7 Taskbar Tweaker v1.7, with decombine on hover

That’s right, and here’s how it looks:

 
Together with whatever-you-want grouping introduced with v1.6 (video), it becomes a really handy feature.

Among other new features: Make pinned items smaller.

Before and after:

Small icons:

I’ve also removed the cycle through windows option on left click on grouped button, as it appears there’s a registry option for that (Thanks Jim).

Get 7 Taskbar Tweaker here!

Posted in Software, Updates by Michael (Ramen Software) on January 7th, 2011.
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28 Responses to “7 Taskbar Tweaker v1.7, with decombine on hover”

  1. MainTrane says:

    That auto decombine feature is ingenious!

    -Have you looked into the randomly generated appID (jDownloader, µTorrent, … always group/label aren’t remembered) issue?
    http://bigpichost.com/files/7tt-taskbarinspe_97k69l58.png

    -Combined items without label don’t expand properly.
    http://bigpichost.com/files/7tt_nolabel_b5ey97zj.gif

  2. MainTrane says:

    Is there a way to post images so they appear in the actual comment field?

  3. MainTrane says:

    Just a tip, you should rename ‘Make pinned items smaller’ to something like ‘(Remove|Narrow|Smaller) gap between pinned items’.

    • metai says:

      MainTrane: Why? The buttons are actually shrinked quite a bit, you can see that if you compare the buttons in “always combine” mode.

      Speaking of which: Michael, thank you so much for this version. The “decombine” feature is a godsent if you regularly drag&drop items to applications. However, may I make the small request for you to test your tool with your taskbar set to “always combine”, it has some minor (visual) flaws in this mode, especially with grouping and labels. I am sure I’m not the only one who uses the “always combine” mode and only chooses to label some applications instead of the other way around.

  4. Alex says:

    I really like the decombine option. One question/request though. Is it possible to hide the labels when combined and show them only when decombined?

    Thanks

  5. therube says:

    I keep my taskbar “double height”, two rows of icons can display.

    With “Decombine on mouse hover” it is difficult (not impossible) to click an icon on the bottom row. (This is with my browser, & multiple windows open, spanning two rows.)

    Then if you uncheck “Decombine on mouse hover”, things are left in a weird state. The icons don’t decombine & thumbnail preview is active – even though it is set to disable. Have to close, then restart 7TT.

  6. MainTrane says:

    metai: I do keep my taskbar set to ‘always combine’, I found that the other settings don’t cooperate well with some of 7TT’s tweaks. The buttons/icons aren’t any smaller, the extra space in between icons was simply reduced by hacking some space from the edges of the buttons (as you can plainly see in RaMMicHaeL’s screenshots above).

    It’s just a suggestion on wording anyhow, not a big deal.

    Is the visual flaw you speak of the same as what I posted in the pic above ” Combined items WITHOUT labels don’t expand properly. http://bigpichost.com/files/7tt_nolabel_b5ey97zj.gif “, you can see a small bumper still remains on the right side of the button for character map. Combined items WITH labels display perfectly with the decombine feature IMO.

    • metai says:

      @MainTrane: That was somewhat directed at RaMMichael anyway, he seems to have his taskbar set to “never combine”.

      Also, really, not trying to nitpick here, but the buttons _are_ smaller when not active (the icons are not): http://bigpichost.com/files/buttons_azvjrl7i.png (they expand after the short transition from “starting” to “active”). Maybe it would be possible to actually keep the buttons this size, even when inactive? Hmm.

      Also², you are right, the same visual flaws also come into play when combining arbitrary application IDs, if I remember right. Or something else very closely related to that function, I distinctly remember it having a bit of a problem in “always combine” mode though.

  7. Fatih_BaKeR says:

    Taskbar not going to remain on the screen, sometimes using the inspector. This is like a bug. Explorer, ending the screen disappears. Example image http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5996/7taskbarhata.jpg

    Thank you.

  8. uyz_ says:

    Hmmm, would it be possible to make the text show too when decombining?

    I for example keep my taskbar on ‘always combine’, and have messenger window open, but when i hover to decombine all i get are 3/4 icons of messenger so i have no idea what contact is what icon.

    Great app btw. 🙂

  9. sean says:

    Awesome utility. Windows 7 is lacking in taskbar control. With un-group and show-label, I don’t miss instant messages anymore.

  10. Zosh says:

    This tool has already become indispensable for me. As much as I like Win7 in general, 7TT (and, in a similar vain, ClassicShell) really put the icing on the cake.

    However, what Win7’s taskbar is sorely, really sorely lacking is some sort of dividers. With the new function to reduce width for inactive buttons, the “make an icon” workaround has become better. But I cannot help but wonder if it would be possible for you to create somewhat “native” dividers within the taskbar. If anyone can, I guess it would be you.

    Cheers from Germany
    Zosh

  11. teammat3 says:

    Hey, great app, but having some problems, dont know really why.
    This is the way the the items are being combined ( take a look at Explorador do Windows [Windows Explorer])

    i have force combining grouped items and decombine on mouse hover turned on.

    thanks in advance

  12. MainTrane says:

    7TT currently has 3 options for middle-clicking already running apps on the taskbar (focus, minimize, close). I think that ‘only’ focus would be better if placed as a left-clicking option. Especially with middle clicks assigned to ‘only’ minimize and, the default, middle-clicking thumbnails to close.

    7TT is incredible and for constantly improving it through user feedback so are you.

    P.S. I added a comment to my always-on-top feature request (setting always-on-top by clicking the taskbar thumbnail). Also sent you an e-mail explaining why TI doesn’t exit when 7TT is exited, don’t know if it got through your filters.

  13. Microsux says:

    I don’t get the effect as I expected. Task bar item is not expanding but It divides into many smaller items. It also doesn’t animate as your preview too.

    See what I mean:
    http://bigpichost.com/files/decombined_3u6tz1s0.jpg

    Sometimes combined item can be longer than normal.

    (system: Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit)

  14. John says:

    I love the decombine on hover feature.

    However, this stops me from closing all windows with one right click- which is a pian if you’ve got 20 .psds open for instance.

    Any chance of a click to decombine rather than a hover? In the right click menu? That would be even more excellent.

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