Modified Default Rainlendar Skin

My favorite skin for Rainlendar is the default one that comes installed. It’s simple and looks really good, especially with transparency. But, there’s just a couple things that I felt needed to be modified to be completely satisfied.

The first modification is with the red circle around the current day. I feel that it covers too much of the number, so I have to look at the numbers beside it to tell what the current day is. Although that isn’t difficult to do, I’d rather just be able to see the number. Lazy? Maybe.

So, I extracted the skin file and went into the images folder and found Today.png and used Photoshop to edit it. I figured a square would be a better shape around the number, so I created a square and added a small shadow.

You’ll see on the right how it looks.

Next, the last change I wanted to make was in the to-do list. I love the new progress bar feature, which shows you how much you’ve completed that task. But, the only thing I didn’t like was how large and ugly it was. It covered up the task and I couldn’t really read what the task was.

Just like before, I went inside the images folder and looked for Todo-Progressbar-Large.png. There is also a small one, but the large one is what is being used in the skin. So, I opened it up in Photoshop so I could start editing.

I didn’t even know how I wanted it to look, so I tried a couple things, one being a red line, which would stretch over the task, so when it’s completed, it would appear as if it had been marked off. But, that didn’t turn out very nice, so I tried something else with the same idea. I went with black, and instead of being in the middle going through the task, it would be underneath the task and appear as a progress bar.

Even though my progress bar doesn’t look placed perfectly, as you can see on the right, it’s the best I could do to make myself happy. I didn’t do this to make anyone else happy. So, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to download the changed skin.

I don’t usually provide customizations made to skins or themes created by other people to the public, but I figured this time that maybe someone might feel the same way I do about the red circle and the progress bar. So, if you like what I changed, then go ahead and download. Please be sure to back up the original skin before replacing. I won’t be responsible for anything breaking. Nothing broke for me, and there are no viruses. It is a clean file!

If you don’t know how to insert the PNGs into the skin file, then download the skin with the PNGs already inside. Otherwise, if you know what you’re doing, download the PNGs.

Skin file with the PNGs already inside.

Remember The Milk

While reading the Rainlendar Forum, I came across Remember The Milk, an online to-do list and task management website. So, if Rainlendar isn’t an option for you, because maybe you use the Mac operating system, or you aren’t allowed to install software on a work computer, then Remember The Milk might be a better choice.

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Professional Icons

I have come across many websites offering icons, but usually they are very, very expensive. It is really nice to be able to customize your website with high quality, nice looking icons, or even your application. Icons can make anything look really good if you use them correctly and are able to use high quality ones. People will “ooh and ahh” over your icons!

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Rainlendar: Best Desktop Calendar

Rainlendar is yet another program that I fell in love with when I started using it at least 4 years ago. No other desktop calendar software can compare to Rainlendar. Yes, it’s that good. Well, that is just my opinion and the opinion of many others.

It surprises me that a lot of people haven’t heard of Rainlendar when it’s very easy to find. It is a really popular calendar and much nicer than the ones out there. I have watched it improve over the years, too.

A lot of you will be happy to know that it can be run on both Windows and Linux.

Here are several features that Rainlendar has:

• Customizable. There are lots of skins available for downloading to change the look of the calendar, events and to-do lists. You can also change the layout of the calendar and lists any way you like. There are also transparency settings.
• Multiple calendars. Need separate calendars for work and your personal life? Run them both at the same time.
• Importing and exporting events and to-do list tasks.
• Set alarms for any of your events and to-do list tasks.
• Syncing with Outlook calendar and shared calendars. Publishing your calendar online. (Pro version only, which requires a license.)

Rainlendar gets a 5 star rating from me, because of the amount of features and that it is mostly free (Lite and Pro version). The features that require a purchased license are Outlook and network calendars (otherwise it will display [Unregistered] in the Pro version if you do not purchase a license). The creator of this calendar deserves money for the time and energy he has put into it. A couple other reasons for the 5 stars: support is great and the amount of skins available created by many people who are willing to share their work for free.

Clicking the preview below will open the Rainlendar website in a new window or tab depending on your browser preferences.

If you have any questions about Rainlendar, before downloading and installing, see the FAQ and the Forum. If you want to ask a question on the Forum, at least be sure that you’ve searched for the answer first (in both the FAQ and the Forum).

Installing should be very easy as it’s an .exe file that installs everything for you. If you want me to help in any way, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help you. Otherwise, head on over to Rainlendar and download this awesome calendar!

My Favorite Blog

I’ve never been much of a blog reader. I am usually the person who happens to come across one because I’m just looking for one thing, whatever it was that brought me there and then I will probably never see that same blog again. It’s not that the blog isn’t interesting, it’s just that I usually don’t have time to really sit and read them. Even if I do read one, I end up forgetting about it after a while.

I do list some blogs that I like on the Resources page, but other than that, I don’t visit all of them regularly. Except for one. This one deserves some type of award, and I’m not saying that because I’ve known the person who writes there. Although, there are a few other writers there, but I don’t know them and haven’t seen them write as often.

In case someone still thinks I’m writing this because I know the person, I didn’t know it was her blog until she asked about me and then after she asked me who I was, I asked her, and we found each other again! (There was a big gap in time where we haven’t kept in touch, most likely due to us both having lives.)

This blog is my favorite because I know that every time I visit, I’m going to read something that makes me want to keep coming back for more. If you haven’t been there yet, you should check it out at least once! I’m sure you’ll be addicted for life! If you aren’t, then you can leave a comment here blaming me for wasting your time.

Groovy Lady is a must read! Not just for the female audience, the males can enjoy it as well. I promise!

Clicking the preview below will open the blog in a new window or tab depending on your browser preferences.

Now that I’ve shared my favorite blog, I hope that anyone reading this will also comment and share their favorite blog and a short reason why it is a favorite. One rule, you cannot say mine is a favorite (no sucking up).