How To: Set and Change Themes

Submitted by Aubrey on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 09:05.

An e17 theme determines the colors, sizes, shapes and visual behaviors of all the graphic elements that form the windows, icons, menus, shelves, gadgets and other desktop elements that you see.

Any e17 theme is actually a single .edj format file that contains a vast collection of images and instructions that combine to produce a particular "look" for your desktop. (I recently unpacked a theme and found that it contained 500 .png graphic files, 46 .edc program files and four .ttf font files). Many themes use sequences of small graphic files to produce animation effects (or "bling"). All e17 themes come with a default background image.

Fortunately for us, all you need is the single theme file to use and enjoy a particular look for your desktop. Several themes are included by default with OzOS and most other e17 distros.

There are lots of ways you can play around with (and combine) themes, but we'll stick with the basics here.

Using the Built-In Themes

Here's how to use the installed default (or "system") themes.

Working with themes is a "Configuration" task so select "Configuration">"Themes" from the Main menu. On the dialog that pops up, select "System" from the radio buttons in the top left:

WARNING Many people find this dialog to be buggy, especially in its "Advanced" mode. For the sake of your sanity, we'll stick to the "Basic" mode for this "How To".

The available "System" themes are listed and visible in the left window of the dialog (They actualy live in the directory called /opt/e17/share/enlightenment/data/themes. OzOS is actually set up with the "Rusted Emerald" theme (by our very own Rui Pais) active by default (rather than the usual one, actually labeled "default"). Select one of the others and apply. (Note: even in "Basic" mode this is often where the theme module crashes - but your desktop will recover and display the new theme).

You are not limited to the "System" Themes. There are many e17 themes out there on the internet just waiting for you to find and download them. The site get-e.org carries most of the better ones available.

WARNING The programming underlying Enlightenment themes has changed several times during its development. This means that "old" themes dont work with the newer builds of e17. Sites like get-e.org contain warnings about older themes. Stick with the newer ones.

Downloading and Installing a New Theme

Here's a quick "walkthough" on getting a new theme:

Open get-e.org in a new browser tab or window.
Navigate to the themes section.
Browse the available themes and decide on one you would like to try.

Click the image to start the download. Save the file (wherever you usually download to)
When finished downloading, open the Theme Selector dialog ("Configuration">"Themes")
Select "Import"
Navigate to the directory containing your downloaded theme (try "Desktop" if you haven't set up a dedicated download directory in your browser)
Select the downloaded theme and the "OK"

You will be returned to the Theme Selector with the new theme in the preview window.

Select "Apply", watch e17 crash and recover, and you will be using your new theme.

Personal Themes

Your newly downloaded theme lives in a directory called ~/.e/e/themes, as will all future themes you download (or create) and "import". These are your "Personal" themes. Use the "Personal" radio button in the top left of the Theme Selector dialog to get access to them.