Jazz up Opera

April 26, 2012 · by Arnstein Teigene

Having a bad day? Hungover? Rained on? Opera themes wont help with any of that, but they can certainly jazz up Opera and maybe make your day a little brighter.

With Opera 12 alpha we started supporting themes, a much more lightweight version of our existing skinning system. Today we're adding these to addons.opera.com and opening up for everybody to upload and share their themes.

Our existing skin section on My Opera will be discontinued and replaced with addons.opera.com/themes. Designers that have published skins on My Opera should re-upload these to addons.opera.com. In the new Add-ons catalog we will not make any differentiation between skins and themes. This will remain a technical detail for designers to consider, whether they want to use skins or the new and lightweight themes to enhance the look of Opera. The old skin system is of course very powerful, but at the same time complex and hard to ensure compatibility across versions of Opera and different operating systems. We will generally recommend designers to use the lightweight version.

Note to skin developers: please re-upload your skins to addons.opera.com/themes

Get Opera Next to try out themes. There is an article on how to make your own theme of dev.opera.com

Readers' comments 99

Left under the original article, as archived; 1 page of comments could not be recovered.

UnrealmirakulixThursday, April 26, 2012 8:16:51 AM
good, now designers give us more themes!
DanThursday, April 26, 2012 12:57:38 PM
Never liked the themes and probably never will.

They are pale compared to what people can do with skins.
QuHnoThursday, April 26, 2012 2:00:49 PM
Why not just right-click on a wallpaper-like image somewhere in the net, "use as theme", a settings dialog to set which parts should be decorated and be done?

It works for speed dial backgrounds, so why not take the whole hog?
UnrealmirakulixThursday, April 26, 2012 2:48:58 PM
Originally posted by QuHno:

Why not just right-click on a wallpaper-like image somewhere in the net, "use as theme", a settings dialog to set which parts should be decorated and be done?

It works for speed dial backgrounds, so why not take the whole hog?
would be perfect and then no more themes category woulod be needed. Just search for a wallpaper... ^^ Good idea, possible to do.
DanThursday, April 26, 2012 5:57:15 PM
Skins have been around for a long time!
Almost as old as the browser itself right?!

Why not have the option to choose skin or theme (like Firefox)?

Perhaps a poll to see users preferences?
KeniceFriday, April 27, 2012 3:32:16 AM
The new themes format can never live up to the old skins. Opera should make skinning easy as they make theming and continue to promote the two full on.
Tiago WakabayashiFriday, April 27, 2012 6:01:16 AM
You have to keep up the old Skins. The themes are cool, i think for who uses firefox, to convert the personas for Opera will be easier. But the old Skins are cool too, you can change a infinity of things, giving another face to the Opera, thing the Themes cannot do in extreme, at least is a fun as the skins as are.

Could put any kind of image or anything indicating what is skin and what is theme.
QuHnoFriday, April 27, 2012 6:30:06 AM
There already is opera:config#UserPrefs|DebugSkin that shows the elements parameters - why not ramp it up so that the skin author can edit in this mode: get the debug popup, change the icon or backgrounds, change the values, close the popup, done.

When leaving debug mode: Optionally give it a name and zip it up, new skin done.

That way no external editor would be needed and skinning would become way easier.
Khaled KhalilFriday, April 27, 2012 12:34:34 PM
I think I don't want to rely to any Opera add-on again, for the same reason that gave me a bad day few days ago. Who knows when will they get dropped anyway?
If Opera didn't have the best layout engine, memory management & UI I would have ended a decade of using it as my browser of choice now.
Witold BarylukSunday, April 29, 2012 5:26:00 PM
How Themes are replacement for skins? I use many skins which totally changed look and usage of Opera. Changing just color and speeddial background will not make it happen.

Removing skins as well skin support will be like saying you do not care about designer who worked hard to create them. You just need to make sure skins have embeded versioning scheme, and authors (or users) need to test them every time a new major Opera version is released (so information about compatibility is always present and correct). I agree that making existing skin more like actual modification (patch) to default skin, is better than replacement of all values. Still I use very old skins, from 9.x series and I'm happy with them. I hope they are still possible to port fully to new themes scheme, and will not be forgotten.
pAULSG1Monday, April 30, 2012 10:28:49 AM
So you gave up on Unite because you
Originally posted by spirobind:

want to focus on one high quality Add-on platform across our products, rather than spending resources on maintaining legacy systems

even though Extensions can't provide functionality of Unite yet you provide us new more primitive skinning platform than it currently exists? Hope you won't think of skins as "legacy system" soon... Love the idea :/
BTW, can't Opera simply move skins from one catalogue to another? I mean you have the files, you know who the authors are (credits/reference), you have their agreement etc. so what's the problem?

