As we work on the next version of Fences, we are interested in getting your feedback on what you'd like to see.
We are particularly interested in features that will make Fences more useful in your work and enterprise environment.
Please comment below with any ideas and suggestions you might have.
Thanks!
A configurable path where Fences stores settings (currently in AppData), making it easier to backup in case of a system crash requiring a Windows re-installation.
I wonder if Stardock could give us a general estimate of when Fences v4 might come. I haven't used Fences 3 in a long time due to certain bugs I've reported in this forum before that render Fences' intended purpose (desktop organization) unattainable. I'm hoping that those bugs will be fixed in the next version of Fences. And as I have a huge number of desktop icons, I can really uses a good desktop organizer. But right now, I'm just using Windows in its default state.
One feature I'd like to add a request for (I've probably mentioned it before, but just in case...) is the ability to place icons in fences without them being automatically ordered. On the default Windows desktop, icons don't need to be placed next to each other in a row - they can have spaces between them, and be manually organized. I'd like to be able to do that with icons that are inside fences. As I recall, with Fences 3, icons in Fences would always be placed one after the other, and they couldn't be dragged and dropped someplace else inside the fence with gaps between that icon and others.
I'd also like an ability to scale-down the size of icons inside fences (independently from the desktop icon size), to fit more in a smaller space while keeping them all visible without needing to scroll.
Could you post links to the forum threads of such issues?
Sean DrohanStardock Support Manager
https://forums.stardock.com/502364/page/1/#3792337
November 13, 2020 11:32:44 AM from Stardock Forums
Hello, I am your customer and I make the most of your Fences product, but I would like to enable Fences only on one of the virtual desktops of windows and not all, and since I use the VirtuaWin product (which works better than that of windows for virtual desktops ) I would like to have the possibility on this too. My request if it is possible to make sure that at double click it works only on a specific Virtual desktop and not on all and even better if there was the possibility to choose which of the virtual desktops present. Thank you in advance for your answer.
Tank's
Someone at Stardock needs to put a list of what has or has not made the cut for v4 - if they're still taking suggestions/requests ~2 years after opening this thread, the likeliness of them releasing anything in the next few years I would put at virtually zero. I would guess that many have just lost interest with such a massive delay.
I have not purchased fences for my new computer because I don't want to be stuck with a product with 14 pages of complaints about it (obv. many are redundant). If they guarantee that a purchase of v3 now will get upgraded to v4 for free, I may consider suffering through a few of the issues, but I'm not going to purchase it in the current state if the issues raised here are not going to be fixed.
It would be better deleted than left open implying that they're still taking suggestions for a product that may or may not release in the next few years.
Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having trouble.
They are not ignored; I review every post here and have many of my own on it.
If you had to list the 'issues' (things that are broken), what would they be for you? Please be specific.
Why would we delete extremely valuable client feedback?
I appreciate your reading all of the posts, that's great, but is Stardock any closer to giving us a release date on v4 today than at the end of 2019?
Honestly, the list of issues over the past 14 pages doesn't need to be summarized by me or anyone else - you all need to provide a release date and list of items that made the list - otherwise, it's a shopping list that will never get fulfilled in your paying customers eyes. You can keep developing the best, most amazing, feature rich software in the world, but if you never release it, nobody cares......
For nearly two years this thread has been alive, and for all we know, Stardock is nowhere near the start of developing a new version, or? Why should we add to the list after all this time?
I am not asking for a summary of the feature requests \ issues, brettwut, however, if you are going to make this claim:
We want to know what your specific issues are - what Fences failures are preventing you from purchasing. What is your top 3 if that helps - what top three product failures prevent you from purchasing Fences 3?
As always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Fences is one of the first things I install when migrating to a new build, and I'd love to see a v4. In all honesty though, the features it provides are good enough for me. If memory optimization and cpu use reduction is possible in a new build, that'd be great, but otherwise, it's not exactly broken.
This has probably been mentioned by others but literally the only thing I want changed is the ability to put a fence flush with the top of the screen and not have the stupid header flip to the bottom. Either just get rid of that behaviour entirely (no clue why it does that, it isn't consistent with anything else in the application) or give me a toggle to prevent autoflip or to keep the header at the top/bottom on a global or per-fence basis. I really don't care how it's implemented and I can't imagine it'd be particularly taxing from a programmer standpoint.
The official customer support response to keep the top fence a few pixels below the top of the screen to avoid this was fine as a workaround 3+ years ago but at this point it's getting silly that this still hasn't been addressed.
If we can set icon font color for all type of fences: Portal and normal.
As a new Fences user, I would love to be able to:1. Set a global default view preference for Folder Portals (or take the one already set in Windows Explorer). For example, I should be able to have all Folder Portals use Details view, without setting it explicitly in every subfolder.2. Select multiple fences and drag them together to move them around my desktop.
