Just released a new Gnome Theme. Digital Dark 2 - Blue. [Archive]

Bandit

April 9th, 2006, 02:31 PM

I like the look of dark themes. It's just when it comes to actually using them for day to day tasks that I just can't quite get used to them. :)

I'm going to give this one a couple of days use to try to get used to working in the black environment. The white text makes some web pages problematic. I noticed that at imageshack I can't see the text in the drop down menus.
Normally on almost all dark theme, its best to go into firefox and under the font type/size/color properies. Where it says have "Use System Colors", uncheck that.
That way the website can determin what colors should be displayed.

Cheers,
Bandit

nalmeth

April 9th, 2006, 02:50 PM

the geocities link is "unavailable"
EDIT: looks really nice though. I have never been into dark themes, but have always meant to experiment with them.

Bandit

April 9th, 2006, 05:50 PM

the geocities link is "unavailable"
EDIT: looks really nice though. I have never been into dark themes, but have always meant to experiment with them.
I have two accounts at Geocities. The one I linked the screeny to has a very small bandwidth limit. I appologize I didnt think it would get previewed this much.
Gnome-Look link has the previews tho..

BTW, I just uploaded a Green version of this theme to Gnome-Look.org.
You can get it here http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=37654

Cheers,
Bandit

erikpiper

April 9th, 2006, 06:57 PM

ComplexNumber

April 9th, 2006, 07:56 PM

Bandit
good work as always :). i've just this minute downloaded your green, pink, and orange variations too :D

Bandit

April 9th, 2006, 08:15 PM

I LIKE it! I have never used a dark theme before- a coupla problems tho.. Even with the use system colours unchecked in FF, I still get inverse colours in places- for example- This quick reply box is black with white text. So is the google search bar. And OO.Org is all black too- I would prefer an accurate representation of my documents.......

OpenOffice has a low contrast theme it defaults to. I dont like it either, but nothing we can do about it. Fx just needs closed out and restarted and it will adjust to the new colors.

@ComplexNumber, thanks.

I have good news also.

I just uploaded a Red theme.

So there are 5 color variations to choose from: Blue, Green, Pink, Orange, Red.

Cheers,
Bandit

ComplexNumber

April 9th, 2006, 08:29 PM

I just uploaded a Red theme. just downloaded it now. looks good.

nalmeth

April 9th, 2006, 10:49 PM

ooie
that green looks good
I'm giving this a run

mstlyevil

April 9th, 2006, 11:23 PM

Bandit is a theming god!

Bandit

April 9th, 2006, 11:27 PM

ooie
that green looks good
I'm giving this a run
Thanks :)
I figured between those 5 colors most everyone should be pleased. At least I hope so..
Only thing is these themes are for people who use there PC in darker rooms or at night where a bright theme just hurts your eyes way to much.
I normally use my Brighter themes during the day and in the evening switch to a dark theme.
Luckely in Gnome switching themes is a breeze..
Cheers,
Bandit

Bandit

April 9th, 2006, 11:31 PM

Bandit is a theming god!
Ahh, shucks :KS
I just try my best...

Now someone asked me to try to make a lighter metalic verision. So its off to the experimentation room..

Cheers,
Bandit

s|k

April 10th, 2006, 11:10 PM

It's very nice.

Bandit

April 10th, 2006, 11:24 PM

I just updated my Digital Dark 2 series of theme with a better contrasted Metacity frame.
Please download and enjoy:

Blue:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=37617

Green:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=37654

Pink:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=37659

Orange:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=37661

Red:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=37663

Cheers,
Bandit

Zimmo

April 11th, 2006, 01:17 AM

Great theme!

I've been using the original Digital Dark Blue for some time now, and I was wondering what exactly are the changes you made?

Bandit

April 11th, 2006, 01:22 AM

Great theme!

I've been using the original Digital Dark Blue for some time now, and I was wondering what exactly are the changes you made?

Download and take a looky.. Its a totally refinded theme. I took what I used before and worked hard to improve the theme dramaticly.

