Tom's Effect

So, I guess apologies are due – since I did promise to update more often (and have been receiving numerous threatening emails demanding that I do just that…), but sometimes you find out life has other plans for you.
I have recently been touring in Japan for 3.5 weeks with the Mrs. and while that’s a story on it’s own (I have some posts I am writing on those), it does factor into the whole delay of posting. While we traveled I had no easy way of updating, and once I got back – workload had piled up so much, It felt like drowning for a little while.
Later I struck some difficulties with my previous webhost – now, if you are hosting a website, let me give you some advice I had to learn the hard way: always have your site hosted with a different company than your domain registrar!
It almost cost me my domain :/

But I digress, we are here to talk FindeXer. So, not much new to tell as you have already deduced I was rather short of time. But I have managed to squash 2 annoying bugs for users of the latest version.

Changelog :

• BugFix, Compatibility with Windows Vista and Vista SP1 x64 versions was added as a separate download.
• Some minor code tweaks to context menu code.
• BugFix(?), The default action for folders in Windows Vista is Explore (which opens up a new explorer window using the “explorer.exe /separate” command. FindeXer now tests for a browsable object and browses within the current window if it is. If not, old behaviour of default action is performed…

Let me close this by saying a quick thanks to those of you who have donated, it eased the burden of purchasing this new hosting plan (which I hope you all will enjoy, as we are now on stabler, faster servers).
If you have been enjoying FindeXer and wish me to keep it in development (and “on the air”) – feel free to click on some of the ads (courtesy of our G friends) or to donate using paypal.

In the mean while, enjoy this latest download…

Windows 32bit :
This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.
Windows 64bit :
This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

I know, I know… You all thought this was dead.
Well as you can see, it is not.
For the past 2 years I have been promoted within the company i work for and have had to take on many responsibilities leaving me with very little time to work on external projects. What very little time I did have, was usually spent with the Mrs.

I was not planning to release this version without finishing up all of the features and compatibility issues. But, I do listen in and lurk on the forums – and the people HAVE spoken…
So, I am releasing this version to the public (it was only in the trusted hands of a few beta testers up until now), even though it is NOT nearly complete in my view.

So you guys know how the development is going, I will be updating this blog more often, and if you will excuse me – there will be some rants and general posts made with no relations to FindeXer or the LessClix Suite. So without further ado here’s where we’re at.

Changelog :

• Regretfully I have been too lazy (and the work has been too far apart) to properly document all the changes, so you are just going to have to see for yourselves.
• Improvement, GUI was livened up with Mrrste – Thanks a lot m8 they really ROCK!.
• CD/USB Detection and eject.
• BugFix, Compatibility with Windows Vista and Vista SP1 was added.
• Lots more – check it out for yourself…

Wishlist and Plans :

• Vista Navigation Bar placement – I have been in contact with microsoft on this, and as far as I’m concerned they really screwed this up. It seems there is no way (or so they claim) to add a bar that will reside as another tab like the “folders” and “favorite links” do in Vista’s Explorer Window.
• Adding Categories and SubCategories – which are expandable/collapsible.
• Improving Icon resolution and display on some problematic settings.
• Adding widget support, you will be able to add clocks/buttons/whatever.
• Completing the ToolTip support to be fully customizable.
• Automatic detection and handling of certain special folders (such as how many items are in the recycle bin.
• There is more to come but those are the basic ones I’ll handle first (not necessarily in that order.

As you can see a lot of hard work is going into this, and in very little spare time.
There have been more than !!! 3,000,000 !!! downloads of FindeXer worldwide, but donations are not even enough to keep this site online (which is a mere 70$ yearly).
So if you have enjoyed, and have been using this app for a long time – reach in those deep pockets of your generosity and do some good with it! I promise to do a little dance of joy for every new donation 🙂

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

Well, Finally – after days of rigorous testing I’m Uploading Build #3 for you downloading pleasure 😉
This brings us closer to Final Version 1.1 which should have most (if not all) of the V1.0 bugs ironed out, as well as a few features added.
This latest Nightly adds VERY BASIC ToolTips. Which means (for those who can’t read subtext) – Don’t Feature Request regarding the ToolTips – they are still in development.

I`m also pretty excited about the rest of the features added and the bugs fixed and Final V1.1 should bring with it even more Usability and Customizability while remaining easy to operate.

Changelog :

• BugFix, When using “Explore” action (with the Folders Pane) it assumes FindeXer’s width.
• Bugfix, the font preview in the “Item Appearance” tab of “FindeXer Options” does not show the Item Color selected.
• BugFix, the Item is not Highlighted when the Right-Click Menu is invoked.
• BugFix, the Item selected is not re-highlighted after the Menu Selection is done (when not using hot-tracking).
• BugFix, even though “Item Lock (external)” is enabled, items can still be dropped on the edge of the list (as last item).
• BugFix, when “Item Lock (external)” is selected, the last item is highlighted whenever the item dragged is outside of FindeXer boundaries.
• BugFix, FindeXer does not save the Close Button state (Hidden/Shown) when closed and reopened.
• New Feature : Internal “Locking” – when it is enabled you will not be able to move items around or drag them out (Can be found in the Item Appearance tab of FindeXer Option).
• New Feature : ToolTips. Very basic implementation for this version, more to follow in next versions. ToolTips will only display when you are in “Show Image” mode (not showing the item text).
• Improved UI : Item Height now reflects the size of the Icon/Image set and not the Final size of the Item. i.e – an Item Size of 48 will result in an Icon/Image that is 48 pixels in size.
• Improved UI : Drag Detection is now based on the System Driver Settings.

