Hello.

I revisited my Internet Explorer 7 Favorites guide now that Beta 2 is available. Previously, Beta 1 had two major issues: the favorites menu would crash and, if the menu was large, it would fill and obscure the screen. Thankfully, both problems seem resolved in Beta 2; the menu is scrollable like in IE6 and no longer crashes.

IE7 Beta 2 fixes a rendering issue present in IE6 where select boxes would always appear as the topmost element, overlapping other elements like menus. This fix improves the visual presentation of web pages with select boxes. For more details, refer to the provided MSDN blog link. Further testing with CSS styles is pending.

I've found answers to my XAML menu throbbing questions! Using RoutedEvents in ControlTemplates (and DataTemplates!) lets me start and stop timelines for animations. I can place these triggers inside styles, and it turns out TargetName isn't always required. A cool discovery: storyboards inside ControlTemplates/DataTemplates can be accessed by any control matching the style's TargetType. My wobbly menu example demonstrates these techniques.

I had this cool idea to add some throbbing action to my GelButton menu items in XAML. I wanted them to subtly pulse when hovered over. Turns out, it's harder than I thought! I've learned some limitations in XAML (May CTP): you can't start/stop storyboards from triggers, apply a single animation to all controls of a type, and TargetID is deprecated in favor of TargetName. Points 1 & 2 are especially problematic as they blur the lines between UI and application logic. I'm going to look for workarounds and see if others have solutions. Might even post my (probably wrong) ideas on how things should work.

I've been experimenting with the Microsoft Avalon CTP (Community Technology Preview) Framework and wanted to share a simple XAML menu example. This example demonstrates how to create a custom style for menu items to make them look like GelButtons. Initially, I tried using a ControlTemplate but later realized a HeaderTemplate within the style was the correct approach. The XAML code provided creates a menu with styled menu items, showcasing how to customize the appearance and behavior of menu items in Avalon.

A quick follow-up to my last post about the XAML menu example: It no longer uses the Animated Gel Button animation, and the GelButton code modification I mentioned actually came from a different page on the same site I linked previously.