Cheers,
Bandit

Bandit

April 12th, 2006, 11:31 PM

JUST UPDATED THEM AGAIN :)

!!update!!
v1.2.3
-Adjusted Button colors, now brighter.
-Added Menu graphic.
-New screenshots uploaded.

*Notes:
Noticed on some monitors that colors didnt show well and looked dirty. That should be corrected now. Also these themes show best in dark rooms.

ComplexNumber

April 13th, 2006, 09:39 PM

Bandit

April 13th, 2006, 11:02 PM

Bandit
as an aside, do you have any links to any good theme creation tutorials? the only one i know of is this (http://ajgenius.us/Gnome/Themes/Tutorials/) that i got from this (http://gnomesupport.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1740)thread. luckily, i downloaded all the sections of the original before it was defaced by spammers.
You know I was talking to bvc about this today. The developers dont really seem to put any information. So everything has been learn as we go.
Best bet is to download one of my themes and look at the Png files and the gtkrc file. Compair the code and the pics together. You will start seeing were they all go together soon.
First I would start out with something like clear looks and just play around with the colors.
Download some from my website, they have lots of notes in the code.
Cheers,
Joey

ComplexNumber

April 14th, 2006, 12:57 AM

Bandit
First I would start out with something like clear looks and just play around with the colors. its funny you should mention this because at least half of all the themes on gnome-look.org seem to be 'hacked' themes, where they've taken another theme and changed it in some way.
also, i remember reading on gnome.org forums where bvc said something along the lines of: "There are very few gtk themers, and those that are good almost invariably end up giving up". for some reason, what he said stuck in my head. it gave me the impression that theming gtk is a nightmare, or at least, restrictive. i had a brief look into theming some time ago, but it never amounted to anything more than that - a brief look. sometime soon i hope to sit down and actually get into it. i've made a mental note of your advice. i've noticed once or twice just how much the background wallpaper can really complement a theme, so i think choosing the right wallpaper is quite important to make the theme look at its best. i used to choose really colourful wallpapers at one time. they would often be hawaiian psychedelic type. but these days i tend to go in for something simple but effective, often not using more than around 3 colours. if the wallpaper is too detailed (vectors are better than photo's), too colourful, or that clash with the theme's colour scheme, it can often render the desktop as being not very easy on the eye.

i don't know if you've read this, but gtk 2.10 will have support for colour schemes in the same way that kde does. click (http://webwynk.net/jrb/ChangeLog-2005.html).

Download some from my website, they have lots of notes in the code. ok. thanks :) i've got all your themes anyway ;)

Bandit

April 14th, 2006, 01:10 AM

Thanks for the link, makes me wonder how long it will take to impliment. Metashity 2.14 was supposed!! To have composite built in like KDE and Xfce 4.3 does.. But we can see that it hasnt been fully implimented by default yet.
gtk2.10 makes me also wonder how much of a pain or will all the existing themes be compatable.
Cheers
Joey

ComplexNumber

April 14th, 2006, 07:55 AM

will all the existing themes be compatable. i was wondering exactly the same. i think i must have every gnome theme there is - all that downloading would have been for nothing :-({|=

personally, i'm not too bothered at all about having transparancy and other graphic effects because i don't think it does anything for the attractiveness or usability of the desktop. the gnome desktop still looks considerably more attractive and usable than kde and all the others, with or without transparancy.

xenmax

April 14th, 2006, 09:49 AM

Just downloaded the green version. i like it.
Good one. Thanks.

Bandit

April 14th, 2006, 04:42 PM

Just downloaded the green version. i like it.
Good one. Thanks.
Your Welcome :)

BTW, incase anyone has any problems downloading them from Gnome-Look I have updated my website and posted them on my themes page.

Current version 1.2.3

Version 1.2.4 should be out by this Sunday (16 Apr 2006).
I am going through the code trying to work out a few bugs and tweak the code for little more speed.
In addition I have added a notebook background (many thanks to BVC for his assistance, without his help I would still be bashing my head against the desk).
Current Bugs working on:
- Gnome Screensaver shows theme background. (Gnome SS bug that is.)
- Firefox 1.5 and higher = Do not place text above the highlight on the menulist. (A Firefox bug, bug report submitted, currently no reply)
- Gimp shows theme background "sometimes". This is a minor issue unlike the two tops ones that are bothersome.

