Yeah, I have SKS. That's part of a skin I'm developing.

I'm using WB7, SKS7, and running Windows 7. 

And yes, it is the remnants of a mouseover image. Though it's the default Diamond image, as I haven't replaced it yet.

I have the start menu profile pic hidden, and I've reduced the top margin for the places list text so that the text will be displayed closer to the top of the menu, rather than looking funky by being 30 or so pixels lower. The problem is that this renders all but that very bottom sliver of the top link clickable, and also hides the mouseover image.

It display the text okay... but it's not great for usability, or looks...  

I would suggest it's a problem with my "outdated" version of WB, but it should work fine on Windows 7. Not to mention, I think I had this issue before... I just can't remember how to fix it.

Here's another screenshot if it explains the issue better.

If you are adjusting the Painting Margins as you say Top Margin don't do this to try and adjust the text wither on the Left hand side or right side. Once you have your SM painting settings lined up so it looks good that is all there is to it and leave it alone.

To adjust the text only do this. On the left had side Program list and Right hand side Places list go to the text settings and adjust any of those numbers you need to so the text will line up the way you want it to. Don't forget every time you change a number to apply and save to see the changes.

The last image you are showing on the right hand side shows where the author added that to the start menu for the user pic to sit there. Hiding the user pic will show it to look like that. That part is part of the image and any adjusting won't remove it.

The Diamond WB works just fine. No need to adjust any of the Margins if using that as a template.

I think you misunderstood. I wasn't trying to align text with the top section margins. 

The problem is if you have a top section that is too narrow (too small height-wise). If this is over 35+ pixels in height, you're free to change the top margin for the text on the places list to 0 instead of the default 30.

From what I can tell, the space for the user icon seems to be hard coded. If the top section of the menu is too narrow (short), the user icon is automatically adjusted to take up space in the right side/places list. So even if the icon is hidden in the extra settings, the OS still thinks it's there, and makes any text/links that are moved upwards with the text margin on the places list become "obscured" by the icon... which isn't meant to be there.

Of course, I don't know exactly how it works... but that's my best guess. Every skin I've seen that has the user icon hidden, either the places list text still has a margin on the top, pushing it down out of the way of the reserved space for the icon, or they have large top sections on the start menu, which seems to force that pic out of the way of the places list.

As an example, I'll use your Gazebo skin (I hope you don't mind... I know some people can take offense to someone editing their work in any way, and that's not my intention...   I'm just trying to illustrate my discovery. )

Your skin, which I'm sure you're very familiar with, has the places list and programs list relatively level. They appear the same height... and they work correctly. However, the top part of the start menu is also 90 pixels high. If we change that top part so that it is no longer 90 pixels high, but instead 10 pixels... the problem returns.

On the subject of the Corporate skin screenshot... it shouldn't matter that there is a space for the user icon. That's part of the background image for the places list. The reason why it happens when hiding the icon and changing the text margin to bring the text up is because the height of the top part of that skin is only like 8 pixels high. If the top section were larger... (35+ pixels), it wouldn't be the problem. The text and mouseover image would work correctly on that skin... it would look a little odd because of that part of the background, but it would still work. 

I will say, I'm generally a perfectionist. It's the bane of my existence. I've always wanted to complete a blind, but I usually run into a speed bump and give up part way through because something doesn't work exactly as I want it to. I usually don't like programs or anything else, really, to arbitrarily dictate what I'm able to do.

That being said, I'm trying to overcome that whole personality flaw. I see a lot of skins a lot of great skinners here, and they inspire me. 

Thanks! 

Wood grain? The wood grain in the pictures is just my wallpaper.

Nope, no larger fonts. Everything is pretty default. I switched to Calibri on the skin I'm creating, but that has no bearing on other skins I switch to. If anything, Calibri is slightly smaller than the default Segoe UI MS uses.

