Call for participation: an ubuntu default theme lead by the community?

Border-bottom is a different approach from what we have seen with any file explorer so far. Button pressed is used in Cinnamon since 2-3 years now.

I was trying to be different with the minimize-maximize buttons. What we are currently debating is very conventional

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Currently, the maximize - restore option icons are not descriptive. That is something that has changed greatly in the above mockup

In case of highlighting, we can use Ubuntu_orange/warning for buttons other than close. Or simply grey them out on hover

max-min on_hover

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I’m positive in changing current maximize/minimize button and also like this picture, as I liked the one from @madsrh mockups (only, I tried a little and could not figure out how to replace the current square, with a .png picture :frowning:, if anybody could help :smiley: )

It’s been said that orange is often seen too similar to a warning/destructive color, so I would go with grey/other color.

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What if we did something along the lines of Windows 10. Too large of an X makes it look very dramatic and unnecessary.

Another note: why not transition from the gray [X] markup when passive to the bold red active [X] markup when hovering? (again similar to windows 10)

That is one reason I was tempted to use the Ubuntu_orange since it warns the user that the window might vanish. Grey too looks nice.

In the Adapta theme, they were using some SVG to make the launcher icon flat. Maybe, we can borrow something from it for the background.

breadcrumb_cyan

This one looks nice on breadcrumbs @madsrh

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Vanishing is not really dangerous/destructive, though

not sure I understand, could you take any screenshot?

In Adapta, icons in the launchers are highlighted by a flat grey background which is fetched from an SVG file. Location is

adapta-gtk-theme/shell/asset/assets-unity/launcher_icon_back_150.svg

or

launcher_icon_*.svg

Okay - I’ve tried the Communitheme™ as it stood yesterday. It may be that changes are planned and this feedback is nugatory (I need to catch up with the other thread now Christmas is over!). But, for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts while they’re fresh in my mind.

Also, to be clear, I’m focussing on the negative, but there’s a lot I really like too :slight_smile:

  • The dark shading around the edges of the launcher is a big step backwards, IMHO. It’s like a cheesy “emboss” effect. The Ubuntu 17.10 launcher looks bright and fresh; the (current) Communitheme one just looks a bit dated and grubby. Sorry to be negative about that.

  • The buttons on the top left of the file explorer are too “buttony” compared to the ones on the top right (close window, maximise, etc.).

  • I would like more difference between in-focus/out-of-focus window titles.

  • Also on the topic of window theming… I think the divider lines are too stark. Dark lines can look crowded and dense. When the backgrounds are already different shades, I don’t think you need to emphasise the separation any further with a line, IMHO (main example: the window title and strip of menu items below it are already two different shades of grey).

  • For maximised windows, we’re going to be getting very busy at the top of the screen. Three horizontal stripes (the Gnome header, the window title and the menu items) will be common. Since the window title is darker than the menu items below it, my opinion is that the Gnome header should be darker again, because then the three stripes make a pleasing continuum (each stripe lighter than the one above it). Is there any way (or desire!) to make the three stripes the same height, for greater visual balance? Just a thought.

Here are mockups showing my suggestions - I just edited some screenshots of Communitheme on my current desktop.

Maximised window showing “continuum”:

Maximised out-of-focus window:

Non-maximised windows:

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I would also definitely prefer the shadowless launcher & more transparency in the top panel when not maximised.

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This is a bug that exists because we haven’t found a good way to remove the default stylesheet for the dock.

Fixed in the repo, not yet available in the ppa because Ubuntu build farm is down.

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I feel the Ubuntu 17.10 GNOME shell was too unresponsive and jittery to work with, so I’m seeing what I can do to modify vanilla GNOME to look the part, but also work well with less powerful systems. Perhaps Unity 8’s theme would be a good base model.

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You know I’ve been thinking about greys. Ubuntu normally uses quite warm greys (I think people sometimes even call them “brown”?) but the current Communitheme ones seem a little cool.

I wonder if making them a tiny bit “browner” increases the Ubuntu feeling and compliments the orange?

Mockups:

brownish communitheme non-maximised

1 Like

I second this.

Very important for me is for the designers of the default theme to please make it fully compatible with Vanilla GNOME. (For instance, please get rid of the gradient in the top bar; it messes up other themes, like United GNOME in Ubuntu Session, while it works splendidly in GNOME Session).

On a side note: where can I try out the latest Communitheme? … :slight_smile:

2 Likes

I’ve been giving some more thought to the “three stripe” problem for maximised windows. Perhaps using two shades of grey produces cleaner, less cluttered-looking results?

Dark grey - for the Gnome title and in-focus window title.
Lighter grey - for out-of-focus window titles and menu titles.

In that case, the title of the maximised window is either the same shade as the Gnome header above it (if in focus) or the lighter menu items below it (if not). That means you don’t end up with three distinct “stripes” at the top.

Non-maximised:

Maximised window in focus:

Maximised window not in focus:

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Absolutely love this.

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Oh, HERE’S something I like… I think that two-tone concept looks quite smart (and gives a nod to Unity 8 theme) if you set the darker grey to black.

Last mockups for a while, I promise :slight_smile: Again, I’m mostly just screenshotting the existing Communitheme and tweaking the colours, so this doesn’t diverge very far from the work that’s already been done.

Being critical, I wonder if my lighter grey now needs to become a bit darker too - but these should be enough to give you a sense of whether it’s a nice idea or not. Also, note that I’m using the 17.10 shell, except I added the Ubuntu logo from the Communitheme shell and recoloured the top bar so it darkens to black, rather than the Ambiance gradient.

Non-maximised windows:

Maximised window in focus:

Maximised window not in focus:

File explorer:

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We have a daily build PPA, but this is out of date ATM because the Ubuntu buildservers are down (meltdown and spectre)

https://github.com/Ubuntu/gnome-shell-communitheme/blob/master/README.md

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Sorry, but I don’t understand, what is the “three stripe” problem?

Yes, I do think your light grey has to follow suit and become a bit darker.

I think I like your previous version better.