Cheers,
Bandit

skylark

April 14th, 2006, 05:15 PM

Hey Bandit, thanks for this. It totally rocks.

Now, all I have to work out is what to do with all these nasty web sites with their shiny white backgrounds... it hurts my eyes!

Bandit

April 14th, 2006, 06:04 PM

Hey Bandit, thanks for this. It totally rocks.

Now, all I have to work out is what to do with all these nasty web sites with their shiny white backgrounds... it hurts my eyes!
Somethings we just cant fix :)
But dont forget to uncheck Use System Colors under Firefoxes Preferences to make sure all the sites render as tey are supposed to.

Cheers,
Bandit

Bandit

April 15th, 2006, 03:42 AM

v1.2.4 DD2 themes uploaded to Gnome Look.
Lots of mods and fixes. Enjoy......

bvc

April 15th, 2006, 05:20 AM

i remember reading on gnome.org forums where bvc said something along the lines of: "There are very few gtk themers, and those that are good almost invariably end up giving up". for some reason, what he said stuck in my head. it gave me the impression that theming gtk is a nightmare, or at least, restrictive. i had a brief look into theming some time ago, but it never amounted to anything more than that - a brief look.it's not that it is hard, IMO (remembering my first port), just that there's limitations and too much the themer has no control over. This causes the frustration that causes one to give up because who wants to make 2 tone/same color base themes all the time?....gets boring. When you do try something diff people complain about problems and/or you get low downloads and low ratings, as if you are a bad designer, when it's not your fault at all.

I hear there are some changes coming in gtk2.10 that'll help but I too wonder about back compat.

Bandit

April 15th, 2006, 12:29 PM

@ComplexNumber,
Common and try you hand at theming. It can be a very rewarding hobby that also helps contribute to the community. If you worried your theme might now look well, dont worry. Just take a look at my first pixmap theme based on the Aero theme. Trust me this was no improvement http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=24857 .

@BVC,
Many thanks again for the help getting that crazy notebok background working. I ended making a solid 48x48 tile with 1 pixle boarder around it. I set the border to { 2, 2, 2, 2, } and it looks pretty good with out a huge hit in rendering speed. I am going to play around with the eXperience engine here soon. But now I need to try to work on some matching XMMS themes and then some gKrell monitor theme to match the DD2 theme.

Cheers,
Joey

bvc

April 15th, 2006, 12:49 PM

no prob! I didn't do anything that you eventually wouldn't have done after everything else failed (limitations). I already checked out the update and it's much better, and faster, IMO. Ashame the notebook/tabs disagree with tranparency. I haven't had time to play with the eXperience engine either and do not know if I will. I just wish I had done it a year ago when I did have the time and desire.

ComplexNumber

April 15th, 2006, 03:39 PM

bvc
i see what you mean :). i think that the ratings on gnome-look and kde-look aren't realistic at all, so i ignore them. i imagine there's a lot of fanboyism there with people voting up their faves and voting down others based purely on the author rather than the theme itself.

Bandit
yes, i think i will do. to begin with, ive taken copies of the base Clearlooks theme and also the your DigitalDark-2-Blue theme (because i want to see how easy it is to have a patterned background rather than a solid colour), placed them in my home directory (ie /home/gnome/.themes), and renamed them to MyClearlooks and MyDigitalDark-2-Blue respectively.

