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348 lines
15 KiB
348 lines
15 KiB
<chapter id="customizing-desktop">
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<chapterinfo>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>
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<firstname>Juan Carlos</firstname>
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<surname>Torres</surname>
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</author>
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</authorgroup>
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</chapterinfo>
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<title>Customizing the Appearance of your &tde; Desktop</title>
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<para>Changing the appearance of your &tde; desktop can be done quite easily and
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flexibly by either individually controlling different parts of the visual
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appearance or by using a predefined theme. This guide explains the various
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customizable parts of &tde; and how to control their appearance.</para>
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<sect1 id="background">
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<title>Background</title>
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<para>The desktop background, more commonly known as the wallpaper, allows you
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to display certain images on your desktop. The settings for the background are
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found in the &kcontrolcenter;, or by <mousebutton>right</mousebutton>-clicking
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on the desktop and selecting <guilabel>Configure Desktop...</guilabel>.</para>
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<para>In &tde;, you have the option to use no picture, a single picture, or a
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slideshow of images. If <guilabel>No picture</guilabel> is chosen to be the
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desktop background, the <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> options are used instead.
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You can also choose whether to use a single
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background on all virtual desktops or to apply a different background for each
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desktop. This is done by selecting <guilabel>All desktops</guilabel> or the
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specific desktop name from the drop-down menu.</para>
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<para>Other background images can be downloaded using the
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<guibutton>Get New Wallpapers</guibutton> button on the right or you can visit
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the <ulink url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=1x2x3x4x5x6x7">
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Wallpapers section</ulink> of the kde-look.org website.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="colors">
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<title>Colors</title>
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<para>The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> settings of the &kcontrolcenter; allow you to control the
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colors that are used for various window elements, such as window titlebars,
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window backgrounds, text, and buttons. You can change the color of each window
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element by selecting the element from the drop down list and choosing a color
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for it. You can then save your changes by clicking on
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<guibutton>Save Scheme...</guibutton>. This will save your settings in a Color
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Scheme file. Color schemes are text files, with a <literal
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role="extension">.kcsrc</literal> extension, that contain
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entries for each window widget and its color, in RGB format. It is also very
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easy to add color schemes that you have downloaded by clicking on
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<guibutton>Import Scheme...</guibutton> and pointing to the <literal
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role="extension">.kcsrc</literal> file. With color schemes, you can save the
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changes you have done in one convenient file or easily change to a predefined
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color setting, without having to change each window element separately.</para>
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<para>Additional color schemes can be downloaded from <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=28">the Color Schemes
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section</ulink> of kde-look.org.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="icons">
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<title>Icons</title>
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<para>An icon theme contains the images used to represent actions, files,
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devices, and applications. Managing icon themes is easily done through the Icons
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module in the &kcontrolcenter;. Simply select the icon theme you want to use and
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click on <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> to switch to the new theme. To install new
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icon themes, all you need to do is to click on <guibutton>Install New
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Theme...</guibutton> and browse to the location of the icon theme archive. There
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is no need to extract the contents of the archive into a directory. In fact, the
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Icons module only accepts archived icon themes. To remove an icon theme, simply
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select the theme from the list and click on <guibutton>Remove Theme</guibutton>.
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Note that you cannot remove the icon theme that you are currently using. You
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need to switch to some other theme before the current one will become removable.
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You also cannot remove icon themes that were installed by the administrator
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(<systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>) or by your distribution's
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package manager.</para>
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<para>Other icon themes can be found in <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=27">the Icon Themes
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subsection</ulink> of kde-look.org.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="splash-screen">
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<title>Splash Screen</title>
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<mediaobject>
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<imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="splash-screen.png" format="PNG" />
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</imageobject>
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<textobject><phrase>The default &tde; splash screen</phrase></textobject>
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<caption><para>The default &tde; splash screen</para></caption>
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</mediaobject>
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<para>The splash screen is the animated image or screen that is displayed while
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&tde; loads after you log in. Each user can have a different splash screen.
