Classic Shell: Forum

How can I keep the start menu at a certain height. It starts out nice and tall. But when I remove a program from the left side of the menu it starts shrinking. I don't want a short menu. Windows 7 doesn't get shorter when I remove a program. Is there a way to keep it tall?

There's a Minimum menu height setting on the Main Menu tab in Start Menu Settings. You can also use the search box in the Settings window to find it. Type: height into the search box.

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Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Hi. I don't see the height setting. I just see a width setting. When I put height in the search box the program closes. I like my menu to be taller. What section would it be on? I don't see the setting minimum menu height. I'm using the latest version. I think the height should stay the same no matter how many programs are unpinned from the start menu. The real Windows 7 start menu stays the same height. Could you add that setting? Thanks

The height setting is only there in the Windows 7 style of the menu. Go the "Start Menu Style" tab and change first to the Windows 7 style. Then you will find the Menu height setting on the Main menu tab. If you are using Classic or Classic with two columns, the menu's height changes depending on how many pinned and frequent items are present (or how many custom items are present).

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

I just found that out. That's not good. I like Classic with 2 columns. And I hate having lots of pinned programs just to keep the height. So I guess I can't use it. Was nice. But I don't want a short fat menu. There should be a invisible icon you can pinned to the start menu to make it stay tall on Classic 2 Columns.

I just don't like a short fat menu.

I think this setting should be added to all the skin samples. Just ugly having a very short fat menu. And I don't want to add unnecessary items just to get the make the menu tall. Darn then Classic Shell has a flaw.

Here's a picture of my menu.

There is another way to increase the height of the menu. Add a custom item to the right column in between any two items where you want the menu to grow taller. Keep all its fields blank and set the icon to: none. This will add true empty space, the item you added won't even be selectable with the keyboard.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Hi. It did grow taller but I had to put a lot of them. I wish they still could add the option to make it taller like the Windows 7 Style. Better than nothing I guess. I'll have to tweak every skin. Thanks

The reason there is an option for Windows 7 is that the menu can switch between different modes - show pinned, all programs, search. You may want to have few pinned programs but want to see many results in search mode.
The Classic style doesn't do that, so the height is determined purely based on the contents. That's the "classic" way. No point of having large empty areas in the menu. If you really want large empty areas you can tweak the skin to insert more padding.