feat(widget): add a custom left margin for the taskbar widget

[wjingshan]

Summary

Adds an optional custom left margin so the taskbar widget can be pinned at an exact distance from the start of the taskbar.

Motivation

The widget position is always derived from the position setting plus the automatic padding, which snaps the widget next to the native Widgets/weather button (and falls back to "20 px + visualizer width" when that UI Automation lookup times out). The existing "custom spacing" value is only a relative offset, so there is no way to place the widget at a fixed distance. Related: #718, #1116, #518.

Type of Change

• Feature
• Bug fix
• Refactor (no functional changes)
• Style (formatting, naming)
• Other

What Changed

• New settings TaskbarWidgetUseCustomLeftMargin (default off) and TaskbarWidgetLeftMargin (0–2000 px, default 20) plus a ...Text property.
• TaskbarWindow.PositionWidget(): with the position set to "near start" and the toggle on, primaryPos is set to the configured distance (scaled by the taskbar DPI), skipping the automatic padding and the visualizer offset; the existing manual padding is still applied on top.
• PositionVisualizer(): if the visualizer would be pushed before the start of the taskbar, it is now placed after the widget instead, so a small margin cannot push it off-screen.
• Settings UI: new card with a numeric text box + toggle (the page grid got one additional row).
• Localization: new keys in Dictionary-en-US.xaml.

Additional Information

Verified on Windows 11 25H2 (x64, 200% scaling): margin 300 → widget's left edge at exactly 600 physical px; margin 10 → widget at 20 px with the visualizer automatically moved to its right side. The toggle is off by default, so the current behaviour is unchanged.

Checklist

• Code changes are manually tested and working.
• Formatting and naming are consistent with the project (dotnet format --verify-no-changes passes for the touched files).
• Self-review of changes is done.
• AI tools were used (if yes, I reviewed and fully understand the changes myself).

[github-actions]

All contributors have signed the CLA ✍️ ✅
_{Posted by the CLA Assistant Lite bot.}

[wjingshan]

I have read and agree to the FluentFlyout CLA

[unchihugo]

Hi @wjingshan, we already have a feature doing exactly what you've described in the PR description. What's the purpose of an additional margin setting?

[wjingshan]

额外增加边距的目的是为了避开在任务栏上的其他插件。有的插件只能贴边放置。如果没有增加额外边距就重叠了。 The purpose of adding margins is to avoid other plugins on the taskbar. Some plugins can only be placed along the edge. If no extra margins are added, the overlap occurs.

…

________________________________ 发件人: Hugo ***@***.***> 发送时间: 2026年9月15日 3:19 收件人: unchihugo/FluentFlyout ***@***.***> 抄送: choosejin ***@***.***>; Mention ***@***.***> 主题: Re: [unchihugo/FluentFlyout] feat(widget): add a custom left margin for the taskbar widget (PR #1133) @unchihugo requested changes on this pull request. Hi @wjingshan<https://github.com/wjingshan>, we already have a feature doing exactly what you've described in the PR description. What's the purpose of an additional margin setting? ― Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#1133?email_source=notifications&email_token=AFIK7PGNSFNYC6PTJMHWSE35PBAEVA5CNFSNUABKM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2QOVWGYUTFOF2WK43UKJSXM2LFO4XTKMRQGE4DKNZXGEZKM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#pullrequestreview-5201857712>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFIK7PC6S7SCUUMJDOG3FJ35PBAEVAVCNFSNUABFKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM4DOMRQGE3DOOJYHNEXG43VMU5TKNBTGEYTKNRYGE4KC5QC>. Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS<https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AFIK7PH7VXTX4JKA3YOW64L5PBAEVA5CNFSNUABKM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2QOVWGYUTFOF2WK43UKJSXM2LFO4XTKMRQGE4DKNZXGEZKM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android<https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AFIK7PGCUDFFOGAS3AFQC635PBAEVA5CNFSNUABKM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2QOVWGYUTFOF2WK43UKJSXM2LFO4XTKMRQGE4DKNZXGEZKM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[wjingshan]

Thanks for taking a look! Let me clarify the difference from the existing Custom spacing (TaskbarWidgetManualPadding), because that one is a relative offset:

TaskbarWidgetManualPadding is added on top of a base position that is recalculated on every update from the position setting and the automatic padding. The automatic padding resolves the native Widgets/weather button through UI Automation — and when that lookup fails or times out (there are Timeout querying taskbar XAML element: WidgetsButton warnings in the log, which is what happens on my machine) the base silently falls back to a different value (20 px + visualizer width). So the same spacing value can end up in a different place, and there is no way to express "leave me at least N px of room at the start".

The new TaskbarWidgetLeftMargin is an absolute anchor: the widget's left edge is placed exactly N DIP from the start of the taskbar, independent of the Widgets button lookup. Verified on Windows 11 25H2 @200% scaling: margin 300 → the widget's left edge lands at exactly 600 physical px; margin 10 → widget at 20 px with the visualizer automatically moved to its right side so it cannot be pushed off the taskbar.

The use case is avoiding other taskbar tools that can only sit flush against the start of the taskbar (e.g. TrafficMonitor): they overlap the widget, and a relative offset cannot reserve space for them reliably.

That said, I'm not attached to having a second padding-like setting. If you prefer, I can:

• fold this into the existing padding expander as a "fixed position" mode instead of adding a separate card, or
• make the existing custom spacing act as an absolute offset when automatic padding is turned off, or
• close this PR if you think the existing option already covers it.

Happy to adjust — just let me know which direction you prefer. And sorry for the email-formatted reply above, that was sent from the mail client and quoted the whole thread.