[SOLVED] Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

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darkstrike
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[SOLVED] Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

Hi all - I've noticed with almost every dark theme, the text cursor is almost completely invisible in Caja when doing things like renaming files or naming new folders. I've seen the same issue on many different dark themes...Mint Dark-Y, Adwaita-Dark, Arc-Dark, Adapta-Nokto, Pop-Dark, Ultimate-Dark...

The only two I've found where it's visible are BlackMATE (my current preferred theme) and High-Contrast-Inverse. Is anybody else having this issue or knows how to fix it? I love dark themes and would love to be able to vary my theme once and awhile, but as minor as this might seem, it's a dealbreaker for file management...

Thanks for any suggestions or help!
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gm10

Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by gm10 »

If you don't care about the white background, a simple fix is to add this at the bottom of the theme's gtk-3.xx/gtk.css file

Code: Select all

.caja-desktop.view .entry,
.caja-navigation-window .view .entry {
    caret-color: #000;
}
Otherwise you need to set the background-color somehow but I never bothered with that so I don't have that at hand.
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

Nope, color of the text background when renaming, etc doesn't matter to me as long as I can see the cursor!

Where would I find the theme files to edit them?
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gm10

Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by gm10 »

darkstrike wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:54 am Nope, color of the text background when renaming, etc doesn't matter to me as long as I can see the cursor!

Where would I find the theme files to edit them?
Depends how you installed them, if via the Software Manager then usually in /usr/share/themes, otherwise you may have placed them in ~/.themes.

Btw, let me ghetto-ping Mint dev JosephM so he can either fix Mint-Y-Dark or tell the MATE team to use some sensible defaults for third-party themes:
JosephM wrote:
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darkstrike
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

Thanks! Problem is, I assume the next time there is a theme update through the software manager, my fixes will be overwritten again?

Your fix worked a treat though!
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gm10

Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by gm10 »

darkstrike wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 12:21 pm Thanks! Problem is, I assume the next time there is a theme update through the software manager, my fixes will be overwritten again?

Your fix worked a treat though!
You're welcome. And theme updates are super rare. What I do is I patch the theme automatically with a script as part of my post-install setup, here for my default Arc-Dark theme:

Code: Select all

echo ".caja-desktop.view .entry, .caja-navigation-window .view .entry {caret-color: #000;}"|sudo tee -a /usr/share/themes/Arc-Dark/gtk-3.0/gtk.css
That makes it painless.
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by Ben2talk2 »

darkstrike wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:35 am Hi all - I've noticed with almost every dark theme, the text cursor is almost completely invisible in Caja when doing things like renaming files or naming new folders. I've seen the same issue on many different dark themes...Mint Dark-Y, Adwaita-Dark, Arc-Dark, Adapta-Nokto, Pop-Dark, Ultimate-Dark...

The only two I've found where it's visible are BlackMATE (my current preferred theme) and High-Contrast-Inverse. Is anybody else having this issue or knows how to fix it? I love dark themes and would love to be able to vary my theme once and awhile, but as minor as this might seem, it's a dealbreaker for file management...

Thanks for any suggestions or help!
I just solved this issue... it fixed one issue with the selection square in LibreOffice Base (If I selected something like 'Tables' the highlight obscured the text - now I get more of an outline and slightly darker background leaving the white text clear).

I feel your pain. I also used BlackMATE before... I needed to use Mint-X for some jobs where dark themes caused problems.

The answers: I guess top answer would be the creator 'bolimage' - my new hero. https://www.opendesktop.org/u/bolimage/

Obscure-Blue
https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1254680/ - this works with my favourite (Royal-gtk-theme) window border, which is extremely slim and compact, yet still supports legible window labels. With 'Obscure-Blue' the border is seamless. However, the buttons (e.g. selecting Themes/Add/Remove/Settings) are slightly less attractive (though more compact) than the following theme:

Ultimate-Dark-Blue-Compact (there are a few colours).
https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1246387/

After installing it, verify my latest discovery... open the 'Themes' window, and click on an item (controls, or Icons), Click in the area with the label, not the 'select' area showing the preview - now tell me I'm dreaming that there's actually ANIMATION there... a very very lovely touch.

Definitely go 'compact' - it's not really very compact (and sadly my favourite compact titlebar 'royal-gtk-theme' now comes up a little purple, so I think Mint-X is nice (blended colour, but black text on grey window)

With the Blue, I use the ComixCursors--Slim-Blue or 'slim-white' (similar shade, slightly transparent, and just lovely and not flashy). Chameleon cursors are also incredible (try the 'Pearl-Regular'

Gone now are the days where I need to change to Mint-X theme to brighten up windows for some tasks... (mostly bad with Libreoffice, but previously with an old version of Calibre.
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by tipaul »

Added above lines to gtk.css for Caja file renaming... That should be added by default in the "Dark" themes!!!