Originally posted by spirobind:

Having a bad day?

Sorry but announcements like one before (summed up with this one) make my day bad. Maybe it'll gone once Extensions can do Unite work.
robotkoerTuesday, May 1, 2012 2:57:23 PM
We should be abile to combine themes and skins. Themes are only backgrounds anyway, so they could be applied just like Color schemes...
Tiago WakabayashiWednesday, May 2, 2012 2:04:06 AM
The skins will be added to Opera to the Themes page yes or not? Would we like to know that.

And in Themes page, there will be any intro explaying about the Theme/Skin like in Skin page?

EDIT:

I'm having problem to comment on Theme page, it gives error (using 11.62)
André TorgaThursday, May 3, 2012 4:51:42 PM
Why is everyone reacting so negatively? Full skins (now called themes as well, for the sake of consistency) are still available and supported. It's just that the publicly available themes are being centralized on the Add-Ons site, which makes sense. That's why full skins have to be reuploaded to the new location. I honestly don't get all the negative criticism.
Tiago WakabayashiThursday, May 3, 2012 5:29:26 PM
I think our fear is the Skins be completely substituted by the Themes, no reupload.
André TorgaThursday, May 3, 2012 5:57:15 PM
Originally posted by ozoratsubasa:

I think our fear is the Skins be completely substituted by the Themes, no reupload.

It's up to their creators to reupload them as per announced in this post.
ouzowtfThursday, May 3, 2012 6:15:25 PM
Originally posted by satomew:

It's up to their creators to reupload them as per announced in this post.

And its a lot harder to activate 1000 people to reupload their skins than copying 1000 files from one location to another.
André TorgaThursday, May 3, 2012 6:45:43 PM
Originally posted by ouzoWTF:

And its a lot harder to activate 1000 people to reupload their skins than copying 1000 files from one location to another.

I didn't say it was a good idea, I was just reminding him of what had been posted and that full skins remain available and supported.
QuHnoFriday, May 4, 2012 4:05:26 AM
Originally posted by ouzoWTF:

And its a lot harder to activate 1000 people to reupload their skins (...)

I wonder if these 1000 people were informed about this step at all or if they have to dig through the blogs to find this information ...
Arnstein TeigeneFriday, May 4, 2012 7:25:18 AM
Just a comment on re-uploading of skins. There are three reasons we ask developers to do that:
#1 We want skins that are active and maintained. If we moved everything we would get, well, everything. It's better for us Opera users to be able to use themes that are maintained and don't break.
#2 For legal reasons we need developers to accept the Terms and Conditions on the addons site. We can't do this for them.
#3 Some skins only work on certain operating systems. When you upload a skin to the new site we will test and tag it so that e.g. Mac users don't get recommended a whole bunch of skins that only work on Windows.
ouzowtfFriday, May 4, 2012 10:09:33 AM
Originally posted by spirobind:

#1 We want skins that are active and maintained. If we moved everything we would get, well, everything. It's better for us Opera users to be able to use themes that are maintained and don't break.
#2 For legal reasons we need developers to accept the Terms and Conditions on the addons site. We can't do this for them.
#3 Some skins only work on certain operating systems. When you upload a skin to the new site we will test and tag it so that e.g. Mac users don't get recommended a whole bunch of skins that only work on Windows.

That makes sense, but you should have mentioned these reasons in the blog post. This would have prevented these discussions.
How did you contact them? Only via this blog or via PM to the MyOpera account? As mentioned before, only via the blog would not be a very good idea.
QuHnoFriday, May 4, 2012 6:06:29 PM
Originally posted by spirobind:

Just a comment on re-uploading of skins. (...)

Thanks for the info, now it makes sense.
Originally posted by ouzoWTF:

(...) or via PM to the MyOpera account?
...or even better via e-mail to the account they used to sign in at my.opera because that could be a primary account for most of the people ...
eonblueFriday, May 4, 2012 7:51:46 PM
Moderator edit: This comment has been removed for breaching our terms of use.
Tiago WakabayashiMonday, May 7, 2012 10:08:19 PM
Originally posted by spirobind:

Just a comment on re-uploading of skins. There are three reasons we ask developers to do that:
#1 We want skins that are active and maintained. If we moved everything we would get, well, everything. It's better for us Opera users to be able to use themes that are maintained and don't break.
#2 For legal reasons we need developers to accept the Terms and Conditions on the addons site. We can't do this for them.
#3 Some skins only work on certain operating systems. When you upload a skin to the new site we will test and tag it so that e.g. Mac users don't get recommended a whole bunch of skins that only work on Windows.
Now is explained
Cutting SpoonMonday, May 7, 2012 10:53:24 PM
Thanks for continuing to support skins. I really like the color and contrast in some of them. They fit certain purposes.

