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mrtew · Dec 20, 2003, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by quandarry:
tewman

i've seen your teaser of Ti7...what i'd do if i were you...of course i'm not you...but if i were i'd hold off 7 and roll that delicious menu stuff into a new theme for the BIG contest...but that's me not you...right?

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm not going to do any other themes. I just do Titanium to make my computer look the way I want, and then share it with others. But thanks for the compliments!

mrtew · Dec 29, 2003, 01:04 AM

Titanium7 was finally released today... and it's the best version yet! If you kinda liked Ti5 or Ti6 but had some problems with this and that here or there a lot of stuff has been redone so check it out! It's a .dlta file that works with Themechanger or ShapeShifter just fine. Get it at...

http://www.resexcellence.com/themes/

Click the Pic for full size...

Ozzpot · Dec 29, 2003, 01:16 AM

Whaaaaaah???

What's going on with that menu?
This is witchcraft, MrTew!

Wow, somebody let BBX know the pressure's off for the moment!

Awesome.

Sage · Dec 29, 2003, 01:45 AM

Mr. Tew, did anybody ever tell you how much you kick booty? The menus are vedy slick.

d4nth3m4n · Dec 29, 2003, 02:06 AM

tew, im sorry i ever doubted you on the menus. looks great, thing is i cant get the system prefs to highlight like that. i havent logged out yet, but i restarted the sys prefs.

Ozzpot · Dec 29, 2003, 02:37 AM

Hmmm... Anybody else have this problem?

I have installed the iTunes skin that comes with Titanium 7. It is great, but has a small problem. When iTunes is in it's minimised state (as it usually is on my desktop), the widgets do not appear correctly in mouseover state. The X is kind of okay, but the - and + hardly show up. You can sort of see that the widgets change a bit around the edge, but it's like they've been rubbed out, or "smoothed" back to that lovely chromed appearance. Check it out, you'll see what I mean. Hopefully.

Sorry to rain on your parade. It is only a minor glitch.

Thanks

d4nth3m4n · Dec 29, 2003, 02:42 AM

Originally posted by Ozzpot:
Hmmm... Anybody else have this problem?

I have installed the iTunes skin that comes with Titanium 7. It is great, but has a small problem. When iTunes is in it's minimised state (as it usually is on my desktop), the widgets do not appear correctly in mouseover state. The X is kind of okay, but the - and + hardly show up. You can sort of see that the widgets change a bit around the edge, but it's like they've been rubbed out, or "smoothed" back to that lovely chromed appearance. Check it out, you'll see what I mean. Hopefully.

Sorry to rain on your parade. It is only a minor glitch.

Thanks

i got that too

Ozzpot · Dec 29, 2003, 02:52 AM

Also, can anybody recommend a good futuristic, boxy font that would go well with this theme, other than BankGothic or CopperPlate. I find that they're both too wide. I need something more condensed. In certian applications you find there is text missing from the end of lines or paragraphs, because the font didn't fit in. Also the baselines are a little low.

Any ideas?

Lord Sith · Dec 29, 2003, 03:15 AM

WOW!

Very nice.

I mean, really.......... wow.

Patcarla · Dec 29, 2003, 05:00 AM

Wow!!
Great Job John!! The theme is close to perfection now

. The menu idea is really cool.

mrtew · 12:28 AM

Originally posted by Sage:
Mr. Tew, did anybody ever tell you how much you kick booty? The menus are vedy slick.

Originally posted by Patcarla:
Wow!! Great Job John!! The theme is close to perfection now . The menu idea is really cool.

Originally posted by Lord Sith:
WOW! Very nice. I mean, really.......... wow.

Originally posted by Ozzpot:
Whaaaaaah??? What's going on with that menu? This is witchcraft, MrTew! Wow, somebody let BBX know the pressure's off for the moment! Awesome.

Thanks for all the nice words! I'm so glad that all the work is starting to pay off in a nice looking theme!

