Wallpaper Master contains a huge variety of features, here are just a few:
-Ability to rate wallpaper, so better ones are chosen more often.
-Store multiple wallpaper lists.
-Scan whole directories or drives for wallpaper files.
-Drag drop files or directories to easily add them.
-Change wallpaper when windows starts, or every x minutes, or use ratings to choose an interval.
-Change wallpaper in order, in shuffle mode, or randomly according to rating.
-Ability to fit the image to the screen while keeping the aspect ratio.
-Monitor a directory for any changes and update the wallpaper list.
-Automatically analyses the current wallpaper and chooses a good corresponding desktop background colour.
-Support for JPEGs.
-Customizable Global Hotkeys.
-Easy to use but powerful interface.
-Uses little resources.
-Wallpaper Master is a free download!
This program has only been tested on Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP. It may or may not work on other Windows versions.
A useful way of using this wallpaper changer is to set 'Auto close after 30 seconds', 'Change on startup' and 'Start on windows startup'.
Then whenever the computer starts, the wallpaper will change, and then 30 seconds later the program will shutdown and will no longer use any resources.
If your wallpaper does not change properly, then disable Active Desktop (disable "Show desktop as Web content" or right click desktop/properties/desktop/customize desktop/web/ and deselect everything.) .
Check the help option in the application for any further help.
I hope you enjoy my simple to use but powerful wallpaper changer!
Change Log:
Version 2.14 - (08/12/2004)
-Added an option in "monitor directory" to clear the list when the program exits which makes it faster when scanning on next startup.
-Clearing or removing a category now properly deletes the corresponding list file.
-Fixed a bug in auto-stretch. If the width or height of image is the same as the resolution, it wouldn't stretch.
-Fixed various small display problems.
Thanks to Vathan and Sam Stoat.
Version 2.13 - (04/12/2004)
-Fixed various problems with "Choose from multiple categories".
-Fixed a problem with "Previous wallpaper" - It now recalls last category used.
-Fixed icon not showing in Alt-Tab window.
-Fixed a small memory leak when using bmp images.
Version 2.12 - (15/11/2004)
-Fixed a problem where timer would show wrong amount.
-Fixed error message problem with global hotkeys.
-Fixed a problem with "Choose from multiple categories". (Thanks Vathan)
-Updated help file.
Version 2.11 - (10/11/2004)
-Fixed a problem with "Mirror". (Thanks to Grape Crusher).
-Improved performance of startup and opening main window when using large numbers of wallpapers.
-Removed donation buttons - new shareware "Pro" version comming soon!.
Version 2.10d - (07/11/2004)
-Fixed duplication problem after sorting.
-Enabled the "Add Files" in right click menu of main screen.
Version 2.10a - (06/11/2004)
-Fixed a problem with auto-positioning when "resize minus taskbar" is enabled.
Version 2.10 - (05/11/2004)
-Added Auto-Sizing!
-Optimised the speed of adding large numbers of files. Scan and monitor directory are now quite a bit faster.
-Cut file download size by 1/2! And improved memory usage.
-Removed all file types except JPG and BMP.
-It now properly resets the timer when changing the wallpaper via the tray icon.
-The background colour now properly sets to your preference when WPM starts.
-Fixed problem with pause being reset when wallpaper changed manualy.
Version 2.02 - (24/10/2004)
-Added JPEG-2000 support (.JP2) and removed TIFF support (to keep file size down - go complain in the forums if you want it back).
-Added a pause button.
-Changed the task priority options. It now has Normal, Below Normal, and Idle.
-Always refreshes desktop now, but added an option to not refresh. (When the desktop refreshes, Windows will redraw all open windows automatically - which leads to some problems... and unfortunately theres nothing I can do to stop it - it's needed for changing the wallpaper on some systems.)
-Changed a few default settings.
-Uninstaller no longer misses out some files.
Thanks to: tedman and debh.
Version 2.01 - (13/10/2004)
-Added ability to sort by ratings.
-Increased max categories to 100.
-Added some stuff to the global hotkeys.
-Fixed multiselection problems if using Ctrl + Click.
-Hugely sped up move/copy-to-category when moving multiple wallpapers.
-Fixed problems when deleting multiple wallpapers in one go.
-It now saves whether the icons have been hidden.
-Clicking "Done" now properly presses "Apply" automatically before closing the window.
-Sorting now properly rearranges the separate saved positions (resize,center, etc) for each wallpaper.
-"Resize minus taskbar" now works properly for landscape images.
-Fixed a problem with numpad keys in global hotkeys.
-Finally(!) got tooltips working properly - lots more help available now.
-Desktop is now refreshed on all NT systems other than XP when wallpaper changes.
