I would like to give pidgin a try, but I don't like the default theme for the list, there is too much space between the contacts, I would like to style it in a more minimal way so i can see more contacts in less space. Despite my (not so thorough searches) I didn't find any theme specically for my list, I found for the icons and the sounds ... any proposals?
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When I used Pidgin, i couldnt change the font size or spacing or other things for the list of buddies, and there was no theme that could do that. Just thought I'd make a note of that.– Thomas Ward ♦Mar 15, 2011 at 19:09
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@EvilPhoenix its been a while since I used it last time, and I remember losing few hair and hours while I was trying to set a font of my preference, but there is further implementation done in xml format for the themes so I hoped that something exists, if not I will contribute to the converter for adium themes which is not supporting list theming yet.– toplessMar 15, 2011 at 19:13
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Mind letting me know which version of Ubuntu you're using? I've got like 18 images in vbox, i can test stuff on there and see if i can get a full answer for you. :/– Thomas Ward ♦Mar 15, 2011 at 19:14
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@EvliPhoenix Maverick 10.10, till the new one arrives :)– toplessMar 15, 2011 at 19:15
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For the time being I manage to use this list as a screenlet which is quite neat IMO, after all I am not really looking much from the guis gnome-look.org/content/show.php/ePidgin+Theme?content=122236– toplessMar 15, 2011 at 19:26
3 Answers
A simple alternative option, which lets you fit in twice as many entires, is to hide the buddy details of all the entires. Go to Buddies -> Show and then untick "Buddy Details."
There are several plugins which can be used to improve the buddies list, which includes but not limits to:
Autoresize
Buddy list options: included in the Plugin pack
Extended buddy list sort plugin
And you can find more plugins in the Pidgin's official plugin site.
My buddy list have changed since it was originally installed and now it looks like this:
Well, probably not fully improved but better than the original.
Good luck!
Isn't pidgin built on GTK+ ?
if so, you can use GTK themes to change things like font face & size and the interface elements. Something like the Clearlooks Compact theme will make the interface a little smaller so give you more room for the actual information. http://art.gnome.org/themes
Though as already mentioned, best is to use the specific buddy list plugins and disable buddy info to make a more dense list.