Description: Aldabra is a GTK2 theme that uses the Murrine and Pixmap engines to mimic the look of Adwaita, the default GNOME 3 theme.
The goal of this theme is to provide visual consistency between GTK2 and GTK3 applications. It is a work in progress, and there are several known issues: keyboard shortcut color in menus, gray menu gradient, and toolbar button hover glow.
Versions currently exist for GNOME 3.0 and GNOME 3.2. Please download the version of Aldabra that matches your version of GNOME.
Aldabra is available under the LGPLv2+. Anyone is welcome to rename, package, or otherwise distribute the theme (in whole or in part) as permitted by that license. Constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.Last changelog:
2011-11-14 Version 3.2.2 Removed low contrast hack so that menu separators are shown. Fixed white bar in LibreOffice.
2011-11-05 Version 3.2.1 Updated Metacity and GTK themes to fit GNOME 3.2. Metacity and GTK3 theme are taken from Adwaita. Modified notebook tab to clean up Firefox. Made menus and tooltips borderless and sized correctly. Added toolbar dragging. Thanks goes to ScionicSpectre and GregKNicholson (gkn.me.uk) on gnome-look.org.
2011-06-18 Version 0.7.5 Added a COPYING and NEWS file to the archive to help packagers. The theme itself has not changed.
2011-06-15 Version 0.7.5. Fixed Eclipse scrollbars. Thanks goes to mxt on ubuntuforums.
2011-06-06 Version 0.7.4. Corrected the colors of radios and checks in menus. Fixed the scrollbar "invalid borders" error.
2011-06-02 Version 0.7.3. Switched archive formats again. Attempted to allow installation via dragging archive to gnome-appearance-properties and to reduce errors in GNOME 2.
2011-06-02 Version 0.7.2. Modified index.theme. Aldabra displays as a full theme in gnome-appearance-properties without errors/warnings about missing dependencies.
2011-06-02 Version 0.7.1. Modified index.theme.
2011-06-02 Version 0.7. Modified index.theme. Removed the active tab underline and replaced screengrab checkboxes/radiobuttons with the official Adwaita images. Switched back to .zip because of GNOME-look's upload filesize limit.
2011-06-01 Version 0.6.2. Fixed gVim scrollbars.
2011-06-01 Version 0.6.1. Modified the toolbar pixmap to work better with some applications. Added radiobuttons and checkboxes to Firefox.
2011-05-31 Version 0.6. Added Adwaita-styled checkboxes and radiobuttons. They are not applied perfectly yet. Please comment about any regressions.
2011-05-31 Version 0.5.2. Fixed Firefox menubar selected text color.
2011-05-31 Version 0.5.1. Uploaded a .tar, because .tar.gz would not open. Fixed expanders.
2011-05-31 Uploaded a .tar.gz to help packagers. Contents of file have not changed, just the archive format.
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=151057 I decided it was far enough along to upload it. Be warned- it's still what I'd consider Alpha quality, so don't expect every application and widget to look completely accurate.
Still, I think it's much better than relying on the Clearlooks theme bundled with Adwaita for now.
Hey guys, I started work on a new theme based on Adwaita 3.6. It includes the button styles, entry widgets, and a few other things that weren't in the last Aldabra. There's still a lot of work left to do, but here's a screenshot. http://oi50.tinypic.com/2n8d5jr.jpg
I'll try to get it as close to Adwaita as possible, but when I can't figure out how to make it any more accurate, I'll release it. In the meantime, let's hope people port the rest of their applications to GTK 3.
A more recent screenshot: http://oi48.tinypic.com/2qkklkz.jpg
Just a few loose ends to tie up. Also, if anyone has any tips on how to theme focus-lines in GTK, it would be much appreciated. For now, they're simply ignored.
There are many more differences in Adwaita 3.6 than I had previously realized. For a fully consistent theme, almost everything has to be modified, so we might as well start fresh if we make something like Aldabra for 3.6.
Pixmap could make it easier to get the graphics just right if the other engine(s) won't generate the desired effect, but it would of course use up a lot more memory. :\ I'm just trying to see what the most logical course is if we won't be getting an Adwaita GTK 2 engine any time soon (if ever).
I contacted a few key developers upstream, and asked about the possible creation of a GTK 2 Adwaita engine, since that was the preferred way forward.
