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Thumbwright 0.1.2: the right-click menu works on Windows 11

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@DailenG DailenG released this 19 Oct 21:03
· 23 commits to main since this release
v0.1.2
ba31e7a

Thumbwright 0.1.2: a working right-click menu on Windows 11, and a fresh look

Download: Thumbwright-0.1.2-x64.msi below (signed). Or choco upgrade thumbwright.

What you'll notice

  • One "Thumbwright" entry in the Windows 11 right-click menu that opens a fast menu with every tool, in your light or dark theme, with a preview of the file on top. (On some builds it sits under App extensions; you can pin it from Customize menu. Shift + right-click works too.)
  • Every action shows its result. Converting a photo opens Explorer with the new file selected; copying text from an image says "Copied"; big batches show progress with a Cancel button. Errors are written in plain language.
  • Settings now take effect. Changes made in Thumbwright Workbench (the settings app, now in the Start Menu) reach Explorer on the next right-click.
  • A real installer: a short setup wizard, a Start Menu shortcut, and silent options for IT: MENU=0 for thumbnails only, or KIT=photos|paperwork|design|cad|thumbnails|everything to pick a Starter kit.
  • Hands back what it took. The File types page shows which program handled each type before Thumbwright; untick a type, or uninstall, and that program gets it back, without disturbing anything another app changed since.
  • New logo, website and README.

Upgrading

Run the new MSI, or choco upgrade thumbwright. Explorer picks up the new version after a restart of Explorer or the next sign-in. Your file types stay as they were; menu items that merged into groups start visible again.

Known limits

  • HEIC and HEIF thumbnails still use Microsoft's HEIF and HEVC Store extensions (a codec-free HEIC decoder is in progress).
  • Tested on Windows 11 build 26340; Windows 10 is not yet tested.
Technical changes

Changed

  • Workbench, File types: a new "Before Thumbwright" column shows which handler each type
    replaced (for example Microsoft's Photo Thumbnail Provider), and the page says that unticking
    a type hands it back to that program. Types Thumbwright added fresh show nothing.
  • Right-click menu, Windows 11: the packaged entry is now one "Thumbwright" item (it was
    a submenu that Windows 11 showed empty, or cut off after 16 commands). Clicking it opens
    Thumbwright's own popup at the cursor (twctl menu), in the system's dark or light theme,
    with a header row (file name, size, preview). The classic menu no longer adds a second
    "Thumbwright" entry on Windows 11 while the package is registered for the user (folders
    keep "Build thumbnails for this folder"). THUMBWRIGHT_CLASSIC_MENU=1 brings the classic
    menu back for diagnosis.
  • One menu structure, shorter and clearer, shared by both menus: Convert to, Resize,
    Rotate & flip, Make smaller (email sizes, under 1/5/10 MB, remove location & camera info),
    Copy text from image, Copy, Combine into (2+ files), Organise (rename, sort, move into a new
    folder), Details, Set as (lock screen, folder icon), Thumbwright Workbench. Items that do not
    apply to the selection are hidden, not greyed (audio renames only for audio, Combine only
    for 2+ files, Set as only for one file). Saved menu order and hidden items keep working for
    the items that kept their id (convert_into, resize, rotate, copy_text, copy,
    image_info, settings). Items that merged into groups (email, compress, strip_meta
    into make_smaller; the combine, rename, sort and folder items into combine and
    organise; lock_screen and folder_icon into set_as) start visible again, and their
    old hidden or ordered entries are ignored.
  • Every action now shows its result. A file-producing action opens (or reuses) an
    Explorer window with the new files selected; a clipboard action shows a short "Copied"
    confirmation near the cursor; actions over many files or taking longer than a moment show a
    small progress window with Cancel. Error messages are plain language with the technical
    detail on a second line (Ctrl+C copies them), and never show command usage text.
  • The settings window is now "Thumbwright Workbench": one instance per session (a second
    launch brings the first to the front), the product icon, a dark title bar when apps use
    the dark theme, clearer labels, a single "Show a preview of the file in the menu" check
    box (both old placement values read as on), and an honest status line on installed copies
    ("Active for all users. N of 315 types use Thumbwright, M are handled by other apps").
  • Installer: a minimal setup wizard (welcome, licence summary, progress, finish with
    "Open Thumbwright Workbench"), a "Thumbwright Workbench" Start Menu shortcut, and silent
    presets: msiexec /i Thumbwright-0.1.2-x64.msi /qn MENU=0 installs thumbnails only;
    KIT=photos|paperwork|design|cad|thumbnails|everything picks a Starter kit. Chocolatey:
    --params "/Menu:0 /Kit:photos". Silent installs show no UI. A kit is the first-run
    default for users who have not saved settings: it turns off the file-type families it does
    not need and hides the right-click items it does not use (Photos: RAW, images and video,
    no Copy or Set as; Paperwork: documents, ebooks, comics and images, with Convert to, Make
    smaller, Copy text and Combine; Design: design files and images, with Convert to, Resize,
    Copy and Set as; CAD: design files, menu off; Thumbnails: every type, menu off;
    Everything: no change). MENU=0 still wins over a kit's menu.
  • New product icon, website and README.

Fixed

  • Settings now reach Explorer. thumbwright-settings.exe carried the sparse package's
    identity, so Windows redirected its HKCU writes into the package's private registry
    hive and Explorer never saw them. The executable no longer embeds the identity element
    (release.ps1 and test-install.ps1 check this); see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.
  • Removing a file type or uninstalling no longer deletes another program's handler. The
    registration journal now records the value Thumbwright wrote, and undo removes or
    restores a value only while it still holds that. A value another program has taken over
    stays, and is reported ("taken over by another program, left alone") by twctl register --off, the Workbench and twctl doctor. Journals written by earlier versions undo as
    before.
  • Classic menu: when the shell offered a short command-id range, the whole "Thumbwright"
    entry vanished; it now takes the first id and shows what fits.
  • Classic menu: the preview row broke dark mode (light preview background, white separator
    bars, invisible submenu arrows). The preview is now a themed item bitmap.
  • Windows 11 popup (twctl menu): the header row often had no preview. The popup gave the
    shell 150 ms to hand over the thumbnail, which a file the shell had not thumbnailed yet (or
    a busy machine) overran. It now waits up to 400 ms and starts the fetch first.
  • Labels containing & ("Rotate & flip") lost the character to a menu mnemonic.
  • twctl doctor: names Windows 11 by its build number, no longer says the cloud and
    embedded-preview settings do not exist, and reports how many values the settings store
    holds. A file with no preview to draw (unsupported input) is logged as INFO, not ERROR.

Removed

  • "Set as wallpaper" (Windows has "Set as desktop background") and "Pick color" from the
    file menu. twctl wallpaper and twctl pick-color remain.
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