Description: Clearlooks-Phénix aims at creating a GTK3 port of Clearlooks, the default theme for Gnome 2. Style is also included for GTK2, Unity and for Metacity, Openbox and Xfwm4 window managers.
Requirements:
for Clearlooks-Phénix v1: packages gtk2-engines (if GTK2 applications are used) and gnome-themes-standard;
for Clearlooks-Phénix v2: packages gtk2-engines (if GTK2 applications are used), gnome-themes-standard and gtk3-engines-unico.
for Clearlooks-Phénix v3 and newer: packages gtk2-engines (if GTK2 applications are used).
Download:
Download the appropriate version according to your situation:
for GTK 3.0 and 3.2: Clearlooks-Phénix v1;
for GTK 3.4: Clearlooks-Phénix v2;
for GTK 3.6: Clearlooks-Phénix v3;
for GTK 3.8: Clearlooks-Phénix v4;
for GTK 3.10 and 3.12: Clearlooks-Phénix v5;
for GTK 3.14: Clearlooks-Phénix v6;
for GTK 3.20: Clearlooks-Phénix v7.
To find your GTK version:
You can check in your package manager the version of the package libgtk-3-0.
If you use Ubuntu, here's a correspondence between its versions and those of GTK (for a default installation of Ubuntu): Ubuntu 11.10: GTK 3.2; Ubuntu 12.04: GTK 3.4; Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04: GTK 3.6; Ubuntu 13.10: GTK 3.8; Ubuntu 14.04: GTK 3.10; Ubuntu 14.10: GTK 3.12; Ubuntu 15.04: GTK 3.14; Ubuntu 15.10: GTK 3.16; Ubuntu 16.04: GTK 3.18; Ubuntu 16.10: GTK 3.20.
For more details about installation or configuration, see the homepage link or the README file in the archive.Last changelog:
Changelog
2016-10-07: Clearlooks-Phénix v7 released. Compatibility with GTK 3.20 and support of HiDPI.
2014-09-28: Clearlooks-Phénix v6 released. Compatibility with GTK 3.14.
2014-09-23: Clearlooks-Phénix v4 released. Compatibility with GTK 3.8. Clearlooks-Phénix v5 released. Compatibility with GTK 3.10 and 3.12.
2012-11-02: Minor UI fixes in Clearlooks-Phénix v2 and Clearlooks-Phénix v3.
2012-10-23: Clearlooks-Phénix v3 released. Compatibility with GTK 3.6. Dropped dependencies to Adwaita and Unico engines, since the GTK built-in engine is now exclusively used. Documentation updated. Minor UI fixes.
2012-06-30: minor UI fixes. Documentation updated. Wallpaper added. New styles (gnome-terminal, Unity panel...).
2012-06-25: project renamed Clearlooks-Phénix. New version 2 completely rewritten and compatible with GTK 3.4. Almost all widgets now have a Clearlooks style.
2012-02-01: files for Openbox and Xfwm4 window managers; better buttons style; minor UI fixes.
2012-01-18: semi-transparent selection and option to choose white as font color on the desktop.
I used Clearlooks-Phénix in Linux Mint 18, because it was the only theme that I counld find that uses a colour for the title bar of the active window. Unfortunately after upgrading to Linux Mint 19 this longer works. The title bar of the active window is now a slightly lighter shade of gray than that of the other windows. It used to be (Mint) green. I am using Clearlooks-Phénix v7. In the theme settings applet Clearlooks-Phénix is no longer shown in the list of window border themes. How can I get it to work again?
Once again I want to thank you for Clearlooks Phenix. I just installed it on Xubuntu 18.04 and found that almost all my problems have gone away--particularly the problem of Thunar (and some other apps) having a white scrollbar. However, another user (The Cog) and I discovered what appears to be another problem (see https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2380242 ). It seems that there is a very narrow band on the right (and maybe the left) side of the slider that, when left-clicked, causes the slider to race to the bottom/top. If I mouse across the slider from the left, it first turns a lighter blue, then a darker blue, and then changes to an arrow (window resizing icon). If I carefully pause just after the slider change back to the darker blue, but before the resize arrow, and left-click, the slider races to the top/bottom. This happens most notably in Firefox, but also Thunderbird, and is very annoying. Part of the problem is that some apps don't halt the slider, when it reaches the pointer, although that is probably not your problem. Is there any edit I could do on the clearlooks-phenix files that would remove the narrow band that causes slider racing to the bottom/top.
