ToolTip Settings

Windows uses and allows programs to use a feature call "ToolTip text". This is the ability to have a small text box display whenever the mouse moves over an item on the display. Tooltips can be a great way to offer a short explanation about what an item in a program does. Tooltips have some limitations as they do not offer multi line descriptions so the text in the tooltip must be fairly short and to the point.

Another drawback of tooltips is that the default font and font size of tooltips may make them hard to read. This little tutorial will show you how easy it is to change the properties of tooltips so they become more easily readable and therefore more useful. Some may feel that the enlarged tooltip text can become an irritation once a program user has a clear understanding of the function of a item in a program. My newer applications have overcome this concern by allowing the program user to turn tooltips off and on from within the options for a given program.

Lets take a look at the process of changing the tooltip appearance on your PC.

In this screenshot a tooltip is displayed under the item "Set From Path". It is pale yellow with black print and says "Click me to set the from path". In a few moments we will see what that tooltip looks like after changing the tooltip properties for my PC.

To begin this process simply right click anywhere on the "DeskTop" Please keep in mind that you are using a feature that Windows has offered as far back as Windows 98 and perhaps before and that you can easily change the settings back to the original. You might want to note what the original settings on your PC were just in case you want to set them back. Of course keep in mind that you can experiment with various setting until you get then just as you like them.

When you select the properties menu item from the last screen you get a window like this one. We are working with the "Appearance" tab so go ahead and select that tab.

On earlier versions of Windows the ability to select the tooltips option would be available on this screen. In XP you will need to select the "Advanced" option. Do not let the word "Advanced" concern you. You are simply asking windows to give you more options.

The dropdown selection box under the label "Item:" is where you are able to select "ToolTip". As you can see this is where you get to select the "tooltip background color, font, font size, font color, and bold and italic properties". Once you have changed these items simply "OK" your self back out of these dialogs and you are done. NOTE! There are so many other items here that you can set to make your window's experience more pleasant. Menu bar fonts are by default small and hard to read. You can simply select menus just as you did tooltips and make them much easier to read in the applications you run on your PC.

Now we are back to the panel in the program "Netsync" that shows the tooltip as it appears after the changes I made to my tooltips on this PC.

I hope you found this little tutorial helpful. Of course this might have been something you have been doing forever.

Return to my Shareware WebSite

Thanks

Doug Clarke