Hoping a certain person is able to publish new Opera-Tan skin please.
SupuhstarThursday, May 10, 2012 7:27:11 AM
These slow down opera and my DWM, they and take up so much RAM! Also, they're so ugly and unprofessional... Why can't we just have skins? Or, better yet, why can't we have BOTH themes AND skins?

I have a feeling that you guys are just trying to make Opera into Google Chrome, now. This browser used to be awesome because it did things that others didn't, but now you guys are taking that all away, and making it just another piece of noise in the background.
Shahmi SaidiSunday, May 13, 2012 4:50:33 AM
To be honest, I hate the way Opera thinks right now.

Removing the most fatal features is really bad. If Opera continues to plan to remove those cool features, you will regret to see users of Opera goes down. I've just installed Mozilla Firefox for future usage!
vernacular3289Thursday, May 17, 2012 7:46:58 AM
There should be a more concrete distinction between skins and themes. I don't agree with lumping them together and I don't like scrolling through 30 themes to find an actual skin to change the UI elements.

What is the point of themes? From what I've seen thus far, it's like changing the speed dial background, but the background goes behind the title bar and there's a slight change to the color scheme while the UI elements remain essentially the same. Creating an option to change the window's background in tandem with the existing color scheme drop-down menu would be pretty much the same as themes. I know it's nice to simplify things so more people can play with Opera's interface, but this is just waaaay too simple IMO.
KerenSkyyThursday, May 17, 2012 11:23:19 AM
Originally posted by vernacular3289:

What is the point of themes? From what I've seen thus far, it's like changing the speed dial background, but the background goes behind the title bar and there's a slight change to the color scheme while the UI elements remain essentially the same. Creating an option to change the window's background in tandem with the existing color scheme drop-down menu would be pretty much the same as themes. I know it's nice to simplify things so more people can play with Opera's interface, but this is just waaaay too simple IMO.

I agree.

Less is more philosophy, i guess?
Shahmi SaidiThursday, May 17, 2012 2:04:52 PM
Originally posted by vernacular3289:

There should be a more concrete distinction between skins and themes. I don't agree with lumping them together and I don't like scrolling through 30 themes to find an actual skin to change the UI elements.

What is the point of themes? From what I've seen thus far, it's like changing the speed dial background, but the background goes behind the title bar and there's a slight change to the color scheme while the UI elements remain essentially the same. Creating an option to change the window's background in tandem with the existing color scheme drop-down menu would be pretty much the same as themes. I know it's nice to simplify things so more people can play with Opera's interface, but this is just waaaay too simple IMO.
MNUTMonday, May 21, 2012 2:58:07 PM
i don't see the meaning of themes (as they are presented now).
they consist of exactly the same button shape accompanied by a speed dial background and nothing more.
can somebody tell me what is the use of it?
knolleWednesday, May 23, 2012 3:11:08 PM
No good decision. Themes are differnet from skins.
idiologicThursday, May 31, 2012 3:16:29 PM
I have been trying to add new themes but when I try to, I get an error every single time saying to check the path of the background image in the .ini file, which is where it should be. I'm trying to upload from a Mac and I use the built-in file compression there. Is this a problem and also, is there any way to test these things out before I upload them?
André TorgaThursday, May 31, 2012 9:46:01 PM
Why are you guys complaining about the new lightweight themes? No one forces you to use them. Full themes (the old skins) are still supported and none of that is being taken by Opera. People, stop spreading false rumors already!
Shahmi SaidiMonday, June 4, 2012 6:40:36 PM
@andre
You just, don't get what we feel.
r2x0tWednesday, June 6, 2012 1:26:26 PM
Please add filter or some other way how to hide lightweight themes from theme page. Currently it's completely flooded by "pick a random wallpaper and make new theme" creations.
I'm interested in skins that completely change Opera appearance, not just background image.

There are currently only 3 (!) themes out of 300 that change GUI skin, rest is just lightweight theme + wallpaper.
As it is now, it's almost impossible to find these "advanced" themes, because you have to scroll pages of lightweight themes you don't want, hoping thumbnail will show something different.

It's also discouraging skin authors to even re-upload their skins as a themes, because they will be completely lost between lightweight themes.

So please... do something about this.
blackcaeserThursday, June 7, 2012 11:11:23 PM
I totally agree with the sceptics here. It’s a pity that Opera is mainstreaming its experience so much lately. I do not completely disagree with removing rarely needed functionality (e.g. IRC and, from my pov, Unite, too) but I’m afraid of where Opera possibly is heading. I don’t need nor want another Chrome.

And skins are one of the main reasons I prefer the Opera UI above all others. Removing them would sort of remove one of my „dependencies“ as well - making it easier for me to switch my main browser …

And for the time being I also ask you to add a way to display just the skins.
Duong NguyenThursday, June 14, 2012 2:01:34 AM
But I want to use old skins, they are very nice, pure and simple.
André TorgaThursday, June 14, 2012 2:05:34 PM
Originally posted by Technosparks:

@andre
You just, don't get what we feel.
I don't? I am an Opera user like you, concerned about the future of this Internet suite as anyone else; however, spreading rumors and acting all negative towards the Opera teams instead of being critical and maintaining a positive attitude when providing feedback on features, fixes and decisions does not help anyone.

@Opera, I do agree with everyone else on one thing, though: there needs to be a distinction between full themes (skins) and the new lightweight themes, both on the add-ons website and within the Appearance dialog of Opera.
PuppyluvrFriday, June 15, 2012 4:28:22 AM
Themes are an OK entry level option, but full skins are much more detailed.. I will upload my skin, but if it "robs it of its glory" I will pull it... 12 has made a lot of change to Opera..
I hope for the better........
http://my.opera.com/puppyluvr/skins/get.pl?id=8792
brain-bugFriday, June 15, 2012 10:02:45 AM
@Andre: I haven't seen anyone spread rumors here yet. And there's a difference between making the team aware of possible downsides to their decisions and "acting all negative" - the key being constructive critizism. As a software developer and community guy myself (just not at Opera), I cansay that there's little that's more valuable than that. Oh, and we can take the heat

@Opera: Okay, seems like it's time to back up the old themes that I use and love. Because they are definitely no longer maintained...

Also, you should really improve on the overview on the themes page. Having just a background image and needing to click on a theme/skin to see what it'll look like is really frustrating.
ceciliaSaturday, June 16, 2012 1:55:00 PM
how do I find themes that have transparent speed dial tiles? (I've used a V7-glass skin for a long time just for this feature)

No matter what the skin or theme looks like (and most are quite nice) I only like my speed dial tiles to be transparent. Why can't that be a separate setting from the skin?
EmoryySunday, June 17, 2012 10:12:58 AM
Originally posted by spirobind:

In the new Add-ons catalog we will not make any differentiation between skins and themes.

Well, this is too bad. I only care about real themes (aka skins). This way I need to scroll through hundreds of wallpapers to find any of them.
YourMessageHereSunday, June 17, 2012 12:30:31 PM
Man, I'm sick of Opera breaking skins every single time they make a new major release. Why does it happen? Can't you support older skins? I love Opera and wouldn't use anything else, but you don't half test my affections sometimes.

Now there's not even a skins tab on the appearance dialog box, the 'get skins' button is now 'get themes' and skins are buried away in the My Opera site. Worse, of the 14 pages of 'themes', exactly ONE THEME contains more than just a speed dial background (that I can't really see anyway, because, you know, I have speed dials on top of it). And to top it all, my preferred skin is now broken - every time I expand a bookmark folder on the sidebar, the whole list goes dark red and unreadable until I click a link. Smooth move Opera.

This is rank stupidity. Backward compatibility isn't just a pleasant feature, it's essential.
Shahmi SaidiSunday, June 17, 2012 3:56:07 PM
@YourMessageHere they are a crap now, bro
kosab39Thursday, June 21, 2012 3:05:07 PM
I couldn't agree more to what you all say. I have developed the Vita skins and each major release really brinks a lot of unexpected and undocumented changes together with bugs in the UI handler.

I proposed to the moderator of the Opera addons site to at least have a dedicated page for skins apart from the page for themes. At least then the skins would be easy to locate.

In any case it seems that Opera is deciding to abandon one of the features (skinning) that made Opera unique.
Patryk ZeraThursday, June 28, 2012 9:49:11 AM
Please add some filter on themes page. It's hard to find any skins right now.
LeviathaneSaturday, June 30, 2012 12:57:45 PM
Originally posted by Charly:

Please add some filter on themes page. It's hard to find any skins right now.

Yes, please!! If I look for a skin, I really do *not* want to browse through lots and lots of - sorry - stupid speed dial background images!

Skins may be in need of a cleanup and maybe a certain reduction of features in order to make them compatible between different versions again. But abandoning the skin feature altogether would be plainly a bad decision, IMO. If I look at my friends and relatives, there is not a single Opera installation that is not skinned.

Themes, as they are today, are a nice and simple-to-create addition to skins, but most definitely *not* a replacement.
Kim Jong-IlThursday, July 5, 2012 11:43:58 AM
There should be some filter to filter out those plain Speed dial "themes" to find out real ones (skins).
Mike ColliganTuesday, July 10, 2012 12:51:15 AM
Themes are fine but.. I love skins. As many other people have said, "why not both?" Skins are a classic feature and one that I have truly enjoyed (for many many years [since the pay to remove ad's days]. Please bring them back!