GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Style your desktop
Forum rules
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
satya164

GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by satya164 »

I've made a GTK theme configuration tool that allows anyone to change some basic elements of a GTK theme easily (both GTK2 and GTK3) with a simple interface. This works for any theme (If doesn't work correctly with a theme, please report bug here https://github.com/satya164/gtk-theme-config/issues).

Features
  • Customize selected background color
  • Customize Xfce panel, Gnome panel and Unity panel
  • Customize menu colors
Image

Installation
It is available in the Shimmer Project PPA. So to install it, just run the following,

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shimmerproject/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gtk-theme-config
After installation, you can find it in the menu with the name "GTK theme preferences"

You can read more about it here http://worldofgnome.org/customizing-gtk ... ot-easier/, here http://www.webupd8.org/2012/09/customiz ... using.html and here https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Roadmap ... hemeEditor.

The app is also on GitHub https://github.com/satya164/gtk-theme-config.

I currently need to implement translations into the app. Any help will be appreciated :D
Last edited by satya164 on Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
GeneC

Re: GTK theme preferences

Post by GeneC »

A most excellent tool... :D
Thanks much for making this Satya. In the past I have struggled trying to change various colors of themes, only to suceed a few times, but mess up first.
Just tried it out, and it works perfectly.
Just one question? Does the 'revert' option return everything back to default, or just your last change?
Going to have fun playing with this...
satya164

Re: GTK theme preferences

Post by satya164 »

GeneC wrote:A most excellent tool... :D
Thanks much for making this Satya. In the past I have struggled trying to change various colors of themes, only to suceed a few times, but mess up first.
Just tried it out, and it works perfectly.
Just one question? Does the 'revert' option return everything back to default, or just your last change?
Going to have fun playing with this...
The revert button resets everything back to defaults.
GeneC

Re: GTK theme prefernces

Post by GeneC »

Very nice.
Thanks again.

A note to LMDE users.
I just successfully installed the .deb (borrowed from my Maya13 install) in LMDE/SID. It installed with no other dependencies.
wyrdoak

Re: GTK theme prefernces

Post by wyrdoak »

Nice tool! I'm just one of those people that don't like a background around my desktop icon text in Xfce so had to go into the file and remove the bg settings for the desktop text.

FIO: If you need a color picker, you can ether use the one in GIMP or use Gpick to get the color codes you need.

Good work
User avatar
Oscar799
Level 20
Level 20
Posts: 10398
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:21 am
Location: United Kingdom

Re: GTK theme prefernces

Post by Oscar799 »

Moved here by moderator

I've "stickied" this
Here is what webupd8 has to say
http://www.webupd8.org/2012/09/customiz ... using.html
Image
satya164

Re: GTK theme prefernces

Post by satya164 »

Oscar799 wrote:Moved here by moderator

I've "stickied" this
Here is what webupd8 has to say
http://www.webupd8.org/2012/09/customiz ... using.html
Thanks for the sticky :D
palo
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Walking on sunshine

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by palo »

It sounds too good to be true - really must have missed something though. The only thing I could get a change on was Adwaita theme (widgets, menu) could not get any changes in any other themes and none of the panels. :cry:
satya164

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by satya164 »

palo wrote:It sounds too good to be true - really must have missed something though. The only thing I could get a change on was Adwaita theme (widgets, menu) could not get any changes in any other themes and none of the panels. :cry:
Are you sure that you turned the "Custom widgets" toggle to "ON"?
palo
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Walking on sunshine

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by palo »

satya164 wrote:
palo wrote:It sounds too good to be true - really must have missed something though. The only thing I could get a change on was Adwaita theme (widgets, menu) could not get any changes in any other themes and none of the panels. :cry:
Are you sure that you turned the "Custom widgets" toggle to "ON"?

Yes - turned it on for each theme I attempted - logged out - sometimes even rebooted for extra measure. It must have been working but only for the one like I said. Thank you for this though - I would really love to have it working as expected.
satya164

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by satya164 »

palo wrote:
satya164 wrote:
palo wrote:It sounds too good to be true - really must have missed something though. The only thing I could get a change on was Adwaita theme (widgets, menu) could not get any changes in any other themes and none of the panels. :cry:
Are you sure that you turned the "Custom widgets" toggle to "ON"?

Yes - turned it on for each theme I attempted - logged out - sometimes even rebooted for extra measure. It must have been working but only for the one like I said. Thank you for this though - I would really love to have it working as expected.
Can you give the output of

Code: Select all

cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css
and

Code: Select all

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-color-scheme
Also run the tool from terminal and see any error messages.

Code: Select all

gtk-theme-config
Also try to reset by pressing "Revert" (with the toggle on) and try again.

