Tiles not appearing if the Layout is imported to other profiles

[ovagia]

Great tool to create tiles! I have an issue though, when I export the customized start menu layout and import it in other user profiles, all the custom tiles appear empty. The procedure I am talking about is here https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows/manage/customize-and-export-start-layout.

[Jonno12345]

Hey, many thanks for the feedback.

This will be due to the way the tiles are created, additional metadata is created alongside the executable target, which won't be imported along with this procedure. For example, to create an icon for Visual Studio, the executable file devenv.exe will have a metadata file created alongside it under Program Files, called devenv.VisualElementsManifest.xml. Without this, there is nothing to render the tile with.

However, good news - My next task is working on a backup and restore function, so this should soon be possible. Need to work out a few caveats, but will let you know as soon as this functionality is live :)

[ovagia]

Hello Jonno, thank you for your reply. It is a relief to know that this is the issue that prevents the tiles from appearing. Is there any possible workaround until you add this function? Any manual copy of files that are needed for the rendering of the tiles? Now I copy the shortcuts of the start menu and all the folder with the assets to every new profile.

[Jonno12345]

I've just re-read what your problem is, thinking about it, this shouldn't be a problem amongst other user accounts (I mistook the issue to be an import on another machine), which is odd. Could you screenshot what the start menu looks like after an import?

[ovagia]

Hello Jonno, it would be great if it could work in different machines, just by importing the shortcuts to the common start menu path and the assets in a folder accessible by all the users and pushing the LayoutModification.xml with the Layout of the tiles by any of the different ways (GPOs, Import-StartLayout, copy to the default local profile). I tried on a single machine, I used TileIconifier to build the custom tiles with the local admin profile, extracted the Layout and imported it to the default local profile, to be used by all the new default local profiles. All the new profiles created show an empty menu (all my tiles are custom tiles). In case I put in the Layout a tile from a standard windows app, it appears in the other profiles and an empty space appears where the custom tile was.

[ovagia]

Hello Jonno,

I wanted to ask you if you have tried to use the tiles in another profile on the same PC. Did it work for you? I am trying to understand the issue I have with the empty tiles. Could you please give me some hints?

[Jonno12345]

@ovagia Hi, sorry for the delay, I haven't had chance to test this just yet. Will let you know as soon as I have.

[ovagia]

Thank you Jonno, I am looking forward to your feedback.

[clamatac]

Hi,

I have used this app today for the first time, it is great! where is this import/export option? I can not find it.

Thanks!

[Jonno12345]

@clamatac Doesn't exist yet I'm afraid, my life suddenly got a lot busier..! The export referred to is part of the export-startlayout powershell cmdlet, but as stated, it doesn't appear to work correctly.

[clamatac]

thanks for answering, I hope this feature will be available in the future, it will be great.

another question, ¿is it possible to set background color to "transparent" in order to match the "W10 transparent option" for START-MENU, TASK-BAR etc?

Greetings and sorry for my english

[Ryunam]

Hello, thank you first of all for developing this wonderful application! I really believe this is the best and most convenient option right now, among all similar programs currently available, to customize the appearance of the Windows 10 Start Menu.

I would like to chime in and inquire about any method that could be used to easily backup and restore customized tiles that were modified through TileIconifier. I typically pin items to the Start Menu through the standard function of the OS ("Pin to Start") and then use this application to change the appearance of the Tile, replace the image and adjust the overall look of each individual tile to my liking.

I understand that right now this software does not have an Import / Export option implemented yet, which would be absolutely great to have, needless to say. In the meantime, do you have any advice on an effective workflow to export the existing layout of a StartMenu and then import it into another Windows10 installation, preserving the customization applied by TileIconifier? Thanks in advance!

[ssotog]

any updates on this?

[Jonno12345]

@ssotog I'm afraid not, I haven't been at home with my development tools for a few months, only with a basic machine whilst on the road. Once home I'll be looking to close down all these issues, but I'm likely to be another 2 to 3 months yet. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[CKGrafico]

And now?