Mar

4

Customizing Themes – Getting to the brink…

Filed Under Tutorials 

… of starting to alter themes. Sorry, one more preparation article, next week we’re actually changing fonts and you can then use your new theme right away!

First, duplicate the themPack file we looked at last week, so we always have access to our test file. You can rename the duplicate to anything you want – its name has nothing to do with its functionality, so you can rename it again later.

I want to stress two things before we continue. I had added a special note to last week’s article, so in case you missed it: all this only works in Bento 2.
Secondly, this hack does not alter the Bento program file in any way, just individual theme bundles, and you should always work with duplicates, so not to change the original themes.

Following the instructions in last week’s article, open the test themePack file, navigate through the first pop-up window to the folder with the Starfield Casual.bundle file and leave that window open.
Now you have to choose the theme you want to alter or play with for now. If you haven’t decided on a theme, go to Bento, and using the Theme Chooser, find a theme where you always hated the fonts… Bento 2’s Theme Chooser is nice, for the fact that you can try different themes without leaving the chooser.

Sorry, all the theme bundle files are totally hidden again. In the finder, go to Applications/Bento. I’m not providing screenshots here, because it’s the same procedure as last week:
Select the Bento application, ctrl-click it and choose Show Package Contents. In the pop-up window open the Resources folder, scroll down to the Themes folder and open it: voila, you tediously found the Bento themes! Scroll to the theme you want to alter. Duplicate the bundle file and drag the duplicate to the themePack window into the folder with the Starfield Casual bundle.
That previous procedure is the the same for any theme you want to alter. To make the themePack truly your own, drag the Starfield Casual bundle into the trash. Now you’re ready to create your own custom theme!

One first editing chore we can tackle now. The Bento Theme Chooser allows you to create custom folders for your themes. Open your newly created Theme bundle in the themePack file to get to the famed .plist file we talked about at the end of last week’s article. Open the file with TextEdit.

Now you have to look closely, because the file has many parameters. Find the <key> called bundleName. The <string> below it should read “built-in.” Change that name to  a name you want your first theme folder to have, like “Test” or “My Themes 1.” You can have any number of custom theme-folders, so keep that in mind when you name it.
Make the same name change to the <string> beneath the next <key> named categories.
Now save the .plist file from TextEdit (it should be saved as a plain text file) and you’re set for next week’s font adventure!

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