Hi:

The time and date options in the Systems Preference does not seem to be working properly.

I am able to customize the way I would like these to appear in the Menu Bar within the Systems Preferences menu. However, when I click "OK", the date/time information does not change in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

I seem to recall that someone else experienced a similar problem before and discovered a work-around. However, a search in this Forum did not find the solution.

Anyone have any idea how I can get the customizing I do in System Preference to change the Menu Bar appearance as desired?

Your issue sounds vaguely familiar, but exactly which version of OS X are you running?

One workaround is to use wClock. I have used it for many years (and continue to do so (despite the ability to change appearance via System Preferences) and I like it very much. In fact, I have opted not to use Apple's clock in the menu bar.

I've used MagiCal for years.

It supplements Apple time (It doesn't offer my preferred format.) with day/date...wonderful, because it takes up very little menu bar space and can be pinned to either the right or left-hand end of your menulet string, and a drop-down calendar. (Check me out! )

Leopard 10.5 on an iMAC PPC G5.

Thanks for the wCLOCK link, too.

wClock has a drop-down calendar as well, and it too can be positioned anywhere on the screen.

I think you misread, Jon... MagiCal's day/date menulet can be pinned to either the right or left end of your menulet string.

Mea culpa. You're right, Artie. Old age hasn't just crept up, it's at a dead run (pun intended and very unfortunate).

I was getting set to boot into Leopard when I remembered both having run into an issue similar to yours a few years ago and that the solution lay in SysPrefs > Language & Text > Formats.

I think you may have to set "Region: Custom" and adjust some other stuff in there.

Hope this helps.

> Old age hasn't just crept up, it's at a dead run (pun intended and very unfortunate).

I'm sorry to hear that, Jon; I hope it isn't as serious a problem as you've suggested.

I was just being facetious. I'm at the age when I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, it's an oncoming train.

Thanks for the reassurance; I tend to take things literally.

Mystery solved.

In SYSTEM PREFERENCES . . .

1. select Date and Time;

2. select format for desired "look" of the Menulet;

3. select clock;

4. select : Show date and time in menu bar.

BUT here is the kicker . . .

There are TWO more steps of options to complete. One for TIME and the other for DATE.

I had only completed the TIME portion so, naturally, the DATE options (unchecked) did not give me the desired result before.

P.S. A computer is only as good as the operator!!!!

Thanks, y'all, for your input.

(After all is said and done, I rather like the wCLOCK 3.0 application, so will likely use that instead.)

Happy to hear that you've solved you problem.

Enjoy wCLOCK; Apple's time/day/date options leave much to be desired.

Well, Folks.

I WAS enjoying the wClock application but something has gone awry.

When I LOGOUT, the display resolution changes so that the LOGIN panel (showing the three Users and Sleep/Restart/Shutdown) is super huge - something in the neighbourhood of 800 x 600. My usual resolution display setting is: 1920 x 1200 on the new MBP (2011) with Snow Leopard.

Only when I leave wClock open while I log out does the problem occur ; logging in again thereafter causes the display to stay at 800 x 600. IF I close wClock before I log out, there is no change in the resolution.

Any ideas as to what is going on here with wClock? Any fixes? (Is there a .plist somewhere which I can trash?)

Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.

wClock's .plist: /Users/Your short name/Library/Preferences/com.(*).plist.

(*) This will probably specify either wClock, the developer's name, or both.

You can also look in /Users/Your short name/Library/Application Support where wClock may have placed a folder.

Have you visited the developer's Web site to see if there's a FAQ section?

The appropriate plist is ~/Library/Preferences/com.wolfware.wClock.plist. You can also try ~/Library/Caches/com.wolfware.wClock

Thanks, Guys.

This is where the .plist was located:

~/Library/Preferences/com.wolfware.wClock.plist

I trashed - and shredded - it; problem still occured. So I trashed (and shredded) the complete application (including the .dmg).

Downloaded a new copy from the wClock website and installed it without a hitch.

HOWEVER . . . the same problem still occurs. So I presume this application just doesn't like me.

Any other applications out there that might WORK with the MBP (2011) using Snow Leopard?



Note: Decided to give MagiCal a try. Works like a charm.

