[SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 01:23:07

Hi,

I'm coming from years of experience with Windows, so forgive my ignorance of Linux. I have firefox 3 installed in Gnome and I noticed that the tabs look very boring. In Windows they had borders and looked fairly decent, but in Gnome they appear to be just colored blocks with no border. Is there any way to make them look better (more like Windows, even)?

Last edited by void.pointer (2009-02-06 15:09:19)

Execute_Method · 2009-02-04 01:35:02

Different GTK themes will have a different look for the tabs in firefox as well as everywhere else.
check out: http://www.gnome-look.org

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 01:44:46

Execute_Method wrote:

Different GTK themes will have a different look for the tabs in firefox as well as everywhere else.
check out: http://www.gnome-look.org

On this website I guess I need to click "GDM Themes" and install those? Several options here, not sure what to pick.

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 01:55:00

never mind, I just realized GDM is the intro GUI at login. I saw one called "Murrine", and it looks amazing but it requires a lot of work. Seems like it's more than just a simple theme, it depends on a new rendering engine. It was also last updated in 2007 so I wonder if development on it has gone stale.

buttons · 2009-02-04 02:53:08

Murrine development has been quite brisk, actually. There aren't any "stable" releases, however. Many distros (such as ubuntu) simply use the SVN version, as it is more than robust for everyday usage and looks great.

Give it a shot with gtk-engine-murrine-svn in AUR. You'll have to remove gtk-engine-murrine first.

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 03:47:11

buttons wrote:

Murrine development has been quite brisk, actually. There aren't any "stable" releases, however. Many distros (such as ubuntu) simply use the SVN version, as it is more than robust for everyday usage and looks great.
Give it a shot with gtk-engine-murrine-svn in AUR. You'll have to remove gtk-engine-murrine first.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to install themes for Murrine. I have a "gtkrc" file that is supposedly the theme I want to use but where do I put it? Note that I have not installed the configurator, do I need it?

XFire · 2009-02-04 07:51:29

You need to copy the entire theme folder into the directory /home/YOURUSERNAME/.themes/
Then you should be able to use it. If you want a GUI manager for GTK themes and icons, lxappearance is a good option and available in the main repos.

FrozenFox · 2009-02-04 09:11:59

Er, an easier way to install themes is just to open the appearance manager deal in the preferences area, and drag-n-drop the theme .tar.gz or whatnot into the window. Note though that on rare occasion, downloaded gtk themes aren't directly zipped and are split into theme parts (ie it contains a gtk theme, a wallpaper, icons, etc instead of just the theme) and you need to untar/split those and install accordingly, as the appearance manager doesn't notice if its not a straight theme compressed. It will let you know if it cant be installed correctly however.

If a theme says it cant find a gtk engine, just pacman / yaourt search for it and install the appropriate theme engine.

If a theme says it cant find the engine "" (blank), dont worry about it. It doesn't seem to be a problem from what i've seen.

The main window shows full "themes" (wallpaper, icon, gtk theme, mouse theme) which most downloads from gnome-look are not; you can go to customize and set a GTK theme of your own if your chosen theme isnt 'complete'.

Last edited by FrozenFox (2009-02-04 09:15:40)

patroclo7 · 2009-02-04 11:15:37

You could be interested in firefox-plus, the default firefox theme with more contrast on tabs.

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 15:47:20

Thanks for all the help guys.

@XFire
I installed lxappearance but I do not see an entry in my GNOME applications menu for it. How would I access this application?

@FrozenFox
I did as you said and my theme is now applied, however this did not change the appearance of the firefox tabs at all

@patroclo7
You might be interested in knowing I'm already using the ColorfulTabs extension, and I'm not sure how that would affect the firefox plus theme.

For everyone, I've taken a screenshot of what the tabs look like (With ColorfulTabs active). Note how they don't really have a border. Also on Windows there is a thin border running along the bottom of the entire row of tabs that is the same color as the active tab, which helps to distinguish which tab I'm currently on.

I'm not sure what else I can do to make this look better...

