Make a Skin
Follow these steps to make a new LimeWire skin of your own design, and share it with other LimeWire users.
Step 1: Get the Template Skin
Follow the Get a Skin steps to get template_theme.lwtp. Put the .lwtp file in your themes folder, giving it a path like this:
C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin\Application Data\LimeWire\themes\template_theme.lwtp
A LimeWire Theme Package file is really just a .zip file with the extension changed. When LimeWire loads the skin, it will make a folder in themes with the same name as the .lwtp file, and unzip the file's contents to it. Here, this makes a new folder named template_theme with theme.txt and about 40 .gif files inside.
C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin\Application Data\LimeWire\themes\template_theme\01_star.gif C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin\Application Data\LimeWire\themes\template_theme\02_star.gif ... C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin\Application Data\LimeWire\themes\template_theme\theme.txt
Step 2: Change Colors, Fonts, and Icons
Colors
Open theme.txt in a text editor, like Notepad. Lines that start with # are comments. Inside are named keys with HTML color values, like this:
WINDOW2_COLOR=#d4d0c8
Change this shade of light gray to a different color, like #ff33cc, hot pink. Never change anything to the left of the = sign. Save theme.txt, close LimeWire, and start it again. You've changed the background color to hot pink! To see where each color shows up in LimeWire, scroll down to the screen shots on this page. To see what color an HTML color code like #ff33cc becomes, and to pick out matching colors, check out ColorSchemer.
Fonts
To set a font in theme.txt, specify its name, style, and size. Name is the name of the font, like Verdana or Georgia. To use Java's default font, set the name to Dialog. Style is 0 for normal, or 1 for bold. Size is measured in points. Here's an example from theme.txt:
CONTROL_TEXT_FONT_NAME=Dialog CONTROL_TEXT_FONT_STYLE=1 CONTROL_TEXT_FONT_SIZE=11
Icons
To change the icons in your LimeWire skin, just edit the .gif files in the template_theme folder. Make sure to keep the file names the same. You can change the image size, but be careful: Differently sized icons can cause parts of LimeWire's window to stretch strangely. Each .gif image can have 256 different colors, one of which can be transparent. Use an image editing program to make your icons and set their transparency.
You don't have to use all the .gif files in the template_theme folder. Delete one, and the default inside LimeWire.jar will show through. Likewise, if there's a graphic in LimeWire you want to change that isn't in template_theme, you can probably still skin it. A new image file with the right name in the skin folder will cover over LimeWire's default. To see the file names of all the images, follow the Getting Started steps to get LimeWire's Source Code, and look in the folder limewire/components/resources/src/main/resources/org/limewire/gui/images. One exception to this tip is the splash screen, which can't be skinned at all anymore.
Step 3: Zip Your Skin Into a .lwtp File
When your skin is ready, zip up theme.txt and all the .gif files into a new .zip file. Be sure to zip up all the files, not the folder they're in. Rename the file from something like New Compressed (zipped) Folder.zip to something like my_skin_name_theme.lwtp. This file name sets the name of the skin that will appear in LimeWire's menu.
Step 4: Submit Your Skin
Share your new skin with the world by uploading it to the Skinning LimeWire forum.
Skin Guide
Here's the template theme.txt file with screen shots that show where each color and font show up in LimeWire. Edit it in your template_theme folder to change parts and play around with it.
# LimeWire Skin Colors and Fonts # Version number of LimeWire's skinning system # Default 2, don't change this THEME_VERSION=2 # As a test color to see where these show up, use #ff33cc hot pink
Face Backgrounds
Window
#### Face backgrounds #### # Main window and dialog box background color # Default #d4d0c8 light gray WINDOW2_COLOR=#d4d0c8
Menu
# Menu background color # Default #d4d0c8 light gray WINDOW12_COLOR=#d4d0c8
Table Header
# Table header background color, made lighter and darker for highlight and shadow, and audio player background color # Default #cad4df light blue TABLE_HEADER_BACKGROUND_COLOR=#cad4df
Area Backgrounds
Text Box
