As you can see this is a compact murrine theme. The goal is to provide an usable AND compact look.
The goal of the theme, again, is to be both usable and compact. Its not fancy as you can see but its really clean.
I've used a lot of fancy themes, that uses pixmap engine, but they do not behave well with all applications (ie: evolution mail, firefox, etc) so i decided to use murrine engine which is pretty cool and works smoothly. I do like both pucko, shiki, dust, etc but the problem with them (imho) is that they are "too big"! so that's why i played a little bit with thickness options to make it very compact but still usable.
Im open to new suggestions. So please let me know what do you think
ITS A MODIFICATION OF:
Shiki Colors Pucko Modern
Author of shiki colors (perfectska04) gave me his concent, so if the author of pucko modern (which metacity style and some engine options i own) is ok i will realease.
Scrollbar should have buttons with arrows. Second - sliders should be shorter. When there will be package with this theme?! It's a 'must have' theme for me:)
I don't really use buttons on scrollbars because its kinda hard to catch up a 10x10 button pixel when you can scroll by using the mouse or the mouse whell, but i can put the buttons on scrollbars for sure.
Sliders are the way the are, cause they are really thin, and it would be a pain in _you know where_ to catch them if they are shorter.
Again, this is 1 line configuration so, you can make it shorter
Compact themes are always welcome. Try to balance the widgets as much as you can. Right now, the combo boxes, progress bars, etc are huge compared to the buttons or the scrollbar. Not everything can be compacted (damn GTK+!), but try and find a compromise.
Well, the thing is this:
Im using murrine engine and im not able to change the progressbars size, for that i should try another engine such as pixmaps, but then, again, is upto the font size you are using.
For the combo boxers there is a catch. If you reduce the size of the combo box, then it will be smaller than the arrow button, and it looks horrible!
I understand the fact that consistency is important but as you noted in your comment:
Compact OR consistent
I guess we should try to make compact things we can and leave the rest make it look good.
I suspected as much. I haven't tried to make a compact theme, so I'm not aware of the difficulties.
Knowing that GTK+ is a pain in the ***, it might be worth having a look at these two themes:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Clearlooks-compact?content=59138
and
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/human_ultracompact?content=81128
Both are very zealous (too much, IMHO) about compactness, but it might be useful to see how they achieve their effects. I haven't looked at the code, but I suspect they fiddle with padding values.
This theme is quite compact for a Murrine theme. My only gripe is slider length and the scrollbar min length. They are hard to hit with a mouse (although I use my touchpad scroll predominantly) and confusing to identify on a crowded screen (like on an IDE with a lot of files/panes/tabs open).
Yes, the scrollbar is 10px (normal is 15 px).
I think any scrollbar is hard to catch with a laptop hehe, but the thing is: I don't use scrollbars!
I mostly use the wheel of my mouse, and to catch a 10 px (giving that you can catch a 15 px) is not hard at all for me.
The sliders are a small, but i tried to compensate them with the lenght. Of course, all of this is configurable, just 2 lines of code
My themes are open source and I imagine any other work you based yours on is as well (If you found it in this site). No need for permission, etc. Feel free to upload your content!
Thanks very much!
I love shiki, as you can see I also use the icons!
Im considering dropping the stripped progressbars (i hope murrine guys do something about this) and use pixmap engine so i can use gradients and that will match the theme better.
Also, the x/ythickness set to 1 in buttons allows one to "hide" the dotted rectangle focus in buttons since it fits perfectly in the border! unfortunately for tabs and stuff doesn't work :)
Ratings & Comments
12 Comments
Scrollbar should have buttons with arrows. Second - sliders should be shorter. When there will be package with this theme?! It's a 'must have' theme for me:)
I don't really use buttons on scrollbars because its kinda hard to catch up a 10x10 button pixel when you can scroll by using the mouse or the mouse whell, but i can put the buttons on scrollbars for sure. Sliders are the way the are, cause they are really thin, and it would be a pain in _you know where_ to catch them if they are shorter. Again, this is 1 line configuration so, you can make it shorter
OK, fair enough.I modified few themes for my desktop so this isn't problem for me. Looking forward to downloading the package with your theme:)
Compact themes are always welcome. Try to balance the widgets as much as you can. Right now, the combo boxes, progress bars, etc are huge compared to the buttons or the scrollbar. Not everything can be compacted (damn GTK+!), but try and find a compromise.
Well, the thing is this: Im using murrine engine and im not able to change the progressbars size, for that i should try another engine such as pixmaps, but then, again, is upto the font size you are using. For the combo boxers there is a catch. If you reduce the size of the combo box, then it will be smaller than the arrow button, and it looks horrible! I understand the fact that consistency is important but as you noted in your comment: Compact OR consistent I guess we should try to make compact things we can and leave the rest make it look good.
I suspected as much. I haven't tried to make a compact theme, so I'm not aware of the difficulties. Knowing that GTK+ is a pain in the ***, it might be worth having a look at these two themes: http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Clearlooks-compact?content=59138 and http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/human_ultracompact?content=81128 Both are very zealous (too much, IMHO) about compactness, but it might be useful to see how they achieve their effects. I haven't looked at the code, but I suspect they fiddle with padding values.
False alarm. Both themes use a hacked clearlooks enginge. I should read more carefully before I post. Sorry!
This theme is quite compact for a Murrine theme. My only gripe is slider length and the scrollbar min length. They are hard to hit with a mouse (although I use my touchpad scroll predominantly) and confusing to identify on a crowded screen (like on an IDE with a lot of files/panes/tabs open).
Yes, the scrollbar is 10px (normal is 15 px). I think any scrollbar is hard to catch with a laptop hehe, but the thing is: I don't use scrollbars! I mostly use the wheel of my mouse, and to catch a 10 px (giving that you can catch a 15 px) is not hard at all for me. The sliders are a small, but i tried to compensate them with the lenght. Of course, all of this is configurable, just 2 lines of code
My themes are open source and I imagine any other work you based yours on is as well (If you found it in this site). No need for permission, etc. Feel free to upload your content!
Thanks very much! I love shiki, as you can see I also use the icons! Im considering dropping the stripped progressbars (i hope murrine guys do something about this) and use pixmap engine so i can use gradients and that will match the theme better. Also, the x/ythickness set to 1 in buttons allows one to "hide" the dotted rectangle focus in buttons since it fits perfectly in the border! unfortunately for tabs and stuff doesn't work :)
Hello! good work i like much, thank's