Z1 Designer

[zBlueSoftware]

Conditional Images and Colors are now supported by the Z1 Software as of version 2021.3. These let you change the image or color based on the value of a data channel.



Watch the video to see how to include conditional images and colors in your dashboard designs for the Z1 Dashboard using the Z1 Designer version 2021.3.

Make sure you join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/XXwhX6azxM

Download the Z1 software here: https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

Chapter Index
0:00 Intro
1:06 Dashboard Gallery Aside
2:02 CONDITIONAL IMAGE OVERVIEW
2:41 Conditional Image Properties
3:45 Creating a Conditional Image
6:00 Choosing Images
7:00 Previewing the Images
7:35 Entering Value Ranges
8:31 Aligning the Images
9:35 CONDITIONAL COLOR OVERVIEW
10:50 Assigning Conditional Colors
11:30 Creating Conditional Colors
13:36 Saving Conditional Colors
15:20 How Conditional Colors are Displayed in the Designer
15:45 Conditional Colors - Alternate Options
17:05 Final Thoughts

[zBlueSoftware]

The Dashboard Gallery is new as of version 2021.3.

Watch the video to see how you use it to download dashboards and to share your designs.


Download the Z1 Designer here: https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

Chapter Index:
0:00 Intro
1:10 What is the Dashboard Gallery
2:20 Using the Dashboard Gallery
3:04 Searching By Category or Sim
4:10 Searching By Keywords
5:08 Downloading a Dashboard
6:10 Adding Your Dashboard to the Gallery
9:39 Final Thoughts

[zBlueSoftware]

Version 2021.4 of the Z1 Designer is now available. This application lets you create your own dashboards for use within the Z1 Dashboard. And now with all the updates in the latest version creating your own dashboards is even easier!

We've added rulers, object coordinates, object locking, guide lines, nudge commands, and three new tools (circular graph, arc, and competitors).

The three new tools: Circular Graphs, Arcs, and Competitors.


Rulers can now be displayed on the top and left edges of the dashboard design window.


Object coordinates are now displayed on selected objects.


Objects can be locked in place to prevent accidental moving.


In addition rendering has been updated to provide better clarity across all Windows scales. The settings dialog has been updated to the latest Z1 standards and many small enhancements including new widgets, warnings tool options and cursor hints have been added.

Example dashboards that can be created using version 2021.4 of the Z1 Designer.




The Z1 Designer is a free application that can be downloaded here:
https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

Full list of release notes:
* Circle Graph Tool. This is a new tool that lets you create circular graphs. The options are similar to those used in the standard graph tool.

* Competitors Tool. This new tool lets you place information about the drivers directly ahead/behind you on track or ahead/behind you in position. Information currently included is Driver Name, Car Type, Position, Laps Since Last Pit Stop, iRating, Safety Rating, Live Delta, S/F Delta, Last Lap Time, Fast Lap Time, Last Lap Delta, and Fast Lap Delta.

* Arc Tool. This new tool let you create arc segments. They can be open or closed, and filled or empty.

* Added the following widgets: Fuel Buffer, Fuel With Units, Fuel To Finish With Units, Average lap Description, Average Fuel Description, Wind Speed, Wind Direction - Large Arrow, Wind Direction - Small Arrow.

* Added ABS Engaged as a Warning tool option.

* Added Nudge commands. You can move the selected object up, down, left or right by one pixel using them. The keyboard shortcuts are the control key + arrow keys.

* Object locking. You can now lock the location of an object by clicking on the padlock icon in either the layer window or the object properties window. You can also choose to lock all objects by selecting Edit->Lock All Objects, or typing the Ctrl-L keyboard shortcut. All objects can be unlocked by selecting Edit->Unlock All Objects or typing the Ctrl-U keyboard shortcut. When an object is locked it cannot be moved or resized.

* Rulers have been added. You can choose to display these by selecting Edit->Show Rulers. They are displayed by default. The units used in the rulers are pixels. The rulers will show the cursor position as a small line in the ruler. The line is a vertical line on the top ruler, and a horizontal line on the left ruler.

* The current cursor position is now displayed at the top right of the Dashboard window.

* Guides have been added. To use guides you need to have rulers displayed. A guide is a vertical or horizontal line that is used to help align objects in your design. If you move an object near a guide that object will 'snap' to the guide. To create a guide, click on one of the rulers are drag the mouse onto the dashboard design. A new guide will be created and will display on your design. You can move a guide like any other object. Guides are always created in the background. While they are saved with the dashboard design, the are only displayed in the Z1 Designer and not in the Z1 Dashboard.

* When moving guides they will automatically 'snap' to the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 distances on the dashboard when moving near those locations.

* Snap Distance - this new drop down is displayed at the top of the Dashboard window. This determines how close an object needs to be to a guide before it 'snaps' to that guide.

