John Papa

Posted on Feb 22, 2019

Peacock - Late Night Coding FTW

#vscode #javascript #fun

Flashback

A while back I created a theme for VS Code called Winter is Coming. I learned how to do this by reading this great guide on theming in the VS Code docs. I still use it today (I love the dark versions). It taught me a lot about how to customize colors in VS Code. I then started using this to help solve another problem I had: quickly and visually differentiating between VS Code instances

I'm often working on multiple code projects an articles I am writing in markdown. My worflow is to open different separate VS Code instances for each, as they are often unrelated to each other. As my mind shifts between the work, I find myself cycling through the instances and it takes me a bit of time to identify which instance I want to in focus.

John Papa

@john_papa

I often have many VS @Code instances open. I've been using this technique to differentiate them by titlebar color so I can see which one is which. I made it an extension - will publish it soon!

Options
1. Pick a custom color
2. Pick a random color
3. Pick a predefined color

05:46 AM - 22 Feb 2019

200 1038

About Last Night

I was working on 4 apps at once last night, along with several articles in I am crafting in markdown using VS Code. This motivated me to complete this project

After I had a working extension completed, I created a simple animated gif and shared it on twitter to see if anyone else was interested. Then I went to bed.

I woke up this morning to more positive reactions than from the community (thank you). I also received many great contributions already (thank you again!).

credit to @josephrexme for the name and icon for Peacock
credit to @codebeast for the CLI suggestions
credit to @_clarkio and @burkeholland for several issues/ideas

Special credit to the VS Code team and their incredibly helpful guide for creating extensions

Try Peacock Out

If you are interested in trying out Peacock, you can find it here in the marketplace. It is currently in preview, which means there may be dragons ahead.

Get the extension here
Contribute to GitHub repository here)

Worst case, this extension is just something I'll use, and that's OK. But if you like it too, please give it a try and submit feedback in GitHub. You can open issues or grab an open issue and help contribute.

Thanks!

Cross posted to johnpapa.net

Top comments (22)

Edison Yap • Feb 22 '19 • Edited

Man I was looking for something exactly like this! Worst was when I had multiple rails console opened at each tab and they all look identical.

Have a question though, does it work if I have my VS Code in full screen? (Mac)

John Papa • Feb 22 '19

Not yet. Preview just does title bar. I have an open issue on the repository to consider what other settings should be applied.

João • Feb 22 '19

Can you style the status bar? That might be a (perhaps better) alternative!

John Papa • Feb 22 '19

Yes - there is an open issue where I am gathering ideas for what should be colored. Please add your thoughts.

John Papa • Feb 24 '19

... and ... version 0.0.7 now has more options for coloring

Blair McKee • Feb 22 '19

I love it! I manage websites for multiple companies and often keep multiple windows open at a time. Makes switching so much easier. TY for sharing :)

John Papa • Feb 24 '19

Thanks! I'm happy you like it

Benjamin Gil Flores • Feb 22 '19

That plugin you did looks great men, but atm am not that pro and i work on a single App at once.

I will sure download it once im ready to work on different projects at the same time.

John Papa • Feb 24 '19

Have you tried using VS Code to edit text files too? Articles, notes for you todo's for the day, etc? Just curious. I love it for all text editing

Benjamin Gil Flores • Feb 24 '19 • Edited

I havent tried it yet, sounds like a good idea, how do you normally wirte up this text files?, do you write the challenges for the day, or something like that?