Modify Stretchy Button - Howto?

[Lexje]

Hi folks,

Being fairly new to this forum and to XTP and XWD in general please point me in the right direction if this question has already been treated elsewhere :-)

My Goal:
To create a Button and a Bar similar to the 'glowing' gel-like bar present on PortableApps.com
I'd like it to be darkish blue instead of the darkish red on the site.

I've tried to modify 'Stretchy Button' present in the Designs Gallery in the Buttons folder.

Question 1:
As I intend to have the darker part up - I'd like to rotate the button 180°. Next I'd have to rotate back the text a 180° again.
To achieve this, I have to ungroup or remove the softgroup.
This is all okay.

But how do I regroup again to get the identical functionality of the button back? Each time I tried, it seems I lose the white color change during MouseOver....

Question 2:
What is the recommended way to change the color of this button?
I've followed through the guide to creating gel-buttons previously and remember to be able to choose the color by selecting / changing the hue, but how can I do this with this type of button?

Also - How can I manipulate the "Match color" ability? Is there anything similar to "M$ Format Painter"?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions!

Erwin