Hi, is this a bug or by design, please?

Hello,
From what I know that is by design, it was set to hide by default for simplicity/minimalist look. It is now call backup not layout snapshot. With the new layout engine, your layout should adjust itself to your setup (adding or removing monitors etc) automatically. Refer to troubleshooting guide here: https://forums.stardock.com/528229/. So there should be less use for layout snapshot save and restore. If you think you need that to be visible all the time, please let us know why you need it. So we can forward it to Dev.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Hi Blaine,

Are these Folder Portal fences or regular icons on the desktop? Do fences with regular desktop icons scroll as expected? We may be seeing a problem with Folder Portal scrolling. Please confirm?

The update is working correctly, thank you, Basj

I was just accustomed to seeing the snapshots by default. Every new thing that one has to click on is another process too many. I preferred the snapshots showing by default. But it is what it is.

Thank you for answering my bug question.

Wow! I'm glad I am not the only one. I am replying specifically to Replies: 19 and 20. Why in the world would developers make a change like that when what was there worked just as well without having to "click a button?" The option to EXPORT settings would have been much more prudent.

PapaNinjago is use of backups part of your regular daily flow? We'd like to learn more about how you're using the product if so.

Yes. Backups are part of my regular daily work flow especially when I am reliant on an application to work as intended. I have at least three monitors configured on my desktop (not using a laptop) environment. One of the monitors is a travel monitor and is regularly unplugged (two to three times a month). Fences sometimes "glitches" and moves away from the main monitor even when there has been no changes in the settings for years. This very thing happened today, but I saw there was an update for Fences so I went and did that first. However, when I went to restore, I could not find the visual reference on restoring the correct layout and instead found this idiotic "link" that I needed to click in order to show the selection of restore points. People in general are very visual based and that is how your restore settings have been and should be since this is what we "look" at on our screen layout(s).

Additionally, the wording on "Layout auto-adjustments" should have been clarified. The interesting thing is after all these years, Stardock determined and did just that (this "new" update). My guess is that what was there already couldn't be fixed and therefore a "new" option in the "Layout auto-adjustments" needed to be added and the one I am currently using is a "(legacy)". I hope the new option works as it is intended.

Finally, I go back to my previous post. Where's the option to EXPORT settings? I believe this may have been asked on these forum threads for sometime now. Why? I have several "Target-based rules" that I must take a "picture" of so that I can recreate them "manually" if I need to migrate systems, upgrade, or you name it. I don't believe there is a means to backup and restore those settings. I have not tested it, but I do not believe "Maintain daily backups (most recent 7 days will be kept)" does that.

Bottom line, when it comes to using this software to help organize my working environment, backups are essential. 

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Do know that Fences 5 now come with new layout engine. And from what I understand you should need less restore layout with this new automatic layout engine for multi-monitor system. Please refer to this thread and check the troubleshooting guide on the first post. https://forums.stardock.com/528229. Done the steps and see if you actually need the layout snapshot restore as offen as before. Report back.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Let me give feedback on your instructions. First of all, the way it is identified in "Layout backups" is that we have to click "Restore a backup" to create a backup. Who came up with that? Secondly, when I do go to create a backup, I can no longer give it a name. A popup appears that indicates "Backup saved!" (Refer to images below.) I will follow-the rest of the outdated "instructions" on the link you provided for Troubleshooting and report back later.

As for my OS and Fences versions:

Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, OS build 22631.3958

Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1026.0

Fences Version 5.80

The difference with the new layout, is that now time needs to be spent (Image 2) to do what was previously a direct action in the backups section (image 1)

Every click is a process however simple, it’s still a process. It’s not just moving a mouse, it’s also user experience. 

I know I report a 6 monitor setup but I actually have 7. When needed (possibly a few timers a day) I turn on my Wacom Pro 24” drawing pad and sometimes it messes with my other 6 monitors. This is not a problem, a few seconds and it corrects itself. This isn’t always the case for Fences5. Sometimes during the monitors messing about because a new one has been connected, my fences change monitor.
This also happens with an nVidia graphics driver update, which can be regular, or some other random glitch due to Microsofts inability to deploy a hassle free patch update Tuesday etc etc…

Entering Fences5 was a simple process. It opened up to my backups page, I click on the visible snapshot and restore it or rename or retake it.
There’s a huge difference now “in my opinion”

Before

After. More actions needed.

User experience, for me at least, now views this as a pain in the backside. It may sound pedantic, but it is what it is, to me.

If this was changed so as Stardock could rename Backups to “Layout”or to save a couple of MB of installation size, or some other unknown reason possibly like thinking it looks less cluttered, it doesn’t, Stardock saved a very small percentage of interface space and in the process added more actions, it hasn’t improved anything. 

Respectfully.

Thanks.

That is indeed what could happen with older versions of Fences that did not have the new 'per-monitor-basis' feature.  Do you have this sent, PapaNinjago?

If not, please do so.

