Feature Requests~?

[unmog]

I saw you guys mention that you might be up for more feature requests for possible Skype changes, which is why I signed up so I could throw one at you.

First I want to thank you for making the plugin to disable the stupid formating, though I did take a bit to figure out where the download button was for it. Good thing I decided to just start reading through everything again and noticed the link to where we can download it. Id really figure though normally we could download the file at the top somewhere in a big cant miss "download here" button or something. I downloaded a zip for instance which I think had everything for the main page. :p

Anyway, one change Skype did not too recently that upset me was made it so the interface in all the chat windows were less effecient, thus making it so the individual chat windows became much larger than before. I prefer that to the giant single window anyway. The chat windows however became much bigger than I was used to. For instance all the times are listed to the right in a big block of otherwise unused area to the right which takes up about a third of the total windows size.

So here is my first and I assume easiest request, Can we move the timestamps to the left at the beggining of the persons message. So instead of looking like this http://puu.sh/iQK36/1925813e96.png we could have the time stamp be an actual part of the message or just above the message maybe on a sepperate line or something like (4:34PM) Sure if you want to

or maybe

(4:34PM) Sure if you want to

instead of the current... Sure if you want to (bunch of completely unused needless space here) 4:34 pm

Otherwise, Id like the ability to make more room at the top too if possible, even trying to use compact mode doesnt really make things compact. Maybe we could make the video, call, and add people buttons much smaller, and move the profile messages up to the right of the name so we have a more room for actual messages.

If changes like that were made, Id like the ability to perhaps make my IM windows themselves smaller if possible... the new [ish] skype windows today are about twice as big as they used to be for whatever reason and I really wish I could make things more compact and spatially efficient. The minimum size I can make my skype IM window is at least three to four times bigger than my yahoo ones for instance~ :/

Otherwise... is it possible to maybe add in IM window tabs in the same IM window to switch back and forth to different chats maybe? That might be a bit too much though I think, and it would probably be the biggest/hardest thing to do.

Lastly, would it be possible to simply have a [B] and [I] and [U] button somewhere close to the text input area where we type our messages to be able to bold, italicize and underline highlighted text or something? Really that would be much preferable than the stupid way Skype tried incorporating it.

Thanks again for all your hard work, and please let me know if anything like this would be possible...

Unrelated to you guys... I really wish I could still message my friends on Skype using Trillian. :/ Damn skype for breaking that.

[dlehn]

Hey there! First off, thanks for using SUP, I'm glad you've found it useful so far.
Second: Since Skype has retired it's third party API a while ago (which means they provide no way of interacting with their program's code to other developers like myself), everything I do relies on various more or less unreliable "hacks" which are in no way intended or supported by the original developers. This, unfortunately, also means that there are many otherwise very basic things which are extremely difficult if not impossible for me to do. So please don't get your hopes too high.

Now for your specific requests:

• Making the download link more obvious: Easy, I will fix that right once I'm done writing this up.
• Moving the timestamps (or any other changes to the chat messages themselves and their layout): I'm afraid this won't be possible. Skype uses a custom rendering procedure for displaying the chat view, which I can't access or change without access to Skype's source code (which, unfortunately, they won't just give to me).
  I'm afraid your only option here would be to disable the timestamps completely (Tools -> Options -> IM & SMS -> IM Appearance -> Show timestamps next to instant messages) Forget about that, this will just leave a blank unused space where the timestamps used to be. Who came up with this crap?
• Space at the top: This block is one single item, I cannot access the individual buttons/text in order to change their sizes. I might be able to make this entire part hideable or minimize it and only show it when you hover the mouse over it or something. At least I should be able to improve it in some way I think.
• Window size: I think hiding/minimizing the block at the top should help to reduce that by quite a bit. I may be able to completely remove the minimum window size limit, but that might mess up the layout. I'll have to try it out.
• Formatting buttons (bold/italics/etc.): Those should be pretty easy to add. However, they will definitely conflict with SUP's "disable chat formatting" option, so you will have to decide between the two. However it should be possible to put another quick access button next to the [B]/[I]/[U] buttons that allows you to quickly toggle this option on/off as needed.

And that should be that. I'll try to implement as many of these things and as soon as I can, but I have a job and a life, too, so it may take a few weeks.
Thanks again for using SUP and I hope I'll have an update for you soon.

[unmog]

Thanks for getting back so soon, didnt expect a reply the same day. Much less the same hour.

And here I was thinking that moving the timestamps would be the easiest.

As far as the buttons~ Here's an idea. Couldnt you make it so that clicking one of those buttons temporarily enables [and then immediately disables] the chat formating as well? Like a two in one button.

[dlehn]

Could be possible, but I'm afraid that would require spamming the "setupkey: [bla bla bla]" message (the one you usually see once after starting Skype) all the time, whenever the setting is toggled on or off. But I'll definitely look into it, maybe I can find some way around that.

