[quantum7]

There are a lot of cool apps out there which run in the menu bar, like You Control and MenuMeters. The only problem is there isn't enough room for all of them! They get pushed aside by Application Menus. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to extend your Menu Bar space. I was thinking about something like another menu bar just below which appeared when you mouse over it, sort of like a dock for the menu bar.

[Brad]

Don't keep so much junk in your menu bar. What all do you have up there? Do you really need it all?

I think this is at least partly the reason why Apple blocks third-party menu extras.

(all the extra ones you have use a little unorthodox hack to circumvent that block)

[psmith2.0]

Don't listen to Brad.

Be a man and get a 30" Cinema Display.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Brad I think this is at least partly the reason why Apple blocks third-party menu extras. (all the extra ones you have use a little unorthodox hack to circumvent that block)

That's actually misleading.

There's two kinds of additional menus for the right edge of the menu bar: status items and menu extras. Anyone can write and add a status item. Adium does it, your average Gmail notifier does it and Apple officially documents how to do it. Status items run in the process space of the application that created them (e.g. Adium). Status items can't be moved around; their position on the menu bar depends on when they were first created -- remove them and re-add them, and they'll be to the very left of all items.

A menu extra, on the other hand, can only be created using a private API of Apple's. Why they don't publish it is unclear; one reasonable explanation lies in the mere functioning of menu extras: they always run in the process space of SystemUIServer, and Apple just may not appreciate third parties messing with such a core background application. As nice extras and resulting from the fact that they run inside SystemUIServer, menu extras can be dragged around (among other menu extras) by cmd-dragging them horizontally, as well as removed entirely by cmd-dragging them out of the menu bar.

And the latter two features are the reason many programs hack into the NSMenuExtra API to use that, instead of a status item.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Be a man and get a 30" Cinema Display.

That's gotta be the answer - get the huuuuugest screen you can afford.

[DMBand0026]

Originally Posted by Franz Josef That's gotta be the answer - get the huuuuugest screen you can afford.

Who needs to afford it? That's what credit is for!

<cue people telling us "that's what's wrong with America...>

[Franz Josef]

That'll be get the huuuuuugest screen someone else can afford........

[Paul]

http://unsanity.com/haxies/fruitmenu
has a nice option to change the application menu from a word to the icon of the application. This has a nice side effect of keeping the file menu in the same place on the screen at all times in addition to reducing the space used by the application menubar...

[shatteringglass]

I'm glad Apple hasn't opened up the menu extras API. The Windows equivalent of this feature is the system tray in the taskbar, and it usually gets horribly crowded, no matter how few third party apps you install. Even iTunes for Windows puts a system tray icon there by default.

[quantum7]

I wish they would open it. You can always choose not to use a Menu Item by command-dragging it off the menu bar. For many applications it provides a clear, concise interface.

[BlueRabbit]

Hey, at least you have a 15" Powerbook.

I'd look into different ways of viewing your Menu Item info. For example, instead of using Menu Meters, you could get a Dashboard Widget to show the same info. It's not quite as convenient, but it still works.

Originally Posted by Franz Josef That'll be get the huuuuuugest screen someone else can afford........

Actually, it's no longer true that large screens, or even better, dual screens, are expensive.

Last week, a colleague purchased two brand new 19" Dell LCDs (latest model) for under $450, shipped. Tiny bezels (5/8"), ultra clear.

Their 20" LCDs are now running sales for $326 each. Their 24" were at $789. Again, all including shipping.

I own two 20" LCDs. A small piece of black electrician tape covers the Dell logo, and I swear, you have to look hard at seeing the tape. Check it out:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...h-monitors.jpg

Personally, I wouldn't buy an Apple monitor, for the same reason I wouldn't buy their RAM: better sources are to be found elsewhere, for a lot less money. I mean, really: 1 year warranty, vs a 3 year warranty? Give me a break.

I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, and I think your software avenue is the way to go, something with a drop down menu. Another screen, or for that matter, two new screens, is certainly not the answer to everyone's setup. But I wanted to correct the idea that LCDs are still expensive. It's like saying, "man, hard drive space is costing me a lot!" It's simply no longer true.

[geneman]

You don't mention what OS you're running, but in 10.3 (or earlier) it wasn't possible to use short names if you have fast user switch enabled. That annoyed me, but then MacWorld pointed me to this app which changes the user name to a simple small icon. It helped a lot on my 12" iBook...

[quantum7]

Originally Posted by tuqqer large screens, or even better, dual screens

Actually I have duel screens (although not nearly as nice as your 20" flatscreens). However, this doesn't help me with the menu bar space issue, since the menu bar can only be on one screen at a time.