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Subject: RE: Umm, Documentation???
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Benny_AUser is Offline

Posts:5


10/09/2008 7:03 AM  

Writing this as my own response to the previous question I posted HERE. I figured I should elaborate on exactly what I'm looking for; as the module does not offer anything in the Module Help, nor is there any sort of documentation available from Snowcovered or on this website.

Basically, these are the things I am trying to do. The page I am trying to do this on is located here: http://page1.ideas-now.com. Note that this is a work in progress site. Anyways, here's my questions/thoughts on the module.

  • There is no way to specify the amount of Magnification of the Icons.
    I can control how large they get, simply by using smaller/larger images; however, the smaller the icon dimensions, the smaller the "shrunk down" size is, vise versa for going larger. I've found a good icon size to work with is a height dimension of 160px. This gives me the "starting size" I desire, however when the Icons get magnified, the effect is a bit gaudy.
  • Positioning the Dock Menu is difficult, if not utterly impossible.
    Seems to me that the Dock Menu was originally built to be "docked" to the window (top, right, bottom, left), and the "Dock Module to the Container" feature was thrown in as an afterthought. The dock styles are all inline, because the scripting needs to modify these values when there are mouse overs, so overriding the positioning via external CSS is not very effective. The dock also uses Absolute Positioning, which we all know does not play well across browsers. Having a big amount of trouble getting consistent positioning across browsers (Safari-Mac, FireFox, IE).
  • There are NO skinning options for the dock(?!)
    I mean, come on...almost every module these days lets you do this one way or another. I achieved the effect I have on the Page1 site by modifying the images in the DesktopModules directory, but that means that any portal I deploy this module on has to use the same Dock Tray images. I think I could hack through this by installing multiple instances of the module, each with a different set of Dock Tray images, but that may or may not work; besides, I don't like having to do that--YUCK.
  • Using Icon Labels is a disaster.
    The labels are in spans, each with a unique ID. Which makes styling them difficult and cumbersome (why can't we specify a class for these?). While it IS possible to pretty these up, positioning of these is also shaky ground as it uses the same inline-styled absolute positioning method the rest of the dock uses (mentioned above).

While I am by no means asking for a refund, I do see this module as really lacking. I purchased it for one client, they like it, end of story. I'm quite disappointed though, as I had hopes on using this module with a few other portals of clients who had requested something similar. That will not be happening, at least not with the IIT folks.

Final observation: This looks suspiciously like the euDock by Pier Eugenio (read: it's actually a module using his exact code to the 'T'). I've played with this one and unfortunately Pier had more features in his script 2 years ago than IIT is able to bring us present-day. Effects like ghost-fading, text/label effects, separate effects on an icon-per-icon basis, and *gasp* DOCUMENTATION.

So, here's my pitch. I LOVE the euDock that Pier made, but it is not deployable on a DNN site, at least with my configuration settings. So, if anyone wants to step up to the plate and whip out a Bigger, Better module that allows the full scope of features Pier implemented in his script, please contact me so we can work out an arrangement. IIT, if you think you're up for the challenge, I'd definitely consider you guys as well.

That's all for now =)



Ben Ahlquist

IDEaS Computers

http://www.ideascomputers.com

----------------------

Quality Forum Posts & Replies since 1996.

Benny_AUser is Offline

Posts:5


10/09/2008 7:06 AM  
By the way...I have not written my review of this module on Snowcovered yet. This is not meant to be a threat. But I do feel that potential buyers should be aware of the limitations they will face if they purchase this module. So, I'd hope for some response from IIT and possibly (?) an upgrade in the near future. Else, I have to be perfectly honest in my review of the product.


Ben Ahlquist

IDEaS Computers

http://www.ideascomputers.com

----------------------

Quality Forum Posts & Replies since 1996.

hostUser is Offline

Posts:9919


10/09/2008 7:22 AM  
Ben,

First and foremost, let me say that we are sorry that the module does not fullfil your EVERY need.

On the other hand we do need to note, that the module WORKS AS ADVERTISED , period.
If you feel that this statement is untrue, please provide the location where this discrepancy is found, and not only will we give you a FULL refund, but we will issue you a formal apology.

Additionally, you are correct, the module DOES in fact use Pier's euDock script library in the background, and as you can see for yourself, we have not made any attempts to hide that fact (although you infer that mentioning the word "suspiciously" - which is very misleading and frankly very derogatory as far as we are concerned).
Please do us a favor and navigate to the scripts folder of the module, and you will notice that euDock's copyright notice is untouched, and packaged with the module, therefore in full compliance with its licensing model.

I hope that we can all play fair, and I trust that after evaluating the facts that I have outlined above, you will do the right thing and amend your post to be objective, and criticize only on the issue that are in fact VALID .

Thank you.

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Forums > DotNetNuke Modules > DNN Dock Menu > RE: Umm, Documentation???

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