Customize Your Novell Linux Desktop Theme

Novell Cool Solutions: Feature
By Jason Jones

Digg This - Slashdot This Posted: 24 Nov 2004

When first installing Novell Linux Desktop, you may wonder how to change the look and feel of it. Here are a few easy steps in both Gnome and KDE to customizing the basic look of your Novell Linux Desktop theme.

Gnome

To change themes in GNOME, select System -> Personal Settings



Once in the Personal Settings, click on Theme



And now the fun begins. In the theme panel, you have a list of pre-defined themes you can change to. These change the general look and feel of your desktop, so go ahead and click to find which one you like best.



To customize your desktop even further, click on Theme Details. A new dialog opens that allows you to create a new theme, defining the controls, window borders, and icons independently.

KDE

KDE is a bit different than than Gnome. Instead of having full "themes", it allows you to more fully customize each aspect of the desktop.

To begin, simply click on the "N" (Start Button) and go up and click on Control Center



Once you're in the Control Center, click on Appearance & Themes



You'll notice the left-hand content menu changes. The options in this menu will affect the way your desktop looks and behaves. Although all of them are worth looking at, for brevity's sake, I'll go a bit deeper into only the Style and Window Decorations buttons.



Go ahead and click on the Style button.



The main control here is the drop-down menu under the "Widget Style" box. Click on it, and you'll see a drop-down menu containing quite a few different options for "Widget Styles".



After you've chosen a different style, make sure to click on the "Apply" button at the bottom of the screen, or you won't see any changes.

Feel free to explore all the options and tabs presented here and in other menus. They all affect the way KDE looks, and you're sure to find things that make your experience better than the default settings.

Now, click on the Window Decorations menu option in the left-hand menu.



As in the previous menu, there are quite a few options in here. The one to affect the window style is the first drop-down menu. Click on it, and you'll be presented with many different window styles. Again, after you make your choice, click Apply and you'll see the change made.



This is only a brief tour of some of the basic changes which can be made in Novell Linux Desktop. There are many, many other options which will help you create your favorite look and feel.

Feel free to post any other cool features you find!

Reader Comments

• Expected more information on customizing and building custom themes.

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