mirror of
https://github.com/gryf/window-maker.github.io.git
synced 2025-12-17 11:10:18 +01:00
154 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML
154 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML
---
|
|
layout: default
|
|
title: Guided Tour - Backgrounds and Themes
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
<center>Backgrounds and Themes</center>
|
|
</strong></h1>
|
|
|
|
<strong></strong>
|
|
<center><a href="index.html">Back to index</a></center>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="back.html#backg" name="backg">Backgrounds</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="back.html#style" name="style"></a><a href="#style">Styles</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="back.html#them" name="them">Themes</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
For the purposes of this guided tour, only those appearance options that
|
|
are built-in to Window Maker will be considered. Crafting custom styles
|
|
and themes is not terribly difficult, nor do you need any special
|
|
knowledge of programming languages or other specialized skills, but
|
|
this is outside the intended scope of the guided tour.<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
The appearance of the Window Maker GUI can easily be customized from
|
|
the applications menu item "Appearance."<br>
|
|
|
|
Themes, styles, icon sets, and backgrounds can be selected as soon as
|
|
they are installed in the right directory.
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
Themes should be installed in the directory
|
|
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Themes/<br>
|
|
|
|
Styles should be installed in the directory
|
|
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Styles/<br>
|
|
|
|
Backgrounds should be installed in the directory
|
|
~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds/<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
If you are working within a freshly-installed instance of Window Maker,
|
|
your Linux distribution probably provided some default themes, styles
|
|
and backgrounds. Rarely, a distribution
|
|
provides no additional themes, styles or backgrounds - expecting users
|
|
to provide these on their own.<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
Here is the "Appearance" menu and some of its associated sub-menus,
|
|
including themes, styles and backgrounds:<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 714px; height: 636px;" alt="Appearance menu items" src="images/appearancemenu.png"><br>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
In the screenshot above, most of the styles are default to the Debian
|
|
GNU/Linux distribution, while most of the themes were user-installed.
|
|
Many themes are available for download on the internet. <br>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="backg">Backgrounds</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Backgrounds may be system-generated solid or gradient colors, or
|
|
they may be images from user or distibution-supplied image files. The
|
|
easiest way to change a system-generated background color or color
|
|
gradient is to select one from the "Appearance -> Background -> <span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">< Solid <span style="color: white;">or</span> Gradient ></span>" menu. In most default configurations there will be six to eight selections in each category.</p>
|
|
<p>Likewise, the easiest way to change to a background image is to
|
|
select one from the "Appearance -> Background -> Images" menu. If
|
|
you wish to install your own images for use as backgrounds, place the
|
|
image file in your ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Backgrounds/ directory
|
|
and they will be available from the menu immediately.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> </p>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="Styles"></a>Styles</h2>
|
|
|
|
A style defines the look of the key components of the Window Maker
|
|
desktop. These components include the window titlebar and resizebar, the menu title and text field, and the icon background.<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
The characteristics defined in a style (or theme) are the color
|
|
and
|
|
"texture" of key GUI elements. Texture in this context means using
|
|
multiple colors in
|
|
various color gradients - you are not limited to solid colors
|
|
only. <br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
The easiest method for changing the style is to select a style from the
|
|
"Appearance -> Style" menu.<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
A style may also be created using the <span style="font-style: italic;">Appearance
|
|
Preferences</span> tool in <span style="font-style: italic;">WPrefs.app</span>.
|
|
From this tool, you may configure the color and texture of window
|
|
elements (titlebars, resizebars), menu elements (menu titlebar, menu
|
|
item text colors, menu "style") and the color and texture of icon
|
|
backgrounds. The location of titlebar text and the font and text color
|
|
for window and menu text may also be configured here.<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
<center><img style="width: 520px; height: 412px;" alt="Appearance preferences tool" src="images/prefs12.png"></center>
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
More information on creating a style "from scratch" may be found <a href="http://windowmaker.org/chap4.php" target="_blank">in the Window Maker User's Guide.</a> (Scroll down to the section on "Appearance Options.") <br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
A step-by-step guide to crafting a custom style is available <a href="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" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="them">Themes</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>In its most basic form, a theme is simply a style that also
|
|
includes a background. Some Linux distributions provide one or more
|
|
default themes for use system-wide. You may
|
|
install your own themes in the ~/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/Themes/
|
|
directory. Themes installed in the correct directory will be
|
|
available for selection in the "Appearance -> Themes" menu.
|
|
Selecting Themes from the Appearance menu runs the <span style="font-style: italic;">setstyle</span> program to install the
|
|
theme and record it in the <span style="font-style: italic;">~/GNUstep/Defaults/WindowMaker</span>
|
|
file.</p>
|
|
Two sites
|
|
providing preconfigured themes are <a href="http://lonelymachines.org/windowmaker-themes/" target="_blank">HERE</a>
|
|
and <a href="http://www.jessanderson.org/wmthemes/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
|
|
An internet search for "Window Maker themes" will generate additional
|
|
results, and you should also check your Linux distribution's
|
|
repositories - some provide themes for installation using your
|
|
distribution's package management system.
|
|
<p>Themes may include images in png, jpg, xpm, and other supported image file
|
|
formats for key elements of the GUI such as titlebars, icon
|
|
backgrounds, and the workspace background. Themes that include images
|
|
cannot be stored as a single text file, and therefore must be stored in a
|
|
directory. A theme directory must contain all of the image files needed
|
|
for the theme along with a file named "style." The style file in a
|
|
theme directory will specify all of the GUI elements including any
|
|
image files used for those elements in lieu of rgb color
|
|
specifications. A theme directory must use the suffix ".themed" after
|
|
the theme name. <br>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> </p>
|
|
|
|
<center><a href="index.html">Back to index</a></center>
|