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DurhamDev,
Good work. I do however agree with htpc guy that some subtle gradients like in the original theme would really kick it up a notch.
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The colours themes included with the latest release are great, but the colours for the menu items if you use default home style don't look right, for example DurhamSmoke has dark blue background and black text for the menu items.
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How about updating the first post in this thread with a description of how to create new a new theme so it's all available in one place and not spread out over several pages? Files to edit, how to package it, etc.
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nistuf
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2011-01-13, 12:31
(This post was last modified: 2011-01-13, 13:58 by nistuf.)
I Like the new colours, I am currently using the night version and it looks good!
The only thing that looks kind of off, is in the main menu (I use the Alaska's default home layout, so with the pictures instead of icons). The glow surrounding these pictures is blue. It would be great if this could be changed into a theme specific colour, so for the night theme maybe white or orange? I hope you can help me out, love the work you guys have done!
*Edit: It's not just the glow, the entire square is blue... In the original skin this is white so it seems changeable?
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I've just confirmed with Hitcher one of the technical changes that is coming, and I can't wait to share it. It will actually make things a lot easier, I believe, and lot more flexible for the way people will be able to customize the Alaska Revisited skin.
You have all undoubtedly noticed that all of my skins thus far have had backgrounds that have been plain, and to accomplish this, I've been creating PNG files for the backgrounds. What this meant, was that when you selected the "theme", you're stuck with whatever background I put behind it. Now, I've used two different icon sets, so let's say I wanted to create a blue theme with the black icons. In the old method, I'd need to create a whole new theme for this.
There is now a setting in the XML for the background colour, and a new switch to 'turn off' the background PNG. What this means is that now, instead of me creating a PNG for the background colour, I can use the XML setting to do so. So now, I can use the "theme" that contains black icons, and the "colours" menu selection for the blues. If I wanted to switch the colours, a simple change of the colour selection gets the job done, without me having to create an entire new theme for it.
If I want to bring the background image back, I flip the switch, and it's there. Now, this is where we do get into a bit of a nit. Let's say I've chosen "Durham Smoke" as both my theme, and my colour choice. You'll see a grey background, with red and black font choices. Once I flip that switch, you'll get my background, and you'll be stuck with it as the background even if you change your colour choice to blue, orange, or what-have-you. It may work perfectly and 'fit' (I'll do my best) or it might look way out to lunch. I will do my best to try and make each of my themes work with most of the colour choices.
Once the update hits (Hitcher is waiting on me, at the moment) I will try and post some ideas in this thread of how you can make these changes, and you can see the results.
