Software Store shouldn't use hard coded colors

[Pablo Marchant]

Binary package hint: software-store

In several sections of the sofware store, blue or light blue colours are used that seem to be hard coded into the application. This makes it look inconsistent with the look of many themes, specially those that come by default with ubuntu.

Colours should be selected from the theme in use in order to keep the overall integration with the rest of the desktop.

[Michael Vogt (mvo)]

Thanks for your bugreport.

The colors are currently hardcoded by the spec, I agree its a problem (both with different themes and for color blind people or people with high contrast theme needs).

[A. Little (gigabizzle)]

As a person with poor vision requiring a high-constrast theme, the new Software Center is completely unreadable and unusable because of these hard-coded colours. Ubuntu has been great for accessibility until this. Please don't start a dangerous trend of ignoring a user's theme. I really hope this gets fixed ASAP.

Please note that it isn't just the home screen of the Software Center; viewing the details of any single application results in a hard-coded white background.

[Jan Claeys (janc)]

@A. Little: as a workaround you can install the old gnome-app-install again instead of the software-center.

And having worked with a couple of people with poor vision before, I can only agree with how important this is... ;)

[A. Little (gigabizzle)]

Thank-you! I had asked in the Ubuntu IRC channel about exactly that,
but there wasn't anyone available with the answer.

On Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Jan Claeys <email address hidden> wrote:
> @A. Little: as a workaround you can install the old gnome-app-install
> again instead of the software-center.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

I've updated the specification for the software item screens. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#software-item-screen> The key point: "The ‘Get Software’ section shows screens for both uninstalled and installed items, and these should share the overall ‘Get Software’ color scheme. The ‘Installed Software’ shows screens for installed items only, and should have a different color scheme."

If anyone can suggest an attractive and clear way of distinguishing the "Get Software" and "Installed Software" sections without using hard-coded colors, I'll be delighted to consider it.

[Daniel Ribeiro (danielrmt)]

What about a variation of the selected item background?

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

The difficulty there would be that the default selection background color is chocolate brown. I'm not sure how we'd vary that to look pleasing. ;-)

[Jan Claeys (janc)]

What's wrong with having a header with both a title explaining things (so that everybody can understand) + a specific icon (for easy recognition by more experienced users)?

[Pablo Marchant (pamarca)]

The new software store present in lucid has changed its color scheme, but still remains using hardcoded colors...I wonder if you can use variations of the colors defined by the theme. For instance, if the window background color is #ddd, use #aaa (ie, use a darker color...).

[Pablo Marchant (pamarca)]

The software center present in maverick now seems to fare well with different themes. I think that version fixes this issue.

[Kiwinote (kiwinote)]

Hi! Thanks for your bug report. Due to a transition from webkit to gtk based views, the bug you describe is no longer present in the latest development version of software-center. Please continue to report any bugs you may find in software-center. Thanks again for your help!

[Marcelo Ruiz (marcelo-javier-ruiz-yahoo)]

Hi! I know this is an old bug report... but the problem is still there.
The software center has a "mixed" behavior when a theme is used in the desktop (for example gnomish dark).

[Pablo Marchant (pamarca)]

Marcelo, I don't think your problem is the one described in this bug. The background and fonts color in the software center are theme dependant in the latest version. If you try the "high contras inverse" theme that comes by default, you should see the background of the history section in dark blue.

As such, this problem is not related to hard-coded colors, but is much more likely a problem in the theme you are using not properly adjusting that color. As that theme doesn't seem to come in official packages, you should probably try to contact directly its creator.