Execute_Method · 2009-02-06 12:22:08

void: Since you are using gnome all you need to do to change your theme is right click on your desktop and "change background" then got to the theme tab, or go to preferences-->Appearance (in your menu).

You do NOT need lxappearance, BECAUSE you are using gnome.

also, for more themes & engines you can install:

pacman -S gtk-engines gtk-smooth-engine gtk2-themes-collection gnome-themes-extras

Also, since you applied the theme you installed and not much changed, more than likely you do not have the correct theme engine (please reread FrozenFox's post)

If you are still having trouble after the help we have given you,
PLEASE USE A SEARCH ENGINE AND READ SOME DOCUMENTATION

on a side note, are you a troll?

Execute_Method · 2009-02-06 12:26:06

Just for S*** giggles I tried that colorfultabs extension and it changed the color as well as SHAPE & BORDER of my tabs. You may want to disable it or uninstall it completely and keep trying out themes til you get one you like.

void.pointer · 2009-02-06 15:08:56

Execute_Method wrote:

void: Since you are using gnome all you need to do to change your theme is right click on your desktop and "change background" then got to the theme tab, or go to preferences-->Appearance (in your menu).
You do NOT need lxappearance, BECAUSE you are using gnome.
also, for more themes & engines you can install:
pacman -S gtk-engines gtk-smooth-engine gtk2-themes-collection gnome-themes-extras
Also, since you applied the theme you installed and not much changed, more than likely you do not have the correct theme engine (please reread FrozenFox's post)

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely try this.

Execute_Method wrote:

If you are still having trouble after the help we have given you,
PLEASE USE A SEARCH ENGINE AND READ SOME DOCUMENTATION

Please do not use all caps, it's rude. And I do read documentation, in fact I make every effort to search Google, read the wiki, and whatever else I can to find the answers before I post questions. There's been at least 100 questions I've not had to ask on the forums because I made the effort to find the answer myself. So I don't really appreciate you telling me to go find information myself, it's not very welcoming and it's quite rude.

Execute_Method wrote:

on a side note, are you a troll?

More rudeness? Everything I've talked about has been on-topic (Related to Archlinux in general). By asking if I'm a troll you've made yourself a troll.

Anyway, I don't want to be involved in any flame wars so I'm going to call this issue resolved. Despite Execute_Method's rude responses at the end, he seems to have solved my problem. I'll try disabling ColorfulTabs later and see what results I get.

Thanks to everyone for the great help!

Xyne · 2009-02-06 15:22:48

If you haven't already (didn't see it mentioned when glancing over the thread), you should take a look at firefox themes too as they override the system gtk themes.

void.pointer · 2009-02-06 15:25:02

Xyne wrote:

If you haven't already (didn't see it mentioned when glancing over the thread), you should take a look at firefox themes too as they override the system gtk themes.

Thanks Xyne. I had thought about this but I am really quite attached to the default theme. Well, I was on Windows at least. On Windows the back/forward buttons were asymmetric, which I really liked. The Gnome default theme is rather bland overall so I may just find something else.

Execute_Method · 2009-02-07 09:47:49

Please do not use all caps, it's rude.

Sorry, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday I'm sorry about the caps and the troll thing.....:|

Last edited by Execute_Method (2009-02-07 09:50:12)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-04 01:23:07

[SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#2 2009-02-04 01:35:02

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#3 2009-02-04 01:44:46

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#4 2009-02-04 01:55:00

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#5 2009-02-04 02:53:08

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#6 2009-02-04 03:47:11

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#7 2009-02-04 07:51:29

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#8 2009-02-04 09:11:59

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#9 2009-02-04 11:15:37

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#10 2009-02-04 15:47:20

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#11 2009-02-06 12:22:08

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#12 2009-02-06 12:26:06

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#13 2009-02-06 15:08:56

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#14 2009-02-06 15:22:48

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#15 2009-02-06 15:25:02

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

#16 2009-02-07 09:47:49

Re: [SOLVED] Firefox 3 tabs look bland

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