Originally posted by Ozzpot:
Also, can anybody recommend a good futuristic, boxy font that would go well with this theme, other than BankGothic or CopperPlate. I find that they're both too wide. I need something more condensed. In certian applications you find there is text missing from the end of lines or paragraphs, because the font didn't fit in. Also the baselines are a little low. Any ideas?

The best font I've found yet for this theme and Silk is Bank Gothic but it does suffer from wideness like you've said. Century Gothic is beautiful and works better but is not nearly as interesting. I'm totally into fonts, especially System fonts with Silk and would love to know if people have found ones that work better. You can see what Bank Gothic looks like by checking out the screenshot again closely. I actually think there are two versions of it out there and one works a LOT better than the other, but they are both too wide...

Click the Pic for full size...

Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
tew, im sorry i ever doubted you on the menus. looks great, thing is i cant get the system prefs to highlight like that. i havent logged out yet, but i restarted the sys prefs.

Thanks. Those highlights on selected SystemPrefs icons (and Watson among others) are only seen if you use Metallifizer on those apps! I'm not sure if it's a bug or if that's what metal apps are supposed to do because I've never seen it on real metal apps, but it sure is cool!

Originally posted by Ozzpot:
Hmmm... Anybody else have this problem? I have installed the iTunes skin that comes with Titanium 7. It is great, but has a small problem. When iTunes is in it's minimised state (as it usually is on my desktop), the widgets do not appear correctly in mouseover state. The X is kind of okay, but the - and + hardly show up. You can sort of see that the widgets change a bit around the edge, but it's like they've been rubbed out, or "smoothed" back to that lovely chromed appearance. Check it out, you'll see what I mean. Hopefully.

Yeah, oops! I meant to fix those small widgets up later and never did because I don't minimize iTunes anymore and I forgot. If you want a fixed version of the iTunes theme you can get it by downloading the fixed version of Titanium7, get it at the same place ... http://www.resexcellence.com/themes/

div · Dec 29, 2003, 05:12 PM

Warning: I'm certainly no GUI professional, nor have I ever attempted to create my own theme. So please read the following with a grain of salt.

While I certainly appreciate the hard work and effort mrtew has put into the creation of his Titanium 7 theme, I'm afraid that I have to play the part of the minority here by saying that I (personally) wouldn't use it. Why am I wasting space by writing about how I don't like it? Why not just shut my pie hole at let people mod their GUI's however they please? I'm writing this post (my first post on MacNN thank-you-very-much) because I think this theme has potential. Because of that, I wanted to give my feedback on where I think it's lacking, and how it could possibly be improved. Again, overall I think it's a theme with possibilities, but there are three specific features that prevent me from using it:

1) The transparent drop-down menus are visually disturbing. The whole idea of having an opaque (or mostly opaque anyway) color behind the menu items is so they visually separate from whatever is behind them. By making the drop-down menu background transparent, the options blend into their background. This makes it difficult to quickly and easily select the option you need. I much preferred the drop-down menu background in Titanium 6, although I personally would have preferred a slightly more opaque background.

2) I think the various highlights on the buttons, pull-down menus, iTunes/QT buttons, and so forth could be a little brighter. I understand this is a dark theme and I appreciate that. However, creating a dark theme doesn't necessarily imply that the highlights need to be dark gray as well. The problem with dark gray highlights is that it makes it difficult to differentiate a button from its background. Interface items don't stand out from the rest of the GUI and this makes it difficult to quickly find the button, pull-down menu, or option that you need. Brightening the highlights would help to better define some of those items and would therefore make them easier to see. I like the level of highlights that mrtew has applied to the close/minimize/maximize buttons, and I think he should continue that throughout the theme. While I appreciate mod-ing the UI, it shouldn't come at the expense of a loss of usability. It's akin to wearing uncomfortable shoes because they look good.

3) The scrollbar doesn't seem to fit the look/feel of the rest of the UI elements. It also blends in with the scrollbar background which makes it difficult to locate. This goes back to what I was talking about in point 2 and I think the solution is also what I mentioned previously. If mrtew were to increase the highlight (and maybe change the design) on the scrollbar, it would stand out more from the background and would thereby be easier to see.

