Tech Jawa » Themes

Guide: Theme Pidgin in Windows (Updated)

James Kaczynski II — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 04:09:45 +0000

A couple months ago I wrote an article on how to theme Pidgin in Windows; Around the time Pidgin 2.7.0 was released GTK+ stand alone was removed from the package and replaced with private GTK+ Runtime making it a little more difficult to apply a theme to Pidgin.

What you will need:

Pidgin 2.7.0 (Note: if you plan on using an older version of Pidgin see This Article)

GTK+

ZIP software (7zip, or Windows zip manager should work.)

Download: GTK+ Themes and GTK+ Theme Switcher

Step 1: Install Pidgin
Step 2: Extract the two zip files downloaded earlier to a temporary directory.
Step 3: Copy the folder lib and share from the GTK+ Themes.zip to [Pidgin Installation Directory]\Gtk\ directory (These folders should exist so merge/replace them.)
Step 4: Copy the gtk2_prefs.exe from the GTK Theme Switcher zip file into your [Pidgin Installation Directory]\Gtk\bin\ directory.
Step 5: Find and download a theme – (Here)
Note: Take note of the theme name. You may know of a different site. If you want, post the link in the comments.
Step 6: Extract the theme zip file to [Pidgin Installation Directory]\Gtk\share\themes\
Step 7: You can now run the gtk2_prefs.exe to choose a theme. ([Pidgin Installation Directory]\Gtk\bin\) Select your theme in the new window and use the “Apply for all users” checkbox so that the changes are made to Pidgin’s private GTK+ runtime.
Step 8: Restart or open Pidgin and you should see your new theme.

If you want to customize the theme a bit further you can use a built in plugin to control more aspects of your theme. (Notably Text, Link and different colors across Pidgin)

Step 9: Open the Pidgin Buddy list.
Step 10: At the top menu click Tools\Plugins
Step 11: Scroll down to Pidgin GTK+ Theme Control and check it so it is active.
Step 12: Now with Pidgin GTK+ Theme Control selected click the button Configure Plugin along the bottom of the window.
I’m not going to go in to detail on how to configure the colors

Any feedback you have is 100% encouraged.

Dell OEM Windows 7 Theme

Corey DeGrandchamp — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:23:18 +0000

My mother recently purchased a new Dell desktop, and well, the OEM theme they ship it with just looks GREAT… see below!

Dell OEM Windows 7 Theme

Sure you might argue that their theme is only a background wallpaper, but I wanted to extract the theme entirely rather than just give you a wallpaper.

So really all you need to do is download and extract the theme below to:
%USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsThemes

You can access this folder by putting it into your location bar, like this, then press enter.

Then right click your desktop, and go to “Personalize” and choose your new Dell theme! It’s that simple.

Dell Theme Selection

Here’s the download link:
Dell_OEM_Windows_7_Theme.zip

Enjoy!

iPhone Hacking

Corey DeGrandchamp — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:20:01 +0000

Just wanted to display my theme. I wanted something simple, not too over the top like most themers are out there. I wanted to stay away from custom icons as well… everytime a new app gets released you’ll have one icon set, and then one app w/out a special icon… it looks lame, and is lame.

As you can see it’s very simple, yet customized. Default icons for everything, but a new dock, and obviously a new wallpaper. Got rid of the AT&T carrier in the status bar, as well as the clock, since I added the clock to my home screen. Organized everything with folders, and added status notifications as well on the top status bar, you can see the email one as an example next to the battery.

Further customizations are to come in the future for sure, but at this point in time I like this.

I MAY consider doing a full custom theme with icons, and just keep every app in folders? That way they would have their own respective icons like normal, but just be inside the categories folder?