Lightquick Steampunk Widgets - Elements of the past and the future combining to make something not quite as good as either

This is the instructions for the Steampunk Orrery Timekeeper Widget MkII for the Yahoo/Konfabulator widget engine - If you find your widget does not have the functionality listed below simply upgrade to the new version here . What does the widget do? - it provides an orrery function via a truly steampunk interface. Select a date via the calendar ring and rotate to the date shown and it will allow you to view the planetary movements of the moon and the earth. You can use the ring to select the future or past and whilst you are doing so the orrery will allow you to reflect on the passage of time and the true nature of this force that controls our lives. Well, it might...

The calendar ring rotates by mouse control, the date displays according to ring position. The inner earth and moon rotate, the moon around the earth. The earth rotates around the central glow, roughly following the track of the window circular frame.

The program is written in javascript and HTML and uses no system specific functionality. This widget works with Windows XP SP3, it has been tested on Vista, Windows 7 /8 and Mac OS/X so it should work on any system with these o/s with no problems. Sometimes software that is multi-platform may act differently on different systems but so far it seems to be the same on all the above. Do feel free to report any bugs you find.

Note: The functionality you see pictured here is only available on the MkII version of the widget. The older widget is a lovely piece of eye-candy but only the newer version has all the bells and whistles. Download the newer version by clicking on the image on the left.

The Steampunk orrery widget requires the Yahoo widget engine to function. Get Yahoo widgets here.    and the Mac version here: http://desktopwidgets.zenfs.com/4.5.2x10a50/yahoo_widgets_4.5.2.dmg

Installation:

If you are an experienced Windows user then installation is easy as pie.

1. Install the Yahoo widget runtime engine first .

2. Download the widget from here: Steampunk orrery widget

3. When downloaded it should prompt you to ask what you should do with this widget. Tell it to open with Yahoo widgets.

The widget is similar to the other orrery widgets ( Xwidget and Rainmeter and KDE plasmoid versions) but this widget has extra functionality, namely the ability to call a function to show the phases of the moon. The image here shows the functionality of the widget in more detail.

The widget looks its best when associated with a good steampunk wallpaper. There are plenty of steampunk wallpapers for Windows - take your pick. In particular there is a very nice wallpaper that we have provided. I will post the link here.

Note: If you have previously used the Linux KDE Plasmoid version of this widget you will notice some differences in the functionality regarding the controls. Expect some changes as the technology the two widget types are using is very different..

When you click on the calendar slider ring and drag the mouse around, the calendar ring rotates according to the mouse position. The date will change as the slider ring rotates.

Clicking and holding on the clock reflection at any time will bring up the following in-line help information.

Clicking on the moon or earth images will cause either the enlarged moon or earth to pop up. Each is animated and can be resized independently whilst sitting on top of the orrery widget. 

Shows the widget displaying the enlarged earth.
Dragging the earth East or West will rotate the
globe accordingly.

Shows the widget displaying the enlarged moon.
Clicking on and dragging the orrery calendar date
slider will rotate the show the phases of the moon. 

To obtain the moon phase functionality you will need to install the steampunk moon phase widget. The two widgets pass information to each other and the result is an animated moon. If you click on the moon here you will be taken to the moon phase widget download page.

There are seven buttons marked 1 - 7
that control the size of the moon.
The two buttons at the base cause
pop-ups to appear. Clicking anywhere
on the surrounding 24hr ring will cause
the moon to disappear.
Clicking on the bar that supports the resizing
toggles will make the toggles and bar disappear. 

When the Moon widget is installed go into the prefs for the moon widget and set the window level to 'normal'. To ensure the two widgets operate properly go into the prefs for the orrery widget and set the window level to 'normal'.This ensures that the moon widget always appears on top of the orrery widget.

 

Change the date ring by clicking on the
ring and dragging it. The moon and earth will rotate accordingly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double-clicking on the enlarged moon will cause
an information box to pop-up that displays
more detailed information on the moon phase
that is currently being displayed. 
As you drag the orrery date ring the
moon phase information displayed will
update automatically.

