User:Matt/Misc Tips

On this page I'll put miscellaneous hints and tips, relating to computers in some way, that I think are very useful.

Screen Brightness
Do you ever get frustrated when you're trying to read a website and it is either too dark or too bright to easily read? Do you find editing images is difficult because you can't tell what is what. Do you feel that the brightness and contrast options built into your monitor are inadequate or too difficult to use?

The answer to all these problems is a little program called "Gamma Panel". Here are the steps to downloading, installing, and setting up Gamma Panel:


 * 1) First, go here, and download Gamma Panel.
 * 2) The program is in a ZIP file. Most operating systems today are fully capable of extracting it. You could also extract it with 7-Zip. Whichever method you use, extract it to an easy to remember location.
 * 3) Go to my computer. Make sure that the option "Hide extensions for known file filetypes" is disabled. It should be under Tools → Folder Options → View. (Start→Control Panel→Appearance and Personalization→Folder Options→View (For Windows Vista))
 * 4) In the directory with the program in it, create a file named "Gapa.ini". This file will record your settings.
 * 5) Right click on the file "Gapa.exe" and choose to create a new shortcut.
 * 6) Drag this new shortcut to the Startup folder in your start menu. This will make the program load whenever your computer starts up. You can copy the link anywhere else you want it, such as the desktop.
 * 7) Open up the file "Gapa.exe". You can now set your screen brightness. Change it to something and save that setting by using the "Save as" option. You can set a hot-key, the "F-function" keys are convenient here, by selecting the "Hot-key" box and then pressing the key(s) for that color profile. You then have to save the profile for the hot-key to work.
 * 8) You turn the file extensions option back on if you would like.

You can use this program to make editing images a lot easier. Just experiment with the program and you'll soon grow to love it.

Update: Proven to work for Windows Vista by Seablue254

Make Your Own Signature
To make your own signature start by creating a subpage to your userpage called "sig" For example, mine would be like this:


 * User:Matt/sig

Once you are in the page create a signature using any wiki code. Here is an example:


 * —Matt(T C)

Here is what this signature looks like:


 * —Matt(T C) 21:37, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Once you have your signature completed, add the following to the end:



Make sure to add exactly that. Do not change it.

Now, create a second subpage called "sig2". Here is what mine would be:


 * User:Matt/sig2

Now you need to have it refer to your signature. Do that by typing two left curly brackets, a colon, then the full page name of your signature and two closing curly brackets. It should look like this:



Save this second page.

Now go the the nickname box under "my preferences". In in type the same code as you just did only referring to the second page and adding "subst" in the beginning. It should look like this:



Save your preferences. Your signature will now be used correctly whenever you use three or four tildes. If you followed the instructions correctly, it will refer to your signature in your user subpage instead of inserting the entire coding for your signature. This saves a significant amount of space on any page it is used on and it makes the pages easier to read in edit mode. It also allows any changes you make to your signature to be reflected on every single instance of it.

Here is an example signature: User:Matt/sig

Do not put tildes or other time functions within your signature, that won't work.

Make sure to go here for rules about what you are allowed to have in your signatures.