# All questions about Gnome Theming Here



## MetalheadGautham (Dec 22, 2007)

This is the thread where you can ask all questions you want about adding themes in gnome, creating and editing or exporting themes, changing the way gnome looks and adding/removing desktop icons, etc.

First some basic must visit links:

*
1. Examples*

This is a thread for people to show off their custom linux desktops. There are several good gnome desktops here, and you can get an idea as a newbie as for what to expect here.
*
2. Mac4Lin*

This is infra_red_dude's project for bringing the Macintosh's look and feel to gnome. If you want a no-fuss Leopard look alike in Gnome, go here and bug infra all you want with questions and suggestions, but no questions on that topic here.(Mine is too low class compared to his  )
*
3. G-Tweak UI*

This is a software kit that can be used to do simple tasks with the appearence of Gnome. To install, type

```
sudo apt-get install gtweakui
```
 or visit the link in the title if you are not able to install it via the code given above.
All its functions are easily understood by just looking at its window, as it just consists of a bunch of self explanatory check boxes and buttons. This is a must install for all of you. Its there in System>Preferences then there are 4 programs for gtweakui.

*4. Gnome-Look.org*

Thats the website where most of the themes and decorations are housed. Just visit it if you need some eye-candy for your gnome and ask here if you have any troubles.

*5. Ubuntu Customisation Guide*

Thats a brilliant guide by dark star in our own forums for making your ubuntu look to kill. It makes ubuntu the Handsome Duckling of the OSes.



Happy Theming


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 22, 2007)

lemme start:

Where can I get a theme that has every possible icon/pic in it, so that I can use it as a base to create my own theme? If I get such a theme, I plan to replace each file with my own, so that I can create a custom theme. 		 	 		 		 		 		 			 				__________________


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## FilledVoid (Dec 22, 2007)

> Where can I get a theme that has every possible icon/pic in it



Impossible. Theres no way theres any icon theme that has all possible icons and pics in it. However you can get most of the icons one would use with big icon sets . One example would be Black and White. The download size is 39.5 MB though. So the more the icons. The more the size


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 22, 2007)

exx_2000 said:
			
		

> Impossible. Theres no way theres any icon theme that has all possible icons and pics in it. However you can get most of the icons one would use with big icon sets . One example would be Black and White. The download size is 39.5 MB though. So the more the icons. The more the size


I meant excluding the application, the mime-type icons if thats what you mean.

I thought Mac4Lin looks like a good starting point.


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## Hitboxx (Dec 22, 2007)

I found some nice icons today at Gnome-look to use in dock. (~2.5mb)

*i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb178/ferrous_cranus/aaScreenshot-3.png

*www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/LinPhone+Icons?content=69347


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 23, 2007)

that one loks good...


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## Dark Star (Dec 23, 2007)

How about adding a guide which helps theming   Ubuntu Customization Guide v2.. 

Nice thread / I like Crashbit Icons a lot


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 23, 2007)

^^sure... wait for the edit.


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## phreak0ut (Dec 23, 2007)

@Hitboxx-AWESOME desky there. @Gautham-My GDesklets refuses to install additional themes. It always says that the file is not of the right type. What do I do?


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 23, 2007)

phreak0ut said:
			
		

> @Hitboxx-AWESOME desky there. @Gautham-My GDesklets refuses to install additional themes. It always says that the file is not of the right type. What do I do?


can you please tell me exactly what happens?
If you try to install stuff that aren't meant for gDesklets, like gnome themes, etc you will get that error. The same thing happens in all applications. The best way to install stuff for gDesklets is through its "Manage Desklets" utitity, where all the available desklets are listed and organised like in Synaptic Package manager or Add/Remove Programs.


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## FilledVoid (Dec 23, 2007)

> @Gautham-My GDesklets refuses to install additional themes. It always says that the file is not of the right type. What do I do?


You sure that you aren't using a screenlet theme right?


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 24, 2007)

MetalheadGautham said:
			
		

> I meant excluding the application, the mime-type icons if thats what you mean.
> 
> I thought Mac4Lin looks like a good starting point.


Mac4Lin Icon theme is a good one to start with. It is an extensive icon set.

Also, I can sugges you Oxygen-refit theme. Find it as gnome-look.org. Even that has quite a number of icons.


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## ray|raven (Dec 24, 2007)

Perhaps this could be of use,
*live.gnome.org/GnomeArt/Tutorials/IconThemes

Regards,
ray


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 24, 2007)

Ok, I tried to use M4L as a base, but the number of icons is just too much. I need to replace several hundreds, and before that I have to copy paste the names of the originals in the alternatives. How did you manage to do this much work Anirudh?


