Help Needed With SaturnFans Ticker Trial

[Charlie]

Happy New Year!

I was wondering if a few volunteers might be interested in helping me test a new feature that I'm working on: the SaturnFans Ticker. The ticker will scroll the 15 latest message board topics in a small box on your desktop in the taskbar. I'd like to run a trial period for about one week before I officially announce this feature to everyone. I have installed the ticker on two PCs without a hitch... it takes about 30 seconds and seems to work real well. I've been running it without any problems.

If you are interested in helping out, here's how you can install the ticker: Right-click on your Windows taskbar, anywhere between the Start button and Windows clock.
Go to 'Toolbars' -> 'New Toolbar...'.
Type "http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/ticker.php3" (w/o quotes).
Click 'OK'.
[/list=1]That's it! You can adjust the ticker so that it fits your taskbar. I've tried to make the layout as compact as possible, however, you can make the ticker as large -- or as small -- as you like. The taskbar will automatically check for new posts every three minutes and display them in the order in which they were updated.

Some options:[list] You can adjust the size of the ticker by using your mouse.
If the ticker is scrolling, click on the the green icon to turn it off.
If the ticker is stopped, click on the red icon to turn it on.
You can remove the ticker's title bar by right-clicking on the 'SaturnFans Ticker' heading and un-checking the option 'Show Title'.
I've installed the ticker on PCs running Windows 98 and 2000. It should work on all PCs running at least Windows 95 with IE5+ installed. I will attach a few screenshots of my taskbar with the ticker running so that you can see what it looks like. Based on the feedback I receive, I may make some additional changes. However, any changes should be only cosmetic and not require any end-user modifications.

Please post your feedback here or send me a PM. This feature is not yet available for Mac or Linux users. Let me know what you think!

:grnjump:

Enjoy!
Charlie

[Charlie]

Here's another screenshot of another ticker setup a little different than the first. This ticker is turned off.

[spencerb]

Works great on Windows XP Pro.

How about adding a horizonal line between topics instead of a space?

Also, my taskbar is set double-tall (two rows of tasks icons). the vertical scroll bar on the ticker is still visible, but it only scrolls about a pixel. Not enough to make a difference. How do I make the vertical scroll bar go away without making my taskbar triple tall?

[Harry]

Just installed on my Windows 98 SE system with stock IE 5 and it works fine. Thanks, Charlie!

[ssicarman]

Charlie, done deal. Windows 98 SE, so far so good. Is there any way to get rid of the text "Saturnfans ticker" and just leave the scrolling?

[SpeedPlayer 97sl2]

Works well...slick.

[L300Boy]

I havent looked at it yet, but it sounds like a cool idea. Is there some sort of XML/RDF/etc source file that you are pulling from? This would be very useful for display systems.

[Diggs]

Originally posted by ssicarman
Charlie, done deal. Windows 98 SE, so far so good. Is there any way to get rid of the text "Saturnfans ticker" and just leave the scrolling?

From Charlie's first post -

Some options:
You can adjust the size of the ticker by using your mouse.

If the ticker is scrolling, click on the the green icon to turn it off.

If the ticker is stopped, click on the red icon to turn it on.

You can remove the ticker's title bar by right-clicking on the 'SaturnFans Ticker' heading and un-checking the option 'Show Title'.

Charlie,

Installed here on Win2k Pro and no troubles at all. Can you make it so it only shows a logged in user's subscribed Categories? Not that the other categories aren't interesting, just more than I wanted to know. :whoa:

Have any dial-up users tried it yet? How does it act when it can't find the saturnfans servers? Cable modem here, so it is always scrolling.

FYI - I also use a double height taskbar (even tho' I always auto-hide it) but one row is open programs and the other is the Quick Launch bar. I noticed that if I changed the Quick Launch to Large instead of Small icons and moved the SaturnFans Ticker to that part, I can see more SaturnFans information at one time.

Diggs

P.S. Now you have to tell us where you got the source code. I agree with L300Boy, this would be nice for a LAN environment - much better than the old Pointcast type "push" stuff.