And yes, I know how to adjust user icon location. vStyler gave me that tip a long time ago. I have the text margin for the top set so that even if the icon weren't hidden, you still wouldn't be able to see it. The left margin for it is set like -999. Even with it moved out of the way, the problem still happens.

But like I said, increasing the top section of the menu so that it is larger than 35 pixels in height solves the issue. The only downside to that, is that the start menu then appears 35 pixels below the taskbar when the taskbar is aligned to the top of the screen. I see no way around this though.

Thanks for the help, though! If you want, you can PM me your email and I'll shoot you over a blind that has the problem for me. If it doesn't happen for you, then I guess I'll have to re-open the investigation. 

The user icon isn't hard coded as you can move it anywhere you like. Edit Start Menu/ Top Part/ Move it using the text settings and direction you wish. 

My Gazebo top is 90px. That's because of my design and distance from the bottom of the top to the program and places list. Look at my Aglitter and you will see the top is only 38 px. Saying that is really depends on how you cut it and that's the bottom line. One thing to note is the All Program part has to be 30px in height. 

Don't give up someone will help here. After you have made 20 of them you can do it in your sleep. lol. Not really but putting them together becomes much easier.

Maybe my Aglitter would be a better template for you or some other one.

No there isn't any invisible space Kevin. Must be something else.

Without see the Wb I'm not at the guessing point. 

cropping the top part of the start menu image to be 10px, and then set the height to 10px in SKS and apply

Can't help to think you are going the wrong direction. Here is another example Lightstar has a WB called Pink Champagne. The top part for this one is only 23px. You don't adjust your margins based on the size of the parts. However maybe you have this correct maybe not, don't know

 For each part "top" Left side. etc. For each part you have to go into Extra Settings and put the size of the part in the Width of part and height of part. After that just line up your margins so it all looks good. Margins ahve nothing to do as far as using any part number.

Maybe Lightstar will see this and have better input for you.

Keven I would like to help but you are on another page from what needs to be done. Moving the text margin has nothing to do with changing margins for each part of the SM. It could be you need a different size for your MO image I don't know. 

Above you said you changed the size of a top part to 10px. You can't just change each image size. It has to be made as a whole image, full SM. Than laid out for slicing and cut. Now all images can be put into SKS and adjusted with the painting margins. But you first must put in each image size in the extra settings for each image, Top, programs, etc.

Let me say this a different way. Startmenus are made to specific sizes on how you want it to look. You can't just use my Gezebo as a temolete unless you make it your style for that size SM. That is why you see many different size SM. As I mentioned above you must make it as a whole complete graphic. When you have it looking the way you want you can lay it out with the slice tool in PS. Now you can cut it and install it in SKS. now you make adjustments with margins. Not text margins. Text margins are done last to put the text in the position you want from the top. I have no idea if you are using PS but you need some program that will slice up the SM for you. Trying to make separate parts and placing them in SKS just plain won't work. 

What? No. The overall look of the Start Menu has nothing to do with the problem I'm explaining.

The Start Menu is a puzzle. The top menu must be the same width as both your left and right panels, of course (though the image can be adjusted in SKS, accordingly, the images should still be the correct size). You can absolutely piece together a start menu. This isn't my first blind... I had two others that were in the gallery (though I deleted those the other day), as well as over a dozen skins that had completed start menus that I never released because I didn't like how the skin ultimately turned out. I've never created a whole start menu and had a program slice it for me. It always worked fine. This problem has nothing to do with building the actual start menu itself. It's with the alignment of the places list text.

Also, the height of the top section of the start menu has no bearing on any other part of the start menu. You can change it from 10 pixels to 300 pixels if you want to... you don't have to remake the entire start menu from scratch to change that... it serves no purpose doing it that way. All you need to do is make sure the height in SKS is the same as the actual height of the image that you want to use.

For that image of LightStar's skin, all I changed was the text margin for the places list. I changed it from 17 to 0. I didn't edit any images, or the margins for any images. I ONLY edited the text margin.