[unmog]

Hah, I think you replied just in time to miss my little edit so Ill add it here instead for its own reply.

Edit to original post~ Otherwise... is it possible to maybe add in IM window tabs in the same IM window to switch back and forth to different chats maybe? That might be a bit too much though I think, and it would probably be the biggest/hardest thing to do.

Edit to my reply to your first reply~ Oh, also, Im assuming then adding IM tabs to the chat window is pretty much too much to be expected then?

Also since you mentioned that the setupkey blabla message happens everytime when starting skype, I figured Id let you know in my skype it doesnt. I input it once, and it remembered. Heres what one guy said in that conversation I found your plugin link at though.

[i]In the latest Skype 7.1 version, the chat command /setupkey *Lib/Conversation/EnableWiki 0, disables now text formatting permanently. Text formatting remains disabled also after restarting the client.[/i] Sorry apparently I dont know how to italicize things here.

But your plugin now wouldn't have to say it once every time you start up skype... though the latest version of skype for me at this time says 7.6.0.105

Otherwise, maybe if we approached the problem at a different angle the button idea could still work. For instance the @@ command skype uses. You could perhaps make it so enabling the "disable chat formating" option would instead add @@ automatically to the beginning of all your messages, unless you click a [B] or [I] or [U] button. That way using one of those buttons just tells the plugin not to add the @@ at the begining of that particular message? Just an idea since the @@ doesnt actually show up in the message normally unlike the setupkey command.

Oh I just found out something else I didnt know of though~ Ill copy paste.

[I]formatting can now be turned off, go to the tools menu, then click on options, click IM & SMS, click IM Appearance, and uncheck show advanced text formatting, this is a new feature in skype 7.4 for windows desktop[/i] Yup still dont know how to italicize things here. :p

But apparently now Skype indeed does have an option there in tools> IM & SMS> Appearance> Show advanced text formating. Considering that, would it be possible to have the plugin simply check and uncheck that box when using said font buttons?

[dlehn]

Whew, that's a lot of stuff for an edit...

• Tabs for chat windows: This is entirely possible, but requires a lot of tedious work. I might do it if I find myself with way too much free time some day, but if I were you I wouldn't hold my breath.
  Question: What's wrong with Skype's "Single Window View"? It's basically a tabbed window, only with your conversation tabs listed at the side instead of the usual top position.
• Since Skype has now made this option accessible, I can remove this feature from SUP. Good to know. However I can't access that checkbox from my code, so using that instead of the chat command in order to turn the setting on/off is not an option.
  Automatically adding "@@" to the beginning of each unformatted chat message upon sending, however, sounds like a great idea, I'll try to do just that.

PS: You can italicize stuff by putting it between asterisks. (Or use two asterisks for bold.)

[unmog]

hah yea, I edited my edit after :p But wow really you think you could add tabs but not move the timestamps? Wow what did they do to fuck up skype so bad~

Otherwise, to answer your question... The single window view would be plausible "if" I could make the window smaller. For instance Id like to keep the contact list separate [or at least hide-able] since the contact list takes almost half the window and you cant make it any smaller. I think someone else mentioned how freaking big it is.

Otherwise, the window itself cant be shrunk much either and takes a good 1/4 corner of my screen space. Im not sure why MS decided to go this route but they think the minimum size of something should be huge. :/ I prefer a minimalist interface. Compare these pictures for instance.

Here's one from my trillian... >.> loves trillian This isnt even the smallest I can make it I can shrink it down by another half if I wanted. http://puu.sh/iS17Q/3c3c15845f.png

Now compare this with the single window view, easily three to four times the size http://puu.sh/iS1l8/e96ce8a38f.png

If I could make things more compact and spatially efficient then it wouldn't be a problem. But since I have to use skype to keep in contact with several of my friends its as if I don't have a choice and am forced to use this terrible interface. :/

But you could have a point, would it be easier to fix the single window view or add tabs to the split window view? I wouldn't have a problem with using the single window if I could separate the contact list. Or maybe you could have a tab specifically for the contact list and able to hide it. Either way the single window view much better if I could shrink the window more. But for whatever reason its so freakin huge... could you make it so we could shrink the windows height by at least half, and chop off the left side where the contact list, maybe have a tab or something for the contact list?

PS Thanks for the tips on italics and bold. :)

[dlehn]

But wow really you think you could add tabs but not move the timestamps? Wow what did they do to fuck up skype so bad~

This (for once) isn't really a fuck up on their part, it's simply software design. They use the Microsoft Windows API to create their basic windows and structure (which square goes where?) and then use a custom rendering procedure to draw the more complex details, such as chat bubbles and timestamps.
Since the Windows API is publicly accessible, I can change pretty much anything (although with varying degrees of required effort) they do using that API, while everything else is pretty much tamper-proof.

