Editing default Growl styles

[ranathari]

I've been using the Music Video Growl style, which I like, but I'd like to edit it so it slides down from the top of the screen rather than up from the bottom.

I've gone through the package contents of growl.prefpane and found MusicVideo.growlView but when I go through its package contents, I can't find any .css files. There's multiple language folders (xxx.lproj) inside the Resources folder but none of them contain any .css files.

Where can I find the style.css for this Growl style so I can edit it?

[bgannin]

Music Video isn't a Growl style [based on WebKit], it's a Growl display which uses Objective-C to draw itself. You would need to download the Growl sourcecode, tweak this, and recompile the display.

[The_Tick]

If you end up wanting to do this anyhow, it's something we'd accept a patch for.

[bgannin]

Well... it would require a bit of discussion beforehand. I don't know that MusicVideo is really suitable for top-down orientation because other styles (Nano offhand) use the top as their locked location and MusicVideo takes over the entire width when in use, so the overlap would be bad if MV mixes with any other display in this area. MV, along with those others and Bezel, ignore positioning for other notifications so it could get fiddly.

[The_Tick]

Well... it would require a bit of discussion beforehand.

Which has already been done at least a year ago. Top down would work just as well as bottom up and has the same problems in both locations.

However, it would possibly be more viewable across the room.

[bgannin]

Top down would work just as well as bottom up and has the same problems in both locations.

There are bottom-anchored display styles? Pray tell

[The_Tick]

Top down would work just as well as bottom up and has the same problems in both locations.

There are bottom-anchored display styles? Pray tell

Could you explain this question, I thought I was pretty clear.

[ranathari]

If it requires me to edit the source code and recompile then it's beyond my abilities, sadly.

It's a shame because Music Video is the most noticable default Growl notification but it can be missed from a distance; having it scroll-down from the top would make it more visible from a distance

[bgannin]

My question:

I have named a display [edit: I recall wrong, iCal isn't top locked] that is locked to the top and does not show anywhere else, and it was my reason for why top-orienting MusicVideo is a problem. You said there are the same problems at the bottom and I challenge that by asking what displays are locked to the bottom other than MusicVideo.

[The_Tick]

My question:

I have named a display [edit: I recall wrong, iCal isn't top locked] that is locked to the top and does not show anywhere else, and it was my reason for why top-orienting MusicVideo is a problem. You said there are the same problems at the bottom and I challenge that by asking what displays are locked to the bottom other than MusicVideo.

You're thinking of nano probably.


I'm referring to Music Video. indeed.

[bgannin]

My question:

I have named a display [edit: I recall wrong, iCal isn't top locked] that is locked to the top and does not show anywhere else, and it was my reason for why top-orienting MusicVideo is a problem. You said there are the same problems at the bottom and I challenge that by asking what displays are locked to the bottom other than MusicVideo.

You're thinking of nano probably.


I'm referring to Music Video. indeed.

You are missing what I am saying. I know about Nano, I stated it about 4 posts ago. I've been referring to MV by name repeatedly where I meant. Please re-read more slowly and without trying to formulate a reply before you've got what I'm saying.

To try succinctly yet again:
Nano is at top already, MusicVideo at top would get in the way - I think this is bad. MusicVideo is alone at bottom, I think this is ok. You said the same problems exist top or bottom, I disagree based on the 2 sentences I just wrote.

[The_Tick]

My question:

I have named a display [edit: I recall wrong, iCal isn't top locked] that is locked to the top and does not show anywhere else, and it was my reason for why top-orienting MusicVideo is a problem. You said there are the same problems at the bottom and I challenge that by asking what displays are locked to the bottom other than MusicVideo.

You're thinking of nano probably.


I'm referring to Music Video. indeed.

You are missing what I am saying. I know about Nano, I stated it about 4 posts ago. I've been referring to MV by name repeatedly where I meant. Please re-read more slowly and without trying to formulate a reply before you've got what I'm saying.

I was just confirming the one you seemed to be confusing.

To try succinctly yet again:
Nano is at top already, MusicVideo at top would get in the way - I think this is bad. MusicVideo is alone at bottom, I think this is ok. You said the same problems exist top or bottom, I disagree based on the 2 sentences I just wrote.

Yes. However, if you are 20 feet away from the computer, you aren't going to be able to see nano anyhow. Plus, if you have music video up top, I don't think you'd want to use nano up top either.

Brian, you need to reread what I said. I was referring to music video, and music video only. I don't care if you're using nano at the same time, if you physically choose to use music video on the top, there's a reason for that, and it's a need we obviously need to fill. We can make it so that nano only appears at the bottom or on the sides if mv is up top, I don't care. What I do care about is the fact that this has been a request for years, and it's reasonable.

[ranathari]

Could you guys clarify what the problem is with Nano and Music Video? As far as I can follow, you're saying that if the Music Video style notification is at the top then the Nano style notification will be obscured because it's also at the top?

I don't see how this is a problem because surely people would only be using one style at a time? What I was originally looking to do was to add a dialog box to the notification styles pane so that I could choose between having it at the top or at the bottom (or on the left or on the right) so it's not a problem of it overlapping another style by default. If people want to change it then they can and then they'd have to deal with any overlapping problems.

To my mind, it doesn't matter if a style overlaps something else because the nature of notifications is that they are temporary in nature; they appear, tell you what they need to and disappear (unless they're stickied). When they're transparent, like Music Video, (and especially when the transparency can be edited) then it's even less of a problem.

[bgannin]

Not particularly. There's absolutely no guarantee a single style will be used. Personally I've got a default display set, 1 for my bug fix notifications, another for iTunes, and whatnot. Applications are able to specify a style for themselves so it makes multiple styles a part of the featureset, not a rare case.

As to notifications overlapping, Growl 1.1 is explicitly designed to dramatically reduce this with complete positioning and overflow support, thus ignoring it is something I don't do very well

[spaceman]

Hi all, I would like to chime in as a long time growl user who is also really itching to customise the Music Video display style, and who uses multiple styles for different notifications as well.

I think that the choice of top-down is a good idea. It should be offered. Nobody is forced to use multiple styles (though many choose to). Some styles might require more work, which understandable isn't always desirable.

But the specific reason I am posting this response it to say that nano and music video are (currently) compatible in some instances. Such as my default workspace with dual displays. Other display styles (basically) follow a rule, Music Video has a different logic. It is not a lesser style, or one whose development should be diminished simply because it is 'outside the box'.

Cheers,
Martin