-Added an option to always force a desktop refresh, as wallpaper changes don't seem to work on a few systems (might not be needed now).
-Fixed a problem when removing files in a full list, and it not adding more to fill it up when rescanning.
-Added an hourglass cursor when it does something that takes a long time.
-"Previous wallpaper" now works properly (updates internal pointers, rather than just changing to prev).
-Increased allowable size of tray tooltip.
-Other small fixes.
Thanks to: Robert Haggerty, Sam Stoat, Daxit and anyone else I've forgotten ;)
Version 2.0 - (23/09/04)
-Added support for: PNG, GIF, TIF, TGA, WMF and PCX images.
-Added customizable Global Hotkeys (Change/Clear/Remove wallpaper...)
-Added ability to change the colour of the desktop background.
-Added a feature that automatically analyses the current image and determines the best background colour for it.
-Added ability to change the task priority of the app. (Default is now low priority).
-Added ability to make the desktop icons hidden.
-Added the ability to select the categories the random/in order functions should choose a wallpaper from, rather than just from all categories/or one.
-Added an option in right click menu to quickly clear the wallpaper.
-The last wallpaper is now saved between sessions, so "Previous wallpaper" can load it again.
-Added an option to include the full wallpaper path in tooltip.
-When using monitor directory it now updates the wallpaper every 6 hours (and on startup) automatically.
-Changed the way the wallpaper is changed in winXP. This fixes a few problems some people are having when the wallpaper changes. (i.e losing custom mouse settings, virtual scrolling and some problems with a few other apps).
-Fixed very slow scanning speed.
-Fixed a problem where the wallpapers position wasnt automatically updated when it was changed.
-Fixed a bug that was allowing the same images to appear multiple times after using "sort".
-Fixed a problem when using drag-drop on a directory and a file in the directory had extentions in upper case.
-Fixed a bug with the multi-users feature.
-Fixed a bug where if you add a category, deleted it and tried adding it again, you can't.
-Fixed a bug when using delete in the tray menu which wouldn't always remove it from the internal list .
-Fixed a bug in "Random, no repeats" when "Multiple categories" is used.
-Various other changes and problems fixed.
Thanks to: Anarchy_Creator, Deb, Dave, Sam Stoat, Binary, Daniel, Fritz, Ivan Wheelwright and Robert Haggerty for their bug reports, suggestions and help.
Version 1.70 - (29/08/04)
-Hugely increased performance and speed of program when using large numbers of wallpaper.
-Hugely increased performance of 'Remove missing files' and 'Monitor Directory'.
-'Monitor Directory' no longer removes everything associated with the wallpapers. 'No Repeats' now works correctly when using this feature.
-Increased maximum wallpaper from 2000 to 5000 per list.
-Added ability to change position/layout of wallpaper in rightclick menu of tray icon. (Suggested by Anarchy_Creator)
-Added ability to change the current selected wallpapers position, rather than just the current one on the desktop.
-Added the option to rename a wallpaper file.
-Added an option to open the selected wallpapers path in an explorer window.
-Increased scanning speed.
-Fixed a crash bug when a directory path contains an 'unknown' character when scanning.
-Fixed a bug where pressing delete key on the change every x minutes box incorrectly removed a wallpaper.
-Fixed a rename category bug. (Thanks again Will).
-It now disallows you to have 'Choose from all categories' and 'Monitor Directory' selected at the same time. (Until I have added the ability to attach directories to different lists).
-Fixed a problem where sometimes the last wallpaper in the list will lose its rating and position setting.
-Removing/deleting a wallpaper no longer resets the No Repeats function (no longer incorrectly removes which wallpaper have so far been seen).
-Fixed a crash problem when using the multiple users option.
-Added an option to go back to previous wallpaper.
Version 1.61a - (13/08/04)
-Fixed a tab sizing problem that occurs on some computers.
Version 1.61 - (09/08/04)
-Added an option to resize the image minus the taskbar.
-Fixed a "Scan Directories" bug. (Thanks to Esteban L≤pez for noticing it).
-Added an option to disable confirmations. e.g remove the confirm delete dialog. (Requested by Anarchy_Creator).
Version 1.60 - (25/07/04)
-Added a feature that watches a chosen directory for any changes and automatically updates the wallpaper list. (Thanks to Ivan Wheelwright for this suggestion).
-Added the option to choose the position for each wallpaper separately, rather than just an overall setting.
-Greatly improved layout by adding a Tab control .
-Added tooltips.
-Fixed disappearing tray icon.
-Some other small fixes.
Version 1.53 - (05/07/04)
-Added an option for separate settings for multiple users.