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Changing the splash screen for the current user can be done in the Splash
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Screen module of the &kcontrolcenter;. Select the splash screen you want to
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use and click on <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>. You can also test what a splash
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screen will look like by selecting the splash screen and clicking on
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<guibutton>Test</guibutton>. Installing a new splash theme is very easy. Just
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click on <guibutton>Add...</guibutton> and browse to the splash screen archive you
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want to add. There is no need to extract the contents of the archive. Removing
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splash screens is also easily done by selecting the splash screen and clicking
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on <guibutton>Remove</guibutton>. Note that you cannot remove splash screens
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installed by the administrator (<systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>)
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or by your distribution's package manager.</para>
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<para>Splash screen themes can be found on kde-look.org, in <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=35">the Splash Screens
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section</ulink>. Take note that some splash screens require a specific &ksplash;
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engine to be installed.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="win-deco">
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<title>Window Decorations</title>
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<para>You can change the appearance of window borders, titlebars and buttons in
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&tde; using window decorations. Some window decorations even have the capability
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to apply effects such as translucency. Window decorations must be able to do all
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these without sacrificing speed and performance. This is the reason why window
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decorations come in source code that must be compiled, or as binary packages
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that must be installed. Basically, Window decorations are plugins or small
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programs that instruct &twin;, &tde;'s Window Manager,
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how to display window frames.</para>
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<para>In order to add a new window decoration, you need to compile it from
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source code. If a binary package for your distribution or system is provided,
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you simply need to install it using your distribution's package manager. Please
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refer to your distribution's manual for instructions on how to do this. Once the
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window decoration has been installed, it can be accessed in the Window
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Decorations settings in the &kcontrolcenter;. In the
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<guilabel>Window Decoration</guilabel> tab,
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a list of installed window decorations can be seen in the drop down box. Simply
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select the decoration you want to use and click on <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.
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Different window decorations have different capabilities and settings. Play
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around with the different options available. The <guilabel>Buttons</guilabel> tab allows you to
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control the buttons on the window titlebar. Enable the <guilabel>Use custom
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titlebar button positions</guilabel> check box in order to rearrange, remove, or
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add buttons. To add buttons to the titlebar, drag an item from the list to the
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titlebar preview above it. To remove a button, drag the button from the titlebar
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preview to the item list. Simply drag buttons in the titlebar preview to
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rearrange them.</para>
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<para>While all window decorations need to be compiled from source code, some
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window decorations can load pixmap-based theme files that do not need to be
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compiled. &tde; ships with a pixmap-based window decoration called the IceWM
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window decoration. Another pixmap-based window decoration is <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=31447">deKorator</ulink>,
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which can be found on kde-look.org. Please refer to your distribution's
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documentation on how to install these. The advantage of using pixmap-based
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window decorations is it is relatively easy to make themes for them, by using
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images and editing a configuration file. The tradeoff is a slight loss of performance,
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while this may be unnoticeable on very fast systems.</para>
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<para>To add an IceWM theme, select IceWM as the window decoration and click on
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the <guilabel>Open &tde;'s IceWM theme folder</guilabel> link in the window
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decoration description area. This will open a &konqueror; window
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to <filename>$<envar>TDEHOME</envar>/share/apps/twin/icewm-themes</filename>.
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Extract your IceWM theme to this folder. The theme will then be added to
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the list of IceWM themes. Select the theme you want to use and click on
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<guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.</para>
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<para>To add a deKorator theme after you've installed deKorator, select
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deKorator from the window decorations list and go to the <guilabel>Themes</guilabel>
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tab. Click on <guibutton>Install New Theme</guibutton> and locate
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your deKorator theme archive. Make sure that the version of the deKorator theme
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matches the deKorator version installed on your system. Once the theme has been
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added, select the theme you want to use and click on <guibutton>Set Theme
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Paths</guibutton>. Click on <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> for the changes to
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take effect.</para>
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<para>Some more window decorations are available at kde-look.org under <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=17">the
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Native &tde; 3.x</ulink> and <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=20">the
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Native &tde; 3.2+</ulink> subsections. Themes for the <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=18">IceWM</ulink> and
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<ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=21">deKorator</ulink> window
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decorations have their own subsections under the Window Decorations
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category.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="style">
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<title>Style</title>
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<para>Widgets are the basic elements of a graphical user interface, such as
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buttons, scrollbars, tabs, and menus. A widget style is a plugin or a small
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program that instructs &tde; how widgets are displayed. Since widgets are the
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very basic parts of an interface, they are frequently accessed and must be able
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to respond very quickly. This is why widget styles must come as source code to
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be compiled or as binary packages to be installed, just like window decorations.