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 24, 2007)

^^^ Thats what I said. Mac4Lin Icon theme is _extensive and exhaustive_! How did I manage to do that?? Well, no shortcuts to *hard work*


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 24, 2007)

infra_red_dude said:
			
		

> ^^^ Thats what I said. Mac4Lin Icon theme is _extensive and exhaustive_! How did I manage to do that?? Well, no shortcuts to *hard work*


I know I know... I did learn a lot from those links, BTW. But the problem is that there is no app to do the following:

1. Automatically export your theme setting as a .deb package(like ubuntu studio theme)

2. Help make a theme by allowing you to drag and drop pics you intend to use as icons into a window that has slots for each and every type of icon.


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 24, 2007)

MetalheadGautham said:
			
		

> 1. Automatically export your theme setting as a .deb package(like ubuntu studio theme)
> 
> 2. Help make a theme by allowing you to drag and drop pics you intend to use as icons into a window that has slots for each and every type of icon.


 1) Why do you wanna export your "theme settings" into a .deb package? I mean whaddya wanna exactly do with the _poor _theme??  All it needs to be done is placed in either /usr/share/icons or ~/.icons folder.

2) Thats too much to ask for man! Thats not possible, coz a complete theme has tens, hundreds and probably thousand icons. So thats just too much. Mac4Lin has 1800-odd icons!

One advise, find the theme that has the most number of icons you wanna use in your new theme (ensure they are gpl'd!!!), then start replacing. I didn't come up with Mac4Lin overnight! So believe me, its gonna take considerable time of yours.

But now that Mac4Lin is out, updating/adding/editing icons is not a big task. Once the base is built, you can live in peace


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 24, 2007)

infra_red_dude said:
			
		

> 1) Why do you wanna export your "theme settings" into a .deb package? I mean whaddya wanna exactly do with the _poor _theme??  All it needs to be done is placed in either /usr/share/icons or ~/.icons folder.
> 
> 2) Thats too much to ask for man! Thats not possible, coz a complete theme has tens, hundreds and probably thousand icons (Mac4Lin has about 1800-odd icons!). So thats just too much.
> 
> ...


1. its for the same reason you wanna make debs outta m4l
2. ecept for app and mime icons, none of them will create trouble


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 24, 2007)

MetalheadGautham said:
			
		

> 1. its for the same reason you wanna make debs outta m4l


If its only icon theme that you wanna use then a .deb is not necessary. Coz the procedure of installing an icon theme in GNOME is actually just to goto the icon selection theme and press the install button and select the theme!

You can just code a script which extracts the icon theme to the specified folder. But the user still has to goto the Appearances tab to select it to apply. If you wanna automate that too, then you can use the gconf command to apply it. So a script is all this is needed. Plus its not distro depenedent 



			
				MetalheadGautham said:
			
		

> 2. ecept for app and mime icons, none of them will create trouble


Unfortunately, out of 1800-odd icons in Mac4Lin both of them amount to about half of it!! 

So apps/mime/actions are the ones that make up most of the theme files!


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 24, 2007)

infra_red_dude said:
			
		

> If its only icon theme that you wanna use then a .deb is not necessary. Coz the procedure of installing an icon theme in GNOME is actually just to goto the icon selection theme and press the install button and select the theme!
> 
> You can just code a script which extracts the icon theme to the specified folder. But the user still has to goto the Appearances tab to select it to apply. If you wanna automate that too, then you can use the gconf command to apply it. So a script is all this is needed. Plus its not distro depenedent
> 
> ...


1. Good idea. I will script the installation, like ubuntu studio or something.

2. Thats what I am saying. A theme without mime types and apps. Such a skleton will be easier and more logical. So I am talking about a program that allows us to place other stuff, ecept the apps and mime.


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 24, 2007)

2) Arey yaar, you don't get the point. A theme without apps/mime will almost not haf anything. In that case, how difficult it is to replace each icon manually??

Thing is, the built in gnome/hi color themes are exhaustive too. Just that they lack icons other than the default apps. So you can use them. You must've seen a lot of themes falling back to the default ones in case it misses any icons. The theme config files contains the entry where the default fallback theme is indicated for that particular theme.

So believe me, its not an easy job creating the software which will haf fields with filenames wherein you just hafta select the icon image. Also icons come in different sizes 8x8, 16x16.. etc. So you need different sized pics. Simply resizing them distorts the icon (unless they are in vector format). 

But then again, nothing is impossible. Go ahead and create your own Icon-Maker package


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 24, 2007)

^^for a guy still learning Basic C++ and who has no knowledge of C and who is struggling to find alternatives for Borland Commands in GCC + NCurses, do you think I can make an Icon Maker Package?


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 24, 2007)

^^^ Why not?


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 25, 2007)

infra_red_dude said:
			
		

> ^^^ Why not?


