Rtmilk on Active Desktop
sanguinepenguinx says:
I don't know if anyone has tried putting Remember The Milk on their Windows Active Desktop, but I find it great to be able to access my lists without having to open a browser window. There is one caveat.
When I click on links at the top (overview, tasks, etc) the page opens in both the active desktop and a new browser window. I'd like to avoid opening the new browser window, but this requires that a new tag be put into the page source:
This might be too much to ask, as even the tiny bit of extra data on each page might have an effect on this incredibly optimized site, especially for a boutique function as this, but having this tool work completely from the desktop would be seriously amazing. Thanks again for developing such a great application!
When I click on links at the top (overview, tasks, etc) the page opens in both the active desktop and a new browser window. I'd like to avoid opening the new browser window, but this requires that a new tag be put into the page source:
This might be too much to ask, as even the tiny bit of extra data on each page might have an effect on this incredibly optimized site, especially for a boutique function as this, but having this tool work completely from the desktop would be seriously amazing. Thanks again for developing such a great application!
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
sanguinepenguinx, thanks for letting us know. We've tried to test with Active Desktop previously, but unfortunately haven't been able to load the site successfully (if you have any tips for anything special that you did to make the site load, please let us know :) There was another user having problems loading it too. We'll keep trying -- once we're able to test this, we can see if we're able to improve support for Active Desktop use.
sanguinepenguinx says:
Hey Emily, thanks for the reply. I'm currently using IE7 and haven't tested the site recently with IE6. I assume these instructions should work the same way. The way I added your site to Active Desktop was through the standard dialog box: Display Properties (Desktop Tab) - Customize Desktop (Web Tab)
There you can either add the site as a new item or have your site set as the homepage in Internet Explorer (I've done the latter), but either works. In order to log into the site on the desktop, you must log in using a standard IE browser window. I have IE set to remember my password for convenience, but the site should stay logged in as long as the login session doesn't expire.
One problem I ran into was with the issue of no desktop icons. If you have absolutely no icons on your desktop (not even Recycle Bin) then Active Desktop won't work unless you go to the right-click menu on the desktop - Arrange Icons By and untick "Show Desktop Icons". If you choose to keep icons on the desktop, you can hold your mouse near the top of the Active Desktop item and click the top left button on the bar that shows up to have the item "Split Desktop with Icons". If you can't change these settings, make sure you haven't chosen to "Lock desktop items".
If you get this working, the issue I mentioned in my previous post was with links opening in browser windows rather than on the Active Desktop. The way to get around that from what I've read is to have links have a "TARGET='_self'" or have a "BASE TARGET=_self" tag. That should get all the links you specify to open right on the desktop.
I hope this helps!
There you can either add the site as a new item or have your site set as the homepage in Internet Explorer (I've done the latter), but either works. In order to log into the site on the desktop, you must log in using a standard IE browser window. I have IE set to remember my password for convenience, but the site should stay logged in as long as the login session doesn't expire.
One problem I ran into was with the issue of no desktop icons. If you have absolutely no icons on your desktop (not even Recycle Bin) then Active Desktop won't work unless you go to the right-click menu on the desktop - Arrange Icons By and untick "Show Desktop Icons". If you choose to keep icons on the desktop, you can hold your mouse near the top of the Active Desktop item and click the top left button on the bar that shows up to have the item "Split Desktop with Icons". If you can't change these settings, make sure you haven't chosen to "Lock desktop items".
If you get this working, the issue I mentioned in my previous post was with links opening in browser windows rather than on the Active Desktop. The way to get around that from what I've read is to have links have a "TARGET='_self'" or have a "BASE TARGET=_self" tag. That should get all the links you specify to open right on the desktop.
I hope this helps!
sanguinepenguinx says:
Actually, I just realized that there are keyboard shortcuts for each screen (Ctrl + Shift + [6-9]). This switches the screen without opening up a new window! It works perfectly!
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Ah, I was most likely trying with IE6 -- thanks for these tips! I now have it successfully setup with IE7, so we'll do some testing and take a look at those links. Glad you got it working with the keyboard shortcuts in the meantime :) If you experience any other problems with using RTM with Active Desktop, please let us know.
rush.mccue says:
Emily - thanks for remembering me. I upgraded to IE7 and it still didn't work, however I did eventually get it working. The problem was with the site's use of secure and non-secure items. I went to Internet Settings, Security, Custom Zone, scrolled down to Miscellaneous, and changed Mixed Browsing to 'Enable'.
Then all the same steps to make RTM my background appears to work. It works especially well for me because I have two monitors and it makes a perfect wallpaper for #2.
The real test, as sanguinepenguinx points out, is whether logging in after shutdown, etc will be a problem.
Then all the same steps to make RTM my background appears to work. It works especially well for me because I have two monitors and it makes a perfect wallpaper for #2.
The real test, as sanguinepenguinx points out, is whether logging in after shutdown, etc will be a problem.
rush.mccue says:
Good news - the log in this morning was flawless and I *love* having my to-do list solidly on my second monitor. Great stuff - yet another way to enjoy your excellent product.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Rush, awesome -- good to hear that it works for you!
rush.mccue says:
Emily:
RTM has been my 'desktop' for almost two weeks and I'm really digging it. There is only one little problem: for whatever reason, none of the features executed by the Drop down menu actually work. (The drop down functions well, but no changes are saved or executed.)
To make and of those changes (like moving an entry to a new tab), I've had to open a new Firefox window - which is kinda wonky.
I can't say enough good things about your product- and even more good stuff about making RTM be my desktop on my second screen.
RTM has been my 'desktop' for almost two weeks and I'm really digging it. There is only one little problem: for whatever reason, none of the features executed by the Drop down menu actually work. (The drop down functions well, but no changes are saved or executed.)
To make and of those changes (like moving an entry to a new tab), I've had to open a new Firefox window - which is kinda wonky.
I can't say enough good things about your product- and even more good stuff about making RTM be my desktop on my second screen.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Hmm, that's bizarre -- not sure why it wouldn't work in Active Desktop. Thanks for letting us know. I don't know if that's fixable, or if it's a restriction of Active Desktop, but we'll do some testing when we get the chance.