Clearlooks Phenix is the only theme I can find for xubuntu 17.04 Zesty that has the stepper arrows. Thank you very much for that. A slight issue: Only some of my windows have the blue scroll bar. In particular, Thunar has white scrollbars and they don't stand out particularly well. If this can be fixed I would very much appreciate it!!!
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is also the only one that has wide enough "active" borders that I can grab them and resize a window. Again, thank you very much for that!! You seem to be the only one that take usability into account.
While the out-of-the-box version of Clearlooks has the contrast problem, I was able to get something that was usable by tuning it with Theme Configuration. However, because this app is so flaky, it would be nice to have an out-of-the-box Clearlooks that just works.
I discovered that in xubuntu 17.04 there is a contract problem with pull down menus, both the main panel and the pull down menu in Thunar. The highlighted selection has too little contrast to read it. Any instructions in how to fix this would be appreciated.
I have been using Clearlooks Phenix for some years now, and it is the best of the bunch. However, there are a few things, which I think would make it better:
1. Make the borders where I grab it with the mouse to resize a window a little wider. Then I wouldn't have to be so accurate with the mouse to activate resizing.
2. Allow me to make the font on the main panel white. That way I can make the panel have a bright and cheerful background, and still read the print. As is I must have a light background to read the black print.
3. On app windows it seems to me a lot of space is wasted with a very wide title bar, menu bar, and toolbars. Also, the slider bars seem unnecessarily wide. I have a laptop with a small screen and every bit of space is precious.
Better yet would be to tell me how to reconfigure clearlooks-phenix 6 so that I could achieve those items. I run Xubuntu with XFCE.
Thanks
This website discusses the problem of Indicator-Applet buttons needing to be squeezed together: https://bugs.launchpad.net/indicator-applet/+bug/527267/+index?comments=all . Although the developers can't agree on whether this should be done in a theme or in Indicator-Applet, they agree that it can be fixed in the theme. Would you consider adding the appropriate code to Clearlooks-Phenix 2 to bring the buttons closer together. I run Ubuntu 12.04LTS so I need the fix in Clearlooks Phenix 2. And thank you for this theme. It is the only one that I can make really work.
lachenmaier@mchsi.com
hello, I don't know how to open a bug with gitorious, so I try to warn you here: there have been changes in Nautilus so that some non default themes are affected by this problem:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/+bug/1159430
that seems to be solved adding
[code]NautilusDesktopWindow GtkWidget {
background-color: @transparent;
}[/code]
in the gtk-widget.css file - sorry I'm not a developer and so I don't know if this is going to break something else. I'll try to send you an email too.
Bye
> Is it possible to upload to gitorious?
If you're familiar with git, you can clone a repository on Gitorious, commit your changes and propose a merge request.
> Or maybe sending some corrections by email?
Yes: http://www.jpfleury.net/en/contact.php
Thanks.
Thank you so much for maintaining this theme. After recent updates to my system, something seemingly went wrong. In gtk3 apps, the buttons no longer have any borders or edges. Menus and everything else is fine. I am running gtk 3.6.4 on Arch and gnome-themes-standard is installed.
Ratings & Comments
90 Comments
10 10 the best
9 +
I used Clearlooks-Phénix in Linux Mint 18, because it was the only theme that I counld find that uses a colour for the title bar of the active window. Unfortunately after upgrading to Linux Mint 19 this longer works. The title bar of the active window is now a slightly lighter shade of gray than that of the other windows. It used to be (Mint) green. I am using Clearlooks-Phénix v7. In the theme settings applet Clearlooks-Phénix is no longer shown in the list of window border themes. How can I get it to work again?
9 +
Once again I want to thank you for Clearlooks Phenix. I just installed it on Xubuntu 18.04 and found that almost all my problems have gone away--particularly the problem of Thunar (and some other apps) having a white scrollbar. However, another user (The Cog) and I discovered what appears to be another problem (see https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2380242 ). It seems that there is a very narrow band on the right (and maybe the left) side of the slider that, when left-clicked, causes the slider to race to the bottom/top. If I mouse across the slider from the left, it first turns a lighter blue, then a darker blue, and then changes to an arrow (window resizing icon). If I carefully pause just after the slider change back to the darker blue, but before the resize arrow, and left-click, the slider races to the top/bottom. This happens most notably in Firefox, but also Thunderbird, and is very annoying. Part of the problem is that some apps don't halt the slider, when it reaches the pointer, although that is probably not your problem. Is there any edit I could do on the clearlooks-phenix files that would remove the narrow band that causes slider racing to the bottom/top.
