REQUEST: Dark Theme for Windows 10

Discuss new features and functions
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Joined: 21 Aug 2019

BazCuda

Of course, one possible solution is [for the author] to simply choose a dark color scheme and implement it manually, with no reference to Windows or to either its color schemes or its color palettes, as I have done for some of my own software, e.g. CustomMenu (see screenshots at https://github.com/BazzaCuda/CustomMenu). Of course, the app is then permanently in Dark Mode, which I was happy with for my own software but the author of FFS may be against. It saved me a lot of headaches that way, pre-empting the inevitable requests for a Dark Mode. I have had zero requests for a Light Mode :P
Just a thought.
Posts: 15
Joined: 21 Aug 2019

BazCuda

In general, FFS is using system colors everywhere. The only reason why "Dark Mode" support for FFS on Windows 10 is not available right now is that Microsoft has decided to limit its support to Windows Store apps, while leaving Win32 apps out in the dark.
Another [possibly] straight-forward solution might be to have a colors.ini file and name each type of control used in FFS. In colors.ini you then specify hexadecimal RRGGBB digits for each control and devise a manual dark mode for FFS (read and applied at app launch) which is entirely separate from and totally unreliant on the vagueries of the Windows color scheme mechanisms. We could then, even, share our colors.ini files with each other on here. This is, in effect, mimicking what the old color palette dialog used to do in Windows, except it's limited to FFS's controls not system wide.
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Joined: 25 Aug 2024

Inertia at barbeque

Let me be toxic for a minute. Instead of having hundreds of people doing registry and ini file editing maybe the dev could finally update the ass gui library from 2003 and fix this for us all. The software is highly functional and one update solely focused on modernizing the gui would no doubt help with usability and dark theme could be easier to implement.
Love throwing this under "low priority" while talking about the f* literal interfacing between user and the software.

EDIT: jeez... wxWidgets is awful, every other GUI library too, eternal pain
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Joined: 11 Jun 2019

xCSxXenon

Let me be toxic for a minute. Instead of having hundreds of people doing registry and ini file editing maybe the dev could finally update the ass gui library from 2003 and fix this for us all. The software is highly functional and one update solely focused on modernizing the gui would no doubt help with usability and dark theme could be easier to implement.
Love throwing this under "low priority" while talking about the f* literal interfacing between user and the software. Inertia at barbeque, 25 Aug 2024, 17:58
If you actually look for a minute, you'll see the difficulty in "just implementing a dark mode". Maintaining such a feature is a massive manual feat. Being open source, you should be able to figure out how to implement dark mode fairly easily, right? Let us know when you get it ironed out, we expect support for future versions of FFS and operating systems in case something breaks.
Forums are a bad place to be toxic, more so when you lack the basic understanding of the implementation requirements or the developer's response to such, and even more so for software that is completely free.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

EDIT: I yearn for a dark mode along with everyone else.
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xCSxXenon

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Joined: 25 Aug 2024

Inertia at barbeque

I'm not saying it is easy and that I can implement it. I rely on FFS and I haven't found better alternative. I just wanted to say that gui and dark mode aren't secondary features. And you are right, I of course don't know how much the software is relying on specific platform ui elements, but I would guess lot of it can also be made platform agnostic.
And btw I have the ThemeTool hack installed so I have the FFS basically in dark mode, but native stuff would be great for others.