Color schemes that define Header colors, such as the Breeze Dark scheme, currently break some of the color settings: - The "Make window titlebars accent-colored" option changes not only the title bar, but also the tool bar and the menu bar. It paints a surprisingly large window area in that color, which can be overwhelming, especially when the accent color has high contrast with the rest of the scheme. - The colored area becomes inconsistent between windows, depending on how large their header area is, and whether they have one at all. - The "Active Titlebar" color setting simply doesn't work. Moreover, it means users cannot get the traditional title-bar-only active window coloring (which many people expect from a window manager) from the default color schemes. That includes the only dark theme that Plasma currently offers. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Choose the Breeze Dark color scheme. 2a. Edit it, enabling the "make window titlebars accent-colored" option. 2b. Alternatively, change the "Active Titlebar" color. 3. Save and apply the scheme. OBSERVED RESULT Either (2a) a large area outside the title bar is painted in the accent color, or (2b) the title bar color is not changed at all. EXPECTED RESULT The active title bar color should have changed according to the chosen options. Areas outside the title bar should not have changed. The title bar is used for different things than the menu bar and tool bar. Their colors should not be coupled. Perhaps it would make sense to split the "accent-colored" option into two separate options, one for the title bar and one for the header area? SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Linux: KDE Neon Testing: neon-testing-20230205-0738 KDE Plasma Version: 5.26.90 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.103.0 Qt Version: 5.15.8 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Related: bug 433059, bug 455809
(In reply to Forest from comment #0) > - The "Make window titlebars accent-colored" option changes not only the > title bar, but also the tool bar and the menu bar. It paints a surprisingly > large window area in that color, which can be overwhelming, especially when > the accent color has high contrast with the rest of the scheme. This is the intended behavior. We can improve the wording, per bug 455809, but if you don't want this, don't use a color scheme with Header colors. > - The colored area becomes inconsistent between windows, depending on how > large their header area is, and whether they have one at all. It's intended that windows with full-width tool areas below the titlebar get the same appearance when using a color scheme with Header colors. If you don't want this, don't use a color scheme with Header colors. > - The "Active Titlebar" color setting simply doesn't work. Yeah, that's bug 433059. No need to reiterate it here. :) > Moreover, it means users cannot get the traditional title-bar-only active > window coloring (which many people expect from a window manager) from the > default color schemes. That includes the only dark theme that Plasma > currently offers. Sure they can: just don't use a color scheme with header colors.
> No need to reiterate it here. :) Sorry if my wording made this seem like a duplicate report. I filed this one because the reports you linked seem focused on the labeling of the existing options, without addressing the issue that underlies them both: treating title bar and header area as if they were a single entity. > This is the intended behavior. Do you mean that decoupling the title bar color from the header color would be an unwelcome change, or merely that the existing color options were intended to (and correctly do) target the header area?
(In reply to Forest from comment #2) > Do you mean that decoupling the title bar color from the header color would > be an unwelcome change, or merely that the existing color options were > intended to (and correctly do) target the header area? That titlebars and toolbars get the same color is intentional when using a color scheme with Header colors, so changing that would be unwelcome for those color schemes. This isn't mandatory though; we also intentionally didn't add Header colors to all color schemes, or require it or anything like that. So if you prefer the traditional style where the titlebar and toolbar have different colors, you're welcome to keep using color schemes without Header colors (i.e. most of them) which continue to offer that functionality.
> changing that would be unwelcome for those color schemes. Gotcha. > we also intentionally didn't add Header colors to all color schemes, or > require it or anything like that. For the record, the only dark scheme in the default set is Breeze Dark, which uses header colors. > you're welcome to keep using color schemes without Header colors (i.e. most of them) I'm not concerned about myself here, as I have already hand edited the colors file, with good results. An average user wanting a dark scheme with traditional behavior might have a frustrating time, though. There seems to be no way in the UI to discover that a concept called Header Colors has been introduced, or that certain schemes behave differently depending on whether they support that concept. Even once discovered, the only way to find a suitable dark theme seems to be downloading and installing themes individually until one is stumbled upon. I suppose future wording changes in the UI (as tracked in those other bug reports) might address that, though. Okay, thanks for explaining your thinking. I think I've been heard.
You're welcome! JFYI our reasoning was that an "average user" doesn't care about this kind of thing or even consciously notice it, and instead perceives design changes in broad strokes like "it looks better now" or "it looks worse now." And for what it's worth, the feedback we've gotten about the unified titlebar/toolbar appearance has been overwhelmingly positive since we rolled it out two years ago. At least for Breeze Light. It'sbeen more mixed for Breeze Dark, but people weren't thrilled with it before, so it's hard to distinguish "it sucks (now)" from "it's always suchked, but now it sucks in a slightly different way." Personally I think the way to make our dark color scheme better is to use dark separator lines, not light ones. Also JFYI, we didn't preserve a non-Header-color-using dark theme because the way Breeze Dark used to be was actually much worse than the current one in terms of distinction between active and inactive windows; there used to be no difference in titlebar color for active vs inactive windows at all! You used to have to notice the difference purely due to the lightness of the titlebar text changing. The current header-color-using Breeze Dark style fixes that. But there are lots of non-Header-color-using dark themes that do offer adequate color contract for active vs inactive windows available for easy download for people who want that.
> there used to be no difference in titlebar color for active vs inactive windows at all! > You used to have to notice the difference purely due to the lightness of the titlebar text changing Heh... Yes, I remember. That stood out immediately when I first tried Plasma. Fortunately, there was also a Breeze High Contrast scheme that respected the global dark theme, and had a properly distinguished active title bar color. It's gone in the current version, with no built-in option to replace that behavior, which is something of a regression for us dark mode users.