3. Turn off the behaviour where rolled-up fences unroll if you mouse over the title bar. I want them to stay rolled-up unless I double click them!4. Align more consistently to a grid when resizing. You can set a fence to "even multiples of icons when resizing", which is useful, but doesn't work for Folder Portals that are set to a non-icon based view.5. Allow fences to be "stacked". For example, in this screenshot the ideal would be that if you unrolled the "Files & Documents" fence, the "Programs" fence would shift downwards, rather than being obscured by the unrolled "Files & Documents".
Roll-ups opening on top of other windows is my most desired feature.
Decided to uninstall fences today.
It's by far one of the worse thing my PC has on it. Every time I'm using fences it feels like my pc has been smoking a pack of cigarette everyday. Depending on the pc, its a buggy mess and always has been. Every feature asked or so are never being taken into consideration. It slows down even the mightiest pc, I stopped recommending the software to people around me. I thought DDR4 would resolve or at least minimise the harshness it has on the system but no.
I would greatly suggest people to keep a minimalistic desktop and in the worst case keep documents on the desktop (that act like those fences)
No, using fences is not faster, especially when you take into consideration that it slows everything else.
It felt nice at first, but it has come to a time that I have to accept the fact that this humble bundle find was in fact a desperate attempt to keep the software alive.
Already thinking about fence 4 when Fence 3 is now being abandoned by more and more fans.
You see people recommending that on tiktok or other platform, yet every single comment on those will be negative and won't recommend the software.
Enough is enough lol.
I'd love to have the option to have a fence roll/unroll when docked to any screen edge. Currently, it seems to only be available for the top or bottom... how about the left or right screen edges? have them act like the Objectdock tabs used to when docked to the edge.
Currently, in Fences 3, when I click on a folder portal to bring it to focus, and create a new folder using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N, the folder is created on the desktop instead of in the portal. I have to manually move the newly created folder onto the portal which defeats the whole purpose. Can you change this in Fences 4 so that anything new created via keyboard shortcuts goes into the focused folder portal or fence. Thank you!
I would want more detailed auto-sorter options for desktop shortcuts. Right now I can only send all desktop shortcuts to one fence. That's likely not how anyone organizes the desktop. I need an option that takes the shortcut target type and shortcut target path into account and not the shortcut name in itself.
User Story:
As fence user, I want that desktop shortcuts to i.e. games that get installed on G:\Games\Whatever, get auto-sorted into a specific fence.
Thread became 2 years, still going strong. I take bets that it will be going into it's fourth year with nothing happening.
Makes one wonder, doesn't it....
I'm new to Fences but I already have an idea for a minor enhancement. I have a folder portal to my Downloads folder, which in Windows 10 I normally view as Details, grouped by date modified. So I have groupings by 'Today', 'Earlier this week', 'Last week', etc. I'd like to have the ability to group this way in the folder portal as well. This kind of grouping works best for me in keeping track of all my downloads.
Work on what will become Fences v4 is going. It's slow going so we have no ETA on it.
Fundamentally, what we experience not just with Fences but across all our apps is a lack of available engineers who can do this sort of development.
Even Microsoft struggles to do OS level UX updates effectively. Some of you may have heard of the Sets debacle. It was Microsoft's equivalent to Groupy. There just aren't that many developers these days who can do this kind of thing.
"Back in the day"
This might be hard to believe but at one time, WindowBlinds, our most complex desktop enhancement didn't use have one competitor, it had TWO: eFX and Chroma. Now, it literally has none. Even Microsoft gave up on the uxtheme thing some years ago.
Microsoft was able to steal some of our engineers. The whole Windows compositor tech that allows for high DPI was led by a former Stardockian for instance.
So when you get into Fences, it's the same sort of thing. Our lead on Fences has a lot on his plate and if we can just get more engineers, we could progress more quickly.
But in the meantime, we are paying attention to this thread and prioritizing what should go in.
Cheers!
When I open a Word Document, I don't need to see the temporary (and hidden) lock file that Word generates. Same goes for the rest of MS Office. I prefer to keep my File Explorer options to see hidden files, but I would like to tweak the behavior on the desktop.
I'd like to move all of my hidden items that are on the desktop to a fence that rolls up, but specifying that a particular fence not show items with the hidden property would also be a plus.
This thing has been nagging me for a very long time and many users have reported this too but have been ignored. Please add the ability to turn off certain animations and just be more flexible with the program. Whenever I am dragging icons on my desktop it has a little animation that aligns it to a grid whereas, if you were just using windows it would be very snappy and it would be just you dragging an icon with no animation to a grid. An example is provided here:
Please this little thing that you call a feature is going to make me uninstall fences. User's need more control over all the things the software provides. Please take this into consideration because along with the visual nuisance it also makes my computer feel quite sluggish.
Summary:
I hope the best on the v4 and that you guys will take everything here into consideration and fix all the bugs and issues. Take care!
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