Z1-Glass v2.70 and a one-toolbar-setup

Friday, September 24, 2010 1:12:29 PM

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After some months of not caring much about my browser and skinning, the release of Internet Explorer 9 beta got me thinking again. Microsoft did a fantastic job with it's new reduced UI. Browsing should indeed be about the web and not the browser.

In Opera, a one-toolbar-setup can only be accomplished using the tabbar with it's parts tabbar head and tabbar tail used for controls and buttons. I had to learn quickly that tabbar head is not the best replacement for the addressbar since it will move up and down when (un-) maximizing the browser window. Tabbar tail can do the job better. To make it work, some skin changes became necessary which are (with other redesigns) included in version 2.70+ of my Z1-Glass skin. You can get it here.

The one-toolbar-setup has one huge (and currently unsolvable) problem in Opera: The addressfield will reduce to minimal width when placed in tabbar head/tail. You can type still fine then, but you can't read a lot of the address and (even worse) the popup below will be also limited in it's width. I strongly suggest to the Opera devs to make it possible to resize the addressfield when placed in tabbar head/tail, since maximized space for the page is a very valuable goal and IE9 set the bar a lot higher than before. If you would like to support my suggestion, I made a wish-list-forum posting about it.

Anyway, if you can live with the drawbacks, here is how it can be done in Opera:

1. You will want a skin with some optimizations, Z1-Glass 2.70+ can do the job.

2. You can either put the addressfield buttons inside tabbar tail (the part in the very right of the tabbar) yourself and hide all other toolbars or start with my setup and customize it to your needs. You can download my one-toolbar-setup here (right click > save target as).

My setup uses combined buttons to make different types of buttons. I put the addressfield inside a combined buttonset too, this way it will keep it's size when visual tabs are used. More info about combined buttons can be found in ttt-skin changes.

3. To get a statusfield like IE9, you can use the autohide-statusbar_0.js user java script. To make it look more like IE9, I modified it a bit, you can download that here.

4. Enjoy!

And this is how it looks over here:

New close buttons for Z1-GlassA wallpaper

Comments

NRsuperici Friday, September 24, 2010 5:38:11 PM

checking smile

Lukášlukaydo Friday, September 24, 2010 6:25:32 PM

hi, can you give me a link to the wallpaper you are using on image below ?? smile

ЕвгенийOneginUA Friday, September 24, 2010 6:51:44 PM

Very small address panel, it is needed to wrick in 2x

Z1-AV69 Friday, September 24, 2010 7:04:51 PM

Originally posted by lukaydo:

wallpaper

See here: http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/details/1838/motion_senses.html

Originally posted by OneginUA:

Very small address panel, it is needed to wrick in 2x

Exactly sad

Unregistered user Friday, October 1, 2010 8:20:10 PM

Naznaz writes: Hi, can you please tell me what to do with the "one-toolbar-setup.ini"? Thanks :-)

Z1-AV69 Friday, October 1, 2010 11:45:30 PM

Save the "one-toolbar-setup.ini" to the "toolbar" folder in your opera profile folder (enter opera:about in the addressfield to see its location). Now you can choose it under preferences>advanced>toolbars as your toolbar setup.

Unregistered user Saturday, October 2, 2010 10:48:55 AM

Naznaz writes: Thanks!

Unregistered user Monday, October 4, 2010 12:11:58 AM

Rahat writes: Well how about this setup using Gamma skin? This skin looks more promising for the IE9 theme. Works fine for me. http://kafi2007.deviantart.com/#/d2zvhsz

Unregistered user Monday, October 4, 2010 12:16:00 AM

Anonymous writes: Seeing the above link (using Gamma skin), it seems to me that its more like skin issue. I.e. the skinner can use the existing features and can create an IE9 theme if he/she may have wanted. BTW, the one toolbar setup for the Z1-Galss theme does not look good and has several usability issues.

Unregistered user Monday, October 4, 2010 12:16:15 AM

Anonymous writes: Seeing the above link (using Gamma skin), it seems to me that its more like skin issue. I.e. the skinner can use the existing features and can create an IE9 theme if he/she may have wanted. BTW, the one toolbar setup for the Z1-Galss theme does not look good and has several usability issues.

Unregistered user Monday, October 4, 2010 4:03:07 PM

Anonym writes: Great work but with the one-toolbar-setup its no longer possible to see the arrow to show and hide the panels.

Seyverin Monday, October 4, 2010 4:08:53 PM

Great work but with the one-toolbar-setup its no longer possible to see the arrow to show and hide the panels.

Now with my Account smile

Z1-AV69 Monday, October 4, 2010 11:34:15 PM

In the setup provided above the button is right besides the wand button. But you can put it wherever you want.

Seyverin Tuesday, October 5, 2010 7:30:24 AM

Ah, i was blind.
Thank you.

Bert Docksdertbox Friday, October 8, 2010 6:56:36 PM

You can drag the address field up next to the O menu along with the back and refresh button. Seems to work well.
http://i53.tinypic.com/30t15q1.png -

Can I request a smaller O menu button for your future skinning pleasure? For reference, the Chrome skin has a great one, but Glass 2.72 looks the best like this.

Z1-AV69 Sunday, October 10, 2010 8:32:33 AM

At first I tried using the O-menu bar as addressbar replacement too, but I didn't like the addressfield that close to the window border. Putting the bar further down in the skin didn't work so well because the bar moves between normal and maximized window. If it works for you, fine!

I can gain about 2px width on the O-menu button. But I like to keep it close to the standard_skin, it should keep the "Opera look" for me.

Pablo CornejoViperGodL22 Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:04:24 PM

hey is that flash bug fixed?

Z1-AV69 Friday, October 22, 2010 9:25:07 AM

No news on the flash-bug yet. cry

kyotocafe Friday, October 22, 2010 12:11:22 PM

this is a very good idea, thanks for sharing!

kyotocafe Friday, October 22, 2010 6:35:41 PM

btw, is it any way to integrate this setup to show the extensions buttons?

Z1-AV69 Friday, October 22, 2010 9:20:59 PM

Currently not. They said it's a known issue not being able to drag them around. So I hope it will be possible in future builds.

Seyverin Tuesday, November 23, 2010 8:43:48 PM

So, ist there any chance now? With Opera 11?

Z1-AV69 Wednesday, November 24, 2010 12:15:51 AM

The beta doesn't allow dragging extension buttons. sad

Unregistered user Monday, February 14, 2011 2:39:31 PM

sacaredo writes: I'm kinda messing things up, is there any way to close the big address bar again? That would be nice 'cause i want my bookmark bar but i don't want it to take too much room with three bars. Thanks!

Z1-AV69 Friday, February 18, 2011 3:02:58 PM

@sacaredo: What do you mean by big address bar? You can still customize any toolbars and if they are shown just as always with Opera.

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