As for the window size: I'm also working on a request for reducing the sidebar size (#18) which might help with that a bit.

could you make it so we could shrink the windows height by at least half, and chop off the left side where the contact list, maybe have a tab or something for the contact list?

Reducing the window height might be possible, I'll try (but no promises). A tab for the contact list would be more complicated and probably not really worth the effort.

PS I love Trillian too and only started this plugin because I was forced to use Skype after they discontinued their third-party support for Trillian.

[unmog]

Bad software design then~ also I did figure out a way to get trillian to work with skype some too. I can give you a link to where I found a fix. The fix isnt perfect though... for whatever reason sometimes contacts appear offline even though if I have skype up at the same time I can clearly see theyre online.

http://help.trillian.im/discussions/windows/26983-fix-for-skype-yes-it-works

Thats pretty much the same reason I went back to skype though, that and Trillian doesnt work for skype group chats for whatever reason.

Maybe you could fix that instead~~~ <3

[BreckyFast]

Not sure if this thread is still active but is there any chance of you being able to make it so we can have the red border that shows up when screen sharing turned off? Example. http://i.imgur.com/qdtP7B2.png It makes screen sharing most games extremely difficult because it alt tabs you if the mouse reaches the edge of the window and full screen does not work with screen sharing.

I really hope this is fixable :)

[unmog]

The red border is to show you which part of your screen your sharing... I rarely do it myself but I think you can use the border to resize which portion of the screen you want to share.

[BreckyFast]

I'm not sure if you can resize it, I've never tried but when you're sharing a screen in full size it outlines the entire screen making borderless windowed mode useless to share because it will alt tab the game.

[unmog]

well if your looking for a way to stream games theres plenty of other programs already available that will do it better, and be less taxing on your system resources than skype. Twitch, raptr, even steam have streaming abilities to share stuff with friends. Lots of em really. Not to say skype cant, just asking if you've tried other alternatives since you dont really need skype to do it.

Personally though, I play my games in windowed mode so the red border wouldnt be an issue with me as its just there to let me know its streaming.

[BreckyFast]

Yes but the reason we use Skype is because it has less than 1 second then delay, no other service does this because streaming to a server adds at minimum 5-12 seconds of delay on steam, and 30 seconds on twitch. So that's why this is important to me ):

[unmog]

Actually now that I think about it, I have one more request as well!

Something about skype thats bugging me. In single window mode, if Im chatting to one friend, then click another friend in the contact list on the left side and try typing to them it automatically puts my typing cursor in the search box instead of the chat box, so instead of sending them a message I search for something I dont intend to. It means I have to then stop what Im doing when I notice I stupidly did this again, delete it all, click the chat box and retype the message since I cant copy paste it.

However very recently I noticed if I double click someones name it puts the cursor in the chat box. Can you adjust this feature so it always allows you to immediately type to someone and send them a message immediately after clicking their name? Its stupid if I go and try to talk to someone that after clicking their name I cant just reply to them, that I have to specifically double click or click their chat box. :/

Otherwise, I can see the importance of using skype to stream, but you still wont get any in game audio. Maybe he could make it so theres a setting to hide the outline after awhile unless you put your mouse over it or some kind of hotkey to turn it on and off again. Id still recommend using steam though, the 5 or so seconds depends also on the streamers hardware, but a few seconds delay is a small price to pay to get quality streaming and basic sound. A friend tried streaming for me on skype just now and not only did it severely lag his game, the quality wasnt that good and there was no audio like i mentioned already.

[dlehn]

Something about skype thats bugging me. In single window mode, if Im chatting to one friend, then click another friend in the contact list on the left side and try typing to them it automatically puts my typing cursor in the search box instead of the chat box, so instead of sending them a message I search for something I dont intend to. It means I have to then stop what Im doing when I notice I stupidly did this again, delete it all, click the chat box and retype the message since I cant copy paste it.

However very recently I noticed if I double click someones name it puts the cursor in the chat box. Can you adjust this feature so it always allows you to immediately type to someone and send them a message immediately after clicking their name?

Sorry for being quiet for such a long time, I don't have as much free time lately as I'd like so I didn't get to work on this project. Anyway, this feature was literally two lines of code, so I just went along and added it. You can grab SUP 1.4.0 from the releases section right now :)

By the way, that was an awesome idea. This has been bugging me, too, but somehow it never occurred to me that I could just fix it myself...

[unmog]

Woot, great minds think alike I guess. :p I wish I knew how to code.

Hah I was just about to post again and say it wasnt working, but apparently I had to enable the option. I thought it would be automatically enabled. But yup it seems to work fine :)

[dlehn]

That's a basic principle in SUP, you have to enable every change in functionality manually. I don't want anybody to be surprised or confused if something suddenly starts working in a way other than what they're used to.

[SynfulChaot]

Would it be possible to add a 'night mode' that changes the colors to something a bit friendlier on the eyes in darker rooms?