Solarized theme?

All the themes people have shared are here: Themes

I don't remember one based on Solarized, but you could make one. The Preferences editor makes it easy to grab colors out of other windows so you don't have to enter the RGB values by hand.

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Nope, still none so far as I know. Which is kinda shocking, since DO is really great for software engineers like myself, and Solarized is such a huge color scheme in the programming world!

I did make an attempt at creating one from scratch... it's definitely NOT finished but does hit most of the main areas. I finally gave up when I learned that DO (SADLY) still uses the M$/Win common controls like ListView, and THAT doesn't allow it's column headers to be altered. So no matter what I did to the REST of DO, those plain white/gray column headers in the files list always made me a little sick. So I gave up and went with another product for file management. (I am not mentioning it here out of respect for the DO people)

I can probably still dig up my settings for the Solarized theme if you want to use it as a starting point yourself. Just reply here as I get email notifications (still) from this board. But as of the latest version of DO for Win10 it still uses the same ListView and so you'll probably still have that default look.

You can change the column headers and scrollbar colors now. That was added in Opus 12.

This information is as out of date as typing "M$". :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

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So, I don't mind taking over the torch even though I don't have a lot of time to dedicate on this. I will work on it on weekends, but yeah, please do send the .DLT file to me. I will PM you my email address. Thanks a lot @DavidInvenio.

On the other hand, perhaps it is time to come back to DOpus now that version 12 seemed to have fixed this quirks.

If anyone is interested, I have created a Solarized Dark theme and am more than happy to share it.

One final detail I am trying to figure out is how to change the background color for the Location & Search boxes. But even as they are, it still works pretty well.
If you'd like to try it out just let me know.
I have not created themes here before so I'm not quite sure of the procedure, but I'll figure it out.

You could start with a screenshot as a teaser :slight_smile:

I am always apprehensive to post screenshots of anything style-related especially something that is still very much work-in-progress! But maybe this will help build some interest to urge GP to enhance DO by making the Location and Search controls customizable at least for colors. It's a tad frustrating to have come so far and have 2 elements that just have to be accepted "as-is". In fact I'm not sure I'm going to continue work on this theme as I am also disappointed by the statusbar which either must be accepted with borders(ugly) or without being able to set the background color like Location and Search - and as you can see - it's less than pleasant.

In any case - here's a single screenshot - offered as a WIP for proof-of-concept only.
Suggestions are welcome - regarding the colorization of the theme and implementation of Solarized (and only those issues please).

PS: As a developer myself I can't imagine using a crumbar or any other component that couldn't at least have it's colors manipulated! And I tend to wish I could just plug in my own component into a DO toolbar! Wait... that's not already possible is it?!?! :slight_smile: Leo?

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We are waiting to see what Microsoft do with the dark theme for File Explorer. Ideally, we will be able to use the official theme parts instead of rolling our own, but it remains to be seen.

I guess you aren't a Win32 developer as Microsoft haven't bothered doing a proper job of that in decades. :frowning:

Not sure what you mean there. Are you using the current beta with the improvements to the status bar for dark themes etc.? I think you can configure all of the status bar's colors now.

Actually yes, most of my development activity involves Microsoft technologies, although I will admit that my background is Unix/K&R c. But the past two decades have been almost exclusively dotnet/c# and n-tier commercial apps. So I am well aware of M$ (yes I continue that dinosaur-habit ;-)) not doing a proper job at a great many things that causes me disappointment at best but often outright distress.

I am sure we will disagree on this note, but for what it's worth, my development projects became much less stressful when my group decided (many years ago) to move as far away as possible from using "stock" components (especially UI) from the empire of MS. I am not suggesting inventing the wheel of a path-based crumb-bar, far from it. But the technologies/products my group has standardized on provided us with a way to stop getting caught up - as you say - "waiting to see what Microsoft do(es)" - with XYZ or ABC. We had full access to the source code for these products, in case our needs exceeded their current speed of evolution, however they certainly aren't open-sourced/free and are absolutely of commercial quality and far above the norms offered by the "common controls" that Microsoft provides.

Again, I'm sure we don't agree on this issue, but in the end - I would ask - is control over the background color of a UI element really something that warrants "waiting to see what Microsoft does"? Theme technology has evolved to amazing degrees with a great many commercial applications, so this isn't an issue of DO taking the lead in this area. And as I say that I want to reiterate my opinion that DO is the most advanced file manager ever developed in the Windows world - and I am a big fan. But in this matter of theme-related issues, I feel a great opportunity is being missed by GP.