Thanks for listening.
:)

mrtew · 06:05 PM

Thanks for the comments, Div! Those observations are great and I will take them into consideration if there is ever a Titanium8. I'm responding not only to say thanks, but to welcome you to the MacNN GUI forum and say that is the best '1st Post' I've ever seen on this board. Such a refreshing change from new members who sign up just to say something evil etc.

Oh, and try the theme a little longer. You'll get used to the low contrast buttons and the freaky menus in a few days. It's like breaking in some cool new shoes... tough at first, but so worth it, you'll never go back to baby blue and dove gray striped Nike's again!

div · Dec 29, 2003, 06:04 PM

Thanks for the comments, Div! Those observations are great and I will take them into consideration if there is ever a Titanium8. I'm responding not only to say thanks, but to welcome you to the MacNN GUI forum and say that is the best '1st Post' I've ever seen on this board. Such a refreshing change from new members who sign up just to say something evil etc.

No, no. Thank you!
;)

I'm glad you appreciate the comments and aren't taking offense at them. I wrote them with the hopes that you might be able to benefit from them in some way.

Thanks for continuing to create great themes. I look forward to seeing what you design next!

Thank you (again) for your kind reply.

/ best
/ div

MacDog · Dec 30, 2003, 12:23 PM

As a fellow Arizona poster, I'll agree with your assessments. I really liked the look of this theme, but I also feel it needs some tweeking.

Perhaps the scroll bar areas could be a bit lighter.
The widgets could be somehow colorized a bit.
Overall "pep" added to the theme. It's very flat.

I love dark themes, and this one is pretty good. And I certainly hope there will be a version 8!!

wibs · Dec 31, 2003, 06:07 AM

at first i was really excited about this theme, but after using it for a little while i too found that it's a bit too flat. everything starts to blend together after a while

. a bit more brightness in the interactive parts (buttons and scrolls mainly) would go a long way for this theme in my eyes, because everything else already looks pretty damn good.

which brings me to a question... how in the world do you give the menu items beginning and ending caps? a beginning one i can figure out, but how do you make the right side of the menu circular too?

d4nth3m4n · Dec 31, 2003, 09:21 AM

Originally posted by wibs:
..... it's a bit too flat.

thats the whole idea of this theme- subtle beauty. i dont think tew has ever wanted titanium to be a flashy theme with eye grabbing visuals.

which brings me to a question... how in the world do you give the menu items beginning and ending caps? a beginning one i can figure out, but how do you make the right side of the menu circular too?

go in theme park and look at the pxms with numbers less than 200. if you want the bubble menus to go away, dont forget about pxm 2061 "menu background"

i know for a fact that tew did this whole theme with only Photoshop and themepark.

Dan.

swiz · Dec 31, 2003, 11:42 AM

John, this is the best version of this theme yet without question, I do have one suggestion though. It has always rubbed me as loking like its always in the background even when its in the foreground, have you tried using a white font color or any other color system wide? I think you could still retain the subtlety your after even if you did that.

div · Dec 31, 2003, 12:27 PM

thats the whole idea of this theme- subtle beauty. i dont think tew has ever wanted titanium to be a flashy theme with eye grabbing visuals

The point that I think wibs was making, and one that I was certainly stressing, was that it's one thing to be subtle, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of usability. What's the point of subtlety if it makes the GUI more difficult to work with?
Again, I'm no GUI guy. I'm essentially just an a$$ with a personal opinion.

I appreciate subtlety as much as the next person. As a matter-of-fact, I want my GUI to be subtle. I want to appreciate they way it looks, but I don't want it to interfere with, or making working with it require too much thought. In other words, the GUI should be subtle but usable. That's why even though I try other themes on a weekly (ok, ok...bi-weekly) basis, I still end up back at Max's SmoothStripes. It's a classier GUI than stock Panther--with great details--but moreover it's a theme that I don't have to think about. It's there, I appreciate it, but it doesn't get in my way.

