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Idea #6772: Make a compact Human Theme

Written by markpersy the 10 Apr 08 at 11:29. Category: Look and Feel. Related project: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Rationale
When I use small screen (e.g. eeepc), the gnome theme steals too much space of the desktop
As in Clearlooks Compact http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Clearlooks+Compact?content=69357
we could gain some space reducing the bottons and sidebar size (look at the .gif)
http://pollycoke.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/clearlooks-compact.gif
(thanks, felipe)
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420
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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #6772
Written by markpersy the 10 Apr 08 at 11:29.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #6772 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!
10
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Solution #2: Already available
Written by martinus the 14 Jan 09 at 14:53.
5
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Solution #3: Solution 2 available on default installation
Written by tibasic the 7 Jun 09 at 18:34.
Like some people the biggest issue I had with Gnome was the oversized everything issue. Solution 2 improved my system more than expected. I propose that the theme is available on the next ubuntu by default. I always would rather have more options than less :)

Propose your solution

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loonyphoenix wrote on the 10 Apr 08 at 20:12
Even on 1280x800, the default theme is too large for my tastes.

johno wrote on the 10 Apr 08 at 21:23
An easily available option for a compact theme would be good.

Ideally this could be parameterised, so that its the same theme, but with a parameter to choose how much compactness you want.

piotrekp wrote on the 11 Apr 08 at 16:41
I also use 1280x800. Compact version would be very useful for all people who use small monitors (such as 14")

martinus wrote on the 11 Apr 08 at 21:36
Hi, I am the author of the theme and I just found this here. There is also a launchpad bug report addressing this issue here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-artwork/+bug/160938

martinus wrote on the 30 May 08 at 12:37
Here is a Human Compact theme:
http://martin.ankerl.com/2008/05/13/human-compact-gnome-theme/

csaveanu wrote on the 7 Jun 08 at 17:35
The lack of a good use of space screen has always annoyed me and I think Gnome desktops would all look much better with compact versions of the actual themes. There is no reason for spacing menu items at the levels that are default in Ubuntu.

A compact theme would thus also improve the ergonomy of the interface as one would have to move the mouse less when selecting menu entries, for example. Good work Martin ! Thank you very much.

cheiron wrote on the 7 Aug 08 at 04:13
While I prefer the larger versions for the negative space that they have, I agree that the smaller controls would be very useful on smaller screens.

Doing this makes the windows and dialogues kind of cluttered, though. I think that it might be a good idea to reduce the contrast in the controls slightly (especially dark borders on things like buttons) in order to counteract the jumble.

This might require modifying the engine - I'm not sure how good the various engines are at handling things like variable contrast. I don't believe that clearlooks has anything like a universal contrast setting.

mfx wrote on the 14 Sep 08 at 21:13
I dont understand why for this idea voted so badly :(

ezTol wrote on the 29 Sep 08 at 21:51
If I had known before that there is a compact theme... I never liked the useless waste of screen space. This was my biggest complain with Gnome. Now, Gnome is really useable.
There are so many ugly themes in ubuntu, so I can't understand the argument that there could be people that would't like a compact theme. It has definitely a useful purpose (The same argument was used for ages about tabs in nautilus. Finally they are there, great!)

martinus wrote on the 4 Nov 08 at 17:19
Hello everybody, two new versions of the Human Compact theme based on the Ubuntu Human 8.10 theme are available here:

http://martin.ankerl.com/2008/11/04/human-compact-themes-for-ubuntu-810/

Johannes Eva wrote on the 16 Apr 09 at 01:41
The default Gnome is unusable in low resolutions - what a waste of screen space!

Martin Ankerl's Theme is a great solution for now, but the default theme should be improved, too.


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