[Solved] transparent menu bar

Hezy · 2011-06-08 11:58:10

Hi,

I'm using the Albatross theme that was default for Xubuntu 9.10 http://shimmerproject.org/projects/albatross/

The menus in this theme are semi-transparent and I've also set the Xfce panel and windows decoration to a similar transparency. However, in this theme like in many others (e.g. Shiki) the menu bar and the title bar have the same color, so the transparency looks a little strange for only the upper half of the combined bars:

It would be nicer to have the menu bar transparent too - uniting the two. For some reason this is how it is for the Xfce Terminal Emulator:

So I wonder why is it not this way with all menu bars, and is it possible to do so?

Last edited by Hezy (2011-06-08 13:03:06)

Hezy · 2011-06-08 15:44:28

After getting some responses to a link to this post in identi.ca, I have two updates:

(1) Please don't tell me to look for the settings in the Window Manager Tweaks. It is not there. If you think it is, you probably did not read my question and look at the pictures carefully enough. You may also need to refresh your memory about what a menu bar is: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Menu_bar
I'm an experienced Xfce user and I know my way around the Settings, so don't expect an easy answer here.

(2) I have just realized that the Xfce Terminal Emulator transparency is not just for the menu bar, but for all the window chrome - toolbar, scroll-bar, everything except the terminal area itself (which I've set to a solid black background).

I can see this in two different computers with two different distros, so I suspect a bug in Xfce 4.8. Can anyone confirm?

Last edited by Hezy (2011-06-08 23:20:01)

Hezy · 2011-06-08 18:32:33

I found a similar bug report but nothing to do with Xfce: gnome-terminal menu bar gets strange transparency by compiz

Similarly to what was suggested there, I edited the gtk-2.0 file of Albatross, changing the engine "murrine" option from rgba = TRUE to: rgba = FALSE. As a result the Xfce Terminal chrome transparency stops.

Then to enable transparency for the menubar only I added rgba = TRUE to style "menubar" . This is what I have now:

style "menubar" = "dark"
{
    bg[NORMAL] = shade(0.95, @fg_color)
    engine "murrine"
    {
        #options
        rgba                = TRUE  # FALSE = disabled, TRUE = enabled
    }
}

This works well for the Terminal Emulator. In the following screenshot I've also set transparent background in the Terminal settings, don't get confused by it.

Unfortunately I have no idea how to make it work for other apps. I'll be happy to hear suggestions.

Last edited by Hezy (2011-06-09 01:15:13)

Hezy · 2011-07-03 01:24:29

I have it working now. All I had to do was follow this guide. unfortunately it's easy to do only with Ubuntu based distros.

I first did it without the restriction I described in the last post. it looked nice for some apps (thunar, gedit) but was problematic with others. So I returned to the restriction, and I now have partial transparency in window titles, menubars and menus. It is not a surprise but I should worn that it doesn't work with the menubars of non GTK apps like Firefox, LibreOffice and VLC. Here is a screenshot:

Last edited by Hezy (2011-07-03 01:39:23)

fred · 2012-01-10 17:23:35

please, help smile

new to xfce.
can't get applications menu (little X up left) to be transparent. enabled transparency in the WM tweaks for pop-up windows. what am i doing wrong?

can xfwm4 do that? do i have to install compiz?
__________________________________________-__________________________
ok, it's a theme specific issue, i guess. on system themes works just fine.

Last edited by fred (2012-01-10 18:57:05)

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#1 2011-06-08 11:58:10

[Solved] transparent menu bar

#2 2011-06-08 15:44:28

Re: [Solved] transparent menu bar

#3 2011-06-08 18:32:33

Re: [Solved] transparent menu bar

#4 2011-07-03 01:24:29

Re: [Solved] transparent menu bar

#5 2012-01-10 17:23:35

Re: [Solved] transparent menu bar

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