ART.GNOME.ORG FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

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Why can't I send emails to ... using the address given on art.gnome.org?
The email addresses on art.gnome.org have the @ replaced with " _AT_ " added into them to prevent them being picked up by any robots that might scan the site for email addresses which can lead to email addresses being spammed. After clicking the email link, you need to change the address of the To: field, ie "joe _AT_ somehost.com" should be changed to "joe@somehost.com"
How do I install Application themes?
Installing an Application theme can be done in two ways. You must download the theme package first. Then, from the panel menu, navigate to Desktop Preferences->Theme. Click on the "Theme Details" button, then click on the "Install Theme". Select the theme package you downloaded using the "Browse" button. Then click okay. Some themes may offer a Window border theme included inside the Application theme. That just saves you one extra step.
The other way of installing a theme is to manually do it. Open a terminal (Panel menu->System Tools->Terminal), change directory into ~/.themes and use tar to unpack the theme. For example, a theme called America, you would type: cd ~/.themes && tar xzf /America.tar.gz. Be sure to replace the "/America.tar.gz" with the actual path of the file you downloaded.
There is one final way of installing themes, which is similar to the terminal method. You may use the Archive Manager to open the theme package by double-clicking on it. Then use the "Extract" button, and extract it to your theme folder (accessible by clicking "Go to Theme Folder" in the Theme Details window.
How do I install Window Border themes?
Installing a Window Border theme is done using the exact same process as installing Application themes, just make sure to click on the "Window Border" tab in the Theme Details window.
How do I install Icon themes?
Icon themes are a bit trickier. The GNOME Theme Manager does not install Icon themes into the correct location. Theoretically, Icon themes could be installed using the same method as Application and Window Border methods, but your Icon theme won't appear in the list if you use the "Install theme" button. So to install Icon themes, you may use either the Terminal or the Archive Manager methods mentioned in Question 1. Just be sure to use ~/.icons instead of ~/.themes. And clicking on the "Go to Theme Folder" in the Icon tab of the Theme Details window will take to the correct location for Icon themes.
What are theme engines?
Theme engines are pieces of code that Application themes make use of. There are a number of different engines available. GNOME ships with a number of different engines, and most of the others are available here in the Application themes section.
How do I install theme engines?
Many distributions package theme engines and ship them along with the engines packaged in GNOME. Debian for example, uses the following naming scheme for its theme engines: gtk-engines- (for older GTK+ 1.2 engines) and gtk2-engines- (for newer GTK+ 2.4 engines). Check your distribution for the engine first, and if its there, use it instead. It may save you some trouble later on down the line.
If your distribution doesn't package the engine you need, install it using the standard package installation method. Most engines use autoconf & automake, so installing is as simple as: ./configure && make && make install. Be sure you read the INSTALL and README files first. They usually will tell you how to install the engine.
NOTE: The gnome-themes-extras package installs the engines it needs, so if you're using a theme from it, you don't have to worry about the engines. It installs the Smooth engine and the Industrial engine.
How do I install Login Manager themes?
To install a Login Manager theme, you must be the root user. As root, run gdmsetup.

If you have GDM 2.14 or later, simply drag&drop theme tarball into gdmsetup window to install theme. It will appear in the list of themes.

If you have older version of GDM (< 2.14), under the "Graphical greeter" tab, click the "Install new theme" button. Navigate to the location you downloaded the theme to, select it, and click "Install". It will appear in the list of themes on the left.
How do I change the GNOME splash screen?
To change the splash screen, put the downloaded image in an unobtrusive location (since it will need to remain there as long as you want it to be the splash screen). A logical location would be ~/.gnome/splash.png (or .jpeg if the image is a JPEG). Then, edit the GConf key /apps/gnome-session/options/splash_screen using the Configuration Editor (Panel menu->System Tools->Configuration Editor) or the commandline tool gconftool-2.
Is there a way to download themes, backgrounds, etc all at once, or must I download each individually?
Currently themes can be downloaded individually, however, it is possible to download the backgrounds and themes directly from ftp at ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/teams/art.gnome.org
I downloaded some backgrounds and placed them in /usr/X11R6/share/gnome/pixmaps/background/gnome/branded/ and they still don't show up in Menu| Desktop| Preferences| Backgrounds. Is there a way to get them to show up in the Backgrounds applet?
You need to add backgrounds by actually using the backgound preferences applet itself (Menu -> Desktop -> Preferences -> Backgrounds -> Add Background). Placing an image in a particular directory is not enough to make it appear in the applet.
How do I install Application Theme that can use by all users.
You will need to extract the archive into /usr/share/themes/, but you will need root permissions to do this.
How do I use a theme-engine?
You will need to extract the archive you downloaded, then compile and install it. From the command line, change to the directory you extracted the files to, then run `./configure --prefix && make`. After this has finished successfully, change to root (possibly by using `su`) and then run `make install`. You will need to make sure you have all the relevant development packages installed.

If your distribution includes a copy of the theme engine you want to use, it is recommended you install it via your distribution instead.
What is \"Report Abuse\" link next to comments?
If you found a comment with bad words or comments added by robots/webspiders, click on this link to report a problem to administrators.
You can also use this feature to inform admins about other existing problems (broken links, bad preview images, remember to explain a problem in a comment ).
If you want to remove your comment, edit it first (registered users only can edit own comments) and add a note you want to remove it.
This feature does not send anything to author of a theme/wallpaper the comment belongs to.