good apps to try are browsers, video players such as Windows Media Player or VLC, or terminal emulators such as Windows Terminal or ConHost. Since fullscreen apps are drawn behind the taskbar, [TranslucentTB](https://github.com/TranslucentTB/TranslucentTB) works wonders to help improve the overall appearance.
+### What apps can I use this with?
+This utility should work with most applications. It's generally not compatible with UWP apps or anything that draws its own titlebar though. Some good apps to try are browsers, video players such as Windows Media Player or VLC (if you need more control than the built-in video player), or terminal emulators such as Windows Terminal. Since fullscreen apps are drawn behind the taskbar, [TranslucentTB](https://github.com/TranslucentTB/TranslucentTB) works wonders to help improve the overall appearance.
+
+# How do I use ADP?
+ADP's user interface is currently split into two sections; "Current apps" and "Saved apps". Both of these sections provide a key piece of functionality. Under "Current apps", you can view,  manage and close any apps currently on the desktop, as well as send more to the desktop. From "Saved apps", you can add custom apps to a quick-launch list, giving them flags, exact positions and sizes, have them run on startup and even set videos as your wallpaper. Each button has a tooltip describing what they do, but for some basic actions see below.
+
+### Sending an application to the desktop
+0. With ADP open and the focused window, hold <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>  and move the mouse cursor over the titlebar of the window you wish to send to the desktop.
+1. Release <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>, then click the "Send To Desktop" button.
+2. Press <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>D</kbd> to go to the desktop, you should see the app on the desktop.
+
+### Setting a video as your wallpaper
+0. In ADP, click on the "Use Video" button.
+1. Type the path to the video in the box provided
+2. If you have multiple monitors, use the "Select Monitor" button to choose the monitor you wish to have the wallpaper on.
+3. Check "Start locked" (which will prevent you from closing the wallpaper accidentally via <kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>F4</kbd>), and "Start with ADP" so that it runs whenever ADP is opened.
+4. Click "Add to saved apps"
+5. Find it in the list of saved apps, select it and click "Launch"
+
+# What properties can I change about an app?
+The following properties are all available to change for any app in the config file as well as directly from the UI.
 
-## What's all this nonsense about saving apps?
-A saved app will automatically be opened alongside ADP and sent to the desktop. There are eight options that you can save right now:
 ### Command Line
 The path to the application to be started. Can accept anything relying on the PATH variable.
 ### Flags
 Any flags, arguments or switches you want to apply to the app at launch.
 ### X & Y
-Specifies the location the window should be placed. Does not consistently work yet.
+Specifies the location the window should be placed, with `0, 0` being the top-left of your primary monitor. Note that Windows inverts the Y axis, so down the screen is more
 ### Height & Width
-Specifies the new size of the window. Does not consistently work yet.
+Specifies the new size of the window.
 ### Friendly Name
 What the application appears as in the Saved Apps list.
 ### Wait Time
-How long ADP should wait for the application to have opened in milliseconds (default 1000). If this is is too low then the application's main window may open after ADP tries to send it to the desktop, so increase this if you have issues getting an app to work.
+How long ADP should wait for the application to have opened in milliseconds (default 1000). If this is is too low then the application's main window may open after ADP tries to send it to the desktop, so increase this if you have issues getting an app to work, or decrease this if you feel it stays open too long.
+### Start Locked
+Starts the application with interaction disabled.
+### Start with ADP
+Starts the app at the same time ADP starts.
+### Start pinned
+Starts ADP without borders, and "pinned" to the desktop.
+### Fix Alignment
+Attempts to fix the position of an app if it appears partially or fully off-screen (Only useful on some multi-monitor setups, see "Does it break easily?" below)
 
-The only required value is `Command Line`, everything else can be left as-is if not needed and it will be ignored. Some apps may simply not work when they're saved due to how they handle their main window. It's worth experimenting to see what does and doesn't work. I will probably add more options and the ability to save an app that's already running in the future. The configuration file is located at `%appdata%/ActiveDesktopPlus/saved.cti` one app per-line in the format `commandline§x§y§h§w§flags§name§time`.
+When adding an app under the "Saved Apps" secion, the only required value is `Command Line`, everything else can be left as-is if not needed and it will be ignored. Some apps may simply not work when they're saved due to how they handle their main window. It's worth experimenting to see what does and doesn't work. The configuration file is located at `%appdata%/ActiveDesktopPlus/saved.json`.
 
-## Does it break easily?
-Yes, it was written by me using my terrible approach to problem-solving. However regardless of this there are still plenty of bugs that need to be ironed out. At the moment, you can use this to child any element of any window to the desktop, including text boxes, buttons, sections of the taskbar etc., all with varying degrees of hilarity. However this can occasionally cause the tool, Explorer or other apps to crash. Be careful, if you break something it's your own fault.
+### Does it break easily?
+I've tried to make it as stable as possible and have for the most-part succeeded. However, it was written by me using my terrible approach to problem-solving so there's a good chance it might just explode your PC. At the moment, you can use this to child any element of any window to the desktop, including text boxes, buttons, sections of the taskbar etc., all with varying degrees of hilarity. However this can occasionally cause the tool, Explorer or other apps to crash. Be careful, if you break something it's your own fault. Furthermore, it's worth noting you may run into issues with some fullscreen apps if you use a multi-monitor setup where primary monitor's top-left corner is not the top-left corner of the entire desktop area (press <kbd>PrtSc</kbd>, paste into an image editor, and if the top-left corner of your primary monitor isn't in the top-left corner of the image then this may apply to you). As such, the Fix Alignment options exist, but these may not work for all apps. I'm looking into ways around that.
 
-## Why can't I do `x` with it?
-Because I've not added that feature. Feel free to complain at me or add it yourself though. It's also worth noting that I've only tested this on Windows 10 version 2004, I cannot guarantee compatibility on any other version. Microsoft are weird and keep moving around the order that the desktop windows are in. If it doesn't work, file an issue or something.
+### Why can't I do `x` with it?
+Because I've not added that feature. Feel free to complain at me or add it yourself though. I cannot guarantee compatibility with versions of Windows older than 10 2004. Microsoft are weird and keep moving around the order that the desktop windows are in. If it doesn't work, file an issue or something.