As you can see a lot of hard work is going into this, so don’t be ashamed to press the Donation button on the side, I am also starting to think of ways to reward my donors.
So go get downloading and enjoy testing out the new features…

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

Well, “the moment you have all been waiting for…” etc, etc… 🙂
I`m pretty excited about this. Over the last 2 days i have been dedicating every spare minute to implementing a way of getting FindeXer to display by default.
I have ditched the .reg Hack and am doing it programmitaclly. Which means, that YOU will be able to control wether FindeXer is loaded by default or not.
On first install it is set to come one by default, but you can change that by going into “FindeXer Options” (via the Right-Click Menu) and choosing the “General Appearance” Tab. You`ll see a CheckBox labeled “Load FindeXer in Every Explorer Window by Default” – use that to determine what you like.

Please Note : on EVERY RE-INSTALL of FindeXer this option is reset, as it is stored in Windows Registry and not in a File.

Changelog :

• Bugfix, Executing Applications using FindeXer leads to a security alert.
• New Feature : FindeXer Default Loader added. It is now even more tightly integrated into explorer!
• New Feature : Item Drag-In Lock. While the “lock” is on you will not be able to drag items “into” FindeXer, only on items already in it. You are however able to drag internal items for repositioning and deletion of items.
• New Feature : Added a “Close Bar” item to the Main Context Menu (Right-Click).
• Some Improvements and safer checks added to the Drag & Drop on Item.
• Safer way for getting the instance of Explorer now implemented in both the Context Menu and Browsing.

So go get downloading and enjoy testing out the new features…

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

After taking some time to fix the few bugs discovered in V1.0, work has began on V1.1 with Build #1 being posted. New builds will mainly concentrate implementing Features from the queue listed here.

Changelog :

• Bugfix, Dragging through FindeXer sometimes left a “shadow” of the item dragged.
• New Feature : Drag & Drop on Objects now added – you can drop Files from explorer on FindeXer folders and they will copy/move. you can drop items from explorer on copies of .exe files in FindeXer and they will open automatically.
• New Feature : Default Item Context Menu added as a SubMenu. just right click on an item.
• New Feature : Highlighting is used to determine where an item will be dropped when dragged.
• Improved Usability : Item Transparency when dragged from within the FindeXer window was increased.
• Recode : Menu Handling. But lost the ability to display the “Close Bar” item.
• Recode : Custom Icon drawing – if you use the “Item Edit” dialog to add a custom .ico image, you will now get a VERY high quality image.

Please Note : I am working VERY HARD and exploring all possibilities in order to make the option of having FindeXer as the default view for Explorer come true. Don`t bug me about it!

So go get downloading and enjoy testing out the new features…

This is a development version and as such could contain bugs. Some Features may also be incomplete or not fully implemented – please do not post notifying about them.

Following the initial Test Release, some fixes and improvements were made. Now that all known bugs are hopefully “squashed”, development commences on the new features.

Version History :

V1.0 :

• Bugfix, The titlebar would show if FindeXer was hidden and shown again using the Close button or the context menu.
• Added the ability to save the Titlebar Caption while in “Titlebar`d Mode”. Please Note – that in order for the Caption to appear, you will need to close and then re-open the Explorer window.
• Bugfix, When resizing the Explorer window – FindeXer would stay the same size.
• Bugfix, When selecting “Load Last Saved Config” from the context menu – items would add to the list instead of replacing.
• Typo fix, “Defualt Color” instead of “Default Color”

V1.0 TR Build #2 :

• Fixed a GDI leak when .ico files were loaded as custom images (using the “Item Edit” dialog).
• Some improvements in the drawing code, mainly preparing for future features.

V1.0 TR Build #1 :

• First Version Posted on the site. Full functionality.

Click here to learn more about FindeXer.
Click Here to Download V1.0

Click Here to Download the Test Build

The LessClix Suite of Software Applications, meant to ease your use of the Windows XP – has been Created. Starting with the Highly anticipated FindeXer.

FindeXer is an Explorer Bar targeted at replacing the Folders/Info Pane with a much more customizable one. You are able to drag in (for addition) and out (for removal) ANY file or folder – including special folders such as “My Computer”, “My Documents” or “My Network Places”.
Files dragged in and selected, will be opened up by the default Associated application, while Folders will be opened up by the Explorer Window.

FindeXer was created with the purpose of Customization in mind – giving YOU the power to determine it`s looks – if you prefer to only show Icons, Text, Change the Item`s Font or it`s Color – all can easily be achieved by using the Options Dialog.
A long time “waited for” feature of FindeXer – is it`s ability to “get rid” of the Grey Titlebar, Enforced by Explorer on all sidebars. Just select the appropriate option in the General Appearance tab of the Options Dialog, and Poof – it`s gone.

Features coming in the next Versions of FindeXer :

• FindeXer Default View for Explorer Reg. file.
• Animations (Drag out “Poof” for example).
• Item Info mini-display.
• Customizable Info Tooltips.
• Drive Mounting Detection.
• Detection of an Item`s Relocation.
• Item Sensitivity Slider.
• Drop on item Adds to Folder or Executes if it`s a file.
• Bar tabs.
• Language/Color/Animation Customizing.
• And much more (well, I have to leave some surprises for later…)

So Enjoy this Test release build, and stay tuned for Nightly builds and other releases from the LessClix Suite.

[edit] : Those of you using Test Build #1 (check the About Dialog), please Update to build #2 by downloading again. I`ve improved the drawing code a bit and corrected a memory leak that occurred when .ico files were loaded as a custom image (using the Item Edit Dialog).