<!doctype linuxdoc system>

<article>

<!-- Title information -->

<title>KDE Control Center - KDE Theme Manager
<author>The KDE team, Stefan Taverner,  Waldo Bastian ; documentation by Duncan
<date>v0.41 25 August 1999

<!-- Begin the document -->

<sect>KDE Theme Manager: Installer
<p>
The KDE Theme Manager <bf>Installer</bf>
dialog allows you to select the desktop <bf>Theme</bf>
package you wish to install. 

Installation of a <bf>Theme</bf> package customizes the appearance
of your desktop by modifying
some or all of the following: 

<itemize>

<item> Colors and Wallpapers, 
panel appearance,
sounds associated with events,
standard icons,
window appearance (borders, titlebar, buttons, etc.), 
file manager and konsole appearance, etc.

</itemize>


The column on the left lists the available  <bf>Theme</bf> packages,

They include:
<itemize>
<item> <bf>global</bf> Themes
in the system Themes directory
<tt>$KDEDIR/share/apps/kthememgr/Themes</tt>  

<item><bf>local</bf> Themes in your personal
Themes directory <tt>~/.kde/share/apps/kthememgr/Themes</tt>.
</itemize>

If a local Theme has the same name as a global theme,
only the local Theme will appear in the list.
If this local theme is deleted with the <bf>Remove</bf>
button on the right,  the corresponding global Theme
will take its place.  
<itemize>
<item>Note: Global Themes cannot
be deleted; the <bf>Remove</bf> button changes its appearance
to indicate that
it is inactive when a global Theme is selected; this
allows you to see whether a listed Theme is local or global.
</itemize>

The global ``Default'' Theme is the plain (themeless) KDE Desktop.
<itemize>
<item> Tip: if you have set up your Desktop the way you want it, but
now wish to experiment with Themes, create your  own 
<it>local</it>  ``Default'' Theme
with the <bf>Create</bf> Button (specify the  new Theme name as
``Default'' in the dialog box that opens).   Then you can recover
your original Desktop configuration with the ``<bf>Default</bf>'' selection.
<bf>Be sure to save your configuration this way
 <it>before</it> installing any Themes!</bf>
</itemize>




Click on a listed Theme to select it; its name will be
highlighted and (if available)  a picture showing its  components
will be displayed in the central  box.   Information
about the Theme will be displayed in the lower  box. 

Clicking on  <bf>Default</bf> will select the 
``Default'' Theme.

<itemize>
<item>When you select a Theme package,
its contents will be extracted  and placed in your Theme Manager
Work directory <tt>~/.kde/share/apps/kthememgr/Work</tt>.
The previous contents of this directory will be deleted.
You may modify the Theme by
making changes to its components in the Work directory;
if you wish to  save these changes, do so before 
selecting another Theme, or quitting the Theme Manager.
</itemize>

After selecting a Theme,
go to the next dialog (<bf>Contents</bf>) to
choose which  components of the selected Theme package to
install.  When you have made your choice, click on <bf>Apply</bf>
to install the  selected components, which will be copied from
your Theme Manager Work directory. 
(If you have modified the Theme contents in the Work directory,
you  can see the effect of your changes in this way.)


To quit the Theme Manager, click on <bf>OK</bf> to
install the current Theme selection and then exit, or
click on <bf>Cancel</bf> to exit without installing
a new Theme.  


Theme packages can be imported, saved, exported, created, or deleted
using the buttons
at the right:
<itemize>

<item> Click on ``<bf>Add</bf>'' to import a new Theme package into your
local Themes directory.  You will be prompted for the name and
location
of the package, which must be a <tt>gzip</tt>-compressed <tt>tar</tt>
archive.

<item> Click on ``<bf>Save</bf>'' to archive and save the current contents
of the Work directory as a local Theme with the current Theme name.
(This is the way to save changes made in the Work
directory, or to make a local copy of a global Theme.)

<item> Click on ``<bf>Save as</bf>'' to archive and export the contents
of your local Theme Manager Work directory without affecting the copy
in your local Themes directory.
You will be prompted for a location at  which to save it.

<item> Click on ``<bf>Create</bf>'' to create 
a new local Theme package (and select it).
You will be prompted for a name and description
of the new Theme, which will be  copy of  your
current Desktop configuration.



 
<item> Click on ``<bf>Remove</bf>'' to delete a local Theme.
This button is inactive if a global Theme is selected.

</itemize>


<sect> Theme package contents
<p>
The <bf>Contents</bf> dialog presents a list of the
various possible components 
contained in the selected 
Theme package, and  allows you to choose which of these
to install.


Not all possible components are
necessarily supplied by a given
Theme package.
Components that are present are
listed as ``<bf>available</bf>'';
missing components are listed as <bf>``empty''</bf>.

Each Theme component can  be individually activated
(with the check box or button next to it, depending on your Desktop style). 
This determines the action taken by the Theme Manager when the Theme
is installed:
<itemize>
<item>If the component is active,  
this component of the previous Theme will
be removed, if installed.  The corresponding component of the
current Theme will then be installed, if available.
<item> If it is <bf>not</bf> active, this component will not
be changed. (Any previously installed component will be left in place.)
</itemize>



The <bf>Clear</bf> button deactivates all
listed 
Theme components, and the <bf>Invert</bf> button interchanges active and
inactive items.  If you wish to completely re-install the Default theme, all
components must be active.

<itemize>
<item> Note: the image files for the Window Titlebar and Window Border
components are installed into the directory
<tt>~/.kde/share/apps/kwm/pics/</tt>
and Panel image files go in
<tt>~/.kde/share/apps/kpanel/pics/</tt>.
If for any reason you find you are unable to 
completely remove a Theme to restore the
default desktop,  
delete the contents
of these directories.

</itemize>



<sect> About the package.
<p>
The ``<bf>About</bf>'' dialog provides information (version, author, etc.)
about the selected Theme package, and about the KDE Theme Manager.

If the name of the Theme is ``<tt>Theme_name</tt>'',
Information about it is taken from the 
<tt>Theme_name/Theme_name.themerc</tt> configuration file
in the local Theme Manager Work directory.

<sect> Authors.

<p>
The KDE Theme Manager <tt>kthememgr</tt> is originally
written by <htmlurl url="mailto:taferner@kde.org" name="Stefan Taferner">.

Extensive later reorganization of the user interface is by
<htmlurl url="mailto:bastian@kde.org" name="Waldo Bastian">.

This documentation is by
<htmlurl url="mailto:duncan@kde.org" name="Duncan">.


</article>