It's working fine for me in Snow Leopard. Did you try trashing the cache that I mentioned in my previous post?

Hi, again.

Yes, I looked into the CACHE folder you mentioned. There was no "wolfware" cache there.

P.S. The only traces of the application that I could find were noted in my last posting. All of those items were trashed/shredded.

As it turns out, MagiCal has more options to tinker with for altering the look of the display in the menu bar - which is a bonus.

Thanks, again, for your help.

MagiCal is an unsung gem; all else aside, it gives you day & date in your menu bar in an almost impossibly small space.

Maybe your problem with wClock was rooted in that missing cache folder; I suggest that you mention it to the developer.

Just for the hell of it, I d/l'ed wClock, and it didn't generate a cache folder for me, either.

I found it curious, though, that Finder asked me to authenticate before allowing me to trash the app. (The .dmg went without a whimper. )

I can't test this, but I wonder if my cache folder is a leftover from previous OS versions. My wClock installation has been with me since 10.4.

That thought crossed my mind, but it crossed so fast that I forgot to post.

Why don't you move your cache to your desktop, restart, and see what happens?

Maybe just do a "Get Info" and look at the creation and modification dates of the folder and/or contents?

I, too, had to "authenticate" the application to move it to the trash.

Interestingly, I usually use the PERMANENT ERASER application to secure empty trash. It would not shred wCLOCK . . . so I used the Secure Empty Trash in the Finder drop down menu.

Since I like to tinker with applications because I WANT to - and not because I HAVE to - wCLOCK is history for me.

The folder was created May 15, 2011 and modified yesterday.

My best (and only) guess is that maybe something in your particular configuration necessitates that App Support folder, but, on the other hand, my experience has been that such stuff is created the first time you launch an app and sits empty until it's needed (although I can't swear that that's universal).

Under any circumstances, though, doesn't that creation date seem odd?

But it's not an Application Support folder; it's just a routine ~/Library/Caches folder. As for the creation date, perhaps that's a result of Jon's having deleted caches for maintenance purposes on May 14...

I don't suppose you restarted after having installed wClock and before having failed to find such a cache folder? Maybe the cache folder is only created upon first quitting the process, since until then there's nothing to cache.

> But it's not an Application Support folder; it's just a routine ~/Library/Caches folder.

Boy, are you ever correct! I mentioned the possibility of an App Support folder earlier in the thread, spaced, and injected it into the present discussion of caches.

So I just d/l'ed wClock again, set a single pref, added it to my Login Items, restarted, and still do not have a wClock cache.

> As for the creation date, perhaps that's a result of Jon's having deleted caches for maintenance purposes on May 14.

Now that I'm focused on caches... Yeah, that's a pretty good guess; after all, the 14th did fall on a day of the week. (Sorry, Jon...couldn't resist. )

Undoubtedly, you're right about my deleting caches on May 14.
I installed wClock several years ago and believe me, I have restarted once or twice since then.

... Have you visited the developer's Web site to see if there's a FAQ section?


http://www.wolfware.com/


NO longer exits. Hmmmm? That could be a sign why there are the glitches with wClock.

Interestingly enough, you can still make a donation to the developer at this PayPal site.

If I follow your PayPal link, I get the "Sorry — your last action could not be completed" error...

Posted in the Mac OS X 10.0 - 10.5.x forum.



I am confused.

In Mac OS X 10.6.7 - > System Preferences - > Date & Time - > Clock
with the following options checked:

• Show date and time in menu bar
• Show AM/PM
• Show the day of the week
• Show date

Sat May 28 7:00 PM appears on the right side of my menu bar.

Truth be told, wClock is the most unintuitive app I've ever run across, so I'm in no way mystified by its disappearance.

What I do find odd, though, is that it can still be d/l'ed despite the fact that the developer's Web site seems to be gone.

> Any other applications out there that might WORK with the MBP (2011) using Snow Leopard?

I just noticed that... How'd we get from "Leopard 10.5 on an iMAC PPC G5" to Snow Leopard on an MBP?

I (just now) clicked on my posted link and got a message that my PayPal session had timed out. (Probably, a PayPal cookie accounts for the differences that we report.) I originally found the link by going to wClock Help; I found it there as a link to make a donation.

