Greetings,

I have started personalizing my Kubuntu 12.04 KDE 4.9.2 installation and I am looking at getting new themes.

When I download a theme, the icon shows an integrated look ie a desktop background in addition to a new window design, color, etc.. and sometimes a new panel location / size / look.

When I activate the theme I only see the changes in the windows but not the desktop background, nor the overall colors, sounds etc...

What is a theme and how does it work.

Thanks,

Michel

Assuming the themes you are referring to are those you select in System Settings > Workspace Appearance > Desktop Theme - these are the Plasma themes and will only affect KDE's Plasma Desktop. You will need to download the icon set, wallpaper, etc seperately and apply them. Those images are provided by the author of themes, so this information is probably available on the kde-look.org page for that theme.

The overall theme is actually composed of several different parts which will need to be separately applied:
- Application theme (look-and-feel of application windows)
- Window decoration (look of the window title bars and borders; most application themes provide a matching window decoration)
- Icon set
- Color scheme (unlike themes for gtk-based desktops, the color scheme is separate from the rest of the theme)
- Desktop theme (look-and-feel of panel and desktop widgets, usually using its own color scheme - this piece is KDE-specific)
- Mouse cursor theme
- Splash screen (when you first log into the desktop)
- Fonts

Frequently, theme designers will put together an application theme with best-fitting icon set, window decoration and color scheme, and possibly desktop theme. These need to be installed and applied separately (one thing that I sure appreciate about KDE over most gtk-based desktops is that I can apply a given application theme and change the color scheme as I see fit).

airdrik wrote:The overall theme is actually composed of several different parts which will need to be separately applied:
- Application theme (look-and-feel of application windows)
- Window decoration (look of the window title bars and borders; most application themes provide a matching window decoration)
- Icon set
- Color scheme (unlike themes for gtk-based desktops, the color scheme is separate from the rest of the theme)
- Desktop theme (look-and-feel of panel and desktop widgets, usually using its own color scheme - this piece is KDE-specific)
- Mouse cursor theme
- Splash screen (when you first log into the desktop)
- Fonts

Frequently, theme designers will put together an application theme with best-fitting icon set, window decoration and color scheme, and possibly desktop theme. These need to be installed and applied separately (one thing that I sure appreciate about KDE over most gtk-based desktops is that I can apply a given application theme and change the color scheme as I see fit).

That's what I thought, but is there a way to get a "list" of all the separate elements?

Michel

As different designers may only replace certain elements, the best place to ask would be the designer themselves - who will know what elements they changed.