PS: Thank you for your input - I am always very appreciative for your consistent and valuable involvement with these forums. It's a wonderful asset to the DO community, and honestly, was the reason why years ago I became a paying customer. THANK YOU again Leo - and Peace! /D

Yes, since the control is currently drawn using Microsoft's theme API, and we aim for a consistent look & feel with other parts of the desktop OS.

We may roll our own if it turns out to be unsuitable, but that's a potential waste of time if it turns out there's going to be an official way to do it which also fits with how the control is already drawn. (And it is not just the background; it other things drawn on top of it such as the breadcrumbs UI.) Also, having a lot of different ways to draw every control becomes a testing & compatibility nightmare. There are already two ways for a lot of them, since visual styles aren't always available, and we don't want to add more unless it is really required. Given this is pure cosmetics, when using non-standard colors, I think we can wait a few weeks.

The control's background is also already quite translucent so it takes some of the background color it is on already. It's not like it draws 100% white over everything. Most applications don't even give you fine control over colors of every UI element, and I think Opus is way ahead in this department and it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask for a bit of patience here, considering the next Windows update should have the new themes in it.


Could you explain the issue(s) you have with the status bar so we can address them if needed?

You make some very valid points Leo - and I admit that I don't develop at the API level and so I lack the perspective you bring. I build software from the component level up, and consider myself very fortunate to work with a great UI package vendor, so I never have to worry about the API level stuff. I apologize for any negative tone I may have conveyed.

The one question I am left with is likely a more philosophical one than technical... when you say you are aiming for a consistent look and feel with other parts of the OS... how does this blend with the entire concept of providing a theme engine for the DO app specifically? Speaking for myself, I don't want DO looking like the rest of the OS, I want it looking like a pure Solarized Dark implementation! Isn't app-level theming a way AROUND having your app look like the rest of the OS? I promise I am not asking to be antagonistic. My interest in this theming business is born out of a passion for the Solarized color schemes. As a developer I am sure you know that when you're in front of a your workstation for a dozen or more hours a day, having control of the appearance can be a huge difference in minimizing stress and frustration! And with that I reiterate that I am a big fan of DO and the customizing power it brings to my desktop!

PS: I will post a new topic about the status bar with all the details. THANK YOU in advance Leo!

We aim to make Opus consistent with the look & feel of a standard desktop app by default, while allowing people to change things (within reason and feasibility) if they want it to look different.

Topic is here for those following the thread and interested: Status bar background color - problem changing - #3 by Leo

Hi! I would like to say that it would be insanely awesome if Dopus had a "power user" theme or color setting where every single element could be configured independently of Windows. Back in the days i started using Opus because of the many color settings. Right now if i want to make a dark themed color configuration i am better to use windows high contrast theme but then i cant use apps like Excel because of the dark cells given by high contrast. I hope in a future version this will be possible. So like David, i also would like to be able to set colors myself for fields such as quickfilter or path or search. Dopus users are power users. We will not be confused if we set background and text color to black by accident, we will change the config. :slight_smile:
Please accept our humble needs as a feature request. Sorry for disrupting the conversation!
(And for example if you set a toolbar to FDB you cant change or set the background for each button it contains etc.)

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In the next beta:

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Hi Leo - That location bar looks awesome! Is that in .2? I'm not sure of the dates each beta was put out. But I'm looking forward to some additional location bar control! (among other things, as I'm sure you can guess! LOL)

It's in 12.10 already.

You can find the dates in the Releases area, or in the update checker within the program.

Can you clarify the screenshot a bit? Pardon if I'm being dense! Is the location bar customizable insofar as setting colors of various elements? (and can those settings override the o/s theme?)
I did look through preferences but did not see anything for it, however I should mention that I have migrated back to Windows7 from Windows10 so I was not sure if there were Windows10-only features.

Preferences / Display / Colors and Fonts / Toolbar and menu defaults, field background and field glyphs.

Can you tell me if there are any plans to make the colors work the way changing a normal toolbar item works as opposed to them being coupled?

2 months later and in a long thread about a lot of different settings/colors, I am not sure which colors you mean.

It might be best to start a new thread for this with details of what you want to know.