btw some of your themes are named <theme>-<version number>(for example, DigitalDark-2-Blue-1.2). just a thought, but isn't it better to just call it 'DigitalDark-2-Blue' without the version number? :). it makes it so much easy for users to update themes. for example, when a particular gtk theme makes use of different metacity theme (eg MetacityTheme-0.4), and the metacity theme has the version number updated (eg MetacityTheme-0.5) at a later date, its necessary to update the theme.index file to change the theme.index file of that gtk theme to point to the updated metactiy them. this happens all the time :(. it also makes it a lot easy for the theme author because it means that you don't have to remember to update the version number in the theme.index file all the time. this happens a lot with other themes by other theme authors (i'm not saying that you're guilty of this, but it could just as easily happen with you as others). sometimes authors forget to update it, so i have to go into the theme.index file and update it myself because the theme doesn't work otherwise.
this should apply to icons themes too. thats why i repackage many of the icon themes myself to EXCLUDE the version numbers. for example, the Edge icons are called Edge-Icons-0.6, so i repackaged it to 'Edge' on the CD that i keep my themes. otherwise, when an icon theme is updated to a new version, i have to manually go round all the themes that make use of the Edge icons and change the theme's theme.index file to point to the new version (eg Edge-Icons-0.7). now they're called just 'Edge', i don't have to worry about updating when a new version of the icons is released ;). hope that made sense.

bvc

April 15th, 2006, 04:39 PM

No the ratings are not realistic...I mean just look at them :-k
There's an enormous amount of fanboyism and favoritism based on personal taste. For example, anything 'aqua' automatically gets shot down by those that are anti aqua. Instead of ignoring its existence people go out of their way to vote it down when they do not even download it and check it for usability and quality. Many times I see what is not my tastes, but if I'm going to vote on it I download it and try it to see if it is put together well and standard usability features are there. That's what my votes are based on, not my taste or who I like or do not like. But, there's a lot of 30 year old babies on the internet. Bandits themes aren't my style but I voted good, because they are very good (though I like focus rings). Dark themes are hard to do in gtk.

Oh, some like the version method simply because some people may not like the updates so they can still have the old.

ComplexNumber

April 15th, 2006, 04:49 PM

bvc
it doesn't surprise me in the slightest ;)

Oh, some like the version method simply because some people may not like the updates so they can still have the old. then people can simply not install it if they don't like the changes simply by reading the change log alone. the version number is often in the comments in the theme.index file, so they know what version it is. i can see your point of view (in a way), but i still think its a lot easier for the version numbers not to make up part of the theme directory or the theme name, though. if people want to try out a new version to see if they like it first, they can much more easily change the name of the directory and the theme.index file on the updated version themselves. if they like the update, they can simply overwrite the old. there is no need for them to seek out all other gtk/metacity themes that make use of the new theme or icons in order to update the version number that the theme.index file points to.

bvc

April 15th, 2006, 05:30 PM

I agree, and just been lazy in never changing the Edge-Icons-<version>. Personally I always rename a theme then install the new so that I have the old if I want it. People do not read change logs and if they did most wouldn't know what you are talking about half the time with different aspects of a theme, so that's what I always found the version system a pain in themes, from a themers perspective.

ComplexNumber

April 15th, 2006, 05:51 PM

I agree, and just been lazy in never changing the Edge-Icons-<version>.
i'm sorry, i honestly didn't know that the Edge icons were yours :). seriously, i just picked that out at random because i remember changing them a few times together with the gtk themes that make use of them. incidently, i quite like the Edge icons. there's about 4 themes in total that make use of them.
i never have more than one instance of any icon/metacity/gtk theme (ok, i tell a lie, i do have 1 - the clearlooks metacity theme that i've renamed and repackaged(ie zipped up) as'Clearlooks-Original' because i prefer the old to the new).

Bandit

April 15th, 2006, 07:40 PM

@ComplexNumber.
The version thing helps keep up with what has been done to the theme. Some users could experience issues with a newer theme release and may have to revert back to a older one.
Plus myself comming from a computer programmer point of view. Its just something the I have grown so used to using and would prob freak out with out them.
You will notice that the theme file say 1.2.4 now, but the theme dir still only listed as 1.2.
If you rename the folder to something other then what I specified in the index.theme file. It will not find the theme :( But you can still select it of course manualy.
Also one last thing about version numbers, how you gonna know if you got the latest theme without a version number :-k

@BVC,
You got some of the best icon themes out. Most of the other people seem to start something good, but they end up screwing something else up. I was looking at someone elses icons the other day. They looked sharp, the folders were nice clear and easy to read. But they added the goofy looking nautilus icons that not only didnt match the theme, they were blurry and I couldnt tell them appart from apples or oranges.. Wich is why I always end up using the stock Gnome icons.

