Themes documentation

Splashy theme handling abilities is superb! Splashy offers XML based themes that can be tested against a well known [[http://splashy.alioth.debian.org/schemas/|schema]]. This is one of the best features of Splashy. Changing a theme is a simple as: - edit /etc/splashy/config.xml - (optional) update initramfs initrd file See more details below. ===== Theme Specifications ===== * theme name should contain alphanumeric chacters only (avoid white spaces). This will be referred to from an XML file (/etc/splashy/config.xml). * theme folder name is the "name" of the theme cd /etc/splashy/themes ls default/ theme.xml background.png cat default/theme.xml ... default ... * inside the theme directory there should be: - theme.xml file describing the theme itself - at least one image (conventionally called "background.png") which will be used as background during the boot process * All images should be in PNG format. Other formats are supported by directfb but you will need to modify src/Makefile.am to include them. The official Splashy binary packages only include support for PNG. * Size depends on user. Image size 1024x768 is what we ship with Splashy default theme as most users will use vga=791 or so as boot kernel param * Theme.xml must validate against the latest version of theme schema file (found under http://splashy.alioth.debian.org/schemas/) * A full theme allows the use of 5 images for: Boot, Shutdown, Suspend, Resume and Error. Also, when designing the themes, you'll need to know the positions of any progress bars and/or textboxes specified in %, not pixel, terms. Colours are specified in RGB+Alpha. ===== Getting themes ===== You will find Splashy themes inside the Splashy tarball((A //.tar.gz// file)) in the //themes/ // directory. Probably your distribution already provides packages with Splashy themes. [[http://www.debian.org|Debian]], for example, has a //splashy-themes// package. If you wish to take a preview of themes, some of them are available for preview in the [[screenshots]] article. ===== Installing a theme ===== Installing a theme is pretty easy with Splashy. You can do it through Splashy's //splashy_config// command (**recommended**) or manually. ==== Installing themes through splashy_config ==== Once you have downloaded the theme tarball, run the following command: splashy_config -i You must run that command as //root// super-user. ==== Installing themes manually ==== It is **strongly** recommended to [[?themes#Installing themes through splashy_config|use splashy_config]] rather than doing this manually. But if you are still interested in doing things on your own, just follow the these steps: - Download a theme tarball - See in ///etc/splashy/config.xml// what path is defined between the //// tags((The default path is ///etc/splashy/themes//)) - Extract the tarball in that path - (optionally) update your initramfs image (**update-initramfs -u** on Debian/Ubuntu/Xandros) to update your initrd image **Notes:** Splashy uses /etc/default/splashy to know whether it should be in initramfs or not. In the future, splashy_config will check this and run the proper command according to the distribution being used. It's safe to run **update-initramfs -u** anyway. ===== Setting the theme to use ===== Once you have [[?themes#Installing a theme|installed a theme]], if you like it, you might want splashy to use it. Again, changing the theme is pretty easy with Splashy. You can do it through Splashy's //splashy_config// command (**recommended**) or manually. **Note**: if you are using Splashy from initramfs, you will need to update your image. On Debian/Ubuntu this can be done by simply running: //sudo update-initramfs -u// ==== Setting themes through splashy_config ==== Setting a theme in Splashy can't get any easier: Once the theme is installed, just run //splashy_config -s ****// where //name// is the name of the theme((The name you should use corresponds to the name of the theme's directory in ///etc/splashy/themes//)) ==== Setting themes manually ==== The manual way is safe in most cases, but it is still recommended to [[?themes#Setting themes through splashy_config|use splashy_config]] whenever possible rather than doing things on your own. Just follow the following steps: - Edit ///etc/splashy/config.xml// - Look for a line like this: //**default**// - Change //default// (or whatever you have there) for the name of the theme you wish to use. ===== Creating a theme ===== Splashy also provides a tool for easily creating themes of your own: splashy_config -c Once the above command is executed, //splashy_config// will prompt for the details about the theme you wish to create and create a new directory. This directory **is the theme**! You can also see //splashy_config//'s help((splashy_config's help is accessible through //splashy-config -h//)) for a non-interactive way of creating themes (for use with scripts, for example). You are wellcome to pack this theme in a tarball((To create a tarball run //tar czf THEME_NAME.tar.gz THEME_DIRECTORY//)) and [[contact|send it to us]]. ===== Getting new themes ===== You can get user contributed themes or upload your own online from [[themes:contrib|here]]. ===== Contributing themes ===== You can send your own themes to us using the following email address (please reformat the address correctly): splashy-users lists.alioth.debian.org //[[start|Go back to main page]]//