-Slightly increased performance of finding next random wallpaper using ratings. (Thanks to Wim de Lange for suggesting binary search).
-Saves last used directory.
-It now properly resets the timer when you change a wallpaper before the timer activates.
-Fixed tray icon tooltip display problem on startup.
-Increased allowable char length in category list.
-Fixed it saying 'change in 0 mins' when comming out of idle.
(Thanks again to Will Buchanan for noticing the bugs).
Version 1.52 - (29/06/04)
-Added a 'Resize & Tile' option, to fill in empty gaps in a resized wallpaper. (Thanks to Tim Tan for suggestion).
-Added a display of how long until the next wallpaper change.
-Fixed bug that was reseting timer when pressing Apply or Done.
-It now remembers the last used directory in Add Directory and Add Files (only for current session). (Thanks again to Will).
Version 1.51 - (23/06/04)
-Updated help file.
-If minimised, clicking 'Wallpaper Master...' in the menu now restores the window. Also it will bring the window to the front when left clicking tray icon.
-'View in default viewer' no longer opens a dos window, and no longer stops the main window from responding until the viewer is quit.
-After it has detected you have not moved your mouse for 10mins, the timer stops and now adds on 10mins for the wasted time (If idle option is selected).
Version 1.50 - (22/06/04)
-Added a new timer feature. You can now let it use the ratings to choose a time interval between wallpaper changes. A rating of 3 uses the interval you put in, and higher or lower ratings change the time interval by a percentage.
-Added an idle detection option. If the mouse has not moved for 10 minutes then the wallpaper timer will stop until the mouse is moved again (which is detected every minute).
-It now saves how long the timer has been going when you quit (to the nearest 2 mins), and resumes it on next startup.
-Added multiselect. You can now select multiple wallpapers in the list to remove/copy/move them together in a group.
-Safer management of ini files. The program now doesn't completely crash if the ini files are not exactly what it expects - so now if they are manualy messed with there should be less problems.
-Changed the user interface to separate some of the options onto a new screen. Should look less cluttered now.
-Added a 'Left click on tray icon opens main window' (rather than changing the wallpaper) option.
-Fixed a problem with the timer not stopping.
-Fixed problems when too many long pathed files are added.
-Fixed problem when there is a comma in a filename. (Thanks to Henrik Andersen for spotting it)
-Fixed problems when no files in a category.
(Thanks to Will Buchanan for suggesting a lot of these great new features).
Version 1.40 - (20/06/04)
-Added a feature similar to a shuffle mode. It chooses a random wallpaper that hasnt been shown before, until all have been shown, then it resets.
-Added a feature that lets you choose if you want it to select wallpaper from all categories/lists, rather than just the current list. (Thanks to Gorazd Kos for suggesting these two features).
-Hugely speeded up the handling/adding of large numbers of wallpaper. Much faster startup time.
-Optimised selecting the next random wallpaper (faster + uses less memory).
-Now uses separate ini files to store ratings, settings and each category. This speeds things up even more - especially the random selection feature.
-All these optimizations means i've doubled the maximum images per list to 2,000 (rather than 1,000).
-If you try to add more than 2k files, it will ask you if it can automatically add a new list and continue adding files.
-Delete wallpaper file feature works again.
-Fixed various problems with the 'change wallpaper every X mins' feature + can now go above 999 mins. (Thanks to Will Buchanan for spotting the bugs).
-Uninstall now completely removes everything, including ini files.
-Various small display fixes.
Version 1.31 - (05/06/04)
-Added Help.
-Added an image resolution and file size display.
Version 1.30
-Added ability to scale an image to desktop size - like stretch, but keeps aspect ratio.
-Added ability to view the selected wallpaper in the default image viewer.
-Fixed a bug that was cutting off part of some pictures in the thumbnail view.
-Fixed a bug that made it wait 60secs before the timer would start (on startup) .
Version 1.21
-Fixed a bug that made "Auto close after 30 secs" fail to work. (Thanks to Morsi CHAARI for spotting it).
Version 1.2
-All main features & Public Release!
Known Issues:
None.
If you find any problems, please email me. Address is below.
If you have any problems with the program not starting up, then try deleting the ini files in the program directory (Default - "C:\Program Files\Wallpaper Master\"). Please email me if you need to do this and I will try and fix it, and stop it happening again. Emailing the ini files would be helpful too.
Credits:
Chris Rhodes
Dan Berry
And everyone who has given some useful suggestions and ideas.
You may freely distribute this program, but only with this file (readme.txt) included. No changes must be made to this document or program file. It must not be sold for commercial gain.
HomePage: http://jamesgart.com/wallpaperchanger/
Email: james@jamesgart.com - Questions, bugs and suggestions welcome.
