Unamed Christmas Theme

[Bubbabyte]

ok guys.. beta 2..

*UPDATES*

Beta 2 - Removed Stars on Caption bars

Edited caption bars for noticeable active/inactive status and added New stars.

Lightened Buttons and Tabs for easier viewing of black text

Added Background images for folders

Changed Scrollbars to more closely match the style

Fixed Glowing text issue being too bright in some areas.

Added New alternative shellstyle.

Fixed Flash button on taskbar to be more noticeable.

BETA 2

once again post any bugs/issues you find with the theme.. as well as likes/dislikes..

i tried to please as many people as possible with this update so hopefully it worked out..

i included the alternative shellstyle, incase you like the longhorn look.

in the next and hopefully final release.. i plan to incorperate a few more stars in the start panel.

[OSUKid7]

Great job. Looks like a very usable Christmas theme.

Honestly, I liked the stars (snow) in the first screenshot/beta 1 more.

Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see the final.

[Spyker]

Not bad i didnt mind the style before it kind of looked like snow this is more like stars. Baring the red and green colours and the snow like effect on the start menu, there isnt really any defining Xmas features. Nothing that says "look at me im an Xmas theme", lol. I like it but i think it needs some more Xmas **** on it.

Edit: Well wierd posted before, but after you, dam time dilation i must slow down. Anyway i peferd the other stars and it still flashes blue while mini or expan windows. Thanks this theme is really coming along.

Edited November 16, 2005 by Spyker

[Vibes1963]

Looks excellent with the new stars and the captions bars are excellent too. Just love the whole look of this theme. Great theme Bubbabyte thanks for all the work you are putting in.

[freedom77]

Looks Great!! :woot:

although i think the inactive title bar looks like it should be the active one, and vice versa:

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/4888/caption3up.jpg

I also love the stars :p, although i think they were fine the first time.

great work :cool: Bubbabyte

[Chickie]

Wow! :woot: It looks wonderful. I'm speechless! :blush: Bubba, you did a fabulous job! :) Compact too? :happy: :huh:

[Vibes1963]

One thing with the alternative shell is it possible to put the decorations on the category view of control panel like the other shellstyle has.

[Vibes1963]

One thing i have noticed and it might not be a bug is when i have internet explorer or explorer maximized the stars in the left top corner are missing, but when i make them smaller with the restore button they are there.

[autodefe]

This may sound like a strange bug but when I'm using this theme my colors in Outlook 2003 are dropped to 256.

Also the titlebar stars don't appear when the window is maximized but when it's not maximized you can still see some stars there on the lefthand side.

[family guy]

I still prefer the stars from Beta 1. They looked more like snow. Other than that looking good :yes:

[Bubbabyte]

@ vibrator : there are no stars in maximize view, it's meant that way. And do you mean the folder backgrounds from the shellstyle? i'm not sure what you mean by decorations.

@opio : i'm not sure what i'm looking at in that screenshot.. everything looks fine.

[turkishdelight]

there are no stars in maximize view, it's meant that way.

Ah, I missed those stars. I always have my windows maximized...

[autodefe]

@opio :  i'm not sure what i'm looking at in that screenshot.. everything looks fine.

586819392[/snapback]

Here's a picture of the icons using another theme so you can compare. Notice the color of the icons:

[autodefe]

Another thing I just noticed is the AIM titlebar looks funky. If you have a chance you might wanna try it out because if I were to take a screenshot you wouldn't be able to tell what's going on.

What you should see is a black spot in the top right corner and the rounded edge on the right side looks weird.

[beanboy89]

Good job with this Visual Style, Bubbabyte. I have tried beta 1 and 2, and I like what I see so far. But so far, I have one improvement that I'd like to be done: When an item in the taskbar flashes, it is difficult to see. For example, if someone's sending me an instant message, and the message window is minimized, it is very difficult to see the flashing button. Maybe have the flash in red, instead of a slightly different shade of green, as it is now.

-----

Edit

Another thing I just noticed is the AIM titlebar looks funky. If you have a chance you might wanna try it out because if I were to take a screenshot you wouldn't be able to tell what's going on.

What you should see is a black spot in the top right corner and the rounded edge on the right side looks weird.

586819554[/snapback]

I see that as well. Here's a screenshot to try to expalin it better:

Edited November 17, 2005 by beanboy89

[Denis W. Veteran]

For this beta.. not bad.

- I'd like stars on both maximized and non maximized windows. I usually maximize all my windows anyway. ;)

- The buttons are much better. As for programs like Firefox/Opera that insist on using black text, well I guess these would do. If these tabs were lightened any further the text would be unreadable for applications that UTILIZE system colours.

- Nice circular gloss effect on the titlebars. :yes: Inactive state looks great... and glassy. :woot:

- The flashing window taskbar button, while it isn't red as I wished it would be, it's alright in this state. I can still notice that the button is flashing.