[YELO_SC2]

Charlie,

How difficult would it be for you to release a Mac OS X version? I have both a Mac and a PC and it would be nice to have a Mac version since I use it for my internet browsing. It could be an icon that sits down in the dock and when a user clicks on it, it would create a menu that pops up with the recent threads. Thanks!

[Charlie]

Charlie, done deal. Windows 98 SE, so far so good. Is there any way to get rid of the text "Saturnfans ticker" and just leave the scrolling? Glad everyone seems to like it. I've been using it to help me watch board activity over the past few days and its worked pretty good. You can get rid of the "SaturnFans Ticker" text by right-clicking on the text and unchecking the 'Show Title' option. If that doesn't do the trick, let me know.

How do I make the vertical scroll bar go away without making my taskbar triple tall?Good question. That's on my list of things-to-do this week. You should notice the change automatically once I fix it.

How does it act when it can't find the saturnfans servers? Cable modem here, so it is always scrolling.It comes up with the "server unreachable" error. Another one of the changes I'll be making to the code will be to have a default page automatically load on startup, so that dial-up users (like me)don't have to refresh the ticker every time you log onto the net.

Can you make it so it only shows a logged in user's subscribed Categories?Yes, this is in the plans.

Now you have to tell us where you got the source code. I agree with L300Boy, this would be nice for a LAN environment - much better than the old Pointcast type "push" stuff.The script is set up with a marquee tag that automatically refreshes after a certain period of time. Whenever it refreshes, it queries the message board's database for specific entries, and then displays them.

I hope I didn't miss any questions. Do you think this type of tool useful? Let me know...

Charlie

[UoPMBA]

Works fine on Windows ME version. Nice feature...

Pam

[L300Boy]

I like it :-)

here's an example of what i was suggesting for both news and new posts:

http://www.slashdot.org/slashdot.rdf

this is an XML/RDF file, generated automatically by slashdot. This allows certain clients to pull, parse, and display it as a real-time information source.

[ssicarman]

I know how to read, honest, I just don't do it very often.:x !
Cranked the computer up today and couldn't find the ticker on the tool bar anywhere. Reloaded it and it works. I'll see what happens to it tomorrow. Most likely something that I screwed up.

[Kenike]

I wasn't sure about trying it since I am not that great on the computer. The directions were so easy to follow- it works great! Thanks Charlie!:redjump: :grnjump:

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Yellow_2001
How difficult would it be for you to release a Mac OS X version? I have both a Mac and a PC and it would be nice to have a Mac version since I use it for my internet browsing. It could be an icon that sits down in the dock and when a user clicks on it, it would create a menu that pops up with the recent threads. Thanks!I apologize for not replying to your question earlier... the file will run in any browser window, so you could create a link on your desktop to point to the ticker. I don't have a Mac (or have easy access to a Mac), but will test some things out for you next time I use one. PM me if you would to talk more...

This is an XML/RDF file, generated automatically by slashdot. This allows certain clients to pull, parse, and display it as a real-time information source.I do have plans for something similar, but not until version 2 of the ticker comes out. Stay tuned! ;)

Cranked the computer up today and couldn't find the ticker on the tool bar anywhere. Reloaded it and it works. I'll see what happens to it tomorrow. Most likely something that I screwed up.The current script works well with DSL, cable, and LAN users... but there are some problems for dial-up users because the ticker will try to load before an internet connection is established. I plan on releasing version 1.1 of the ticker -- which will include a "fix" for dial-up users on Monday.

I wasn't sure about trying it since I am not that great on the computer. The directions were so easy to follow- it works great! Thanks Charlie!Great! Quite a few folks have installed it and seem to like it a lot.

Thanks for everyone's help and feedback! I really appreciate it.

Charlie

[Clyd3]

I copied the URL into a new IE window and set it to kiosk mode. It has to be the active window in order to work. I don't have to check the Forums page as often now to know whats going on. Very nice!

:yes:

[bryan666999]

works good

[thesaturnvue]

Works fine for me-I like it!:grnjump:

[rtaylor]

Charlie,

I have installed the ticket taper. I have a Compaq Presario and Windows 98 and it working great!

I like the feature.

Thanks......Richard:grnjump: :redjump:

[Mustang46L]

runs great on xp pro

[Todd]

Works well with Win2K. Pretty cool!