 

 

The Memo Taker

The instructions are incomplete from this point, newer functionality regarding the memo taker is yet to be completed. The information below is the proposed functionality.

Method of operation - The Orrery date ring is turned to the date you require and when you click on the timekeeper transparent window the memo pad will pop up for that selected date. The memo taker window has been 'steampunked' to match the look and feel of the rest of the widget.

The memo taker will allow you to take and display dated text memorandum. The displayed functionality will be available in the next version.

As the functionality is completed more instructions for the memo pad will follow. 

Clicking on the memo area allows you to start typing any text you wish to save as a memo for the selected date.

The M key mutes the typewrite sounds

Alt+ M speaks the memo using the computer's default voice.

The D key deletes the current memo

The B key means "go Back one memo"

The N key means "go to Next memo"

The X key exits and closes the Memo Taker

The S key saves any changes you have made

The image below shows the steampunk widget in such a setting, using one of my backdrop wallpapers.

  The image above shows the orrery in the centre of my desktop surrounded by the other widgets.

The original widget was designed and created by myself and mostly coded by Harry whitfield. Subsequent coding changes performed by me. The above video is the early version, the MkI Timekeeper Orrery. The MkIIwill have all the enhanced functionality and a new video will be posted soon.

Below we see the preference screens that are accessible by right clicking and selecting preferences.

You can right click on the widget at any time to show the preferences that control the operation of the widget. It will show a pop up menu that allows access to some extra functions. For example, you can access online help from this link as well.

The Widget Preferences link shows the preferences screen allowing you to select show more configuration options. Some of the configuration changes that can be made are shown below in the screenshots.

The other links are generally self-explanatory, they will open pages on my website where you can obtain new versions of the widget, obtain assistance or help from the developer &c.

You can vote for the widget on rocketdock, donate to keep development or simply send us a beer! Satisfied users kindly donate.

Reloading the widget in case it gets its knickers in a twist is easy enough to understand.

If the optional underwidget or the essential moon widget are not installed then two menu options will appear providing links to download and install these extra widgets. 

A link to the optional leather background is provided so you can pretty your whole desktop.

Note: The memo options currently do not work.

The widget size and glass opacity can also be changed from the widget itself, they are also in the preferences for completeness sake.
The checking and folder location for the under widget are options, you should not use the latter as it is for development purposes only.

  The start date can be amended by entering your own date, the other options affect the calendar.

  This pref. screen allows you to modify animation and functionality of the rotating earth.

  The animation tab controls some of the animation elements that you might want to enable/disable.

This tab should ONLY be used during development or if you simply don't want to run the moon widget. The location field is only required when you have a development version of the moon widget in another folder away form the standard widget location.

  Sound and speech can be controlled here if you simply want a quiet widget then disable sound altogether.

  These options are used to correctlylocate your position on the earth that determines the earth/moon shadow calculations.

Ensure the orrery widget is set to be "keep below all other widgets". This is essential for the moon widget to operate correctly.

Leave the "ignore mouse"  check button well alone.

The "prevent dragging" option is already implemented from the widget front end. Simply click on the wooden ring and a locking pin will appear. Use this instead of the "prevent dragging" option above.

CREDITS:

This widget is a collaboration between myself and Harry Whitfield (Merlin the Widget Wizard). Harry coded the earth/moon rotation and the inital widget set up, he did all the difficult maths bits (planetary roatations) comprising 50% of the entire coding, I did all the animations and the additional code to provide sounds and to enhance the interface. It could not have been done without Harry's core functionality. I created the graphic design for the orrery, the rotating earth and the moon widget.

This timekeeper was inspired by a superb blog navigation device on Ian Tregillis' site (created by Richard Mueller of 3232 design). His superb bit of Adobe Flash was the germ of the idea that made me want to complete my own version (the original Adobe Flash version only shows 50% of the device and was limited to running only on web-pages within browsers that allow Flash to run. My version added lots of enhanced functionality and freed it from only running within a limited number of browsers, this version will be able to run on your Mac, Windows or Linux desktop as long as you have the appropriate widget runtime engine installed.

If you liked this, please consider buying me a beer., any contribution is appreciatedmfBeer Joomla! Plugin

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