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 In earlier builds of e17, this dialog was quite buggy, especially in its "Advanced" mode. Things improved a lot during the later part of 2008, to the point where even the Advanced" Mode is quite usable. We'll stick to the "Basic" mode for this "How To". Exploring the Advanced mode is can be very rewarding and we'll cover it in another 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.

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 sites Exchange and get-e.org carry most of the better ones available. (Get-e.org has really been replaced by Exchange, so don't be surprised if that link doesn't work!)

WARNING The programming underlying Enlightenment themes has changed several times during its development. This means that "old" themes won't necessarily work correctly with the newer builds of e17. Sites like Exchange, get-e.org and our OzOS Themes repository 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:

1. Open Exchange in a new browser tab or window.
2. Navigate to the themes section.
3. Browse the available themes and decide on one you would like to try.



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



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

9. Select "Apply" 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.

Enjoy your quest for the "ultimate" e17 theme!

We'll be covering more advanced theme topics - such as mixing and matching elements from different themes and even how to roll your own - in future How_tos in this series. Drop back to the OzOS "How-To" index every now and again - or check out my OzOS Blog for news about updates.

Aubrey