DeepDark (userstyle for Thunderbird 115)

: : : ! VERY IMPORTANT ! : : :

BEFORE installing this theme, please:

- Enable "svg context-properties" through Thunderbird configuration editor, otherwise the custom DeepDark icons won’t display the colors set in the theme CSS files and will look all black. To enable this feature, simply go in Thunderbird options, then in the "General" tab scroll till the bottom and click on the "Config Editor" button. A window will open, click "accept" (don’t worry about the warning, if desired you can disable the feature at any time and revert to default state). In the search field enter: svg.context-properties.content.enabled. In the table below the search field, double click on "false" so you could enable the feature.

-  Enable "customization stylesheets", this is another indispensable feature to enable in the Thunderbird configuration editor. Without this feature activated, you won't manage to take advantage of the necessary files included in the "deepdark-v17_for_TB115_12-10-2023.zip" package (read the "installation" section on this page to learn how to use the content of this file). To enable this feature, follow the same steps as for the "svg context-properties". Just this time, enter in the search field: toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets. Set this feature to "true".

- Disable any theme that you previously installed (to prevent UI visual issues);

- If you have an older version of DeepDark installed, remove it and RESTART Thunderbird;

- If you already make use of custom "userChrome.css" and "userContent.css", backup these files (if you plan to reuse them) and then remove them from your "chrome" folder (DeepDark has its own "userChrome.css" and "userContent.css" files). Be aware that if you add/remove/edit CSS code in DeepDark "userChrome.css" and "userContent.css" files (or any other file contained in the "DeepDark" package) this may result in unwanted UI visual glitches and I do not offer support for this kind of issues;

- Enable the default Thunderbird “dark” theme (go to Thunderbird "add-ons manager page", then in the side menu click on the "themes" button, search for the default theme called "dark" and enable it). This is very important;

- READ CAREFULLY AND ENTIRELY ALL THE ADD-ON’S DESCRIPTION BELOW.

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WHAT IS "DEEPDARK"?

"DeepDark" is a "userstyle" created to transform the look and feel of Mozilla Thunderbird*. It has been specially designed to work with Thunderbird on the following operating systems**:

- Windows 10/11;
- MacOS 10.14.6 (Mojave);
- Linux Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS.

This theme doesn’t add specific functionalities to the Thunderbird software. It focuses on providing a GUI (Graphic User Interface) aesthetic customization by replacing some colors, icons and, in some cases, by changing the spacing around UI elements and/or their position.

The received emails and message compositor areas' colors can be customized by users themselves in the Thunderbird preferences. For the received emails, it can be done in the "General" preferences ("language and appearance" section) and for the message compositor in the "Composition" preferences.

Unlike with older versions of DeepDark, there is now the possibility to choose among various highlight colors and also to switch to a slightly less dark color scheme. For more information on how to achieve this, please have a look at the "FAQ" section.

!Important! You may use this theme on a personal, non-commercial basis only. For more information, please, check the "README_LICENSE.txt" file included inside the add-on's (".xpi" file) package.


*Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source and cross-platform email, news, RSS and chat client developed by the Mozilla Foundation.

**Please note that if you install this theme on other operating systems than the one mentioned above, I do not offer support for them. This is also valid if you use an older version of an operating systems listed on this page.

Note: I am not affiliate with the Mozilla Foundation.

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VERSION INFORMATION

Version: 17

Published on Payhip: Aug 18, 2020

Updated: Oct 12, 2023

Works with: Thunderbird 115

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WHY "DEEPDARK" WAS CREATED AND WHY THERE IS A SMALL DOWNLOAD FEE?

"DeepDark" was created for all those who would like to use a different and more complete dark mode than the default Thunderbird one.
There is a small download fee to support me in keeping alive and expanding my self-initiated project called "DeepDark", which aims to develop/maintain a "Suite" of dark themes/skins for a wide range of popular softwares.

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INSTALLATION

Please find below the installation instructions so you could know how to properly use all the provided files contained inside the "deepdark-v17_for_TB115_12-10-2023.zip" zip package:

1) Extract the "deepdark-v17_for_TB115_12-10-2023.zip" file content and keep the folder named "chrome" in a location that you will easily remember (you will need this folder later);

2) Open Thunderbird, click the menu button, then "help" and finally "More Troubleshooting Information";

3) Once that the "Troubleshooting Information" page is open, look for the "Profile Folder" row in the first table and click the button next to it which says "open folder" (on Windows), "Show in Finder" (on Mac) or "Open Directory" (on Linux). This will launch a new window with your system's file browser.
In the new window that you just opened, on Windows and Linux, you will be able to directly see your "profile folder" content. On Mac, if the "Finder" shows you a semi-randomly-named folder, double-click that folder so you could access its contents;

4) Copy or move the "chrome" folder (previously extracted) into your Thunderbird profile folder;

5) Restart Thunderbird and you are done!