My earlier comments outline my feelings on this theme; that while it's coming along great, it needs a little more work (again, IMO) before I'd slap it on the a$$ and call it a "usable" theme.

:)

mrtew · Dec 31, 2003, 06:39 PM

Originally posted by MacDog:
...Perhaps the scroll bar areas could be a bit lighter.....The widgets could be somehow colorized a bit......Overall "pep" added to the theme. It's very flat.

Originally posted by wibs:
......after using it for a little while i too found that it's a bit too flat. everything starts to blend together after a while . a bit more brightness in the interactive parts (buttons and scrolls mainly) would go a long way for this theme in my eyes, because everything else already looks pretty damn good.

Originally posted by swiz:
John, this is the best version of this theme yet without question, I do have one suggestion though. It has always rubbed me as loking like its always in the background even when its in the foreground, have you tried using a white font color or any other color system wide? I think you could still retain the subtlety your after even if you did that.

Originally posted by div:
....it's one thing to be subtle, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of usability. What's the point of subtlety if it makes the GUI more difficult to work with?..... while it's coming along great, it needs a little more work (again, IMO) before I'd slap it on the a$$ and call it a "usable" theme.

Thanks for the critique guys. It's kinda funny getting this kind of responses because I always used to hear "Too high contrast" "Too shiny" "Too 3-D" "Too much texture/pattern/relief"! Maybe I went too far in the opposite direction, but I don't think so. Maybe it's because I have a TiBook. This theme is probably best for people with very bright, high-contrast, sharp, LCD monitors like a new powerbook screens, and who work in a darkened room. Most themes blind me with their bright whiteness and I never have any trouble at all seeing buttons or scrollbars or reading the black type on the buttons and bars in my theme. I do know that there is a usability problem with it on an old iMac with their dark fuzzy screens or probably in a bright room. I find white high contrast themes such as smoothstripes unusable!
I've tried changing the fonts to white and I don't personally like the look. I suppose I could be like poor Max and release 8 different variations trying to please everyone, and I probably could please a lot more people, but I really want to stick to a single vision and I don't think that white type will ever fit into that vision. I have requested that Shapeshifter enable that engraved or etched looking type system-wide and I will be using that it it ever happens, but I think it's a low priority for Smeger right now. I don't know if you guys would like that though, because some people refer to it in Sarari and iCal as "unreadable" with Ti7 but I think it looks great (see my signature image below).

Originally posted by wibs:
how in the world do you give the menu items beginning and ending caps? a beginning one i can figure out, but how do you make the right side of the menu circular too?

That was done with MenuEnhancer which is built into ThemePark. You can find the easy one step instructions for it in the ThemePark thread here or in the help menu I'm sure. I love it!

wibs · Dec 31, 2003, 10:07 PM

Originally posted by div:
The point that I think wibs was making, and one that I was certainly stressing, was that it's one thing to be subtle, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of usability

exactly

. I already like the it a lot, it just needs a tad bit more differentiation between what's active and important and what's just a background. granted i'm using a monitor that's curved like a globe right now (it's kind of fun moving your head from side to side to see different parts of the screen...), so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Originally posted by mrtew:
That was done with MenuEnhancer which is built into ThemePark. You can find the easy one step instructions for it in the ThemePark thread here or in the help menu I'm sure. I love it!

haha, so simple but i just never saw it. thanks!

sayonaraML · Jan 1, 2004, 02:13 PM

Most of this has already been covered but I would also like to put out thanks for the theme. I'm sort of surprised but how much I like this since I tend toward lighter themes but after finding some decent icons for the desktop, I'm pretty happy. BTW, my favorite feature are the progress bars. They got this nice liquid thing going on which is very cool...
Happy new year to all!

surfgeek · Jan 3, 2004, 03:51 PM

How do you change the font's ??

mrtew · Jan 3, 2004, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by surfgeek:
How do you change the font's ??

