How do I prevent Paratext from automatically maximizing windows or claiming they are maximized?

Question

For a beginning user struggling with computers, having Paratext automatically maximize windows or claim that they are maximized can be extremely crippling. A beginning user might feel that all windows disappeared and can no longer be found. This is a serious problem for beginning users.

In order to see the problem, open three or more projects in Paratext, and select Unstacked from the Window menu.
Here are some symptoms of the problem that users might experience.
• Maximize a window and notice that a separate set of “Minimize”, “Restore Down”, and “Close” buttons appear at the far right on the Paratext menu bar.
• Minimize a window that has been maximized and the separate set of buttons disappears.
• Maximize a window, and then select a different window from the list on the Window menu. Notice that the window you just selected is maximized.
• Maximize a window, and then click the X in the upper right corner to close it. Notice that the window that is now active is maximized.
• Minimize a window and it disappears from view.
• Maximize a window, and then minimize it. Locate and select that project window on the Window menu. A very small title bar appears for the project at the lower left. Whether you click “Restore Up” or “Maximize”, the project is maximized in the display.
• Open Biblical Terms Renderings window and maximize it. Close it and the window that was active when the Biblical Terms Renderings was opened is now maximized.
• Maximize a window, and then open the Biblical Terms Renderings window. The Biblical Terms Renderings window opens maximized.

Answer 1

When a user selects Unstacked from the Window menu, Microsoft code takes controls of the “Maximize” and the “Minimize” behavior in any open windows.

The way to avoid problems with maximizing or minimizing windows is to use one of the “Stacked” options on the Window menu.

Comments

I sent in an error report about this the other day, because as you say, this is very irritating for anybody, but totally confusing and crippling for new users.

What I discovered (because in your error report you have to show how you can reproduce the problem) is that the problem appears if you do this:

Maximize ANY window in Paratext, a tool, a resource, a project or anything like that, while you have all sorts of other windows open in unstacked layout, and then close it straight from maximized.

That causes ALL windows that were open already and are now underneath it but not visible, also to be maximized, but only by pretense (showing to be by its buttons, but not actually being maximized) except for the next one in the list (not sure what sets the sequence) which now takes its turn to get actually maximized all by itself, only because you closed the previous maximized window. If you close that, the story continues and the problem stays with you.

But if you “normalize” the maximized window back down to normal size BEFORE closing it, you see the other open windows all with the wrong maximized state showing in the buttons, except for the one you just normalized.

If you now go through one by one and de-maximize all those wrongly showing buttons, the problem is gone, UNTIL you next close down a maximized window/tool/resource again. Then the problem starts over.

So the work around is, to NEVER close a maximized window, but normalize it first before closing it.
And if you already have the problem, de-maximize one by one all windows wrongly showing maximized state back to normal, before closing any of them and before closing PT.

Obviously that doesn’t help new users. But it does keep me a little saner. For new users, it would sure be nice if someone could fix this bug, whether it is Microsoft’s or not:-(

(My Oxford English Dictionary does a similar thing: If I close it from minimized, it cannot open until I go to the properties of the Icon and set it to open maximized. Only if then I close it from normal size, can I put the properties back to normal and it opens in a normal window again. So maybe it is a Microsoft problem, who knows…)