However, it seems this is not (and probably never will be) a priority. They simply don't have the man power, and they want to focus on the future rather than taking valuable time to bring the past along. In fact, GTK 2 simply can't support many of the improvements that will be made in Adwaita in the future.
A good, well-tested, speedy Clearlooks theme that blends with the titlebar is sufficient for their targets. They would rather help people port their applications to GTK 3 so everyone's up to date. This sounds like the right decision to me, as well.
I also contacted the author of QGtkStyle- he is working on too many features relevant to Qt5 to have time for GTK 3, as it's quite different from supporting GTK 2.
So, here's how things are; We won't have Adwaita-compatible theming for GTK 2, and Qt apps won't use Adwaita until after Qt5 is released. If we want consistency until everyone has ported to GTK 3, we'll need to double down and make a clean, updated theme every six months. It's clear that this will be difficult and time-consuming, especially since Adwaita isn't finalized until a month before GNOME is released (UI Freeze).
Any thoughts?
Thank you very much for this excellent theme. I like it a lot. However, there are some glitches with the Dropbox interface. See http://imgur.com/ZYfww.png for a screenshot. I would be very happy if you had a look at the problem and see if you can fix it. :)
As expected, Adwaita is getting a few refinements in time for GNOME 3.4. In fact, quite a few.
Scrollbars, tabs, progressbars, and 'emphasized buttons' have all undergone several changes and refinements. Perhaps the most obvious change is the scrollbar- no more up/down buttons, just a dark grey bar similar to the scrollbars in the Shell theme.
https://plus.google.com/105456590916227806289/posts/gk8aaxfeMux
Unfortunately, that's the most relevant link I could find to an image, and it's sized down. :\ This brings up, again, the question of whether it's tenable to keep up with Adwaita, or if we need to pursue direct engagement with the devs close to Adwaita.
I got the tabs in Firefox to look right with your userchrome. However, it doesn't take effect when I copied it to my Thunderbird profile.
I tried using the DOM inspector to find out how they called the tabs in Thunderbird, but it's really hard to navigate. Got any pointers?
In LibreOffice, selected menu titles take the wrong color from gtkrc and are colored white. I get many comments about this issue. For reference, a bug report has been filed here: (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38038).
Okay, but a few issues I'm seeing here on Archlinux. Tried with stable murrine engine and now git version.
1. Sidebar in Exaile player is not styled.
2. Weird border in menu_item, had to remove border_shades from gtkrc to make it borderless.
3. Menu separators gone invisible.
4. Scrollbars kind of too rounded.
5. Scrollbars clicked on won't change border color to blue.
On the menu-item borders – and in my defence :) –
In my modded version of Aldabra 0.7.5, border shades of 1.0 still yielded a dark border and I found 1.5 was the magic number that looked flat.
In 3.2.1, border shades of 1.0 (or absent) look flat. This makes sense, but its odd that it's changed.
Anyhow, yes. The border shades ought to be removed.
...And menu separators are indeed gone from 3.2.1. This is on Ubuntu precise (which at this stage is practically identical to Ubuntu 11.10.)
Aldabra 0.7.5 and 3.2.1 also expose a bug in LibreOffice: the text of selected menu titles stays white.
1. I don't currently have Exaile installed, but I will try to install and test when I have time.
2. When I removed border_shades from the menu_items, the menu titles (eg. "File", "Edit", "View", "Help") becamed outlined (ie. not borderless). I can post a screenshot if you'd like. I'm using murrine 0.98.1.1-2.fc15 from the Fedora 16 repositories.
3. Menu separators are back in the latest version (Aldabra 3.2.2). They disappeared before because I lowered contrast to achieve borderless menus.
4. Scrollbars are based on pixmaps from GNOME 3.0. It may be time for me to make new images.
5. I'll look into this.
There are a few comments regarding LibreOffice menu titles at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
1. I don't currently have Exaile installed, but I will try to install and test when I have time.
2. When I removed border_shades from the menu_items, the menu titles (eg. "File", "Edit", "View", "Help") becamed outlined (ie. not borderless). I can post a screenshot if you'd like. I'm using murrine 0.98.1.1-2.fc15 from the Fedora 16 repositories.
3. Menu separators are back in the latest version (Aldabra 3.2.2). They disappeared before because I lowered contrast to achieve borderless menus.
