I'll just throw this out here as, maybe not a challenge, but more an idea.
In the Winamp Modern community, there are quite a few collaborations between graphic artists and coders, with each doing the parts they excel in.

Perhaps if some excellent graphics artists here got together with the DX coders ...

That's an interesting idea. We could even take this up a notch by allowing people to create Skinning Teams.

My key point is that they don't need the coders, they don't need to touch the code, just amend the graphics.

... however if anybody wants to add fancy graphics to my code - go ahead, and just give me a shout if you have questions.

I want on Martin's team.

Animated wallpapers- I know it's a little off topic but they are simple to make with DX. There are hundreds /thousands of wallpapers that could be enhanced that little bit by a small animation effect.
Example-Frogboy's castle wallpaper. There are currently only 4 in the library. I guess I would like to see more like that.

Hi _Martin_!

I think the solution is simpler than you can imagine.

A lot of us graphics people(me included) learn quickly
through what we "see", meaning that learning photoshop
and other graphics packages, including 3D applications,
usually goes pretty fast when you can follow a step-by-step "tutorial"
that "shows" the steps taken to reach a certain goal.

When a user has gone through such tutorial/s he/she
has grasped the "use" of some tools and then his/her
brain automatically starts to see new uses for the same tools.

I firmly believe that it's the same with ObjectDesktop,
DesktopX etc. etc. If there was one or more nice tutorial/s
on how a certain app/widget/iconxthingie was put together
that would then spark the creativity on many users who
now can't "see" how they should go about things.

Sorry, but we gfx dudes/dudettes have brains that weren't built
to understand things quickly unless we "see" things actually
being "done".

But after that initial step we can usually crank out cool stuff
pretty fast

Just a lil thought.

Ok lilstarfish. Do you see a DX object you'd like to play with for the first tutorial?

that bloody weather object

_Martin_:

I havn't checked what objects are out there since I'm not running DX at the moment(due to current project and waiting for the 2.2 update).

I'm not picky, any thingie that could be handy would be ok as the first test.

Is there any object/thingie that you feel should get more attention?

yeah, some tutorials would be great. And is there a complete scripting reference? I mean some document where all DX Objects are described with their properties and methods..

There is a complete scripting guide available with the DX install or at www.desktopx.net/resources.

When I have a few minutes (hours/days) I will start going through some of my objects and create an associated guide for them. This will be a fair task, but in the end will be worth it. I'll try to make it for artists and coders alike.

Martin

I'd really like a tutorial on the DX media thingy. I want to have a stab at a DX media player skin!

...and a few extra hours in the day to make one.

I am on _Martin_'s team too!!

I think more docs need to be available as web pages instead of just as PDFs.

The important thing when doing a tutorial is to dumb it down as much as possible. Even the most basic "techie" terms and thinking will still confuse some people(myself). I don't think people know just how easy it is to make a DX theme or change the images of certain scripted objects. Remember that what is second nature to the programmers is new knowledge to us mortals.