Check it out for yourself. Go open SKS, open the Pink Champagne skin, and change the top text margin for the places list text to 0 instead of 17 and you should see exactly what I'm talking about.

I'd say the post is veering off-topic. I was never talking about how an image might look bad if you compress its size using SKS.

I've been talking about the effect the top image has on the places list text. From what I can tell (using Windows 7, at least, I have no idea about Vista or 8, as I'm not currently running them), if there isn't at least 35 pixels of space between the top most part of the "Top Part" of the Start Menu and the places list text... then your mouseover won't work correctly/will appear as it does in my screenshots.

The only way it would seem to fix this is to either have a "top part" that is larger than 35 pixels high, or a top margin for the places list text that is larger than 30 pixels. Though you can mix and match (you could have a 15px top part and a 15 pixel places list text margin, if you wanted). Either way, from what I've seen... there needs to be a distance of at least 30-35 pixels between the top of the "top part" and the text entries of the places list.

I can only confirm this by looking at the available skins in the WindowBlinds gallery. Every one of them meets the criteria I've detailed above... and unless you change them so that they don't, they don't have the broken places list link as seen in my screenshots.

EDIT: I'm including another image that will hopefully illustrate what I'm talking about exactly. 

The first image shows a top part of the start menu (the grey part) at 10 pixels in height. With a top margin for the places list text at 0. This aligns the text properly with the top of the start menu, however, produces a broken mouseover area and image. Only that red part of the mouseover image that you can see is actually clickable.

The second image shows a 10px top part, but also a 30px top margin on the places list text. This fixes the broken link to my home folder, but also pushes the text down 30 pixels and breaks alignment.

The third image shows a top part that is 40px in height, which allows for a places list text margin of 0. This creates a working places link button, as well as has the places link aligned correctly, though a 40px top part image may be undesirable. Especially when your top part is SUPPOSED to be 10px, like mine. To make this work, I basically have a top image with an extra 30px of empty, transparent space above the actual 10px top part which is at the bottom of the image.

I hope this explains the issue more clearly.

I figured as much after discovering my "workarounds". I've just been doing a terrible job at explaining the situation, apparently. There are a lot of things you just have to deal with when it comes to skinning Windows, I guess. I'm using the method I showed in that last panel up there... my top part image has an extra 30px of empty space on the top part of it, which allows me to have properly aligned text, but also positions the whole menu 30px below the taskbar when the taskbar is aligned at the top of the screen (which is how I prefer). This is undesirable... but not as undesirable as having my places list appear out of alignment, or worse, being completely broken.

I will upgrade to WB8 when I get some extra cash. I think I can upgrade to it for $7 or something. I'll be in the same position I was when I upgraded to WB7/SKS7 originally and was running Vista though. lol

For now though... I've found a mostly acceptable workaround for my issue. So... thanks for the help, everyone!

Oh, and by the way... I still couldn't find a way to change the search results background color for the start menu. Maybe that's a SKS8/Windows 8 only thing?

Okay, I get it, now I wonder why we didn't get a wb owners manual, lol.

I was wondering if you could accomplish you goal, not sure if that is the point here though, is it, by leaving the user pic, but making the image blend with the places list so as to appear invisible, then align things. I did it with mt new skin and it is a wood texture, blends real nice, maybe an option.

If not okay, just a thought.

Basically, we all need to accept we all skin different, we all are just trying to figure it out, some stuff just don't work because of the program.

If I wrote the program(wb), nothing would work, so I still love sks and wb.

Happy skinning all, and on a good note, seems we had a good discussion on skinning here, and we all love that, great reading for all, thanks to the op for the entertainment and short term community project,lol.

I'm glad that Lightstar and Doortech1 came in here. I'm sure I must have been missing something and meant no harm with anything I said. Guess I learned how to make SKS work for me and others have made it work for them.

Like Lightstar said. Could be redone better, but it is what it is and one learns how to work around things. Sure is better than having nothing and thankful to have SKS and other StarDock products.