Sidebar Pic: Mood Booster

Sidebar Pic is a VS Code extension that allows you to display an inspirational photo (mood booster) directly in your Explorer sidebar. Perfect for developers who need a little extra motivation during long debugging sessions or tight project deadlines.

✨ Features

• Custom Explorer View: Adds a dedicated section within your VS Code Explorer.
• Highly Customizable: Change the dropdown title and the image URL anytime via Settings.
• Command Palette Ready: Quickly change title/URL or pick a local image from Ctrl + Shift + P.
• Local Image Support: Use images from your own computer.
• Lightweight: Optimized to ensure it doesn't impact your coding performance.
• Real-time Updates: Changes in Settings are applied immediately without needing to restart VS Code.

🛠️ Installation

1. Open VS Code.
2. Go to the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X).
3. Search for "Sidebar Pic: Mood Booster".
4. Click Install.

⚙️ Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings, which can be accessed via File > Preferences > Settings (or Ctrl + ,) by searching for sidebarPic:

• sidebarPic.title: Change the title that appears in the sidebar header (Default: MY INSPIRATION).
• sidebarPic.imageUrl: Enter the URL of the image (Unsplash, Pinterest, or any direct image link) you want to display.
• sidebarPic.localImagePath: Local image path chosen via Command Palette. If set, this is used instead of sidebarPic.imageUrl.

Commands (Ctrl + Shift + P)

• Sidebar Pic: Set Title
• Sidebar Pic: Set Image URL
• Sidebar Pic: Select Local Image
• Sidebar Pic: Clear Local Image

📖 How to Use

1. Open the Explorer sidebar (Ctrl + Shift + E).
2. Scroll to the bottom of the sidebar (below Outline/Timeline).
3. You will find a section with your configured title (default: PHOTO).
4. Click the arrow to expand and view your inspirational photo!

Pro Tip: You can drag-and-drop this section header to the very top of the Explorer so your photo is the first thing you see.

📝 Release Notes

0.0.3

• Improved image URL validation to prevent non-direct links (for example, Google image result page URLs).
• Added a fallback message in the sidebar when an image cannot be loaded.
• Reduced unnecessary re-renders/config writes to minimize loading flicker when selecting or clearing local images.
• Clarified settings guidance that sidebarPic.imageUrl should be a direct image URL.

0.0.2

• Added Command Palette support:
  • Sidebar Pic: Set Title
  • Sidebar Pic: Set Image URL
  • Sidebar Pic: Select Local Image
  • Sidebar Pic: Clear Local Image
• Added local image support (sidebarPic.localImagePath) with file picker workflow.
• Added clickable Settings actions for browsing and clearing local image path.
• Improved live update behavior when settings change.

0.0.1

• Initial release of Sidebar Pic.
• Added a Webview View in Explorer sidebar.
• Added configurable title and remote image URL.

🤝 Contributing

Developed with ❤️ by MEIS Developer. If you have feature suggestions or find any bugs, please feel free to open an issue on our GitHub repository.

Happy Coding! 💻🔥