Any way to change menu screens on the phone??

[Bag302]

I would like to reverse the menu screens on this phone if possible. Instead of black font on a white background, I would prefer white on a black background on all of the screens similar to the 'just black' Home Screen theme.

It was like this on my Sprint Upstage and looked awesome. Can this be done on the Q?

Thanks

BTW, I've only had this thing for 3 days and it's most excellent.

[rudeboy]

it can be changed in the home screen .xml. make a backup copy of it (they are in the \Application Data\Home) and just start messing with it, that is if you are somewhat familiar with html color codes.

you can use this tutorial as a reference...

[Pony99CA]

Originally Posted by rudeboy

it can be changed in the home screen .xml. make a backup copy of it (they are in the \Application Data\Home) and just start messing with it, that is if you are somewhat familiar with html color codes.

Actually, it's better to change (or create) a color scheme file (a something.scheme.xml file) and select that in the Color Scheme setting of the Home Screen settings applet. The color scheme file overrides any conflicting items in the layout file (the home.xml file).

That way you don't accidentally mess up a Home screen's layout file and can easily revert back to the screen's default scheme.

Steve

[Bag302]

Thanks for the replies. I'm really a newb at this stuff and am afraid to screw up my new phone.

Here's the color scheme I'd like for the menus, if possible:

[rudeboy]

it will work either way, in a whatever_scheme.xml or in the home screen.xml.. i prefer to do it in the home screen.xml so i do not have to go back & forth and everything is together, whenever i do change a color code i comment behind the line what is was before using <!-- old color --> plus i always make sure i have backup of the original (i do this automagiclly with MobSync.

to each his own...

[Pony99CA]

Originally Posted by Bag302

Thanks for the replies. I'm really a newb at this stuff and am afraid to screw up my new phone.

Here's my first guess of what to set:

• COLOR_HIGHLIGHT (Color of selection for list views, controls, menus, and soft key buttons) -- Orange
• COLOR_HIGHLIGHTTEXT (Color of text when an item has selection, such as a list view element or a control, and highlighted soft keys) -- White (#FFFFFF)
• COLOR_MENU (Background color for menus) -- Dark Blue
• COLOR_MENUTEXT (Text color for menu items) -- White (#FFFFFF)

You'll have to get the exact hex colors (#RRGGBB) for the background colors.

Also remember there are several types of "menus" in the Smartphone OS that you should check:

• Home screen plug-in rows (kind of a menu), but there are special HOME color attributes for those
• The Start menu
• Lists (like the Settings application)
• Pop-up menus (like when you press the Menu softkey in an application

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Originally Posted by rudeboy

it will work either way, in a whatever_scheme.xml or in the home screen.xml.

That's not quite correct. If he wants that menu color scheme to work with various Home screens, he should do it in a scheme file. Otherwise, he'd have to make changes to each Home screen he'd want to use.

Originally Posted by rudeboy

i prefer to do it in the home screen.xml so i do not have to go back & forth and everything is together, whenever i do change a color code i comment behind the line what is was before using <!-- old color --> plus i always make sure i have backup of the original (i do this automagiclly with MobSync.

Doing it in the layout file is fine if you're developing a new Home screen, but it sounds like the OP just wanted to change the menu colors. In that case, there's no reason to:

1. Copy a Home screen file to your PC.
2. Make a backup (optionally).
3. Put the scheme changes in there (worrying about where they go).
4. Save it.
5. Copy it back to your Q.

It's much easier to just:

1. Create the scheme file from scratch.
2. Put the scheme code in.
3. Save it.
4. Copy it to your Q.

If that's too difficult, you can copy an existing scheme file (just like a layout file), but you don't have to worry about finding the scheme section or messing the layout up accidentally.

I think most Home screen designers tend to under-utilize the scheme file because they're focused more on layout than overall system colors. The scheme file is really the correct place for controlling overall system colors.

Put the default color information in the layout file so that it's easy to get the matching colors, but a user should be able to override everything (except, perhaps, the Home-specific colors) in a scheme file.

Steve

[Bag302]

"Doing it in the layout file is fine if you're developing a new Home screen, but it sounds like the OP just wanted to change the menu colors. In that case, there's no reason to:"

Exactly what I'm looking to do.