Questions that relate to the appearance of Ubuntu. If the question relates to a comprehensive changing of appearance please use the themes tag.
57
votes
19answers
19k views
How do I create a desktop wallpaper slideshow?
How do I create a desktop wallpaper slideshow with my own set of images?
With the images coming from a pictures folder, or pre-selected
With the images displayed in order, or randomly
With the ...
25
votes
3answers
16k views
How do I change the “Selected Items” color?
I was trying to change the selected items color from the default orange to something else, however, the option isn't there, as it used to be in the Appearance properties in previous versions of ...
20
votes
8answers
2k views
Where can I get themes and eye-candy for my desktop?
Apart from those themes in the repository and Gnome-look.org, are there other places to get themes for my Ubuntu Desktop?
Also, are there any 3rd party repositories of themes and other eye-candy?
19
votes
5answers
7k views
How do I get and install more themes, icons, and pointers?
I've downloaded some nice themes, icon packages, and pointers from sites like gnome-look. Now what do I do? Where else can I get these kinds of things?
18
votes
5answers
30k views
How do I disable Compiz in the Ubuntu Classic session?
I would like to disable Compiz in Natty (Ubuntu Classic). I have tried to access this through System > Preferences > Appearance but the "Visual Effects" tab is no longer there.
On previous releases ...
18
votes
2answers
2k views
How do I restore the original color scheme, icons, and theme?
I'd like the original colour scheme, icon style of 12.04.
I somehow lost the Ambiance theme (possible error or upgrade error).
I re-installed 'light-themes' from the terminal and got it back.
But ...
14
votes
1answer
938 views
How to change desktop icon text background color?
How do I change the background color of desktop text in 11.10. I used gnome color chooser in version 10.04, but it's not working in Ubuntu 11.10. Is there any way to solve this?
Also, by default ...
11
votes
3answers
861 views
How to reverse colors for the current window in gnome shell?
I dislike that most websites use a black font on white background for their sites, as it gets too tiresome for me to read.
Back in the days of 11.04, using Gnome2 with compiz, there actually was a ...
10
votes
1answer
1k views
9
votes
1answer
216 views
How can I read Skype's menus on a dark theme?
If you use skype with the default 10.04 theme you can't read any menu because the font and background colours are too similar.
9
votes
2answers
2k views
Will Unity allow users to change the color/appearance of the top-Panel?
I'm very excited by the functional design principles and keyboard shortcuts that are being implemented for Unity. And function of use is more important to me than looks. However, after experiencing ...
9
votes
1answer
3k views
How can I edit GTK+3 themes (preferably with a GUI)?
(similar problem to one in a question I had before, but I need multiple solutions, and I felt they were better organized as separate questions)
Upgrading from 11.04 to 11.10 did away with my themes, ...
7
votes
2answers
4k views
7
votes
2answers
1k views
How can I add a theme to the Appearance settings tab in 11.10
Eventually, I'd like to create a proper 11.10 theme and perhaps distribute a package via ppa. To start, I thought I'd copy one of the "official" themes on my local system and start modifying it.
...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Use video file as a screensaver?
I want to make my video to be a screensaver.
Is there any software to make it?
7
votes
1answer
806 views
How can I make the window buttons in the panel match the window buttons in the window decorations?
When the Ambiance GTK theme is selected in Applications ▸ Appearance ▸ Customize ▸ Controls, the window buttons in the panel match the window buttons of the Ambiance Metacity theme's window ...
6
votes
3answers
392 views
How can I install different icons? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How do I get and install more themes, icons, and pointers?
I often find myself seeing new icons but I am unable to install them.
How do you install icons on Ubuntu? ...
6
votes
1answer
3k views
How to install themes with GNOME tweak tool?
I have been using the default Ubuntu 11.10 with Unity for some time now and decided to start customizing it.
I have already been able to make some changes with the gnome-tweak-tool. However, there ...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
Conky Guides (links)
I want to take a stab at creating my own layouts for conky, but I'm having trouble finding any recent guides.
If you know of any, I would be grateful if you could post some links.
6
votes
5answers
7k views
How to change the Unity Launcher's icon theme?
Does anyone know how to change Unity icon-theme? For instance I use Faenza in my desktop session, but unity does not use it, both in panel and panel apps (applications and documents). So, anyone?
6
votes
2answers
10k views
How do I set a theme in Oneiric? [closed]
I'm using Oneiric, and have some default theme set. I understand Unity is using Gtk3, and that the usual Ubuntu themes haven't been ported.
How do I set the theme in Oneiric?
Where is/will the new ...
6
votes
1answer
772 views
Monochrome Pidgin tray icons
Can anyone point me towards monochrome Pidgin tray icons, and tell me how to install them?
(I know I should be using the Messaging Menu indicator applet or whatever it's called, but at the moment I ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
Will there be an Appearance app in 11.10, or another standard way to change themes?
I've been testing out 11.10 and so far the only way I can change the theme is by installing Gnome Tweak Tool. Will there be a standard (i.e. installed by default) way to change themes and other ...
5
votes
1answer
322 views
Google desktop logo looks bad
The Google Desktop icon in the system tray in Unity looks ugly:
Any way around this?
5
votes
1answer
576 views
Upgraded to 11.04 and now most of the UI is gray and boxy
I just upgraded to 11.04, and now most UI elements are gray and crappy looking (see screenshot).
When I first log in, the panel looks black (as Ambiance theme is supposed to look), but then after a ...
5
votes
1answer
776 views
How can I change the appearance of KDE applications?
I use Gnome. I want to change the appearance of KDE applications such as Amarok.