4. Scrollbars are based on pixmaps from GNOME 3.0. It may be time for me to make new images.
5. I'll look into this.
There are a few comments regarding LibreOffice menu titles at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for checking on Exaile.
With 3.2.2 both problem 2&3 are gone, great!
Btw just double-checked; though the difference's subtle but yup, those images have changed.
Excellent consistency with Adwaita! The only issue I find is that clicking an item in the LibreOffice menubar, i.e., clicking a menu heading, makes the menubar item (the heading) unreadable probably because of white text on an almost white background. The menu items themselves (in the drop-down) always remain readable, even in highlighted state. This happens with LibreOffice 3.4 and, as far as I remember, either the previous version of Aldabra or of LibreOffice did not have this issue.
Yes, there are a few comments about this same issue at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
Yes, there are a few comments about this same issue at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
A white line separated LibreOffice's menubar and toolbar when using Aldabra 3.2.1. Aldabra 3.2.2 makes this white line go away. Selected menu titles are still white, as the LibreOffice bug has not been fixed and I still haven't found a workaround. Sorry for the confusion.
Ratings & Comments
121 Comments
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=151057 I decided it was far enough along to upload it. Be warned- it's still what I'd consider Alpha quality, so don't expect every application and widget to look completely accurate. Still, I think it's much better than relying on the Clearlooks theme bundled with Adwaita for now.
Hey guys, I started work on a new theme based on Adwaita 3.6. It includes the button styles, entry widgets, and a few other things that weren't in the last Aldabra. There's still a lot of work left to do, but here's a screenshot. http://oi50.tinypic.com/2n8d5jr.jpg I'll try to get it as close to Adwaita as possible, but when I can't figure out how to make it any more accurate, I'll release it. In the meantime, let's hope people port the rest of their applications to GTK 3.
Correction- it's based on 3.4, not 3.6.
A more recent screenshot: http://oi48.tinypic.com/2qkklkz.jpg Just a few loose ends to tie up. Also, if anyone has any tips on how to theme focus-lines in GTK, it would be much appreciated. For now, they're simply ignored.
I would also like to request a Gnome 3.4 version. Aldabra was great for me on Gnome 3.0, and I was using it for months.
I join the request for gnome 3.4 version.
Needs updating to integrate with GNOME 3.4 (at least just copy Adwaita for GTK+3, maybe make GTK+2 more consistent too).
There are many more differences in Adwaita 3.6 than I had previously realized. For a fully consistent theme, almost everything has to be modified, so we might as well start fresh if we make something like Aldabra for 3.6. Pixmap could make it easier to get the graphics just right if the other engine(s) won't generate the desired effect, but it would of course use up a lot more memory. :\ I'm just trying to see what the most logical course is if we won't be getting an Adwaita GTK 2 engine any time soon (if ever).
I contacted a few key developers upstream, and asked about the possible creation of a GTK 2 Adwaita engine, since that was the preferred way forward. However, it seems this is not (and probably never will be) a priority. They simply don't have the man power, and they want to focus on the future rather than taking valuable time to bring the past along. In fact, GTK 2 simply can't support many of the improvements that will be made in Adwaita in the future. A good, well-tested, speedy Clearlooks theme that blends with the titlebar is sufficient for their targets. They would rather help people port their applications to GTK 3 so everyone's up to date. This sounds like the right decision to me, as well. I also contacted the author of QGtkStyle- he is working on too many features relevant to Qt5 to have time for GTK 3, as it's quite different from supporting GTK 2. So, here's how things are; We won't have Adwaita-compatible theming for GTK 2, and Qt apps won't use Adwaita until after Qt5 is released. If we want consistency until everyone has ported to GTK 3, we'll need to double down and make a clean, updated theme every six months. It's clear that this will be difficult and time-consuming, especially since Adwaita isn't finalized until a month before GNOME is released (UI Freeze). Any thoughts?
Thank you very much for this excellent theme. I like it a lot. However, there are some glitches with the Dropbox interface. See http://imgur.com/ZYfww.png for a screenshot. I would be very happy if you had a look at the problem and see if you can fix it. :)
As expected, Adwaita is getting a few refinements in time for GNOME 3.4. In fact, quite a few. Scrollbars, tabs, progressbars, and 'emphasized buttons' have all undergone several changes and refinements. Perhaps the most obvious change is the scrollbar- no more up/down buttons, just a dark grey bar similar to the scrollbars in the Shell theme. https://plus.google.com/105456590916227806289/posts/gk8aaxfeMux Unfortunately, that's the most relevant link I could find to an image, and it's sized down. :\ This brings up, again, the question of whether it's tenable to keep up with Adwaita, or if we need to pursue direct engagement with the devs close to Adwaita.
