Questions before upgrading my Fences

from Stardock Forums

So I have been using my purchased copy of Fences for years now, currently I have v3.1.3.3. I have looked at the new version of fences and I don't see anything in particular that grabs me as something I need to have. But my current version does have some issues that annoy me a little. My concern is - I don't want to give up my already paid for version for an updated subscription based version if it is not going to fix my specific issues and/or provide me with something I really need.

I can't lie and say I'm happy about your switch to a SaaS model, but if the benefits justify it, I'll gladly subscribe.

Is there anyway I can use the trial version to determine if the possible benefits of the upgraded version justify the cost? and then revert back to my current paid for version afterwards if it turns out the new version does not do what I want?

 

Also I'd welcome a more detailed discussion about what exactly my annoying issues with the current version are, and whether or not the newer version will address them, if you'd like.

fences
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. You can always do Fences 5 30 days free trial and see if your issue settle in it. And you can always revert back to your older version. Your desktop screenshots should be unchanged and should still work as before you install the newer version. But, to be sure you can backup your current desktop screenshot using this guide: https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#backupsnapshots.

Also, you can always state your current issue and we will try to help you with it.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

OK, well that is encouraging enough for me to try the 30 day trial.

But considering your quick response to that question, I'm going to discuss the rest now too.

The primary issues with the current version are:

I run a multi-monitor setup (currently I use 4) and I have all my fences in one of my 'secondary' (not the primary) monitors. But any change to monitor orientation, video driver updates, any changes to monitor or GPU config it seems, makes all my Fences reposition themselves to the Primary monitor. And even the snap shots just return them to the Primary monitor. Which means I then have to manually move them all back and re-position them where I want them on one of the secondary monitors.

My second annoyance is the 'snapping' effect. I usually like to keep my fences rolled-up and when I click on the Title the contents rolldown for me to browse and select. But some Fences I want to position at the top of the monitor, and when I drag them to the top of the monitor they flip their roll direction so that the Title is now on the bottom and the Fences rolls up. This means I need to disable the snap, or I'm forced to place my Fences at close to, but not quite at the top of the monitor. I really want all my Fences to roll the same way and I'd prefer them to roll-down. 

And I think my third issue is related, in that once I have the first Fence placed at the top, I then 'stack' them one under the other. But the snap to match the Fence above is always fiddly, it sometimes also does the roll direction flip thing, and often it's distance from the one above it is not quite the same as the previous Fences that I placed above that or the following Fences I place below. Leading to a slightly un-even look to the placements. I can usually fix this by just dragging the problematic Fences away and trying a different one, or snapping a different one then removing it and going back to the first. Either way it's always fiddly and time consuming and not fixable by using the snapshot facility because as mentioned previous, this just puts them all on the Primary monitor and not on the secondary when I want them.

If any of this is unclear or you need more information, please just let me know.

And any suggestions you can make would be welcome, but even if you were to just tell me that v5 has full multimonitor support, that of course would also solve all these issues, and might very well make the upgrade to SaaS worth it.

 

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Understood. As for the first one. I have two monitors setup too and I don't have this issue. But, recently the Dev was looking into this issue and might have implemented something in Fences 5 to help with the issue. Please try Fences 5 and see if the issue still there for you. If I remember correctly, the was one report that mentioned the display issue resolved in Fences 5.

For the rest there are few new setting in Fences 5 rollup which you can try and see if it work for your situation.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant