MC4Y-Taskleiste – desktop taskbar of the MC4Y Productivity Suite
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German version: LIESMICH.txt

Note: The taskbar speaks English or German – by default the language of your system (see “Language” below);
this guide quotes its English texts. Since version 1.4.1 the installation scripts and the output in the command
window also speak English or German. On a computer set to German you see the German texts instead.

WHAT IS IT?
  A small bar that is always on your screen – even when no browser is open. It shows the areas (categories) of the
  suite; one click opens the tools of an area, another click opens a tool in a window of its own. There is also a
  search, your favourites and a clock that opens the calendar. You can add your own programs such as Word as well.
  The bar is optional – the suite works without it.


WHAT YOU NEED
  - The address of your suite and your user name with password – the same details you use to sign in in the
    browser. If you downloaded the taskbar from the suite (page “Your account”, section “Desktop taskbar and
    app”), the address is already filled in.
    Without a suite you can use the bar only for the programs, files and web links on your own computer.
  - Python 3.8 or newer with “tkinter”. Python is a programming language; the taskbar is written in it. On
    Windows, the installation offers to set Python up for you. On a Mac you install it beforehand from python.org
    (see below).
  - No administrator password: the taskbar is set up for your own user account only.
  - About 5 to 10 minutes.


INSTALLING ON WINDOWS 10 AND 11
  1. Open Explorer (Windows key + E) and click “Downloads” on the left.
  2. Right-click “mc4y-taskleiste” › “Properties”. If “Security” at the bottom says “This file came from another
     computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer.”: tick “Unblock”. Then click “OK”.
  3. Right-click “mc4y-taskleiste” › “Extract All…” › “Extract”.
  4. Open the new folder and, inside it, “MC4Y-Taskleiste”.
  5. Double-click “installieren-windows” (the one of type “Windows Batch File”).
     If a blue window “Windows protected your PC” appears: “More info” › “Run anyway”.
     You now see a black window with the line “MC4Y taskbar - installation for …”.
  6. If it asks “Install Python now with winget (for your user account only)? [y/N]”: type y and press Enter.
     This takes a few minutes.
  7. The taskbar starts and the window “Connect to the MC4Y Productivity Suite” opens (on a computer set to
     German: “Mit der MC4Y-Produktivitätssuite verbinden”). Continue at “FIRST START” below.
  From now on the taskbar starts every time you sign in to Windows; in the Start menu it is called
  “MC4Y Taskleiste”.

INSTALLING ON A MAC
  First, once: install Python (if you have not done so yet)
    a. In your browser, open https://www.python.org/downloads/macos/
    b. Download the latest “macOS 64-bit universal2 installer”.
    c. In the “Downloads” folder, double-click the .pkg file and follow the steps (“Continue”, “Agree”,
       “Install”, your Mac password).
  Then the taskbar:
  1. In Finder (folder “Downloads”), double-click “mc4y-taskleiste.zip”, unless Safari has already unpacked the
     file. You now see a folder “MC4Y-Taskleiste” (or “mc4y-taskleiste” with “MC4Y-Taskleiste” inside it).
  2. Open Terminal: press cmd + Space, type “Terminal” and press Return.
     (Terminal is a window for commands. Paste: cmd + V; run: Return key.)
  3. Type cd and a space, drag the folder “MC4Y-Taskleiste” from Finder into the Terminal window and press
     Return. (If macOS asks for access to “Downloads”: click “OK”.)
  4. Copy this command into Terminal and press Return:

       bash installieren-macos.command

  5. At “Start the taskbar automatically when you sign in to your Mac? [Y/n]” press Return (= yes) – or type n
     if you prefer to start it yourself.
  6. The taskbar starts and the window “Connect to the MC4Y Productivity Suite” opens. If macOS later asks for
     access to the keychain, choose “Always Allow”.
  7. You can now close Terminal (cmd + Q) – the taskbar keeps running.
  The “Applications” folder in your home folder now contains the program “MC4Y Taskbar” with an icon (see “How
  to start the taskbar later”). Please do not start the files of the package by double-clicking them in Finder –
  macOS blocks that for files from the internet. Starting them in Terminal with “bash …” does not have this
  problem. If you installed the suite itself on the Mac, its installation already offered the taskbar – then you
  do not need these steps.

INSTALLING ON LINUX
  Install Python with tkinter (for example  sudo apt install python3 python3-tk ; Fedora: python3-tkinter),
  unpack the package, open a terminal in the folder “MC4Y-Taskleiste” and enter  sh installieren-linux.sh
  Answer the question about the start at sign-in with Return (= yes) or n. Afterwards “MC4Y Taskbar” is in the
  applications menu or overview; you can close the terminal.


HOW TO START THE TASKBAR LATER
  - Windows: Start menu › “MC4Y Taskleiste” (or press the Windows key and type “MC4Y”).
  - Mac: Launchpad (the icon with the coloured tiles in the Dock; on macOS 26 it is called “Apps”) › “MC4Y
    Taskbar” – or Spotlight: cmd + Space, type “MC4Y”, Return – or Finder › Go › Home › Applications. Tip: drag
    the icon into the Dock.
  - Linux: applications menu or overview › “MC4Y Taskbar”.
  If it is already running, starting it again brings it to the front (on the screen with the mouse pointer).

  Switching the start at sign-in on or off:
  - Windows: Windows Settings › Apps › Startup (“MC4Y Taskleiste”).
  - Mac and Linux: in the bar, click 🔍, at the bottom “Settings” › box “Start when signing in to the computer” ›
    “Save”. On a Mac from macOS 13 also: Apple menu › System Settings › General › Login Items, section “Allow
    in the Background” – if it is switched off there, the bar does not start.

  The difference: in the suite, “Your account” › “Appearance” also offers a taskbar IN THE BROWSER. It belongs
  to the browser window and closes with it. The desktop taskbar is a program of its own and stays open until you
  quit it with ✕.


FIRST START
  1. In the window “Connect to the MC4Y Productivity Suite”, the field “Address of the suite” already contains
     an address if you downloaded the taskbar from the suite. Otherwise enter the same address you use in the
     browser (for example http://127.0.0.1:8090/ for the suite on this computer).
  2. Enter your suite “User name” and “Password”. In “Name of this device” you can keep the suggestion.
  3. Click “Connect”.
     You now see the bar at the bottom left of the screen.
  Your password is not stored: the suite gives the taskbar a device key of its own. Without a suite, click
  “Use without suite”. With “DE | EN” at the top right of the window you choose the language of the bar.


HOW TO CHECK THAT IT WORKED
  1. In the bar, click an area (for example “Productivity tools”) and then a tool. It opens in a window of its
     own – you are already signed in.
  2. Sign out of your computer and sign in again: the bar is back.


HOW TO USE THE BAR
  - Click an area: opens its tools · click a tool: opens it · ☆: remembers it as a favourite.
  - 🔍: find a tool (Enter opens the first match), recently edited documents, settings.
  - Handle ⠿ on the left: move the bar with the mouse (also to another screen); double-click = back to the
    standard place at the bottom left; right mouse button = menu.
  - ⇅ / ⇆: vertical or horizontal · clock: calendar · ✕ at the end: quit the taskbar (it asks first; start it
    again as described under “How to start the taskbar later” or at the next sign-in).
  - ⚙ “Customise”: create your own areas, change the order, hide areas, add programs on your computer (for
    example Word) and web links. “Choose from the programs and apps on this computer …” lists all installed
    programs and apps to pick from.
  - 🌐 server name / 💻 “This PC” shows where the tools come from if you are connected to several suites.
  - Language: the bar speaks English or German – by default the language of your system. Switch with “DE | EN”
    at the top of the search 🔍 or in the sign-in window, with a right-click on the handle ⠿ › “🌐 Sprache ·
    Language”, or in the settings (where you also find “Automatic – same as the system”). Tools of the suite open
    in the same language, as long as you have not made your own choice in the browser.


COMMON PROBLEMS
  - “User name or password incorrect”: this means your account in THIS suite – the same details as when signing
    in in the browser at the address you entered. Enter the user name without a domain.
  - Windows: Python is not found and winget is missing: install Python from
    https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/ (tick “Add python.exe to PATH”) and repeat step 5.
  - Mac: “Python (3.8 or newer, with tkinter) is missing on this Mac for the taskbar.”: install Python from
    python.org as described above, then repeat step 4. (The Python that macOS itself offers is not enough – its
    tkinter is too old.)
  - The bar is not visible: start it again (see “How to start the taskbar later”) – the bar then appears on the
    screen where the mouse pointer is.
  - The bar disappears when you close the browser: that is the taskbar IN THE BROWSER – start the program “MC4Y
    Taskbar”.
  - Mac, versions up to 1.4.1: there the program was called “MC4Y-Taskleiste” (without an icon) and started from
    the Terminal. Simply repeat the installation with the new package – the old program is replaced.
  - An antivirus program reports the taskbar: please report the false alarm to the vendor and to me. Only add
    exceptions if you downloaded the package from your own suite or from www.my-coaching4you.de.


REMOVING
  Windows: In the unpacked folder “MC4Y-Taskleiste”, double-click “deinstallieren-windows”.
  Mac:     In Terminal:  bash ~/"Library/Application Support/MC4Y/Taskleiste/deinstallieren-macos.command"
           (removes the program “MC4Y Taskbar”, the start at sign-in and the program files)
  Linux:   sh deinstallieren-linux.sh
  With “-EinstellungenLoeschen” (Windows) or “--einstellungen” (Mac, Linux), your settings and the device key
  are removed as well. You remove the device in the suite on the page “Your account”, in the section
  “Desktop taskbar and app”.


