Containers - transparent option

Just realized (while working on some wireframes) that a boolean transparent background option for container-type widgets would be a boon.

Right now all containers have opaque white backgrounds that conceal anything beneath them. A container with a transparent background (but still opaque frame, scrollbar, contents etc.) is what we're going for here.

This sort of feature would allow me to overlay widgets on-top of other widgets to simulate more complex-looking widgets.

Jonathan,

Could you tell me which widgets exactly do you have in mind? Currently you can modify the transparency for Panel, Group and Tabbed Pane widgets.

A few instances where I will overlay widgets:

I will overlay a list widget on-top of a group container widget and turn-off the list's border when I want a list with the border style of a group instead.

I will overlay a tree widget on-top of a table/grid widget when I want to use the tree widget's presentation style embedded within a table / grid. I am aware that you can represent a tree in a table, although it presently has inconsistencies with the tree widget.

The main challenge with these scenarios is keeping the overlaying widget's edges from concealing the underlying widget's border / frame.

On the flip-side, I will overlay a smaller icon on-top of a larger icon to simulate an icon with status. For example I one might use a smaller warning icon on-top of some icon representing a service to indicate a service that failed to start or has encountered an error. For this scenario it would be useful to make the overlaying icon opaque, but this might be more tricky since you really only want the interior of the icon opaque.

Jonathan,

So for the list/group scenario it would be enough for me to add the background/alpha properties for the List widget. I can add it right away.

The Tree widget already has background/alpha properties so I guess the tree/table combination should work for you. Unless you use an old version of WireframeSketcher?

You right that adding background setting to icons could be tricky. I'll see what I can do.

Ah yes you're right about the tree widget, it does have a transparency option for the background.

Awesome! thanks.

The icon scenario isn't a priority and some may consider it a bit high on the fidelity scale.

I just made the changes and they will be part of the next version. I added background/alpha properties for both List and Table widgets to keep things consistent.

You can have these changes immediately if you install the development version from here: http://wireframesketcher.com/staging

That was quick! thank you for your prompt attention. I look forward to the next version.