Thanks.
palo
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Walking on sunshine

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by palo »

cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css
cat: /home/test/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css: No such file or directory

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-color-scheme
''
No errors running from terminal.
Also try to reset by pressing "Revert" (with the toggle on) and try again.
Tried this but no change.
satya164

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by satya164 »

palo wrote:cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css
cat: /home/test/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css: No such file or directory

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-color-scheme
''
No errors running from terminal.
Also try to reset by pressing "Revert" (with the toggle on) and try again.
Tried this but no change.
Hmm... I'm not sure why it is not working...

You need to click apply after every change, are you sure you're doing it right? Because if you have "Custom widgets: turned "ON" and clicked "Apply" the gtk.css file should have been there.

Also if you change the "Selected background color" and click "Apply" the gsettings command should return a value.
palo
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Walking on sunshine

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by palo »

Hi!
Also if you change the "Selected background color" and click "Apply" the gsettings command should return a value.
What kind of value and where?

Since the last post I have tried several things. I have found that Cinnamon sometimes gets its panties all in a bunch over themes and permissions so I changed to more relaxed permissions without effect and also ran as root without effect. Once I had the output below but then ran again with no output.

Code: Select all

** (gtk-theme-config:1764): WARNING **: The connection is closed

** (process:1769): WARNING **: The connection is closed

** (process:1769): WARNING **: The connection is closed

(gconftool-2:1772): GConf-WARNING **: Client failed to connect to the D-BUS daemon:
Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.
Error setting value: No D-BUS daemon running


** (process:1773): CRITICAL **: Failed to init libxfconf: Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.
Now I have things so much changed I will start with a fresh install (with VBox of course) it will take some time. Have you actually run this with Cinnamon?
Monsta
Level 10
Level 10
Posts: 3071
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:46 am

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by Monsta »

Is there a roadmap for this tool? (i.e. what's planned in addition to color customizing)
satya164

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by satya164 »

Monsta wrote:Is there a roadmap for this tool? (i.e. what's planned in addition to color customizing)
There is no roadmap. But suggestions are welcome.
Z-Xylon

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by Z-Xylon »

I was thinking of making something that could do this, but I'm glad you beat me to it, it's much better than my virtual version.
There is no roadmap. But suggestions are welcome.
Maybe something to change the Activities text/icon?
User avatar
bug67
Level 2
Level 2
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:11 am
Location: Anchorage, AK
Contact:

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by bug67 »

I gotta say, I'm a little confused here. I downloaded and installed the GTK Theme Preference tool and chose a color to change everything (or so I thought) to. The problem I'm coming up against is, there doesnt appear to be any consistancy. Some elements are the color I chose and some arent. See screenshot.

There has got to be a way to make all the elements consistant. Ubuntu Tweak? Gconf-Editor? While I'm at it, I wish there was a way to change the little "x" check mark buttons to radio buttons like Clearlooks used to do as well. I have the MATE edition running on a couple of other machines but, I'd really like to go to Cinnamon as I think it is the way things are going. Any help?

Image
Asus X550CA Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon
CPU: Intel Core i3-3217U @ 1.80GHz x2
RAM: 12 GiB, SSD: 250 GiB
http://www.vegetablesandwich.com/
satya164

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by satya164 »

bug67 wrote:I gotta say, I'm a little confused here. I downloaded and installed the GTK Theme Preference tool and chose a color to change everything (or so I thought) to. The problem I'm coming up against is, there doesnt appear to be any consistancy. Some elements are the color I chose and some arent. See screenshot.

There has got to be a way to make all the elements consistant. Ubuntu Tweak? Gconf-Editor? While I'm at it, I wish there was a way to change the little "x" check mark buttons to radio buttons like Clearlooks used to do as well. I have the MATE edition running on a couple of other machines but, I'd really like to go to Cinnamon as I think it is the way things are going. Any help?

Image
Hi. May be there is problem with the theme. Which theme are you using? Also did you try logging out and logging in back?
d00med

Re: GTK theme preferences - Customize GTK themes

Post by d00med »

bug67 wrote:I gotta say, I'm a little confused here. I downloaded and installed the GTK Theme Preference tool and chose a color to change everything (or so I thought) to. The problem I'm coming up against is, there doesnt appear to be any consistancy. Some elements are the color I chose and some arent. See screenshot.

There has got to be a way to make all the elements consistant. Ubuntu Tweak? Gconf-Editor? While I'm at it, I wish there was a way to change the little "x" check mark buttons to radio buttons like Clearlooks used to do as well. I have the MATE edition running on a couple of other machines but, I'd really like to go to Cinnamon as I think it is the way things are going. Any help?
The windows that are different look like ones you've opened as root. Perhaps try running the theme editor as root also?

You can change any aspect of a GTK theme with CSS, by editing the GTK3 theme's gtkwidget.css file.
Locked

Return to “Themes, Icons & Wallpaper”