SOLVED - Scrollbar width

[woodsman]

Is there a way to change the scrollbar width in Cinnamon? I have several older users and they are struggling with the skinny scroll bars.

In Mate I can use a gtkrc file, but that does not seem to succeed with gtk3.

Thanks.

[JosephM]

Yes you can. What your looking or is the -GtkRange-slider-width property in /usr/share/themes/Mint-X/gtk3.0/gtk-widget.css. That will control the width in gtk3 apps. That setting in the gtkrc file will control the scrollbar width in gtk2 apps.

[woodsman]

Thanks.

I am not sure we are discussing the same thing (but I could be confused --- nothing new there!). I want to widen all scrollbars in Cinammon, not GTK2 apps that run in Cinnamon. For example, the Nemo scrollbar is way too skinny for our users.

[austin.texas]

I am not sure we are discussing the same thing (but I could be confused --- nothing new there!). I want to widen all scrollbars in Cinammon, not GTK2 apps that run in Cinnamon. For example, the Nemo scrollbar is way too skinny for our users.

The instruction given by JosephM will work to accomplish what you want for Nemo, and other programs.
For gtk3, "the -GtkRange-slider-width property in /usr/share/themes/Mint-X/gtk3.0/gtk-widget.css"
For gtk2, "That setting in the gtkrc file"

He used Mint-X as an example. You may be using a different "Controls" theme, so you would edit that one.
The scroll bar in the Main Menu is controlled by editing the cinnamon.css file for the theme you are using.

[woodsman]

Thank you. Those changes do indeed succeed. Here is what I changed:

* Fix GTK3 scrollbar slider behavior
/etc/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
[Settings]
gtk-primary-button-warps-slider=0

* Fix GTK3 scrollbar slider width
/usr/share/themes/Mint-X/gtk-3.0/gtk-widgets.css: default -GtkRange-slider-width: 19px

* Fix Cinnamon menu scrollbar width
/usr/share/themes/$THEME/cinnamon/cinnamon.css: StScrollView STScrollBar min-width: 19px

The primary challenge with this solution is the next Update Pack with Cinnamon 2.2 will erase/overwrite the changes. Another challenge is the changes affect only one theme and if the user downloads new themes the changes have no effect.

A GUI method would be well received to change these options such that the changes are saved in the user's profile. I am new to LMDE so what is the appropriate way to ask/recommend these GUI controls?

I emphasize the word recommend because the users I am installing this system are retired folks. The LMDE defaults are way too small and tiny for older eyes. I don't mind customizing but GUI controls wold save muuch time for everybody.

[JosephM]

Gui controls for this might come in handy but I'm not sure how practical they would be to implement. One solution would be to make a copy of the original themes under a new name and make your changes to the copies. That would keep things from getting overwritten by an update. You could also inform your users that you have customized the themes for usability purposes and what changing them will do.

[austin.texas]

JosephM is exactly correct - your solution would be to copy and rename the theme (creating your own theme).
Then you can post your theme online for anyone with the same needs, with no need to worry about your updates.
It is easy to post your theme here - http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=163192
or here - http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes/view/296

Themes posted on cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com will appear in the System Settings > Themes > Get More Online tab, making the installation to various computers incredibly easy.

You can see here what can be done to expand the size and legibility of the calendar -
http://gnome-look.org/content/preview.p ... 7283fb3490
this is the date title in the calendar (cinnamon.css)
.datemenu-date-label {
padding: .2em 2.75em .2em 2.75em;
font-size: 1.4em; - 2em is HUGE, and expands the width of the Calendar.
font-weight: bold;
color: green;
text-align: center;
}

[eanfrid]

If you want to use personal themes or modify system-wide existing ones, the right way is to copy them into your own personal themes folder and apply the changes you want, which will automagically override the system-wide settings. This personal (hidden) folder is "~/.themes" (where "~" stands for the path to your own home folder). Doing otherwise is making unstable system-wide changes ignored by further system updates...

[woodsman]

Yes I know how to make user settings override system settings. The challenge here is the system defaults are wrong and I need to administer these changes for more than one person. I should be able to insert global system override changes somewhere in /etc. That way I don't need to worry about Update Packs and users can still override my changes if they want.

[bobchill]

Sounds like an interesting question. I happened to read something about the.NET Scrollbar Controlrecently. Don't know if someC# tutorial for scrollbar controlwill offer you some hints or not.

[cedbled]

Thank you. Those changes do indeed succeed. Here is what I changed:

* Fix GTK3 scrollbar slider behavior
/etc/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
[Settings]
gtk-primary-button-warps-slider=0

* Fix GTK3 scrollbar slider width
/usr/share/themes/Mint-X/gtk-3.0/gtk-widgets.css: default -GtkRange-slider-width: 19px

* Fix Cinnamon menu scrollbar width
/usr/share/themes/$THEME/cinnamon/cinnamon.css: StScrollView STScrollBar min-width: 19px

The primary challenge with this solution is the next Update Pack with Cinnamon 2.2 will erase/overwrite the changes. Another challenge is the changes affect only one theme and if the user downloads new themes the changes have no effect.

A GUI method would be well received to change these options such that the changes are saved in the user's profile. I am new to LMDE so what is the appropriate way to ask/recommend these GUI controls?

I emphasize the word recommend because the users I am installing this system are retired folks. The LMDE defaults are way too small and tiny for older eyes. I don't mind customizing but GUI controls wold save muuch time for everybody.

Hey, my only problem is locating the theme folder for a theme i'm using named "Void".....i cannot locate it in the folder structure I bolded....could it be because I'm running cinnamon 2.4, and the theme was designed for cinn 1.8? are there any alternate theme folder locations, where I should be looking?

The theme does install, and work great BTW, so I know it's there somewhere, I just can't find it.... I've done searches of the entire File System, but I'm missing something

[JosephM]

When you install themes from the Cinnamon Spices site they are placed in the .themes directory in your home folder.

[cedbled]

When you install themes from the Cinnamon Spices site they are placed in the .themes directory in your home folder.

which explains why I haven't seen it thus far.....sneeeeaky........

Well, are the rules the same for modding the spice themes? are the config files layed out the same way?

[Bernie222]

I also changed the css.files, full-plane windows like foirefox or office-writer still have the too-small scroll bars whereas other windows now show my preferred size.
There are young, blind and semi-blind useres. Belonging to the last grout mint must have a simple way to adapt settings like the width of scrollbars or the transparency of windows (like that of opened nemo).
This should be possible without to become a gksudo-terminal-specialist changing the inwards of css-files.
This was also recommended above and my hope is that the developers will set this to one of their priorities. Beside this mint is great.
***Guten Rutsch (meaning good scroll to the new year) and happy new year**** Bernie
http://forums.linuxmint.com/posting.php ... 8&t=166000#

[supercoolgirl]

It didn't work for me at all

[Moem]

Hi Supercoolgirl,
Can you please start a new thread? It's easier to read that way. I'm sure someone will be able to help you with your question if you give us enough information, most importantly: which version of Mint are you using?

[Grenny]

I know this is an old topic, but this might help someone in the future.
I had the same problem with Linux Mint Tessa 19.1 Cinnamon and tried some of the other excellent suggestions, but the following worked for me, based on JosephM's message:

Copying the code from the
/usr/share/themes/Mint-X/gtk-3.0/gtk-widgets.css
file, I inserted into the file:

/home/USER/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css, the following:

Code: Select all

scrollbar {
    -GtkScrollbar-has-backward-stepper: 1;
    -GtkScrollbar-has-forward-stepper: 1;
}
scrollbar slider {min-width: 10px;}