Clearlooks Phenix is the only theme I can find for xubuntu 17.04 Zesty that has the stepper arrows. Thank you very much for that. A slight issue: Only some of my windows have the blue scroll bar. In particular, Thunar has white scrollbars and they don't stand out particularly well. If this can be fixed I would very much appreciate it!!!
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is also the only one that has wide enough "active" borders that I can grab them and resize a window. Again, thank you very much for that!! You seem to be the only one that take usability into account.
While the out-of-the-box version of Clearlooks has the contrast problem, I was able to get something that was usable by tuning it with Theme Configuration. However, because this app is so flaky, it would be nice to have an out-of-the-box Clearlooks that just works.
I discovered that in xubuntu 17.04 there is a contract problem with pull down menus, both the main panel and the pull down menu in Thunar. The highlighted selection has too little contrast to read it. Any instructions in how to fix this would be appreciated.
Typo: I meant to say "contrast problem"
Hi ralphl, Thanks a lot for your comments. Unfortunately, I don't have spare time this summer to work on this theme and make changes.
Version 3.20 is broken.
- Do you have it on github ? - For Mate: MetacityTheme in index.theme file, should have the same name what main folder for themes.
See here for GitHub: https://github.com/jpfleury/clearlooks-phenix
I have been using Clearlooks Phenix for some years now, and it is the best of the bunch. However, there are a few things, which I think would make it better: 1. Make the borders where I grab it with the mouse to resize a window a little wider. Then I wouldn't have to be so accurate with the mouse to activate resizing. 2. Allow me to make the font on the main panel white. That way I can make the panel have a bright and cheerful background, and still read the print. As is I must have a light background to read the black print. 3. On app windows it seems to me a lot of space is wasted with a very wide title bar, menu bar, and toolbars. Also, the slider bars seem unnecessarily wide. I have a laptop with a small screen and every bit of space is precious. Better yet would be to tell me how to reconfigure clearlooks-phenix 6 so that I could achieve those items. I run Xubuntu with XFCE. Thanks
Clearlooks Phenix est de retour.
This website discusses the problem of Indicator-Applet buttons needing to be squeezed together: https://bugs.launchpad.net/indicator-applet/+bug/527267/+index?comments=all . Although the developers can't agree on whether this should be done in a theme or in Indicator-Applet, they agree that it can be fixed in the theme. Would you consider adding the appropriate code to Clearlooks-Phenix 2 to bring the buttons closer together. I run Ubuntu 12.04LTS so I need the fix in Clearlooks Phenix 2. And thank you for this theme. It is the only one that I can make really work. lachenmaier@mchsi.com
Hi ralphl, I'll have a look at it when I'll publish a new version of the theme. Regards.
How do I change the desktop font color? I'm using Cinnamon on LMDE 201303 and cannot find the way to change the color which is supposedly changeable.
hello, I don't know how to open a bug with gitorious, so I try to warn you here: there have been changes in Nautilus so that some non default themes are affected by this problem: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/+bug/1159430 that seems to be solved adding [code]NautilusDesktopWindow GtkWidget { background-color: @transparent; }[/code] in the gtk-widget.css file - sorry I'm not a developer and so I don't know if this is going to break something else. I'll try to send you an email too. Bye
Thanks a lot for your message. I'll change this on the next version. Regards.
Is it possible to upload to gitorious? Or maybe sending some corrections by email?
> Is it possible to upload to gitorious? If you're familiar with git, you can clone a repository on Gitorious, commit your changes and propose a merge request. > Or maybe sending some corrections by email? Yes: http://www.jpfleury.net/en/contact.php Thanks.
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for maintaining this theme. After recent updates to my system, something seemingly went wrong. In gtk3 apps, the buttons no longer have any borders or edges. Menus and everything else is fine. I am running gtk 3.6.4 on Arch and gnome-themes-standard is installed.