F.A.Q. List Phase II

Questions questions everywhere.

Answeres answers... anywhere?

Whoops, Jafo's gonna get me for that one

Reference https://www.wincustomize.com/msgboard.asp?id=72845 for possible cookie based errors.

Hellooo OOO 000 OOO ooo

Gotta love the echos in an empty thread

Damm, I keep forgeting to give more details in my answers. >

A14: Kill BoXXi

I'll try to answer more later, little busy right now.

ok, thanks

anyone?

bueller?

Kilroy? Dunno, he woz ere...

Bueller? Dunno, I heard he barfed up a lung or something...

wakka wakka wakka

Question: I'm trying to logon to WinCustomize and it will not let me. I have checked my logon information and its correct. What is the problem?

Answer: There is a good chance the problem is a corrupted cookie. For a quick fix try this link to delete your wincustomize cookies: https://www.wincustomize.com/killcookies.asp
If that does not work, then follow these steps to clear your wincustomize cookies:
1) Close all Internet Explorer windows
2) Do a file search on your system for *wincustomize*.txt You should find some files that look similar too:

[username]@www.wincustomize{1].txt
[username]@www.wincustomize{2].txt
[username]@wincustomize{1].txt

These are your wincustomize cookies. Delete all that look similar to that. (Of if you are paranoid make a backup of them first.)
3) Open Internet Explorer, navigate to WinCustomize.com And logon. Hopefully you are now logged on.

Q2: How do I update/upgrade/view my level?

Answer: To view your user level you must first be logged on to WinCustomize. Then go to "Edit Account" (https://www.wincustomize.com/editaccount.asp) and click on the "View your profile" link. To upgrade your must have puchased a product from Stardock or WinCustomize or the WinCustomize Subscription. If you used the same email address on WinCustomize.com as you did to place your purchase the system will automatically upgrade your access the next time you logon. However, if you used a different email address then you must use the "Cross Reference with your Stardock Account" option on the "Edit Account" page. Enter in the email address in which you used to purchase. If you have since changed that email address and had it updated in our system then cross reference to that account. If you have changed your email address and no longer have access to the old one, then you will need to email [email protected] to have your email address changed on your account for our product registrations. After that is completed then cross reference to that email address if it is different than the one you use on WinCustomize.

As you can see, using different email addresses can be a pain. So when Creating Accounts with any Stardock Product/Website/Service or when purchasing we highly suggesting using the same email address.

Thanx T-Man.

The only reason I have two e-mails is because in the old days a new account was the only way to change nick. Would changing the e-mail at Stardock to the same I have here cure this?

Yes and no. If you make it so your Stardock Account and WinCustomize accounts have the same email address then WinCustomize will automatically pick that up. However, If you have two WinCustomize accounts and they both have the same password and you make the email address the same, then you can only logon to one of them. I believe the default is the one that comes first in the list.

Anyone else have answers for some of these questions?

Q3: What are the advantages of becoming a subscriber?

A3: No banners? Better access? Special content?

Q5: If I decide to start developing skins, what software do I need?

A5: Depends on the app(lication) you want to skin. Usually you'll need an image editor (Photoshop, GiMP, Paintshop Pro or crubby old Paint, anything will do) and a text editor. Most skin formats consist of a set of images and a textfile to tell the app what's what and when to use what image. That's where the text editor comes in.

Now if you're really thick, you could look into 'skin builders', though most people look down on that.

Q8: How do I create screenshots for my uploads?

A8: Select the app you want a screenshot of. Press Alt+PrntScn (usually located way above the arrow keys on your keyboard). This will copy a screenshot into the clipboard. Now go into your favourite image editor and paste (you might have to start a new image first). Then save as .jpg or .gif and upload.

Q9: How do I acess premium skins and suites?

A9: Become a subscriber.

Q10: Why is my wallpaper not posted on the site yet?

A10: All walls are subject to moderation. Meaning that they get checked for copyright infringements and general artistic merit before they get added. If they are rejected, you will be noted.

Q13: How do I create my own icons and cursors?

Either get your hands on a full featured icon editing suite like Microangelo or AxIcons, or poke around at Virtual Plastic to find out how to get your hands on tools for free (@ Sushi and SnicoEdit come to mind). There are also several plugins for advanced image editors as Photoshop to export as icon or cursor.

And if you didn't figure it out by now, icons and cursors are special file types.

Q14: What do I have to do to become an admin here?

A14: Getting Frogboy a pair (male and female) of that extremely rare amazonian treefrog, might do miracles. No sex doesn't work. It's been tried.

Q15: How are the featured skins chosen?

A15: Bobo (Admin or Wizop) sees, Bobo likes, Bobo makes 'featured'. Is that biased? Yes, so what?

Q16: Why was my amazing wallpaper rejected?

A16: Because it wasn't so amazing as you thought. There's strict upload policing here. Only the best of the best gets in. Otherwise the site would be flooded.

Q17: Why can't I download more than 100MB of stuff from here?

A17: That threshold only applies to Citizens. If you run into it, you are a leech, have never contributed a thing to the site and should either do so, pay up and become a subscriber or take a hike.

Q18: My shareware copy of Windowblinds doesn't skin everything, what is wrong?

A18: Nothing, that's the trick. The shareware version does not skin everything, only the registered version does. Nasty, eh?

Q19: Can I change my control panel icons?

Probably. Hacking shell32.dll or so would probably do it (check Virtual Plastic).

Q22: Why am I getting "Server Busy"?

A22: Umm, because the server is busy? This site gets visited a lot and . asp isn't the most efficient solution, so the server gets a bit overworked at times. Actually, there's a whole pack of servers here and even they can't ahndle all the traffic at times. Try again later.

Q23: I thought this place was free!

A23: Who says it ain't?

crae, may I use excerpts of your tek faq, as well as link to it?

Thanks craeonics for calling me a leech. Q17 A17. Some folk have spent a small fortune on the proggies to help sustain the talents of the artists whose works show up here. Don't be so quick to judge others and their lack up expertise. If I uploaded the trash I created I'd probably would be banned from the Web. The entire Web. In fact after about 7 months of crueling work I have created a great icon. (1).

Koa: sure. Need to update that thing a bit.

Crab: time for an addendum then: "the above does not apply to Old Crab"

Been thinking about a name change...how about...Old Leech!

Koasati, I'm sorry, but I simply don't have the time to work on this, and probably won't until December

I've had major increases in the demand for my time in meatspace.

No prob Jobe.................I already gave up on you.....
I'm still working on it. Should be far enough along to post a link soon, and let it grow from there.