How to theme mate-panel items?

Support & Help Requests
#1

Hello, I use the BlueMenta theme in Ubuntu MATE 18.04. Plus some minor customization done via GUI in the Appearance Preferences application. I like the BlueMenta very much, it is an awesome theme. The only minor drawback is the subtle difference between the active and the inactive item in the taskbar. Too subtle I would say. See the screenshot, Firefox is the active one.

taskbar
taskbar.png920×26 6.38 KB

Now I am trying to change the color of the active item by overriding the value in the corresponding .css file. However, I am not able to find the proper selector to target the item. I did some guesses, none of them was the right one.

#PanelApplet #tasklist-button * selects all the items, I want to target only the active one. I tried some variants with :active and/or :selected plus some more, but as I wrote, these are more like guesses based on the other content of the .css file...

Please, would someone familiar with GTK+3 theming tell me which selector targets the active item in the Window List widget in the mate-panel? I.e. the the active item in the taskbar? Pretty please. :slightly_smiling_face:

#2

Hope it helps.

4 Likes
#3

@gabdub:

Thanks a lot! I actually heard about GtkInspector never before. It was a key information for me. The links you posted gave me enough information how to install it & how to run it. With all these informations I was able to achieve the result.

Thanks again!

1 Like
#4

Hi. I'm trying to do the same thing with the Ambiant-MATE-Dark theme, so any chance you can tell me which line of code you changed? I've looked all through gtk-main.css, gtk-widgets.css and mate-applications.css to no avail. And I've installed GtkInspector but it's not really giving me any insight - it either shows me info about Caja, or an absolute tonne about GTK, when I use its picker to click on the active taskbar button. Many thanks in advance.

#5

Hello. Sorry for late reply, I just logged in after very long time. I actually don't have the code in the computer I'm currently using as a daily driver. It is stored somewhere in the old laptop I don't use anymore. I will get back to you with the sample of code hopefully.

I also switched to MATE Dock Applet, I'm using it instead of Window List, therefore I don't need my older tweak anymore.