There's two bugs left.

First, tool caption windows still don't have any state changes between active and inactive. Look at the Photoshop palette windows as an example.

Second, this one showed up in earlier versions of KoL's VistaXP. Try asking him how he fixed this bug. (EDIT: ack beanboy89, you beat me to it. :p )

[Bubbabyte]

Good job with this Visual Style, Bubbabyte. I have tried beta 1 and 2, and I like what I see so far. But so far, I have one improvement that I'd like to be done: When an item in the taskbar flashes, it is difficult to see. For example, if someone's sending me an instant message, and the message window is minimized, it is very difficult to see the flashing button. Maybe have the flash in red, instead of a slightly different shade of green, as it is now.

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Edit

I see that as well. Here's a screenshot to try to expalin it better:

586819565[/snapback]

the new flash button in beta 2 is almost neon green.. hard to miss. I can't make it red because the default text on the taskbar has a green glow so it would look out of place, and i don't want to remove the glow.

as for the aim thing... that's weird, happened in a window in photoshop too.. i'll see if i can check it out.

@opio : dude i have no idea what to say.. i'm stumped.. if anyone know how to fix this i'd greatly appreciate it, that is some weird stuff.

[Bubbabyte]

For this beta.. not bad.

- I'd like stars on both maximized and non maximized windows. I usually maximize all my windows anyway.  ;)

- The buttons are much better. As for programs like Firefox/Opera that insist on using black text, well I guess these would do. If these tabs were lightened any further the text would be unreadable for applications that UTILIZE system colours.

- Nice circular gloss effect on the titlebars.  :yes: Inactive state looks great... and glassy.  :woot:

- The flashing window taskbar button, while it isn't red as I wished it would be, it's alright in this state. I can still notice that the button is flashing.

There's two bugs left.

First, tool caption windows still don't have any state changes between active and inactive. Look at the Photoshop palette windows as an example.

Second, this one showed up in earlier versions of KoL's VistaXP. Try asking him how he fixed this bug. (EDIT: ack beanboy89, you beat me to it.  :p )

586819741[/snapback]

first i wanna say thank you for all the help with testing the theme and reporting.. it's definitly a great help.

the stars on maximized windows can definitly be added in the final.. not a problem, i just wanted to test the waters a bit with the new caption bars and stars.

The buttons, they really can't go much lighter, but i think they are a nice shade and you should be able to read any text on them.

The flashing window... read my last post, i explained why it can't be red.. so hopefully it's functional the way it is now.

The bugs... the caption window, working on it now, it shouldn't be difficult to correct, it will be fixed in the final.

the second bug.. even though you showed a screenshot, i'm confused as to what the problem was, besides the black corner?

Edit: nevermind i completely understand now.. discovered it myself in photoshop, i'll fix that.

Edited November 17, 2005 by Bubbabyte

[Vibes1963]

This is what i meant bubbabyte about the background on category view in control panel. I said decorations as i meant the christmas decorations sorry.

Normal shellstyle Category View Control Panel

Alternate Shellstyle Category View Control Panel

Can the folder background on the top image be applied to the alternate shellstyle

[beanboy89]

the new flash button in beta 2 is almost neon green.. hard to miss.  I can't make it red because the default text on the taskbar has a green glow so it would look out of place, and i don't want to remove the glow.

586819951[/snapback]

Thanks for the resopnce. I can see the difference, but to me, the two greens look very similar. And at a quick glance, one may not notice the color difference or flashing right away.

[Bubbabyte]

This is what i meant bubbabyte about the background on category view in control panel. I said decorations as i meant the christmas decorations sorry.

Normal shellstyle Category View Control Panel

Alternate Shellstyle Category View Control Panel

Can the folder background on the top image be applied to the alternate shellstyle

586820085[/snapback]

ok i see now.. yeah i'll put that in the alternative shellstyle.

[Denis W. Veteran]

first i wanna say thank you for all the help with testing the theme and reporting.. it's definitly a great help.

586819974[/snapback]

You're welcome. :yes:

I decided to attack the problem of black text on green buttons in Opera myself. So far the tabs and dialog buttons have been cured. :D

The problem could've been completely fixed if only the IPB forum software didn't specify black text for those buttons in the new post page. (View the screenshot.)

Turns out this problem with black text on green buttons for those buttons up there exists for Opera, IE, and Firefox. :pinch:

[Greenstein]

I absolutely love this theme. Keep up the great work!!!!!

[Purple Haze]

Only thing I wanna see changed is the gap between the start button and the rest of the task bar. Cut it in half at least. Otherwise it's a perfect Xmas theme.

[Denis W. Veteran]

Hey bubba, what's the status on this visual style?