* To remove a guide you can delete it by right clicking on its name in the layer window and choosing the delete option. Or you can simply drag it off the dashboard and back onto the ruler.

* Optional tick marks have been added to the graph tool. You can specify their frequency, width and color. For example if you have a graph going from 1000 to 8000, and you specify a tick frequency of 1000, then lines will be draw at 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 on the graph. Specifying a tick frequency of zero means no ticks will be displayed.

* Text objects can now have a background color.

* Cursor hints have been added for selected objects. The cursor will change when it is over a vertex, or a guide line, to help indicate the way to vertex can be moved.

* When you select an object the coordinates of that object are now displayed next to the object in the design window. This is intended to better feedback on where an object is located. You can specify the font size used for this information in the settings dialog. This feature can also be turned off in the settings dialog.

* Added a vertical scrollbar to the Object Properties window. The scrollbar will appear when necessary when you mouse your mouse over the Object Properties window.

* Rendering updates to improve overall clarity, especially when using Windows scaling other than 100%.

* The settings dialog has been updated to the new format (as used in the Dashboard V2021.3).

* The Designer now remembers the name you enter into the 'Your Name' field in the Gallery Upload dialog. This makes it easier when you are uploading your dashboards as you don't have to re-enter your name every time.

Download version 2021.4 of the Z1 Designer today:
https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

[zBlueSoftware]

Version 2021.4 of the Z1 Designer introduces many new design features. These are all aimed at making it easier and faster to create or edit dashboards.

Watch this video to see how they all work. To skip to a specific feature use the chapter index below or in the time line of the video.



Join our discord channel: https://discord.gg/XXwhX6azxM

Download the free Z1 demo: https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

0:00 Intro
0:58 Rulers
1:54 Cursor Position
2:58 Cursor Hints
3:46 Object Coordinates
4:47 Nudge Commands
5:50 Object Locking
7:26 Guides
10:11 Object properties Scrollbar
11:19 Final Thoughts

[zBlueSoftware]

Version 2021.4 of the Z1 Designer introduces three new tools:
Competitor Tool
Arc Tool
Circular Graph Tool

Watch the video to see what they do and how they can be used in your designs for the Z1 Dashboard.


Join our discord channel: https://discord.gg/XXwhX6azxM

Download the Z1 Designer: https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

Chapter Index:
0:00 Intro
1:03 Competitor Tool Overview
2:37 Competitor Tool Options
4:37 Competitor Tool Car vs Position
5:31 Competitor Tool Look and Feel
6:13 Arc Tool & Circular Graph Tool Overview
7:05 Arc Tool
8:48 Circular Graph Tool
11:53 Final Thoughts

[zBlueSoftware]

Version 2022.1 of the Z1 Designer is now available. The Z1 Designer lets you create or modify dashboards for use with the Z1 Dashboard. This new version includes a massive amount of updates and new features.

Some highlights are:
* A completely redesigned open dashboard dialog, making it easier to find and select the desired dash.


* The new Conditional text tool


* The new LED Group tool


* Objects can now be 'pinned' to the left, right or bottom of the dashboard.


* Warning objects can be animated to flash on and off.


* Flat track maps can now be created.


* Many new widgets including: Session state, session type, position/total cars.

* Multiple new data channels including various ERS options, push to pass, and incident counts.

The Z1 Designer is a free application and can be downloaded here:
https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

Here is the full list of release notes:
* The Open Dashboard dialog has been completely reworked. It now is similar to the Dashboard Gallery. It displays a preview of the dashboard along with its name, folder path, and creation date. You can sort the display by name or creation date. To open the dashboard just double click on the desired preview.

* New Tool: LED Group Tool. This tool lets you create multiple LEDs at once. You drag out a rectangle using the tool. This rectangle will then be filled with evenly spaced LEDs. You can choose the number of LEDs, the type of LEDs (circular or rectangular) and their color. When they are arranged as you want them click the 'Create LEDs' button in the LED Group's object properties window. This will create the LEDs assigning them to shift lights, starting with Shift Light 1 and going up to the total number of LEDs you selected. Note you must create the LEDs for them to be saved.

* New Tool: Conditional Text tool. This tool lets you tie the display of text to a data channel. You can then set the text to be displayed based on the values of that data channel.

* Objects can now be 'pinned' to the left edge, right edge or bottom edge of the dashboard window. If an object has one or more of its sides pinned, then as the user adjusts the size of their dashboard window, that edge of the object that is pinned will always stay connected with the edge of the window. If an object can be pinned you will see three 'Pin' checkboxes in the object properties window.

* Objects that are copy/pasted are now pasted into the layer that the original oject was in. So if the original object was in the foreground then the newly pasted object will also be in the foreground. Previously the object was pasted into the currentrly active layer. Thhis could cause problems with objects not being displayed properly if you pasted a foreground object into the background.