I think sometime around next month I may find time after moving back home to do some modding of the Gnome Icons. I would really like to see them with a chrome look, but not to much chrome as it would be overkill.

Cheers,
Joey

ComplexNumber

April 15th, 2006, 07:59 PM

Also one last thing about version numbers, how you gonna know if you got the latest theme without a version number easy, because of the 'modifed date' that written to CD ;). all i have to do is compare that with 'Updated date' thats given on gnome-look. also, because i put the version number in the comments. for themes that have the version number in the theme.index, i change the theme.index file to be versionless, rename the directory, put the version number in the comments, then zip it back up again.
its ok :). its no problem if you do continue to include the version number in the theme.index if it makes it easier for you because i have to repackage many other authors themes too, so its no biggie for me.
btw i know what you mean about the versioning given that you're a developer ;). i know precicely what you mean.

Bandit

April 19th, 2006, 12:41 AM

ver 1.2.5 of my DD2 themes have been uploaded to Gnome Look or you can get them on my website also http://www.banditshome.net/themes.html

Cheers,
Joey

ajunsum

April 19th, 2006, 04:05 PM

great theme, but, where i can find those fonts and how to install it!~thanks!:-k

Bandit

April 19th, 2006, 10:14 PM

great theme, but, where i can find those fonts and how to install it!~thanks!:-k
To install the theme is simple. Just drag and drop it onto the theme manager. The fonts are from a CD I have of comercial fonts that are not GPL or LGPL. But incase you want to know the name there BoostSSK.
Cheers,
Joey

ComplexNumber

May 5th, 2006, 05:43 PM

Bandit, bvc, and other themers
gtk 2.9 has just been released with improved support for theming...and which should make theming somewhat easier and more convenient. amongst many other changes from gtk 2.8, here are the themability improvements:

* Improved themability:
- GTK+ supports symbolic colors, which can be set system-wide
using a setting, and can be modified and used in rc files
and theme engines
- GTK+ sets window type hints on override-redirect windows to
help compositing managers apply proper bling
- Paths in rc files can now refer to all subclasses of a class
- GtkRange steppers will appear insensitive when the slider
is at the end; applications which need to handle this case
(e.g. to extend the range) can opt out of this.
- GtkRange::activate-slider style property allows themes
to draw sliders differently while they are being dragged
- GtkNotebook::tab-overlap and GtkNotebook::curvature style
properties allow more flexible notebook theming
- The spacing of buttons around children can be themed with
the GtkButton::inner-border style property. Apps can override
this per-widget using the corresponding inner-border property
- GtkMenu has aquired a horizontal-padding style property
- There are style properties for the color of hyperlinks,
GtkWidget::link-color and GtkWidget::visited-link-color
- GtkTreeview row hinting now takes the selection into account
- Scrolling menus can be forced to always display both arrows,
using the GtkMenu::double-arrows style property
- Separators can be themed using the wide-separators, separator-width
and separator-height style properties
- GtkTreeView allows more flexible theming with the row-ending-details
property
- The pixbuf theme engines supports customized drawing of expanders and resize grips
the rest is here (http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2006-May/msg00011.html).

tsrjzq

May 6th, 2006, 11:51 AM

for someone like dark color, it is a beatufil theme...

Bandit

May 6th, 2006, 01:54 PM

Bandit, bvc, and other themers
gtk 2.9 has just been released with improved support for theming...and which should make theming somewhat easier and more convenient. amongst many other changes from gtk 2.8, here are the themability improvements:

the rest is here (http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2006-May/msg00011.html).

I been keeping up with the changes, kinda hoping most of them get implimented.
I belive the new implimintations will alos require a special setup program for controling the colors external from the gtkrc file.

Thanks,
Joey