Thank you for taking the trouble to try this module out. We hope you like it.
Note: this file is formatted and is best read with SimpleText and not TeachText.
Note: this file is not read-only so that you can easily copy the text if you want to. For example, you can copy the email addresses and URLs. Please don't modify this file or distribute modified versions.
Note: you should scroll up and down a pageful at a time so that the pictures will appear properly. If the pictures don't appear, you can make them appear by scrolling up a page and then back down a page.
This software is copyrighted material and therefore you are not allowed to modify this software or its documentation in any way, shape or form, nor can you sell it for your own profit. You may only charge a reasonable fee for the cost of distributing it. See the Distribution section below for information about how and on what Control Strip Menu may be distributed.
Contents
The documentation for Control Strip Menu comes in 3 files. Their contents are:
1. Read me first
What's new?
What's new in version 2.3.2
What's new in version 2.3.1
What's new in version 2.3
What's new in version 2.2.1
What's new in version 2.2
What's new in version 2.1
What's new in version 2.0
What is it? - description, features, requirements and compatibilty notes
Description
Features
Hardware and software requirements
Compatibility
Installation and setup
Simple installation/setup
Tips
Setup for power users
Instructions
A. General Instructions
B. Clicking Instructions
C. Drag and Drop Instructions
2. Changing settings
Opening the preferences dialog
General instructions for the preferences dialog
Instructions for each specific pane and the displayed options
Icons pane
Clicking pane
Dragging pane
Items Folder pane
Font pane
Styles pane
Register pane
3. Other stuff
Cost/fee and registration
Desktop Mac users, read this!
About control strip modules
Version history (notes by Vincent)
Future version features
Distribution
Contacting the authors
Other software by Vincent
Other software by Ammon
Disclaimer
Changing settings
Opening the preferences dialog
To change the way that Control Strip Menu works, do this:
• in one icon view, hold down the command key () and click on the module's icon
• in multiple icon view, click on the control panel icon at the far left of the module's display:
This dialog will then appear:
General instructions for the preferences dialog
• You can change panes by clicking the icons on the left or with the arrow keys.
The buttons present on all panes are:
• Use Defaults: this button reverts the settings in the displayed pane to the default settings.
• Revert: this button reverts the currently displayed pane to the last settings. Note that if you change panes, the displayed settings become the last used settings and subsequent reversions will restore those last used settings and not the settings used when the dialog was opened.
• Cancel: closes the dialog and does not save any changes you made to any of the settings.
• OK: closes the dialog and saves all the changes you made to any of the settings.
• the checkbox to the left of the Cancel button turns balloon help on or off.
You can use the keyboard to navigate around the panes and select options:
• the up and down arrows select the previous and next pane respectively
• on panes without a text field, the left arrow selects the previous pane and the right arrow selects the next pane
• the 'return' or 'enter' keys are the same as clicking OK
• the 'esc' key and the command-. (command-period) key combination are the same as clicking Cancel
• most of the radio buttons and checkboxes have command-key equivalents displayed next to them.
Instructions for each specific pane and the displayed options
The options for the Icons pane (shown above) are:
• Icon display
these icons let you choose between multiple-icon-with-names view at the left (command-N), multiple-icon view in the middle (command-M) and one-icon view at the right (command-O).
• Icon size
these icons let you choose between displaying small icons (command-S) and large icons (command-L).
Note: to display large icons, you will need a utility other than Apple's Control Strip, otherwise these options are disabled. The currently available alternatives are Extensions Strip and Desktop Strip.
• Flash icons (command-F): this option controls whether or not an icon will flash when it is selected (either by clicking it or dragging and dropping something onto it).
The options for the Clicking pane are:
• Clicking…: these options control how Control Strip Menu treats your clicks on icons in the control strip (multiple icon view only). The options are:
- an icon does nothing (command-N): ignore all clicks
- a folder opens it (command-F): only folders are opened
- a document/application opens it (command-D): only files (non-folders) are opened
- an icon opens it (command-I): opens anything (files and folders)
• …and brings the Finder to the front (command-B): when checked, Control Strip Menu will bring the Finder to the front when an item is selected.