The userstyle concretely works as described below:

At startup, once that "toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets" is enabled in the advanced preferences, Thunderbird will check for the presence of "userChrome.css" and "userContent.css" files in a particular location: a folder named "chrome" inside your currently active profile folder (all of your current settings and add-ons are stored in there). So by adding in your profile folder the "chrome" folder that I provided, your Thunderbird will read and apply the CSS code it contains.

For more information, you can head to userchrome.org.

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WHAT TO DO WHEN FACING AN ISSUE WITH DEEPDARK THEMES?

1) Before reporting it, first try to see if the issue is due to the theme itself. How? Remove the "chrome" folder that you manually installed, restart Thunderbird and check if the issue is still there. If not, put back the "chrome" folder in your profile directory, but this time disable all installed add-ons (restart Thunderbird again) to check if the issue can be due to a conflict with an add-on.

2) If the issue is still there after disabling all other add-ons and if the default Thunderbird theme doesn't have it, try to install again DeepDark (check also if you have the latest version installed, maybe the bug you want to report was already solved with the latest update).

3) If after trying what mentioned above the problem is linked with the use of DeepDark, please, send me an e-mail (you can find it on my website).
When sending an e-mail to report a bug, do not forget to tell me:

- Which operating system you are running on your computer;
- Which version of Thunderbird and DeepDark you are using;
- If you have any operating system custom theme installed (it can also be a cause of the issue).

Then, describe the most precisely you can the issue you are facing and, if possible, please, join a screenshot and/or a short video so I could see exactly how it looks. All that will help me to better understand what is the problem and to solve it quicker, if possible.

I can t promise that I ll manage to fix every problems and also in short time, but I ll do my best for it.

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FAQ

1) How can I enable the "Graphite" color scheme ?

Open the file named "userChrome.css" with a text editor software (e.g. Notepad++) and simply remove the "/*" and "*/" symboles that enclose the following line of code:

"@import url("resources/subthemes/graphite.css");"

Repeat the same action in the "userContent.css" if you want the Thunderbird "inner pages" (such as the add-ons manager, preferences, newtab page, etc.) to also have the "Graphite" subtheme color scheme.

Close and restart Thunderbird for the changes to apply.

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2) How can I switch between the different highlight colors that are available within the DeepDark userstyle ?

Open the file named "userChrome.css" with a text editor software (e.g. Notepad++) and simply remove the "/*" and "*/" symboles that enclose the line of code related to the highlight color that you would like to use. For instance, if you would like to enable the "Amber" highlight color, remove "/*" and "*/" arround the following line:

"@import url("resources/highlightColors/amberHighlight.css");"

Repeat the same action in the "userContent.css" if you want the Thunderbird "inner pages" (such as the add-ons manager, preferences, etc.) to have the same highlight color. Of course, if desired, you can set a different color in the "userChrome.css" and "userContent.css", that's up to your liking.

Close and restart Thunderbird for the changes to apply.

Please note: if you try to enable many highlight colors at same time inside the same file, only the one who is positioned the most down in the list will be visible. To avoid Thunderbird to load at startup unecessary code, it is recommanded to only enable one highlight color.

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3) I would like the "Graphite" subtheme to have the same highlight color as the default DeepDark, but the default blue color is not listed in the highlight colors list inside the "userChrome.css" and "userContent.css". How to do?

Open the file named "graphite.css" (chrome/resources/subthemes/graphite.css) with a text editor software (e.g. Notepad++) and look for the line with the following code:

@import url("../highlightColors/iceBlueHighlight.css");

Add "/*" before that line and “*/” after (both without quote marks). This action will "disable" the line of code that makes Thunderbird load the “IceBlueHighlight.css” file at startup.

Close and restart Thunderbird for the changes to apply.

Please note: this is not necessary if you plan to use any of the other highlight colors which you can choose from. But it is still recommanded to disable any highlight color that you don’t plan to use so it could prevent Thunderbird to load unecessary code.

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4) Is it possible and do you plan to offer different tab shape(s) than the "floating tabs" ?

It is possible and it was in the initial plan. But unfortunately, I didn't find the time yet to deal with this. To not delay even more the DeepDark theme update release, I decided to leave this on stand by. But, in future, I definitely would like to add tab shape options (as "substyles" that the users can enable the same way as the various highlight colors options currently available).

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5) How to know when an update is available?

Customers receive an email (at the address that they used to retrieve the files) which informs them when a major updated version is available. Otherwise, there is the possibility to directly check out the "Version Information" section on this page and, more precisely, the date of the latest release.

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6) I don't find anymore the email that I received which contains the link to retrieve the DeepDark package. How to do?

Simply drop me an email and tell me which address email you used to retrieve the files at the time of the purchase. This way I will be able to send you again the receipt which will allow you to access your download link.