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129 lines
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ReStructuredText
129 lines
5.4 KiB
ReStructuredText
---
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layout: default
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title: Guided Tour - Backgrounds and Themes
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---
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.. TODO: check for the dead links
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Backgrounds and Themes
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======================
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.. contents::
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:backlinks: none
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For the purposes of this guided tour, only those appearance options that are
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built-in to Window Maker will be considered. Crafting custom styles and themes
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is not terribly difficult, nor do you need any special knowledge of programming
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languages or other specialized skills, but this is outside the intended scope
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of the guided tour.
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The appearance of the Window Maker GUI can easily be customized from the
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applications menu item "Appearance".
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Themes, styles, icon sets, and backgrounds can be selected as soon as they are
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installed in the right directory.
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Themes should be installed in the directory
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``~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Themes/``
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Styles should be installed in the directory
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``~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Styles/``
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Backgrounds should be installed in the directory
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``~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds/``
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If you are working within a freshly-installed instance of Window Maker, your
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Linux distribution probably provided some default themes, styles and
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backgrounds. Rarely, a distribution provides no additional themes, styles or
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backgrounds - expecting users to provide these on their own.
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Here is the "Appearance" menu and some of its associated sub-menus,
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including themes, styles and backgrounds:
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.. figure:: images/appearancemenu.png
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:alt: Appearance menu items
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:figclass: borderless
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In the screenshot above, most of the styles are default to the Debian GNU/Linux
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distribution, while most of the themes were user-installed. Many themes are
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available for download on the internet.
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Backgrounds
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-----------
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Backgrounds may be system-generated solid or gradient colors, or they may be
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images from user or distribution-supplied image files. The easiest way to
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change a system-generated background color or color gradient is to select one
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from the "Appearance -> Background -> <Solid | Gradient>" menu. In most default
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configurations there will be six to eight selections in each category.
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Likewise, the easiest way to change to a background image is to select one from
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the "Appearance -> Background -> Images" menu. If you wish to install
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your own images for use as backgrounds, place the image file in your
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``~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds/`` directory and they will be
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available from the menu immediately.
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Styles
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------
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A style defines the look of the key components of the Window Maker desktop.
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These components include the window titlebar and resizebar, the menu title and
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text field, and the icon background.
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The characteristics defined in a style (or theme) are the color and "texture"
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of key GUI elements. Texture in this context means using multiple colors in
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various color gradients - you are not limited to solid colors only.
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The easiest method for changing the style is to select a style from the
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"Appearance -> Style" menu.
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A style may also be created using the *Appearance Preferences* tool in
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*WPrefs.app*. From this tool, you may configure the color and texture of
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window elements (titlebars, resizebars), menu elements (menu titlebar, menu
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item text colors, menu "style") and the color and texture of icon backgrounds.
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The location of titlebar text and the font and text color for window and menu
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text may also be configured here.
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.. figure:: images/prefs13.png
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:figclass: borderless
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:alt: Appearance preferences tool
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Appearance preferences tool
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More information on creating a style "from scratch" may be found `in the Window
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Maker User's Guide <{{ site.baseurl }}/docs/chap4.html>`_. (Scroll down to the
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section on "Appearance Options.")
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A step-by-step guide to crafting a custom style is available `HERE
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<http://windowmakerandi.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=4
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target="_blank">`__.
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Themes
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------
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In its most basic form, a theme is simply a style that also includes a
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background. Some Linux distributions provide one or more default themes for use
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system-wide. You may install your own themes in the
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``~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Themes/`` directory. Themes installed in the
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correct directory will be available for selection in the "Appearance ->
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Themes" menu. Selecting Themes from the Appearance menu runs the *setstyle*
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program to install the theme and record it in the
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``~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker`` file.
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Two sites providing preconfigured themes are `HERE
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<http://lonelymachines.org/windowmaker-themes/>`__ and `HERE
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<http://www.jessanderson.org/wmthemes/>`__. An internet search for "Window
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Maker themes" will generate additional results, and you should also check your
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Linux distribution's repositories - some provide themes for installation using
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your distribution's package management system.
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Themes may include images in png, jpg, xpm, and other supported image file
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formats for key elements of the GUI such as titlebars, icon backgrounds, and
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the workspace background. Themes that include images cannot be stored as a
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single text file, and therefore must be stored in a directory. A theme
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directory must contain all of the image files needed for the theme along with a
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file named "style." The style file in a theme directory will specify all of the
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GUI elements including any image files used for those elements in lieu of rgb
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color specifications. A theme directory must use the suffix ".themed" after the
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theme name.
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