• Sticky menus (command-S): when checked, the menu will stay open when you release the mouse button.
• Track mouse when sticky (command-T): when checked, the mouse is tracked and any menu item it is over is automatically selected for you.
The options for the Dragging pane are:
Note: for these options to be available and working, Macintosh Drag and Drop must be installed or you must be running System 7.5 or later.
• allow drags from Control Strip Menu (command-F): when checked, you can click on a displayed icon and drag it from Control Strip Menu out to any object that accepts the file or its contents. The options for these drags are:
- Easy drags (command-E) - no need to hold down a key - merely click and start dragging the icon. However, if you hold the mouse still for long enough, the icon's menu will pop up, so to avoid this, you need to be reasonably quick. If you find that instead of dragging the icon you always seem to get its menu popping up, then go to the Mouse control panel and make the double click interval longer.
- Only when '' is held down (command-O) - same as 'Easy drags' except that dragging an icon will only be allowed if the command/apple key is held down before you click an icon. If the command key is not held down, clicking an icon will instead bring up its menu straight away. If the command key is held down, clicking an icon will not bring up its menu for a short period, in which time you can start your drag.
• allow drags to Control Strip Menu (command-T): when checked, you can drag icons to Control Strip Menu and into any folder that is displayed. The options for these drags are:
- Ask what to do with dragged items (command-A) - when this is selected, Control Strip Menu will ask you for an action when you drag items onto a folder. See the Instructions section in the first file for details.
- Use modifier keys for drag action (command-U) - when this is selected, Control Strip Menu will perform an action depending on whichever modifier key was pressed with the drag. See the Instructions section in the first file for details.
- Sticky menus with mouse tracking (command-S) - when checked, the menu will stay open when you release the mouse button. The mouse is always tracked and any menu item it is over is always automatically selected for you.
The options for the Items Folder pane are:
• Show items from this folder: this is the name of the folder that is in your System Folder where Control Strip Menu will display its items from (in multi icon view) and where it will start its popup menu from (in one icon view). Tip: set this folder to the Apple Menu Items folder to display the Apple Menu items on your control strip!
• Scan it for change every <xx> seconds: this is the number of seconds that will elapse before Control Strip Menu will try to check for changes in your selected folder. It will update its display if it finds that the folder has changed. It will not scan the folder if your startup disk is not spinning (to avoid excessive battery drain) - this mainly applies to users of Apple's Control Strip running on a PowerBook.
• For empty folders, display: this is the message to be displayed when an empty folder is popped up.
• When not available, display: this is the message to be displayed when a folder that is to be popped up cannot be found (because it may be deleted or offline/unmounted).
The options for the Font pane are:
• Font: select the font in which you would like to menus to appear in from this popup menu.
• Font Size: select the font size in which you would like to menus to appear in from this popup menu. Outlined items are available and will appear without scaling. Plain items are not available and will appear with scaling and may not look good.
Recommendation: Espy Sans 10 point is a good choice. The Espy font comes with the software for eWorld, Apple's online service.
• Maximum number of items in a menu: this is the maximum number of items you would like to appear in a menu. Large numbers can result in long menus which are hard to scroll through.
The options for the Styles pane are:
• Folder style: folders are displayed in the selected style. You can combine styles if you wish.
• Alias style: aliases are displayed in the selected style. You can combine styles if you wish.
Note: folder aliases are displayed using the combination of BOTH the folder and the alias styles.
• Display… the selected option controls how the items in a folder are displayed. The options are:
- display folders at the top (command-T)
- display items alphabetically (command-A)
- display folders at the bottom (command-B)
The options for the Register pane are:
• About Control Strip Menu… (command-A): opens the About Control Strip Menu window, showing you the credits.
If your copy is not registered, these options are also available:
• Fill in registration form… (command-F): opens the registration form dialog where you can enter your personal details and then print out a form or save one to disk. See also the Cost/fee and registration section in the third file for more details about the benefits of registration and how easy it is to do.
• Register this copy… (command-R): opens a dialog where you can personalise your copy of Control Strip Menu with registration information that is supplied when the registration fee has been received and your registration processed.