I just d/l'ed wClock again to take a look-see... It's odd that clicking on your link yields that error message while the link from wClock Help is still functional.

I'm still curious about why Finder demands authentication before moving wClock to the trash; I don't remember ever having run into that sort of behavior from a 3rd party app before.

Anybody have any insights as to reason or methodology?

artie505,


I am concerned that you are posting in this thread to follow * your * curiosity rather than addressing the troubleshooting topics posted by MG2009 seeking help from FineTunedMac members in the areas of date and time format in menu bar using some version of Mac OS X.

. . . because I have TWO computers.

One runs on 10.5 with a PPC and the other runs on 10.6 with MBP.

Although the TIME/DATE options can be found in System Preferences, as expected, the FULL format in the dialogue box shows the day of the week (e.g. Wednesday) in its FULL format; however, when I click OK to add the FULL format to the menu bar, it appears there in the abbreviated form (e.g. Wed).

My goal was to have the FULL format appear in the Menu Bar EXACTLY as it appears in the dialogue box in System Preferences.

P.S. I cannot get it to appear in my preferred way on either the iMAC-PPC (10.5) or the MBPro (10.6) computers - hence, the move to wClock and, failing that, MagiCal.

Oh, get over it, dianne; "the troubleshooting topics posted by MG2009 seeking help from FineTunedMac members in the areas of date and time format in menu bar using some version of Mac OS X" ceased to be an issue when MG2009 reported


in post #15615! Since then, this thread has dealt, pretty much exclusively, with wClock.

Second... Under any circumstances, I've already addressed "the troubleshooting topics [...]" by linking to MagiCal, which MG2009 has d/l'ed and is, so far, happy with.

Third... The "troubleshooting topics [...]" having been resolved to MG2009's apparent satisfaction, I find your concern with my exploring, in this thread, one of the three wClock issues that arose in this thread, two of which have already been explored in this thread, annoying. (Although I can't link to the post, I note that dkmarsh has already pronounced this very type of exploration after an initial problem has been solved to be acceptable.)

And, finally... The wClock issue about which I posted my curiosity seems to me to be worthy of exploration, and if you don't feel that its exploration in the context within which it arose is acceptable, why don't you just moderate it to its own thread in this or another forum rather than wasting my time and your own?

My fault.

When my original inquiry was resolved in Post #15615, I should have ended there and posted a NEW thread - instead of #15730 - for matters related to the wClock and, thereafter, MagiCal applications.

Sorry about that, Folks.

Don't be so quick to blame yourself.

Two or more lines of discussion frequently get intertwined during the course of working through an issue, and the Mods are quick to take action when one needs to be split off, but, in this instance, your issue having been resolved apparently left them with no inclination to split the wClock line from its forebear.

As I mentioned, we've discussed three different wClock issues in this thread, and that includes participation by two Mods, dkmarsh and alternaut, with neither having looked askance at it.

I just re-located this link, which I had trashed for lack of interest (after all this time), but 10.4: Easily add the date to the menubar may help you out.

The procedure doesn't work in Snow Leopard, but I have a recollection of its having worked in Leopard (despite its Tiger pedigree).

I suspect dianne's concern has less to do with adherence to a thread's literal topic than it does with your chronic habit of diverting threads into areas which have no substantive connection to any of the issues covered.

dianne referred to "the troubleshooting topics posted by MG2009 seeking help...in the areas of date and time format in menu bar." Since wClock and MagiCal were offered as solutions, further discussion of issues arising from their implementation—including the apparent inaccessibility of the wClock site and any helpful information which might be had therefrom—is clearly in the spirit of the thread if not the letter.

Discussion of when third-party applications require authentication prior to deletion is, just as clearly, outside of any reasonable definition of what this thread is about. It's a classic case of a thread stimulating interest in a different issue which should be raised for discussion, if desired, in a new thread.



Since you seem to have more time on your hands than any of the mods, based on your ongoing provision of about 30% of the posts made here at FTM, the least you can do is to save everybody else's time by learning the difference between participating in a naturally meandering thread and commandeering a thread to satisfy your own curiosity. It's not like this point hasn't been raised a dozen times over the years.