#### Area backgrounds #### # Background color in text boxes # Default #ffffff white WINDOW7_COLOR=#ffffff
Multiline Text Box
# Background color in multiline text boxes, password boxes, and the tree on the left in Options # Default #ffffff white WINDOW6_COLOR=#ffffff
List and Table
# List and table background color, one of the two stripe colors # Default #ffffff white TABLE_BACKGROUND_COLOR=#ffffff
[]
Stripes
# List and table stripe color, the other stripe color # Default #eef3ff bluish white TABLE_ALTERNATE_COLOR=#eef3ff
[]
Special Backgrounds
Search Type Top
#### Special backgrounds #### # Top of the gradient of the selected Search Type button # Default #ffffff white SEARCH_FILTER_TITLE_TOP_COLOR=#ffffff
Search Type Bottom
# Bottom of the gradient of the selected Search Type button # Default #ffcc00 yellow SEARCH_FILTER_TITLE_COLOR=#ffcc00
Search Types
# Background color of the Search Type buttons that aren't selected, borders of sections in options, color of pressed button # Default #c1beb7 light gray SECONDARY2_COLOR=#c1beb7
Search Panel Top
# Top of the gradient of the search panel # Default #ffffff white SEARCH_PANEL_BG_1=#ffffff
Search Panel Bottom
# Bottom of the gradient of the search panel # Default #cad4df light blue SEARCH_PANEL_BG_2=#cad4df
Borders
Highlight
#### Borders #### # Menu and tab highlight, check box and radio button fill # Default #efefef bluish white WINDOW3_COLOR=#efefef
Shadow
# Outline around buttons, text boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, and menus, shadow on menu bar and tabs # Default #525a5a dark greenish gray SECONDARY1_COLOR=#525a5a
Search Types
# Border around Search Type buttons and the search area # Default #000000 black SEARCH_GRID_COLOR=#000000
Selection
Table Rows
#### Selection #### # Selected table rows, selection on left in Options # Default #d4d0c8 light gray SECONDARY3_COLOR=#d4d0c8
[]
List Items
# Selected list items, scrollbar highlight # Default #d4d0c8 light gray PRIMARY3_COLOR=#d4d0c8
[]
Menu Item
# Selected menu item, scroll bar pad, table focus border, progress bar juice, check box and radio button float rings # Default #90b2d5 light blue PRIMARY2_COLOR=#90b2d5
[]
Other
Count Bubble
#### Other #### # Color of the bubble in the status bar when it says you are sharing 0 files # Default #d00005 red NOT_SHARING_LABEL_COLOR=#d00005
Private IP Address
# A private IP address in a table cell will show up in this color # Default #ff0000 red SEARCH_PRIVATE_IP_COLOR=#ff0000
(No screen shot)
Text Color
Menu
#### Text Color #### # Menu text color # Default #000000 black WINDOW9_COLOR=#000000
Tabs and Buttons
# Text in buttons and on tabs # Default #000000 black WINDOW4_COLOR=#000000
Labels
# Label text in main window and dialog boxes # Default #000000 black WINDOW1_COLOR=#000000
Option Section Titles
# Text color of section titles in options, highlight on scroll bars, checks and dots in check boxes and radio buttons # Default #000000 black PRIMARY1_COLOR=#000000
Lists and Tables
# Text in lists and tables # Default #333333 dark gray WINDOW8_COLOR=#333333
[]
The Download That's Playing
# Text color of an audio file in the Downloads table that's playing in the audio player # Default #07aa00 green SEARCH_RESULT_SPEED_COLOR=#07aa00
[]
Scroll Bar Arrows
# Scroll bar arrows # Default #0a246a dark blue WINDOW5_COLOR=#0a246a
[]
Fonts
The screen shots in this section show the font Aldo, style 1 bold, size 14.
Labels
#### Fonts #### # Tabs, buttons, and labels in windows # Default Dialog, 1, 11 CONTROL_TEXT_FONT_NAME=Dialog CONTROL_TEXT_FONT_STYLE=1 CONTROL_TEXT_FONT_SIZE=11
[]
Tooltips
# Tooltips # Default Verdana, 0, 10 SYSTEM_TEXT_FONT_NAME=Verdana SYSTEM_TEXT_FONT_STYLE=0 SYSTEM_TEXT_FONT_SIZE=10
[]
Tables and Lists
# Text in tables and lists # Default Verdana, 0, 10 USER_TEXT_FONT_NAME=Verdana USER_TEXT_FONT_STYLE=0 USER_TEXT_FONT_SIZE=10
[]
Unused
Changing these colors and fonts doesn't seem to change anything in LimeWire. They may affect the Java Swing Metal look and feel, which LimeWire doesn't skin at all. When making a skin, you can ignore these.
#### Unused #### # Default #000000 black WINDOW10_COLOR=#000000 # Default #000081 dark blue WINDOW11_COLOR=#000081 # Default Verdana, 1, 11 MENU_TEXT_FONT_NAME=Verdana MENU_TEXT_FONT_STYLE=1 MENU_TEXT_FONT_SIZE=11 # Default Georgia, 1, 11 WINDOW_TITLE_FONT_NAME=Georgia WINDOW_TITLE_FONT_STYLE=1 WINDOW_TITLE_FONT_SIZE=11 # Default Georgia, 1, 11 SUB_TEXT_FONT_NAME=Georgia SUB_TEXT_FONT_STYLE=1 SUB_TEXT_FONT_SIZE=11
