dzen + conky + ratpoison for toggleable status bar

dzen.conky.ratpoison

===== .CONKYRC ======
out_to_x no
background no
cpu_avg_samples 2
net_avg_samples 2
no_buffers yes
out_to_console yes
out_to_stderr no
extra_newline no
update_interval 1.0
uppercase no
use_spacer none

# I want a single line to output to dzen2; color needs to be changed to dzen2 format, too
# can change this to whatever you want
TEXT
^fg(grey)RAM: ^fg(green)$memperc% ^fg(grey)CPU: ^fg(green)$cpu%  \
^fg(grey)U: ^fg(green)${upspeedf wlan0} ^fg(grey)D: ^fg(green)${downspeedf wlan0} \
^fg(grey)TOP_PROC: ^fg(green)${top name 1}^fg(grey)M:^fg(green)${top mem 1} \
^fg(grey)C:^fg(green)${top cpu 1} ^fg(yellow)${time %a.%d.%m.%Y  %R}
===== END .CONKYRC ====

===== .RATPOISONRC ====
# kill old dzen process, start the conky piping to dzen process, set padding, and initially show statusbar
addhook quit exec killall dzen2
set padding 0 16 0 0
exec conky | dzen2 -ta c -e 'sigusr1=hide;sigusr2=unhide' -h '16' -fn 'inconsolata-g' &

# script to smartly toggle dzen --> all logic there
bind z exec ~/.ratpoison/dzconky.rp
===== END .RATPOISONRC ====

===== DZCONKY.RP ====
#!/bin/bash
# ok, dzen2 can be toggled
# now we need the logic to smartly toggle the padding and the status bar

#if the padding is "0 0 0 0" == hidden, therefore show it
#and vice versa

PADDING=$( ratpoison -c "set padding")
SHOW_P="0 0 0 0"
UNSHOW_P="0 16 0 0"

#change padding and signal dzen
if [ "$PADDING" == "$SHOW_P" ]
then
        pkill -SIGUSR1 dzen && ratpoison -c "set padding $HIDE_P"
else
        pkill -SIGUSR1 dzen && ratpoison -c "set padding $SHOW_P"
fi
===== END DZCONKY.RP ====