Wallflower

Simplicity is bliss

Wallflower User Manual

Version 1.6


Copyright (c) 2009,2010 Dan O'Brien

1. Introduction


Wallflower is a program that will automatically change your wallpaper at a given interval. It can run silently from the tray with no user interaction. The program uses a SQLite database to manage the wallpaper locations. SQLite requires no additional plugins to run.

2 Installation


Precompiled:
The beauty of Wallflower is its simplicity. There is no installation candidate. Simply download and unzip to a directory (Perhaps My Documents?). Then, create a Desktop shortcut to the executable for easy access. That's it, you're done!

From Source:
To compile from source you need a working install of Microsoft's Visual C#. Unzip the files and click the .sln to open the project. Then compile as normal.

3 Using Wallflower


3.1 Main Window


Figure 1.1 The main window.

This is the main window for Wallflower. The listbox on the right will show all of your wallpapers that you have added to the database. Single clicking on one will allow you to preview it. Double clicking it will set it as your current wallpaper. This can also be achieved using 'Set' button.

Timer
Use the slider to set how often you would like your wallpaper to change. Then click the check box to start the timer.

Quitting the program
Clicking the 'X' in the upper right and corner will NOT exit the program. It will minimize it to the tray. To restore the program, double click on the tray icon or right click it and select 'Show.' If you want to quiet the program, select 'Quit' from the File Menu or right click on the tray icon and hit Exit.'


Figure 1.2 Wallflower running from the tray.

3.2 Menu Bar

File has two options, 'Close' and 'Quit.' Close will minimize Wallflower to the taskbar while Quit will exit the program.


Figure 1.3 The menu bar.

3.3 Preferences


Figure 1.4 The preferences window.

Clicking Preferences->Options will bring up a window like the one you see above. The top list box will show all the image files you have added to the database, just like in the main window. The bottom list box shows all of the directories you have added using the 'Add Directory' button. If you added an individual file, its directory will not be shown here. Additionall, you can set the timer from this window too.

Adding files
The buttons on this window are self explanatory. Click 'Add Directory' to add all image files from a directory (*.bmp,*.jpg,*.png). You will be prompted to navigate to the directory you wish to add. Please note, if you have a lot of wallpapers (I know I do!) the program may appear to freeze while they are being added. DO NOT PANIC! Give it a moment and everything should return to normal in a few seconds.

Use 'Add File' if you just want to add a single file rather than a whole directory. It will be added to the database. The path to the directory will NOT be shown in the listbox.

Removing files
To remove a wallpaper from the database, select it and click 'Remove File.' This will only remove the entry from the database. The file will remain on your hard drive. In case you accidentally add your 'privte photos' folder, you can easily remove all pictures from that directory. Highlight the directory and hit 'Remove Directory.' The files will remain on your hard drive for your viewing pleasure but will be removed from Wallflowers database.

Updating the Database
In the event that you add or remove files from your directory, you can easily update the database by clicking the 'Rescan Directories' button. This will clear out any instances of files that have been deleted as well as add any new additions.

Add to Startup
If you want Wallflower to run at start up, simply click the 'Run when Windows starts' button. This will create a link in your Startup folder. Your timer settings will be saved.

3.4 About


Figure 1.5 The about window.

The 'About' button on the menu bar brings up a window like the one you see above. It contains a blurb about copyright and licensing. For more information, please read 'COPYING.txt' and 'README.txt' which are included with this program.
Design by Svetaini krimas