What would be more interesting, and what I believe Dr W is wondering, if if you had single-monitor Layouts for different task.  For example, you may have a 'work Layout' that had Fences with work related Fences and items on said single monitor and perhaps another 'games layout' for play time. 

Notice how that is not how people used Backups before - they did it to accommodate multimonitor issues in different environments. That task it so get people to use and trust that the new 'per-monitor-basis' largely solves that. Again, what we would be curious to know is how this can evolve into setting the desktop environment based on use, not monitors. 

Exporting settings from within the app is indeed a common request. However, there is a manual process to accomplish it and has been so since Fences 1. I even wrote a batch file to make it as painless as possible.

https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1416429609/Backup+of+Fences+Configuration+Settings

We appreciate your feedback, and we understand change can bring frustration Papa, but please dial this back a bit in your replies. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Perhaps we have done a poor job during the betas and this release detailing to clients that this setting is not what you want to use in multimonitor environments

You very much want to use

In fact, if the new feature works as well as we have seen, all others will likely go away altogether. 

We \ you need to have confidence that this is working as intended for all monitor configurations - that your Fences and icons are where you placed them on a single monitor and the same is true for when you have 6 monitors attached, that the Fences and icons are where you placed them when you had any monitor configuration. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Correct. As Sean shared, we are decreasing the prominence of backups as they are of much less use now with the new "Store my layout on a per-monitor-configuration basis" ability, released in Fences 5.5.

Previously some users used Backups as a way to "correct" their layout as they moved between systems with different monitor setups, manually storing their layout before they switched, and restoring later when they changed their monitor setup. This was not a great solution and filled with issues.

With this new option, this is no longer necessary. Fences stores the positions of your Fence groups separately for each of these configurations, and restores them when you return. No more need to manually load backups. We strongly recommend not using the legacy setting that you have selected now.

Please let us know how it goes! Thank you.

When I try to create a rule, I am unable to choose a target Fence. I believe that a dropdown pick list is supposed to appear when I click on "choose a Fence", but only the heading "Add new icons as the first icon in the target Fence" pops up. I tried selecting a Fence on the desktop instead, but that had no effect.

Advice?

I am running on Windows 11 ver 23H2.

Cheers,
David

Hi David, what Fence groups do you have created on your desktop? For reference, Folder Portal groups will not appear in this list, which perhaps we should make more apparent. But yes in any event, thanks for sharing more?

I have 11 standard Fence groups on one Page, and one standard Fence group on a second Page.

@Dave - Aye! Ok. So a couple things.

1) That list we found does not update with new groups until the dialog is closed and re-opened, so if you close and re-open the dialog, I'm wondering if anything appears. We've fixed this for our next beta release v5.81 coming out soon, in addition to adding additional messaging there instead of it just being blank.

2) If after closing and reopening there's still nothing, I'd want to take a look at your settings. You'll want to capture the contents of "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Fences" from RegEdit.exe, if you're familiar. You can right click the "Fences" key, hit export, then send the exported ".reg" file so that we can evaluate. But hopefully just closing and re-opening helps. Sorry again about this inconvenience.

For what Dr W is asking for, your Fences reg settings, you can use the batch file noted here to do it for you

https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1416429609/Backup+of+Fences+Configuration+Settings

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

@Dr W - Nothing changes when I close and reopen the prompt that appears when I click on "choose a Fence...", so I have forwarded the exported registry key to you.

@Dave, well, this is embarrassing. It was the existence of the letter "|" (pipe symbol) in your title, that had it unable to read. It's probably been messing up other stuff, too!

I've resolved this for future releases, v5.82 and beyond (coming up), but in the meantime, you might want to recreate that fence without the pipe symbol and see what happens. Starting with 5.82, you'll have no problem using pipe in the title.

Thank you v much for the find!

@Dr W - thanks for your quick detective work! Glad this has been sorted out.

Windows 11 Enterprise Version 10.0.22631 Buid 22631

Fences 5.80

Since my update from 4 to 5 last week. I have a lot of problem with the layout. Every morning or when I reboot my computer, my layout is lost, some Fences are still there but at least 4 of them are missing, and my icons are messed up.

But worse than that, restore is not working. I can clearly see from the picture of the restore that this is my backup layout, but doing a restore has no effect, and this is really annoying.

Important information, I don't know if it is related, but this a company computer so I am not administrator of the computer, but so far it has never been a problem with version 4.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. If you have not done it yet, it is best to do the "troubleshooting" steps mentioned in the first post of this thread: https://forums.stardock.com/528229. Please follow the steps and see if your issue still appear. Appreciate if you could report back in that thread if you still have issue on your system after those steps were properly done on your system.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Removed by admin: Sean Drohan

Hi Basj

I have configure Fences exactly like describe in the troubleshooting help, and I have the exact same issue, and today it was even worth, I have lost my configuration just when my computer went in sleep mode. I also confirm that restore is not working for me, it does nothing.

I have 2 monitors connected through a hub connected to a usb-c port on my computer, but in DVI on monitor side.

All my Fences are only on one monitor, the 1st one. No Fences nor icônes on the 2nd monitor.