FOR EXPERTS

Installation
  Windows: installieren-windows.bat/.ps1 copies to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\MC4Y-Taskleiste, creates “MC4Y
           Taskleiste” in the Start menu and in the Startup folder (switch on/off: Windows Settings › Apps ›
           Startup) and starts the bar. -Desktop: additionally a desktop shortcut; -OhneAutostart; -OhneStart.
           Run it again to update. Remains of earlier versions (%LOCALAPPDATA%\MC4Y\Taskleiste, shortcut
           “MC4Y-Taskleiste”) are cleaned up by the script; it names whatever is locked.
  macOS:   installieren-macos.command copies to ~/Library/Application Support/MC4Y/Taskleiste and creates the
           program ~/Applications/MC4Y Taskleiste.app (Info.plist, icon mc4y-taskleiste.icns, German/English
           display name; the launcher Contents/MacOS/mc4y-taskleiste starts Python with the taskbar and shows a
           visible message if something is missing). Start at sign-in if wanted (question; --autostart or
           --ohne-autostart without asking): LaunchAgent ~/Library/LaunchAgents/de.my-coaching4you.mc4y-taskleiste
           .plist, which calls this launcher (RunAtLoad, LimitLoadToSessionType Aqua; from macOS 13 visible under
           Login Items). The bar is started via macOS (open), not as part of the Terminal; --ohne-start does not
           start it. Up to 1.4.1: “MC4Y-Taskleiste.app” (AppleScript, without icon) – it is replaced. Looks for
           Python in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework (python.org), /usr/local/bin, /opt/homebrew/bin;
           /usr/bin/python3 only if Apple's command line tools are already installed (otherwise macOS would
           offer to install them). Needs Tk 8.6 or later. Run it again to update.
  Linux:   installieren-linux.sh – menu entry “MC4Y Taskbar” (~/.local/share/applications), start at sign-in if
           wanted (XDG autostart; --autostart / --ohne-autostart / --ohne-start as on the Mac), started in a
           session of its own (setsid) – it keeps running when the terminal is closed.

Server and this computer
  - The bar can be connected to several suites, for example the server of your organisation AND the suite on
    this computer – each with its own device key. Default (“Automatic”): the tools come from the server; if it
    cannot be reached (when travelling, say), from the suite on this computer. Every five minutes the bar checks
    whether the server is back and switches back.
  - Click 🌐 / 💻: switch to one suite for good, back to “Automatic” or “＋ Connect another suite …”. The same
    is available in the settings under “Connection”, where you can also use “disconnect …” for each suite.
  - If the program comes with a server address (download from the server's suite), it offers once, at start-up,
    to sign in there. “Cancel” remembers that.
  - Address without http:// or https://: https applies to servers, http only to 127.0.0.1/localhost.

Own categories and programs
  Your own categories (tools of the suite and web links) belong to your account, so they also apply to the
  taskbar in the portal and on your other computers. Programs and files on this computer appear ONLY in the
  settings on this computer (not in the suite). The taskbar reads the list of programs only locally (Start
  menu or Applications folder; no registry access, no other programs are started) and does not transmit it.

What does the program store?
  In your user folder (Windows: %APPDATA%\MC4Y\taskleiste.json, macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/MC4Y/,
  Linux: ~/.config/mc4y/): the address of the suite, user name, device name, position and appearance of the bar,
  the chosen language, how tools are opened, the programs and files you added (name, path, arguments, category)
  and a copy of your categories. The device key goes into the secure store of your system: Windows data protection (DPAPI), the
  macOS keychain or, on Linux, secret-tool (if that is missing, a file readable only by you). A device that has
  not been used for a long time (default 90 days) has to sign in again. The program connects only to the address
  of your suite and sends nothing to third parties. It loads the list of tools at start-up and again every five
  minutes.

Opening the tools
  In a slim window of their own without an address bar (Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Chromium or Brave) – or,
  if you set it so, as a tab in the default browser. On macOS the search has a window of its own with a frame
  (frameless windows do not receive keyboard input there). The bar adds its language to the address (&lang=en or
  &lang=de); the suite uses it as long as you have not made your own choice there.

Language (since 1.4)
  English (British English) or German. “Automatic” (the default) follows the language of the system: Windows –
  the display language of Windows; macOS – the preferred language in System Settings; Linux – LANGUAGE, LC_ALL,
  LC_MESSAGES or LANG. German if the system is set to German, otherwise English. The bar translates the names of
  the suite's tools and categories itself; your own categories, programs and web links keep the names you gave
  them. Since 1.4.1 the installation scripts and the output in the command window (--fassung, --selbsttest …)
  follow the same setting; for one call you can choose with --lang en or --lang de (installation script on
  Windows: -Sprache en).

Antivirus software
  Version 1.1.2 (18 October 2026) created the autostart shortcut via a PowerShell started in the background – a
  pattern that Bitdefender wrongly classified as malware. Since 1.2 the program starts nothing for this, does not
  write to the Startup folder and changes nothing in the registry; shortcuts are created only by the
  installation script, which you start yourself. Since 1.2 the program is in a new folder, and the shortcut is
  called “MC4Y Taskleiste”.

Tested on Windows 11. On a Mac, the installation of the suite has been tested on a real device (October 2026);
the program “MC4Y Taskbar” with the start at sign-in (since 1.4.2) is still to be confirmed there. Linux is
supported but has not yet been tested on real devices – I would be glad of feedback.

Licence: GPL-3.0-or-later · Peter Hoenig, MY COACHING FOR YOU (https://www.my-coaching4you.de)
No warranty; liability only as required by law.