When pidgin tabs are set to display on the side, they're broken. Here's a screenshot: http://tbpic.us.to/i/0dtVAk.png
Besides the odd darker blue progress bars, it looks great! Thanks!
I got the tabs in Firefox to look right with your userchrome. However, it doesn't take effect when I copied it to my Thunderbird profile. I tried using the DOM inspector to find out how they called the tabs in Thunderbird, but it's really hard to navigate. Got any pointers?
In LibreOffice, selected menu titles take the wrong color from gtkrc and are colored white. I get many comments about this issue. For reference, a bug report has been filed here: (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38038).
Okay, but a few issues I'm seeing here on Archlinux. Tried with stable murrine engine and now git version. 1. Sidebar in Exaile player is not styled. 2. Weird border in menu_item, had to remove border_shades from gtkrc to make it borderless. 3. Menu separators gone invisible. 4. Scrollbars kind of too rounded. 5. Scrollbars clicked on won't change border color to blue.
On the menu-item borders – and in my defence :) – In my modded version of Aldabra 0.7.5, border shades of 1.0 still yielded a dark border and I found 1.5 was the magic number that looked flat. In 3.2.1, border shades of 1.0 (or absent) look flat. This makes sense, but its odd that it's changed. Anyhow, yes. The border shades ought to be removed. ...And menu separators are indeed gone from 3.2.1. This is on Ubuntu precise (which at this stage is practically identical to Ubuntu 11.10.) Aldabra 0.7.5 and 3.2.1 also expose a bug in LibreOffice: the text of selected menu titles stays white.
1. I don't currently have Exaile installed, but I will try to install and test when I have time. 2. When I removed border_shades from the menu_items, the menu titles (eg. "File", "Edit", "View", "Help") becamed outlined (ie. not borderless). I can post a screenshot if you'd like. I'm using murrine 0.98.1.1-2.fc15 from the Fedora 16 repositories. 3. Menu separators are back in the latest version (Aldabra 3.2.2). They disappeared before because I lowered contrast to achieve borderless menus. 4. Scrollbars are based on pixmaps from GNOME 3.0. It may be time for me to make new images. 5. I'll look into this. There are a few comments regarding LibreOffice menu titles at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
1. I don't currently have Exaile installed, but I will try to install and test when I have time. 2. When I removed border_shades from the menu_items, the menu titles (eg. "File", "Edit", "View", "Help") becamed outlined (ie. not borderless). I can post a screenshot if you'd like. I'm using murrine 0.98.1.1-2.fc15 from the Fedora 16 repositories. 3. Menu separators are back in the latest version (Aldabra 3.2.2). They disappeared before because I lowered contrast to achieve borderless menus. 4. Scrollbars are based on pixmaps from GNOME 3.0. It may be time for me to make new images. 5. I'll look into this. There are a few comments regarding LibreOffice menu titles at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for checking on Exaile. With 3.2.2 both problem 2&3 are gone, great! Btw just double-checked; though the difference's subtle but yup, those images have changed.
Excellent consistency with Adwaita! The only issue I find is that clicking an item in the LibreOffice menubar, i.e., clicking a menu heading, makes the menubar item (the heading) unreadable probably because of white text on an almost white background. The menu items themselves (in the drop-down) always remain readable, even in highlighted state. This happens with LibreOffice 3.4 and, as far as I remember, either the previous version of Aldabra or of LibreOffice did not have this issue.
Yes, there are a few comments about this same issue at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
Yes, there are a few comments about this same issue at the bottom of page two (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=142247&forumpage=1). It is a bug that was introduced in LibreOffice 3.4, and not something I have been able to work around. If anyone know a fix, it would be greatly appreciated!
Despite what your changelog says for version 3.2.2, selected items on the menubar are still white on my system.
A white line separated LibreOffice's menubar and toolbar when using Aldabra 3.2.1. Aldabra 3.2.2 makes this white line go away. Selected menu titles are still white, as the LibreOffice bug has not been fixed and I still haven't found a workaround. Sorry for the confusion.