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Please refer to your distribution's documentation on how to compile from source
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or install binary packages.</para>
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<para>Once a widget style has been installed, it will be added to the list of
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available styles in the <guilabel>Style</guilabel> module in the &kcontrolcenter;.
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The <guilabel>Style</guilabel> tab allows
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you to select a widget style from the list and to configure it if the style has
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a <guibutton>Configure...</guibutton> feature. Different styles have different options. A preview of the
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selected style is available at the lower portion of the tab. The
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<guilabel>Effects</guilabel> tab
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controls different visual effects for some widgets like comboboxes and tooltips.
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The <guilabel>Toolbar</guilabel> tab gives some options on the general appearance of toolbars.</para>
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<para>Additional widget styles can be found in <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=
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8x9x10x11x12x13x14x15x16">the different &tde; subsections of the
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Themes/Styles</ulink> of kde-look.org. Take note that styles come in source
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code or binary package forms. They are not &tde; theme files.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="kde-theme">
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<title>&tde; Theme</title>
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<para>&tde; allows you to save the different changes you made to your desktop's
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appearance in one file, using the Theme Manager in &kcontrolcenter;. Once you
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have set up your desktop the way you want, click on <guibutton>Create New
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Theme...</guibutton>. Enter the details you want to give your theme, such as theme
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name, author, version, &etc;, then click <guibutton>OK</guibutton> when done.
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This will add your theme to the list of available themes and save your settings
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in a &tde; theme. A &tde; theme (<literal role="extension">.kth</literal> file)
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instructs &tde; on what window decoration, style, or color scheme to use for
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that particular theme. To add a &tde; theme from an outside source, click on
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<guibutton>Install New Theme...</guibutton> and locate the &tde; theme file.
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Removing a theme is easily done by clicking on <guibutton>Remove
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Theme</guibutton>. If you made changes to your theme, you have to either create
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a new theme name for it, or remove the previous version first to be able to use
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the same theme name.</para>
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<para>The following are the settings that are saved and indicated in a &tde;
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Theme:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>
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Background</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Screen Saver</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Icon Theme</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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System Notifications</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Color Scheme</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Cursor Theme</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Window Decoration</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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&konqueror; background (File Management)</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Panel background</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Style</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Fonts</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>One very important thing to consider when using or installing a &tde;
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Theme is that it only indicates what settings to use for the above. A &tde;
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Theme includes only system notifications, desktop background, panel background,
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&konqueror; background, and the color scheme in its package. The other
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components must be installed separately if they do not already come with
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&tde;.</para>
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<para>&tde; Themes can be downloaded from the <ulink
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url="http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=8">Theme-Manager
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subsection</ulink> of
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kde-look.org, under the Themes/Styles section.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="desktop-glossary">
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<title>Glossary</title>
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<glosslist>
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<glossentry id="gloss-background">
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<glossterm>Background</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>Background/wallpaper image or color for the
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desktop</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-color-scheme">
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<glossterm>Color Scheme</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>(<literal role="extension">.kcsrc</literal>)
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Configuration file that indicates what colors to use
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for certain widgets</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-icons">
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<glossterm>Icons</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>Images representing applications, files,
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devices, &etc;</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-splash-screen">
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<glossterm>Splash Screen</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>Animated image or screen that displays while &tde;
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loads after logging in</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-win-deco">
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<glossterm>Window Decoration</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>Plugins or small programs that instruct the window
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manager how to display window frames</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-style">
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<glossterm>Style</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>Plugin or a small program that instructs &tde;
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how widgets are displayed</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-kde-theme">
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<glossterm>&tde; Theme</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>(<literal role="extension">.kth</literal>)
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A file that contains instructions on what settings to use for
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different GUI components</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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<glossentry id="gloss-widgets">
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<glossterm>Widgets</glossterm>
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<glossdef><para>Basic elements that build up a graphical user
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interface: buttons, scrollbars, menus, tabs, &etc;</para></glossdef>
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</glossentry>
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</glosslist>
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</sect1>
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</chapter>
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