color at the top of my Today screen override background

mlevin77 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 01:15 PM

Please see attached screen-grab: why in WM6 do the bars on the top and bottom of the screen become a different color than the background I've selected?

Mike

**bedoig** · #2 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 01:19 PM

The color schemes are defined in the theme (.tsk) file. They are totally independent of the background. You can make a new theme using that background (and with top/bottom bars with a color of your choice) using a number of theme creation programs. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is MS' theme creator:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

mlevin77 · #3 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedoig

The color schemes are defined in the theme (.tsk) file. They are totally independent of the background. You can make a new theme using that background (and with top/bottom bars with a color of your choice) using a number of theme creation programs. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is MS' theme creator:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

I don't have a PC (only a Mac) so it won't be trivial for me to run this, but I'll give it a shot. In the meantime, is there a simple explanation of what a .tsk file is? I copied a .tsk file to /Windows when I set up the PPC; this .tsk file used to (in WM5) give me a uniform image (the yellow desert scene I attached to my initial post) all over the Today screen. Now (in WM6), the top and bottom bars are overridden. Since it's the same .tsk file in both cases, can you tell me where this decision (whether to color over the top and bottom bands of the screen with green) is made? Thanks,

Mike

**bedoig** · #4 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 04:31 PM

TSK's are Windows Mobile theme files that dictate the various system colors and the today background image. I believe they can be placed anywhere on the device, or on the root of the storage card. You can then change themes through Start-->Settings-->Today.

To my knowledge, the color of the top and bottom bars is controlled entirely by the theme unless you override it with a program like UI Tweaker. Are you sure that you didn't previously use a theme that included yellow bars and then manually set the desert image as the today wallpaper?

As an alternative to the program above, there are programs that run natively in OSX: http://www.pocketmac.net/products/th...mecreator.html

on the PPC itself: http://www.handango.com/PlatformProd...roductId=24578

and I think I've seen some online theme creators [edit: I think you can create custom themes online here: http://www.pocketpcscreens.com/].

You can also find lots of new themes at sites like www.pocketpcthemes.com, www.wmthemes.com, etc (just google windows mobile themes, pocket pc themes, tsk, etc)

Or use bootcamp/parallels/vmware like me

mlevin77 · #5 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedoig

To my knowledge, the color of the top and bottom bars is controlled entirely by the theme unless you override it with a program like UI Tweaker. Are you sure that you didn't previously use a theme that included yellow bars and then manually set the desert image as the today wallpaper?

cool - thanks for the ideas. Is it possible to open my existing .tsk file and see what's in it? I had no idea it had more than a background. I just have it chosen as a theme under Today options (not as the wallpaper). On WM5, this used to cover the top and bottom bars. Now it doesn't. And if I choose the "Windows default" for the theme, the top and bottom bars are also different.

Mike

**CozBoogie** · #6 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 05:14 PM

Search for UI Tweaker in the Themes Forum. Download it to you ppc and you can change the color of the top and bottom bars.

late,
Coz

**bedoig** · #7 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 05:14 PM

You can view the settings within a theme file using one of the editors listed above.

If your are using the same tsk file, it shouldn't be possible for it to have displayed one color under WM5, but a different color under WM6. WM6 adds a glossy highlight to the bars, but doesn't change the color in any way.

I suppose it might be possible that the theme defines colors in a way that is interpreted differently in WM5 than WM6, but I wouldn't think so. I've never heard of anything like that before, but who knows.

mlevin77 · #8 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedoig

You can also find lots of new themes at sites like www.pocketpcthemes.com, www.wmthemes.com, etc (just google windows mobile themes, pocket pc themes, tsk, etc)

here's the interesting part: I've downloaded a bunch of .tsk files from the above sites, and all of them end up with bars at the top and the bottom! Looks like there's something else about my Today screen that overrides the .tsk and puts these bars there. Weird! Makes me think that changing the theme using one of the tools won't help, since all of the .tsk files end up the same way

**bedoig** · #9 (**permalink**) 04-22-2008, 05:57 PM

Wait, are you saying that you weren't expecting to see the bars at all, or that they are the wrong color?

You want to know why the bars below (pointed to by red arrows) are showing up?

Those are a normal part of the WM interface. If you didn't have them before you must have been using programs like dcinobar.exe and/or Vijay's TodayToggle to remove them.

mlevin77 · #10 (**permalink**) 04-23-2008, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cozboogie

Search for UI Tweaker in the Themes Forum. Download it to you ppc and you can change the color of the top and bottom bars.

aha! This is good - it does let me change the color of the taskbar and the soft keys bar, but the colors always overlay my background image. Anyway to make them "transparent", so that all I see is the background (and the text/buttons on top of that)? That's how it was in WM5 for me.

Mike