It's really almost unusable with default Dark themes!!!

By chance, i've encountered this thread which saved my life! :D
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

Glad we could be of service! :P

I've used that little trick to 'fix' many dark themes now! :D
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by colibris79 »

It also fixed the issue in Mint 19.3 Mate. Thanks!!! :D
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by Centauri39 »

Thanks to this thread I was able to fix this, too.
But maybe it should be added that a reboot is required for this fix to take effect.
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

Centauri39 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:29 am Thanks to this thread I was able to fix this, too.
But maybe it should be added that a reboot is required for this fix to take effect.
It should really be something that is fixed on the actual OS.....that issue has been going on for a long time and isn't fixed in the actual Mint installation...
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by caltrop4 »

Mint Mate 18.1...
Mint Mate 20.1...

same issue different version

thne there's 3,000 lines of code in the CSS files tying to figure out where the cursor is

I've been editing it in the text editor then copy & paste to caja

who makes these dark themes anyway?

horrible...

theme updates must be really rare!
18.1 to 20.1 and still no change

amazing!
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by art__ »

In Mint 20.1, pluma also has a hardly visible cursor. I do not know how to apply gm10's method as I have a theme "custom", whatever it means for the placement of its configuration. As for darkstrike's solution,

Code: Select all

find ~ -name "gtk*3"
finds nothing.

Why both editors do not simply use the same color for the text and the cursor, if I uncheck "use theme"?
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by rickNS »

darkstrike wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:33 am
It should really be something that is fixed on the actual OS.....that issue has been going on for a long time and isn't fixed in the actual Mint installation...
Darkstrike hi,

I agree should be fixed, but...
This a pretty important thread IMO.
It would be nice if you marked it [SOLVED] as gm10's fix is great.

(I returned here as was quicker then typing (copying) the code from another computer into this one.)
Mint 20.0, and 21.0 MATE on Thinkpads, 3 X T420, T450, T470, and X200
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

I should mark it as 'Solved', yes, but I haven't as it's kindof a big usability issue I'd hope that the devs would get around to sorting out (not knowing where the text cursor is while typing is kindof important...) and I'm still really surprised this hasn't been fixed in subsequent Mint releases...this was a post I made about a Mint version from 2 YEARS ago, and it's still not solved.

I can understand the issue on themes that I subsequently install that are not part of the original OS, but this happens on themes that come INTEGRATED with the OS. It can't be that hard to implement a fix for it upstream...?

***I should add that maybe it HAS been implemented and I missed that, but last I checked it was still an issue!***

Keep in mind there are new users coming to Linux Mint that may not be as computer savvy and may not have the skill to come to the forums to find/implement that fix. I'm very glad the fix exists as I've used it MANY times, but it's a usability issue that's existed for quite a long time and it's relatively minor to solve.

My apologies for coming off snarky if I am! I don't really mean it in a snarky way! I'm just really surprised such a minor, noticeable and known usability issue still exists several Mint versions and several years later. My apologies if I sound negative....I do LOVE Mint (it's my primary OS on my 'daily driver' laptop and would be on my desktop PC if I didn't need certain Windows programs)! :)
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by rickNS »

darkstrike wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:41 pm I should mark it as 'Solved', yes, but I haven't.../CUT

Keep in mind there are new users coming to Linux Mint that may not be as computer savvy and may not have the skill to come to the forums to find/implement that fix.
Whether or not "some" users have the capability of inserting a couple of lines of code into a file, is irrevelant, not to mention you might be underestimating people.

The fix works, is the best solution to come along in a couple of years (or more now), so the thread if solved. Your refusal to mark is as so is not so much snarky as just rude to the people who would find it easier if it was. Also it is what you are supposed to do, you "apparently" know that.
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Re: Caja / dark theme issues - invisible text cursor?

Post by darkstrike »

Marked.........

For the record, I don't underestimate people. Yes, many users might be able to figure this out, but many wouldn't be able to...

I am a teacher by trade and do computer tutoring and repair on the side. Many of my clients are older folks or in their 60s/70s/80s or folks who are less tech-literate who I have installed Linux for as a Windows replacement because it was more straightforward and/or worked better on their older hardware. I know EXACTLY what they are capable of as I work with them, usually one-on-one or in small groups. A LOT of them wouldn't be able to implement this fix on their own, or even know how to find the forums without assistance to even look up this fix.

People could've found the thread with a search regardless of whether it was marked Solved or not, but it's marked as Solved now...you even admitted in your first reply you found it quickly so you could copy-paste the code rather than typing it. Again, keep in mind we're tech-savvy and know how to do that.

I wasn't trying to be rude, but was leaving it unmarked as a reminder this was an issue that had not yet been fixed in the OS...I stated as such in my previous post. You didn't need to be rude to me, I was nice to you.

I do hope the devs can add a permanent fix for this in the future...

Good day.
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