* Pasted objects are now not locked regardless of the locked status of the original object. Previously if the copied object was locked then the pasted object would also be locked. But this made it so you could not move the pasted object without first unlocking it.

* There is now an option to show/hide all current guides. This is Edit->Show Guides, or Control-G. Note that objects will still snap to hidden guides.

* The detection for whether or not you clicked within a multi-line shape has been improved. If that shaped is a closed polygon (so the first and last points are the same) then you will have to click inside the object, and not its bounding box to select it. If the shape is an open polygon then clicking within its bounding box will select it.

* The Z1 Designer will now automatically open the dashboard you were working on when you last exited the application. If you do not want the Designer to do this, you can uncheck the Reopen Dashboard option in the General settings tab. With this option unchecked the Z1 Designer will always open to a blank dashboard, as was the case in previous versions.

* Added the following Widgets: Session State; Session Type; Position After Stop; Position/Total Cars; Laps Number of Total Laps.

* Added the following data channels: ERS level percentage; ERS Lap Level Percentage; DRS Uses; Brake Bias Fine; MGUK Deploy Mode; Energy ERS Battery Percentage; Incident Count - Team; Incident Count - Me; Incident Count - Driver; Joker Laps Remaining, Push to Pash Count. Note not all sims support all channels.

* When opening a dashboard if an item is specified as being selected, then its properties will display in the Object Properties window.

* The display names of Conditional Images now include the targeted data channel name.

* You can now specify the background color for the units tool.

* There is now an option in the units tool to display the units in upper or lower case.

* You can now specify a flash speed for any warning. To do so enter the number of milliseconds for each flash in the warning properties window. A value of zero will display the warning consistently without flashing.

* You can preview the warning flashing (animation) by clicking the 'Animate' checkbox in the warning tool's properties window. There is a setting in the General settings tab that determines if newly created objects that have animations will have that checkbox clicked by default or not. Currently only warnings have animations.

* Added car class and class position as options in the Standings tool.

* There is a new option in the standings tool for 'Show Your Class Only'. When this is selected the standings display will only show cars that are in your class in the race.

* There is a new option in the standings tool for 'Display No Change As'. This lets you set what will be displayed in the iRating change and Position change column when there has been no change from the original value. The default is a zero (0).

* When the dashboard needs to be saved an asterisk (*) will appear to the right of the dashboard's name in the Dashboard window.

* There is now an option to turn off the save confirmation message. If you do not want this message to appear after you save your design, uncheck the 'Save Confirmation' option in the General settings tab.

* The Designer will now ask if you'd like to save any changes that have been made when you exit the application if you have not already saved your dashboard design.

* There is a new option in the General settings tab called 'Change Dash Confirmation'. This option is on by default. With this option selected opening or creating a new dashboard when there is an existing dashboard open will result in a prompt asking if you would like to proceed. Note: an unsaved dashboard will always result in a prompt regardless of this option's status.

* There is a new option in the General settings tab called 'Create Preview When Saving'. This option is on by default. When selected a new preview image of your dashboard will be created when you save the dashboard.

* You can now specify the background color of the header row in the standings object.

* Added the following warning options: Engine Stalled, P2P (Push to Pass) Engaged, On Joker Lap

* New options for columns within the Standings tool: Driver Incidents; Team Incidents. Currently only iRacing supports these options.

* You can now choose the style of a track map. They can either be 'normal', which shows the full track map in either static or moving form (as selected by the Dashboard user); or they can be 'flat'. A flat track map is a single straight line going from left to right. This allows for track maps that take up less space than the full track map.

* Added a new widget - Track Map Settings. This will place the track map setting icon, allowing you to display the options for rotating the track map. Note this will not be displayed for flat track maps or moving track maps.

The Z1 Designer is a free application and can be downloaded here:
https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

[zBlueSoftware]

Version 2022.1 of the Z1 Designer has many new features and updates. As the application used to create your dashboards for the Z1 Dashboard software, this video explains how this latest version makes that even easier.

You can download the Z1 software here: https://z1simwheel.com/dashboard/demo.cfm

And don't forget to join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/XXwhX6azxM



Chapter Index:
0:00 Intro
0:44 New Open Dashboard Dialog
1:46 Conditional Text Tool
3:03 LED Group Tool
4:43 Object Pinning
5:33 Pinning A Rectangle
6:03 Flat Track Maps
6:47 Track Map Widget
7:38 New Widget Options
9:00 New Data Channels
10:29 Flashing Warnings
11:31 New Warning Options
11:50 New Standings Options
13:27 New Settings Options
14:45 Showing and Hiding Guides
15:06 Final Thoughts