Buddy List Themes

Installing

The theme.xml file (along with any image preview) should be placed in $PURPLEHOME/themes/$THEMENAME/purple/blist/ Alternatively, in Linux the files can be put in /usr/share/themes/$THEMENAME/purple/blist/

Creating

A theme is contained entirely within an XML file called theme.xml and an optional image preview/logo file.

The root node of the XML file contains all information about the theme including the name, author, type of theme (pidgin buddy list), as well as the name of a image file to display as a preview of the theme. The Theme file should also contain a description element which gives a short description of the theme.

The XML file contains elements for different items on the buddy list:

• blist - the 'color' attribute sets the background color of the entire buddy list

• groups - this has two sub-elements for expanded and collapsed groups, both of which are used to set the font and color of the group header.

• buddys - this is used to set different elements of a buddy/contact/chat. It is used to set the arrangement of items for each buddy, as well as set the font and color depending on the status.
  • placement - arranges the order from 0-4 of each elements of a buddy/contact/chat, the placement can also be set to -1 to hide any element. The show_status attribute also can hide or show the the status message for all buddies. The attributes are:
    • status_icon - the icon representing available/away/busy/etc.
    • name - the buddy/chat/contact name
    • emblem - special symbols used to represent thing like mobile or web clients
    • protocol_icon - icons representing the various protocol networks
    • buddy_icon - a contact's buddy icon
    • show_status - if this is set to 1 it will show a status message for each buddy, or if it is set to 0 it will hide the status message for all buddies.
  • background - the 'color' attribute will set the background color of each buddy
  • contact_text - sets the font and color of the text for a contact
  • online_text - sets the font and color of the text for a buddy that is available
  • away_text - sets the font and color of the text for a buddy that is away
  • offline_text - sets the font and color of the text for a buddy that is offline
  • idle_text - sets the font and color of the text for a buddy that is idle
  • status_text - sets the font and color of the text for a buddy's status message
  • message_text - sets the font and color of the text for a buddy that has sent you a message
  • message_nick_said_text - sets the font and color for a chat where someone said your name

All fonts and color attributes can be left blank or changed to anything supported by Pango.

• Pango font description
• Pango color description

An example theme would look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<theme type="pidgin buddy list" 
	name="Example Theme" 
	author="Your Name" 
	image="Example_theme_logo.png"
>
	

	<description>
		A short description of the theme
	</description>

	<blist color="#000000"/>

	<selected text_color="" background_color=""/>

	<groups>
		<expanded background="#FFFFFF" color="#000000" font=""/>
		<collapsed background="black" color="white" font=""/>
	</groups>

	<buddys>
		<placement status_icon="0" 
			   name="1" 
			   emblem="2" 
			   protocol_icon="3"
			   buddy_icon="4" 
			   show_status="1"
                />

		<background color="#111111"/>

		<contact_text font="Purisa" color="#FFDFBF"/>

		<online_text font="" color="#FFDFBF"/>
		<away_text font="" color=""/>
		<offline_text font="" color=""/>
		<idle_text font="" color=""/>

		<message_text font="" color=""/>
		<message_nick_said_text font="" color=""/>

		<status_text font="" color=""/>
	</buddys>
</theme>

Example Themes

To install, rename to theme.xml and put in $PURPLEHOME/themes/$THEMENAME/purple/blist/

• Guifications3 by Gary Kramlich
• Test Theme Warning: causes severe burning of the eyes (pic)
• Kolorowy by sq3htu
• cwDark by chrisw
• Pidgin's Dark Theme by SebX by SebX (pic)
• Pidgin's Purple Theme by SebX by SebX (pic)