Call to testing on the work-in-progress Theme Redesign

Today, I’m happy to announce that users of Feren OS who are eager to try out the theme redesign, coming soon to Feren OS, can now enable a repository via a simple command to subscribe to updates for the (currently incomplete) Theme Redesign before everyone else gets it once it is complete.

This is not to be confused with the icon redesign which is also planned to happen soon, though it will also occur on the same repository as the theme redesign.

The new theme in action

Dark Mode too for good measure

Current Caveats

Now, before you get weary to try out the new theme, there are a few caveats you should know about:

• The GTK3 theme may have a few visual bugs I have missed
• The Plasma Style, Cinnamon Theme, and Window Decorations (Feren OS Classic) have not yet been updated
• The Global Themes in Feren OS set the Application Style to “Feren”, however since Feren has not yet been created it’ll fall back to Breeze
• The Window Decorations (Feren OS) has not been updated yet to use the tweaked symbols that this redesigned GTK theme uses for the titlebar buttons

Reporting Bugs

Since this theme is not yet complete, it is important for people to report as many bugs with the theme as they can find.

To report bugs with this theme redesign, go to https://github.com/feren-OS/feren-theme/issues/new/choose and select “Theme Redesign Bug Report” from the options listed. From there, tell me what issue you’re having, tell me the application(s) you’re experiencing it with, and also provide a few applicable screenshots or videos of the bug in action. The sooner I can know of any bugs needing fixing the better.

This theme, for the GTK side of things at least, might be powered by Adwaita’s stylesheet, but that does not prevent it from having bugs.

Getting the Theme Redesign on Feren OS

Getting the redesigned theme on Feren OS is incredibly simple to do, all you need to do is:

1. Make sure the package ‘feren-os-ppa-settings’ is at version 2020.05.0.0.0 or newer (this can be checked via a multitude of ways, including ‘sudo apt install feren-os-ppa-settings -y’ in Konsole/Terminal) (this is required for step 2 to work)
2. Once step 1 is ensured, open Konsole/Terminal and run the following command: sudo reset-feren-ppas theme-redesign
3. Authenticate with your login password and you’ll be returned to the Terminal prompt (you’re now subscribed to theme-redesign)
4. Go into Update Manager and hit “Refresh” to refresh the repositories
5. You’ll now have updates available for some Feren OS theme packages, and related packages. Hit “Install Updates” in Update Manager to install them
6. Let the updates install, and then go into Global Theme and re-apply the current Global Theme by applying another Global Theme and then re-applying the current Global Theme
7. You’re now using the redesigned Feren OS theme (in its current state), enjoy!

What to expect in this theme redesign

There are a number of exciting new features to expect in this theme redesign, including:

• Full Plasma Colour Scheme Support
• An Adwaita-powered stylesheet to improve application compatibility and reduce reliance on upstreams
• Improved theme design consistency across Qt5 applications, GTK applications and the desktop shell
• Improved design sizing consistency across the system tray area of the Plasma Style (Plasma-themed icons only)
• Even More

What about Feren OS (Ubuntu 20.04)?

When alpha testing starts for Feren OS on Ubuntu 20.04, it’ll come pre-shipped with the redesigned theme while, and after, it is being worked on. This may slightly delay the release of 20.04-based Feren OS, however it should provide users with something more to be excited for on top of all the 20.04-related Feren OS updates.