By default, the IES Online section is set to be displayed when the VE is opened, while the New Project and Open Project sections are set to be displayed whenever the File->New Project and File->Open Project items (and associated toolbar buttons) are selected. This behaviour can be changed in the VE Preferences – you can access the relevant settings by clicking on the Change the default Start Page view… button at the bottom-left of the Start Page, or by selecting Preferences… from the Tools menu. The Startup and Start Page section of the General tab contains options for configuring the behaviour:
To change what is displayed when the VE is first opened, click on the When the VE launches dropdown menu – this contains the following options:
- Show IES Online on Start Page: When the VE is launched, the Start Page will be displayed with the IES Online section active.
- Show Open Project on Start Page: When the VE is launched, the Start Page will be displayed with the Open Project section active.
- Show New Project on Start Page: When the VE is launched, the Start Page will be displayed with the New Project section active.
- Create Blank Project: When the VE is launched, a blank project will be created and the Start Page will not be displayed.
- Load Most Recent Project: When the VE is launched, the mostly recently used project will be re-opened and the Start Page will not be displayed.
To change what is displayed when selecting the Open Project menu-item, click on the On File >> Open Project dropdown menu – this contains the following options:
- Show Open Project on Start Page: When the Open Project menu-item or toolbar button is selected, the Start Page will be displayed with the Open Project section active.
- Browse For Project: When the Open Project menu-item or toolbar button is selected, a standard file browser window will be displayed - the Start Page will not be displayed.
To change what is displayed when selecting the New Project menu-item, click on the On File >> New Project dropdown menu – this contains the following options:
- Show New Project on Start Page: When the New Project menu-item or toolbar button is selected, the Start Page will be displayed with the Open Project section active.
- Prompt with New Project Options: When the New Project menu-item or toolbar button is selected, the standard VE New Project window will be displayed instead of the Start Page.
- Create Blank Project: When the New Project menu-item or toolbar button is selected, a blank project will be created instead of the Start Page.
In the case of the New Project and Open Project options, you can temporarily switch behaviour by holding down the Shift key when selecting the menu-item or toolbar button. For example, if you have New Project set to Show New Project on Start Page and hold down the Shift key when selecting the File->New Project menu-item, the new project options will be displayed and the Start Page will not be displayed. This does not change the setting in the Preferences.
Note: for New Project, the New Project Options window displayed will depend on whether the Use New Project wizard checkbox (under General Preferences) is ticked – if it is, this window will be displayed:
If it is not ticked, this window will be displayed:
