Modding Google Chrome's UI
Jun 30, 2016 22:02:26 GMT -8
Post by R.O.B. on Jun 30, 2016 22:02:26 GMT -8
Well I said I think this deserves its own thread, so have at it. Go ahead and post any info you can find on this topic.
Just in case you missed it, here's what happened in this thread:
With Chrome, you don't really have a choice. Under Windows 7 classic mode, it reverts back to its built in skin, the same as what passing that param on the command line does. There may be a disadvantage in that WS_EX_COMPOSITED is not set by Chrome when doing that, but if you want that then just using a skin is enough - Chrome will disable the Aero frame with its transparency, which is antithetical to the Classic theme anyway, but won't do any of the other stuff that happens when passing that param. DWM is running either way. I don't care enough and I lack the skill anyway to try and get Chrome to fill in the transparent parts when the result would just look something like that skin in the end anywayWell it is possible to edit Chrome's .PAK files, so...a Chrome skin which looks like the Classic Theme? Idk... .-.
I don't normally use Google Chrome, but I was kind of curious about modifying its UI. So I checked out this link that Splitwirez sent me, and followed the instructions on there.
After extracting everything from chrome_100_percent.pak I noticed many, may PNG files, as well as a few files without any extensions (I'll talk about those later). So I started with the PNGs, and after some very simple editing, this was my result:
Not bad for just starting out, but still nothing special. But my goal is not to emulate the classic theme, my goal is to make Chrome use native Windows themes.
So I decided to try something different. I decided to replace the close button image with an 'empty' file. What I did was I simply created a new text document, changed its file extension to .png, and replaced the image. The results were... well, I'll just let this picture do the talking for me:
Obviously I was getting nowhere by simply changing the images.
So my attention turned to the files without any extensions. I figured they must be used to actually 'style' the interface (like tell the application which image is used for whatever element). The first step I take when approaching these types of files is opening them in Notepad (or in my case Notepad++). This is really either a hit or miss; either it opens as editable text (which makes things a lot easier) or I have to move on to some other method for modifying them.
Given that this was my first time doing anything like this with Chrome, I didn't know what to expect. But sure enough:
This actually looks quite reminiscent of CSS used in Firefox themes (which I do have some experience with). I think if we're going to try and make Chrome use native Windows themes, this would be the place to start. I also think this could be worthy of its own thread, since there's a lot of changes that would need to be made, and there's a lot to talk about.
Anyway, I'm moving this thread to the 'ClassicTheme.exe Development' section since that's where I think it belongs. Again, I would recommend creating a new thread about Chrome UI modding, since I think there's more than enough stuff to talk about for that, and I don't want this thread to get too derailed (I would like to keep things organized).
Just in case you missed it, here's what happened in this thread:
Jun 29, 2016 17:01:35 GMT -8 Guest said:
...I really don't get itWith Chrome, you don't really have a choice. Under Windows 7 classic mode, it reverts back to its built in skin, the same as what passing that param on the command line does. There may be a disadvantage in that WS_EX_COMPOSITED is not set by Chrome when doing that, but if you want that then just using a skin is enough - Chrome will disable the Aero frame with its transparency, which is antithetical to the Classic theme anyway, but won't do any of the other stuff that happens when passing that param. DWM is running either way. I don't care enough and I lack the skill anyway to try and get Chrome to fill in the transparent parts when the result would just look something like that skin in the end anyway
After extracting everything from chrome_100_percent.pak I noticed many, may PNG files, as well as a few files without any extensions (I'll talk about those later). So I started with the PNGs, and after some very simple editing, this was my result:
Not bad for just starting out, but still nothing special. But my goal is not to emulate the classic theme, my goal is to make Chrome use native Windows themes.
So I decided to try something different. I decided to replace the close button image with an 'empty' file. What I did was I simply created a new text document, changed its file extension to .png, and replaced the image. The results were... well, I'll just let this picture do the talking for me:
Obviously I was getting nowhere by simply changing the images.
So my attention turned to the files without any extensions. I figured they must be used to actually 'style' the interface (like tell the application which image is used for whatever element). The first step I take when approaching these types of files is opening them in Notepad (or in my case Notepad++). This is really either a hit or miss; either it opens as editable text (which makes things a lot easier) or I have to move on to some other method for modifying them.
Given that this was my first time doing anything like this with Chrome, I didn't know what to expect. But sure enough:
This actually looks quite reminiscent of CSS used in Firefox themes (which I do have some experience with). I think if we're going to try and make Chrome use native Windows themes, this would be the place to start. I also think this could be worthy of its own thread, since there's a lot of changes that would need to be made, and there's a lot to talk about.
Anyway, I'm moving this thread to the 'ClassicTheme.exe Development' section since that's where I think it belongs. Again, I would recommend creating a new thread about Chrome UI modding, since I think there's more than enough stuff to talk about for that, and I don't want this thread to get too derailed (I would like to keep things organized).