Download Silk from unsanity.com And TinkerTool from Versiontracker. they are the only way to change system fonts in OSX and the fonts that each one doesn't change the other does. Silk get's 90% of them and TinkerTool gets the other 10%

Stradlater · Jan 3, 2004, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by mrtew:
Since my Titaniuim6 theme only has about 12 hours to get noticed before the BIG announcement from "all" the "top" themers who are in-the-know, I thought I'd engage in a little of their style of hype!!!

This is truly the most amazing theme released so far for Panther and will make your computer look almost like Titanium5 did for Jaguar! Get it now and you won't ever think of using Aqua (or even shAPEshifter) ever ever again!!!

http://www.resexcellence.com/themes/

Not a fan of this theme, not aesthetically pleasing in any sense.

Sage · Jan 3, 2004, 06:05 PM

Originally posted by Stradlater:
Not a fan of this theme, not aesthetically pleasing in any sense.

Oooooh, constructive... just how we like it.

*muffled cough*

d4nth3m4n · Jan 3, 2004, 09:35 PM

Originally posted by Stradlater:
Not a fan of this theme, not aesthetically pleasing in any sense.

plus a geegee on reading the whole thread-that is titan 6, titanium 7 is out and if you look youll see that there are differences between the two, that will make you never go back to ti6.

out.

NetworkShadow · Jan 3, 2004, 10:29 PM

Ti7 is the first time I've tried it, (due to it looking a good deal beter) and I must say I like it quite a bit. I didn't have any desktops that matched well, so I switched between all my themes before settling on AA Smog for now. I might take the time to change a desktop to match Ti7 later though.

d4nth3m4n · Jan 3, 2004, 11:42 PM

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
Ti7 is the first time I've tried it, (due to it looking a good deal beter) and I must say I like it quite a bit. I didn't have any desktops that matched well, so I switched between all my themes before settling on AA Smog for now. I might take the time to change a desktop to match Ti7 later though.

ti7 acutally looks pretty good with a russet orange color, or a dark black and white kinda thing.

look in the screenie thread for some of my shots

Lefo · Jan 18, 2004, 12:47 AM

Originally posted by mrtew:
Darnit, I was hoping for better news than somebody borking their system. I thought all the bugs had been worked out of Themechanger. I don't think it was my theme as several people have installed it already with no probs. Anyone else have any problems? Now I understand what Swiz was saying about using SS to prevent problems with people hurting their computers. I use Ti7 with Themechanger all the time just fine, but it works well with ShapeShifter too. Hope things are going better by now.

Good news! After a lot of patience, slow methodical work, and a dosage of prayer (hey, can't hurt, eh?), I was able to get Ti7 to work and no troubles with my system.

This is a great theme for those of us still using .dlta formats. Thank you, MrTew!

Lefo

Lefo · Jan 18, 2004, 12:57 AM

Say...anyone have a good link to an orangish desktop pic?

Lefo

JudieKaren · Jan 18, 2004, 03:56 AM

Originally posted by Lefo:
Say...anyone have a good link to an orangish desktop pic?

Lefo

Here's one:

http://www.resexcellence.com/archive...ylish_58.shtml

Well...it IS Orange!

There is another one called *settingsun*, but I can't recall where I D/L it from. It's very pretty with the top 1/3 a reddish orange then it morphs to black hills below.

Lefo · Jan 18, 2004, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by JudieKaren:
Here's one:

http://www.resexcellence.com/archive...ylish_58.shtml

Well...it IS Orange!

There is another one called *settingsun*, but I can't recall where I D/L it from. It's very pretty with the top 1/3 a reddish orange then it morphs to black hills below.

Oh, you mean the October pic? Nice. Thanks. I'd forgotten about that one. Downloading now. I also found a few good ones over at RailHeadDesign's site. Maury has some nice stuff over there.

http://www.railheaddesign.com

Thanks again for the link!

Lefo