Its possible, but not now...


anyway, can you tell me where to start for GTK C++ Programming?


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## QwertyManiac (Dec 25, 2007)

Yeah all you need are available functions. Anyone with a decent problem solving skill can do it, you don't have to be ultra proficient to create stuff, you may need that kind of skill only when you need to optimize and create efficient stuff.

Just follow this simple tutorial link:
*www.gtk.org/tutorial/


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 25, 2007)

QwertyManiac said:
			
		

> Yeah all you need are available functions. Anyone with a decent problem solving skill can do it, you don't have to be ultra proficient to create stuff, you may need that kind of skill only when you need to optimize and create efficient stuff.
> 
> Just follow this simple tutorial link:
> *www.gtk.org/tutorial/


I forgot C, I only know C++, so please give me another link


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 26, 2007)

*Gnome Menu Customisation*

I have a few questions regarding the Gnome Menu:

1. I use Ubuntu, and I want to replace that Ubuntu Logo in the menu with another image. How can I do That?

2. I want to merge the menus and make a single MetalMenu(tm). I also want to customise that single menu, sothat it expands to have along with applications, places & system, some custom launchers and quick launch, along with a dictionary box and a search box and some other goodies from the "Add to Pannel" window. How can I do that?

3. I was impressed with Mint Daryna's menu...


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## ray|raven (Dec 26, 2007)

1.Look in the folder 
/usr/share/icons/scalable/places/ or ~/.icons/scalable/places/
You should see a file called distributor-logo.svg.
changing it will change the menu icon.

2.If you just want to merge the menus,
there's a merged menu in gnome , add it just like you add any item to the panel.
However,if you want those extra features,
try this: *wiki.ubuntu.com/Slab

3.If you like mint's menu, you could get it for ubuntu,as they share the same base.

Regards,
ray


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## Hitboxx (Dec 26, 2007)

rayraven said:
			
		

> 1.Look in the folder
> /usr/share/icons/scalable/places/ or ~/.icons/scalable/places/
> You should see a file called *distributor-logo.svg.*
> changing it will change the menu icon.
> ...


Thanks for this but the icon to change is *start-here.png*. The distributor-logo.svg is a link to the same.


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## ray|raven (Dec 26, 2007)

@Hitboxx,
Thanks for that.
But,changing the distributor-logo.svg will also work as the menu refers to it,I guess.Correct me if am wrong.
Also,I believe it changes with the theme.

Regards,
ray


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 26, 2007)

^^I still don't understand why anirudh forgot to put the apple logo in mac4lin. I had to waste 
*TWO PRECIOUS MINUTES ON ADDING THE LOGO*


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 26, 2007)

MetalheadGautham said:
			
		

> ^^I still don't understand why anirudh forgot to put the apple logo in mac4lin.


I did not forget to include the Apple Logo. Mac4Lin upto version 0.3 use the Apple logo. However, it has been purposely removed in version 0.4 as it may cause some legal issues to crop up for using Apple logo. The screenshots and documentation of version 0.4 clearly mentions this.



			
				MetalheadGautham said:
			
		

> I had to waste
> *TWO PRECIOUS MINUTES ON ADDING THE LOGO*


If you call these things as waste then you will never learn anything!!! Don't be an impatient kid. Haf some patience and learn to look around. You'll get everything


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## QwertyManiac (Dec 26, 2007)

For C++ GTK

*www.gtkmm.org/docs/gtkmm-2.4/docs/tutorial/html/index.html


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 27, 2007)

@anirudh: are yaar I was sarcastic. and yes, there are possible legal issues assosiated with this, but won't the same happen even with the apple wallpapers and some icons that you borrowed from macintosh? Anyway, I don't think you need to worry about that stuff because you are an Indian, and India still doesn't have unfair laws like US. And I heard there is an Indian site similar to sourceforge. You might concider publishing there. Those cease and desist notices from US can't affect Indians till the Nuclear Deal is confirmed.


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## infra_red_dude (Dec 27, 2007)

^^^ Lolz... nuclear deal looks like a distant possibility now!


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 28, 2007)

infra_red_dude said:
			
		

> ^^^ Lolz... nuclear deal looks like a distant possibility now!


hope it remains one. the concequences of one are too big to imagine.


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## Hitboxx (Dec 28, 2007)

Wth?! where are you guys taking the topic? Gnome and Nuclear are waaaaaaaay apart 

About theming.... wait I need to get that thing..brb


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## javedahmed80 (Dec 28, 2007)

hey gautham can you help me in networking


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## MetalheadGautham (Dec 29, 2007)

javedahmed80 said:


> hey gautham can you help me in networking


1. Wrong Place to post
2. Provide more Details and don't use PMs for such questions.


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