The colors in Amarok don't match the rest of my applications. How can I customize them?
5
votes
3answers
4k views
How to adjust the appearance of the Unity in 12.10? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How can I configure Unity?
Now I updated to 12.10 and would like to adjust the desktop, well unity, appearance.
I know there is the theme setting, but I cannot adjust ...
5
votes
1answer
272 views
How to remove the rounded menu items from a theme?
I've just spent quite a while theming ambiance to make it more flat and all around more to my taste, but I've just come across a problem above my capabilities : rounded menuitems
The menu on the ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I turn off font pixel antialiasing only in Terminal?
For programming, I like to turn off font antialiasing (i.e. select the Monochrome option) because it makes the terminal text look a lot sharper at smaller font sizes. But then everything in the web ...
4
votes
2answers
509 views
Reset the icons after upgrade
I've noticed screenshots of 10.10 with these rather cooler looking square icons. However when I upgraded my machines I didn't receive and icon upgrade. Is this because it wasn't a fresh install and is ...
4
votes
2answers
424 views
I upgraded and the old wallpapers gone, how can I get them back?
I upgraded to natty and the old background images are gone. How do I get them back?
4
votes
1answer
167 views
Where is the list with the wallpapers (shown in the appearance window) stored?
When trying to add wallpapers from previous Ubuntu versions & those I found on the internet (following these instructions), I somehow messed up the list of wallpapers included in the appearance ...
4
votes
2answers
2k views
12.04 wholly dark Ambiance theme?
I got my first partition of Ubuntu recently, and wanted to match it to a 10 or 11 interface I was using on another computer. It looked like this:
Themes in 12.04 seem to be rather tricky though. ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Improve GUI appearance of Wine applications
In many cases Windows programs run ok in Wine, but there is still the annoying problem of their appearance.
How to make things look better in Wine, especially fonts?
P.S. feel free to edit this ...
3
votes
2answers
981 views
Where is the gnome option to display icons in menus?
I used to go to "System >> Preferences >> Appearance >> Interface", but I can't find that tab on Lucid or Maverick.
3
votes
9answers
6k views
Font rendering in Firefox is blurry
A picture is worth a thousand words... so does anyone know how to fix this font blurriness in Firefox?
(You'll need to right-click the picture below go to View Image to view it full-size; it's too ...
3
votes
1answer
284 views
How can I copy a gtk theme?
Suppose I am trying some distro (with Gnome) and I like some theme. How can I copy for installation in another computer?
3
votes
2answers
743 views
Can I make Nautilus look better in Lubuntu 12.04?
I mean that PCManFM and Thunar follow my theme:
Nautilus does not:
I have to add that I do not want to change my present theme. And I guess that is the problem, as it does not have a gtk3 ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
“Appearance” icon has vanished from “System Settings” [duplicate]
I have been using gnome-shell for a few months. I was able to configure it using "tweak tool" and "background".
Now I've just migrated to Unity, but "Change Desktop Background" (comes from right-click ...
3
votes
1answer
771 views
How to change icons in the side pane of the Nautilus file browser? [closed]
Right-click in the main panel allows to change icons associated to files of directories, and this is cool for content organization and so on.
Unfortunately, right click on small directories on the ...
3
votes
2answers
846 views
Is there a terminal/command-line interface to the 'Appearance Preferences' dialog?
Hopefully the title sums it up, but I'm looking for a way of being able to switch the Appearance Preferences' Visual Effects option to 'None', from a terminal/script (and optionally later to be able ...
3
votes
1answer
813 views
What's wrong with my Ubuntu appearance
I don't know what happened but my background become idle. So I want to change the background. Right click on the desktop then click "Change Desktop Background" but nothing happened. So I manually ...
3
votes
2answers
325 views
Where can I get themes?
Upgrading from 11.04 to 11.10 did away with my themes, without warning me. I can't seem to find any way to customize the themes (short of going into theme files and messing with those, and I'm not ...
3
votes
2answers
3k views
How do you enable wobbly windows in ubuntu 11.04 without using compiz?
I'm curious if there's a way to enable the more fun UI features in Ubuntu 11.04 that were available in previous versions. The effects I'm most curious about is the wobbly windows and the alt tab ...
3
votes
1answer
501 views
How can I configure the login screen to be displayed in portrait orientation?
I just started using linux, and I have one question. I have a monitor that I rotated 90◦ clockwise, so it, being rectangle shaped, is taller than it is wider.
Using the system settings in Ubuntu, I ...
3
votes
2answers
414 views
How to fix the Google desktop logo in the notification area?
Related: Google desktop logo looks bad
In my previous question I was helped to solve this appearance problem, thought this is solved:
I still don't really like how it looks since the white ...
3
votes
0answers
15 views
How can I make Unity dock notifications more visible? [duplicate]
By default dock icons of applications where something is going on have a very faint glow effect. Is there any way to make them stand out more? Like jump around, have a colored arrow or something like ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views
How can I change the folder icon?
I know how to change an icon this way. Also that doesn't work for folders inside Nautilus, but for application launchers.
What I'm looking for is an equivalent to changing the icon for an ...
2
votes
2answers
797 views
How to change font size which can't be picked from 'Font' setting
I installed Macbuntu for my Ubuntu 10.04. The theme is nice and cool.
I want to change the font size to larger. I open the 'Appearance' preference, I find Macbuntu changed the font of system to ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Trying to change the color scheme through the css file, but no permission
I have been trying to switch out the orange color scheme in Ubuntu 11.10 through the css files. I know where the files are and what I need to change in them, but every time i try to save it it says ...
