OK...so I MIGHT be a dumb as I look...

You actually have to USE A BITMAP!!!
(thought I was using one, but they say the eyes are the first to go...they do say that don't they, it's not something else is it??!)

Second try worked perfectly. Thanks muchly Boss!! You must be so happy and proud of helping us noobs/newbs (whichever!) rip off your work!

Thanks again for your help!!

I have been using paint.net (a freebie program to get started) and used it to save the wall jpeg as a bitmap, and the rest worked great! Mostly I have messed around with creating icons from existing images, and have now started creating images (like my avatar) and starting to think of creating in layers. So this gives me something else to "mess" with!!

I have just in the last few days started entering the forums, even though I've "hung around" WC for months. It generally seems the experienced people are helpful (maybe even a little more so after Brad's year-end article/rant!). I must say I have checked out as much of your work as I could find (all amazing, V Box in use right now!), mostly here and Deviantart, and had already noticed the help and encouragement you have offered people. It seems like whenever there is a logon posted you are there to comment! Like I said earlier, I don't expect to be able to necessarily be able to create masterpieces, but I do enjoy figuring out how things are created and work. Hopefully I'll be asking more involved questions soon!

Again, thank you for the time and help - it is greatly appreciated!

Mark

Thanks very much for the nice words Mark. That's how I started, I made a few logons and then got obsessed with figuring out how to make the "splash" logons, which also led me into having to learn how the code works in the uifile. I'm no coder, programmer, graphics person, it was just something new and fun to try for an old fart like me.

There are a lot of skinners that have created awesome logons in the past...the thing is, they moved on to creating awesome Windowblinds. Tiggz, Adni, Apocalypse and more I'm sure I'm forgetting. I just don't have the patience to learn and then spend the amazing amount of time it takes to do a WB skin, so I stick with logons and wallpapers and the occasional Rainy.

MS LADY, I doubt any of those programs will help with splash logons, but there's nothing wrong with a really good Logon Studio logon at all.

I'll be here.

Hey I.R.

The splash can be set easily left, center, and right, and top, middle, and bottom. To offset it from center, which it sounds like what you want, you need to create the splash to the left or right of center on your template. Then you need to go into the uifile and move the userpanes right or left to where you need them. The shutdown button will follow the userpanes.

A quick example, lines 517 and 518 in a default splash uifile:

element sheet=styleref(toppanelss) id=atom(toppanel) width=139rp layoutpos=left/
element sheet=styleref(toppanelss) id=atom(toppanel) width=139rp layoutpos=right/

The widths are set equal at 139. If you set the left width to say 79, and the right to 199, it will move the userpane 60 px to the left.

There is a lot of trial and error making the splash offset and then getting everything else to where you want it, but that should give you a basic idea.

You can always email me with questions or send the logon so I can help you out. That should give you a bit of an idea though.

I dont want the splash offset from center,I want it on the left side of the screen.It went left once,then as soon as the user pic shows it moves back toward center.  

That tip about the user pane worked great!I looked all over the internet and not one reference to that trick.
Am applying the next trick.    

Yay!It moved and stayed put.Now on to repositioning the lesser elements.
Can the shotdown button be placed anywhere on the splash(with the shutdown text removed?)

My biggest prob is going to be the scrollbars...I only have one account on this pc and if I create new ones,this account(with all my customisations is no longer visible,damn windows!)

Boss you have been a huge help,this first logon shall be dedicated to thee.  

The shutdown button can be moved left or right, just like the splash, and up or down a bit. It CAN be moved to the top of the splash but then it messes with the usernames and moves them WAY down and screws everything up. Not worth the hassle in my opinion to go through all that.

I only have one account also, the second and a guest account are used only for making logons so I can adjust everything for the scrollbars. I don't have a password or hint, but I added them to the second account to see the "go" and "info" buttons.

I usually start with 600x500, and the splash will show wherever you create it in relation to the center of it.

I don't think you can move the whole thing as a unit...maybe a bit but not much. It's pretty much just left, center, or right. After you've done a few of them it's easier to just create the splash offset in your template and move the userpanes where you need them.

Play around, you may show me a thing or two. Once I figure out how to do what I want to, I don't explore much further. I'm sure there's a lot of things that can be done that I don't know about. Hell, I'm no coder, I just played around a lot until I figured out what I needed.

Oh lordy,lordy...if it was all like this,I would never have started.  Skinstudio saved me from a lame beginning of replacing bitmaps in Nextstart.  Still,once the challenge was on,I'm stubborn.I knew the info had to be out there somewhere...should have known it would be right here at Wincustomize.  

I found a solution to the user accounts issue here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151
Once implemented I only had to fix a few preferences and relaunch some Stardock products.

  
Saved me a heap of trouble setting up the new admin account.