Always on top option

POP Peeper: Tech support, suggestions, discussion, etc.
Post Reply
w64bit
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:56 am

Always on top option

Post by w64bit »

I tried to find the "always on top option" and it seems that is no one.
Is there any equivalent settings in v5?
Thank you.
User avatar
Jeff
Admin / Developer
Posts: 9225
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:46 pm

Re: Always on top option

Post by Jeff »

There is no option, nor is one planned to be added.

That being said, some 5+ years ago, I needed that capability for a 3rd party app I was using (I don't even remember what it was now). Being a developer, I figured it was just as easy to write it myself than go to the painstaking effort of looking for one. I will share that utility with you if you'd like to use it.

There's just a couple things you need to know to use it:
1) When it's running, press Ctrl+Alt+Space to toggle the currently active window's always on top attribute. I can't promise that it will work for all windows, but it will probably work for most non-UWP windows (I haven't even tried on a UWP). You will hear a couple blips letting you know that the attribute was added/removed (different sequence of beeps).

2) It's intended to run in the background and there are no windows/settings for it. If you really want to stop the program, you'll have to kill it via Task Manager.

3) If you want to run it automatically at Windows startup, you'll have to manually add it. Here's an external guide:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/make-pro ... up-windows


Otherwise, let me know if you find it useful. I really don't have plans to enhance this anymore than the 5 minutes I just took to clean it up like adding the esumsoft logo as the icon, but I'd still be happy if you found it useful.


Download:
https://data.esumsoft.com/download/Alwa ... p_v090.zip
w64bit
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:56 am

Re: Always on top option

Post by w64bit »

It's working very good.
Thank you very, very much.
User avatar
Jeff
Admin / Developer
Posts: 9225
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:46 pm

Re: Always on top option

Post by Jeff »

Glad that worked for you :) Someday, maybe I'll make a dedicated page on the website to host these kinds of utilities I've developed...


Also, I forgot to include this yesterday in my reply. But, sometimes, people request something that I don't realize the usefulness of (as in this case) and it's possible that something already exists or that it's more useful than I realize.

In this case, it's possible that something similar already exists depending on what you wanted this feature for (though, this may be a stretch). Several people have requested that the main PP window still appear when you close a view-message window (like it did in v4; which was simply a side-effect of the view-message window being modal in v4, and now modeless in v5). I think it's just a transitional thing that people would get used to (the modeless window has many advantages over modal), but anyway, there's an option that will bring the main PP window back into the foreground when the last view-message window is closed:
main menu: Tools / PPtweaker / Misc: "Focus next POP Peeper window when I close view-message (experimental)"

Anyway, that may not be the reason you wanted to use it, so I'd be interested to know if that option fits your needs or if you have some other reason for the always on top option.
w64bit
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:56 am

Re: Always on top option

Post by w64bit »

I have the setting Option > Notification > When I receive new email = Open POP Peeper.
But if you click an opened program window, the POP Peeper window will go under it.
If POP Peeper had the option similar with the one in Task Manager > Option > Always on top, it would be easier to work with.
killme
Posts: 192
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 7:49 am

Re: Always on top option

Post by killme »

Jeff wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 5:50 pm Glad that worked for you :) Someday, maybe I'll make a dedicated page on the website to host these kinds of utilities I've developed...
I suggest a sticky thread here in the forum. It might encourage people to share how they use the utilities.
w64bit
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:56 am

Re: Always on top option

Post by w64bit »

Maybe another option can be added to bring to front Pop Peeper window instead of Always on top:

Notification -> Visual
If there are messages in Inbox:
Open/Bring to front Pop Peeper (after each mail check)
User avatar
Jeff
Admin / Developer
Posts: 9225
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:46 pm

Re: Always on top option

Post by Jeff »

I've been trying to put myself in your shoes, trying to figure out why anyone would even use the "open POP Peeper" option. The only scenario where I can see it being useful is if you have a 2nd monitor that isn't used much and you can have PP open on that monitor (or you're away from your computer and want to see PP front and center if you have email when you return). Personally, the scenario that you're having issues with (clicking on another window and PP is no longer visible) would be secondary to the frustration that a random window opening over my active windows would cause. That may be subjective, but it sounds like the behavior you have is not an uncommon thing and so that's what I imagine the scenario to be.

Allow me to suggest a complete alternative. Instead of opening PP's main window, why not use either the desktop notification or the skin notifier? The skin notifier provides more options (ie. displaying sender/subject and being able to open/delete the message directly), but both have the always-on-top setting. They also both have a feature which your last request reminded (pun) me of -- a reminder feature. You can dismiss the alert and it will re-appear at a pre-defined time later (I think the default is 5 minutes, but it's the "popup reminder" setting under Options / Notification).

Skin notifier download:
https://www.esumsoft.com/pop-peeper/plu ... inNotifier


btw, while playing around with ideas, I did notice that if you have "open PP" AND you're using the skin notifier, the skin notifier won't display when PP has to be opened (although it would if PP is in the background and is simply brought to the foreground because another new email was received). Since the skin notifier would be dismissed when PP is opened under normal circumstances, I have decided yet if this should be addressed, but I have added it to my notes. Just thought I'd mention this in case you look into using the skin notifier.
User avatar
Jeff
Admin / Developer
Posts: 9225
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:46 pm

Re: Always on top option

Post by Jeff »

It looks like MS has gone and crushed the little guy once again :lol:

The latest version of PowerToys has an always-on-top toggle (Win+Ctrl+T):
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/ ... ag/v0.53.1
Post Reply