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    Themes

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by ZaZ, May 31, 2007.

  1. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    How do I install a theme? I saw some I liked over on gnome-look.org, but I don't know how to install them. Any help appreciated.
     
    ZaZ, May 31, 2007
    #1
  2. Gladiator

    Gladiator Notebook Consultant

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    System>Preferences>Theme
     
    Gladiator, Jun 1, 2007
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  3. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Yes I did see that. I however downloaded a theme from gnome-look.org, but when I went to add it in Themes it said it was the wrong type. So what type do I need?
     
    ZaZ, Jun 1, 2007
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  4. Gladiator

    Gladiator Notebook Consultant

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    Gladiator, Jun 1, 2007
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  5. zephyrus54

    zephyrus54 Notebook Guru

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    The best way to add themes is to extract it into /usr/share/themes (icon themes go in usr/share/icons). It's a bit more of a hassle than using the theme manager, but you'll notice that it more completely themes your system. With the theme manager, you'll notice that your administrative applications (such as synaptic) don't get themed.

    Methods:

    1) Unpack the downloaded theme into /usr/share/themes. The theme should now show up in the theme manager, and you can select it. If for some reason it doesn't show up, then the creator probably didn't package it well, and you need to check if an additional unpacking step is needed. The proper progression for example should be: theme name (folder)-->gtk2.0 (folder)-->gtkrc (file).

    2) If you use the theme manager, make sure you DON"T unpack the theme first. The theme manager recognizes the .tar.gz, and all you need to do is drag-and-drop it into the theme manager window. Again, if this doesn't work, then the theme probably wasn't packaged properly. Sometimes they put multiple variations in one package, and you need to unpack the initial tar.gz to get to each individual theme's tar.gz package.

    Note: Make sure you have the proper theme engine installed too. Two of the most commonly used ones are "gtk2-engines-murrine" and "gtk2-engines-pixbuf". These can be both downloaded in synaptic.
     
    zephyrus54, Jun 1, 2007
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  6. AuroraS

    AuroraS Notebook Virtuoso

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    Download gtk-2.0 themes from gnome-look. Extract the files to /home/.themes.
    Then go to System->Preferences->Themes and choose your newly downloaded theme.
     
    AuroraS, Jun 1, 2007
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  7. ewhac

    ewhac Notebook Guru

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    Actually, that would be $HOME/.themes, i.e. the directory named '.themes' in your home directory.

    Schwab
     
    ewhac, Jun 1, 2007
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  8. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    I dumped it into the folder, but it's not showing up in Themes. Is there some file format I have to have it in or perhaps I unzipped it incorrectly?
     
    ZaZ, Jun 2, 2007
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  9. AuroraS

    AuroraS Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yeah... the themes from gnome-look aren't exactly created/zipped uniformly. Sometimes they will include an actual theme file (which will then make the them appear in System->Preferences->Theme. I've found that a lot of the time, they won't, so you'll have to manually just change the theme by going into System->Preferences->Theme and clicking on any theme, then click on the "Customize" button. Your newly downloaded theme (gtk2.x) will appear under the "Controls" Tab. Select it, and you'll notice all the window borders and buttons change to that theme's style.
    If you download a Metacity theme, dump the zipped files into the same folder and do the same thing, except this time, look under the "Window Borders" tab instead of "Controls"
     
    AuroraS, Jun 2, 2007
    #9