Support and General Use > Theming and Appearance Customization
Rockbox Theme Style Guide (not official)
DrewVosburg:
PURPOSE:
I believe in the Rockbox project. The tools that Rockbox provides can't be matched with any other music player operating system. Despite this power, it is still simple to use. I have "rockboxed" players for others, and none of them have come back to me with questions, because it simply works as expected. Every day people can use a Rockbox device with no difficulty.
The reason I'm creating themes for Rockbox is so that common users (every day people) can have access to the full potential and customizability of Rockbox. This goes beyond having options to change from a list of preset "themes" and instead aims to respect the settings that are changable in the GUI. In other words, my "themes" are more like layouts, a collection of behaviors and elements which can then be styled to match the user's taste. For example, the defaults match what I would consider to be the common denomonator, or what most users would find useful. HOWEVER, if one wanted to change the font, font color, background picture, or even clear the background for a background color, the theme should respect these changes and adapt accordingly. In this way, one doesn't have to learn complex algorithms and proprietary syntax in order to use an MP3 player that looks the way they like it
An excellent Rockbox theme must have, in order of importance, the following:
AN APPEALING LAYOUT
Most people consider this almost exclusively in their choice of theme. Appeal is quite subjective, and people use different information when using their player. For example, some might use the clock, while others don't see it as necessary. Some may want to know bit rate information, while some don't know the difference between 192kb MP3 and uncompressed audio. However, there are some pieces of information which are critical to a music player, and they are:
- Song Title
- Artist
- Album
- Playing or Paused
- Song Progress
- Battery Level
- Volume Level
- Shuffle and Repeat status
Though these may vary in presentation, they are the bare minimum to a music player. Anything less than this is simply impractical, and many people prefer many more options. More technical users tend to prefer more technical information displayed, while more common users tend to prefer the basics.
Further in the strain of subjectivity is the concept of "visual appeal." Elements should be placed according to purpose, visual rhythm, and spacing. This can vary drastically, but in general, things should balance out.
READABILITY AT A GLANCE
One technical aspect seems to go overlooked, particularly with the Sansa Fuze: screen pixel density . An average computer screen is said to have 90 pixes per inch (PPI), while the Fuze has a screen with 148 PPI. This means that themes for the fuze are actually 64% bigger on a computer screen than they are on the device. This is quite a difference! More pixel density means smaller pixels, which means the aliased fonts don't stick out like they do on a computer screen.
The particular font I use comes from my Rockbox theme past, from when I designed soley for my iPod Video. Although it did not have a superb PPI (114), it had screen space to spare, with nearly twice as many pixels as can be found on the Fuze. Thus, the 21 pixel Adobe Helvetica was deemed an appropriate-sized font for my themes, and I stuck with it. One thing I am resisting is shrinking a large size theme to a small size screen. Instead I work with the small screen with full-size fonts in order to prevent readability problems. The font can be taken down to 18 pixels without too much readability loss, but I am emphasizing readability, particularly for less technical users (everyday Joe).
The rockbox website recommends that you not use a font bigger than the equivalent of 16pt on a 100 DPI screen. On a screen like the Fuze, this would be a 24pt font! Screen resolution and DPI should both be taken into consideration for each device, because it vastly affects readability.
REFINED BEHAVIOR
One of the more difficult things to acheive in a limited environment such as Rockbox is refined behavior. This includes things like using conditionals in creative ways to create consistency. It is important to design the interface to display information when it is available and re-arrange things when it isn't. This involves more than turning virtual LEDs on and off. Status bar icons should not be absolutely positioned, but should float to the corners. If there is album art available, the information should re-arrange itself to display the artwork, but if it is not available, things should spread out to be easier to read.
AlexP:
People can make themes however they want. If it is crap, it won't get used.
gevaerts:
--- Quote from: DrewVosburg on January 11, 2011, 02:41:09 PM ---PURPOSE:
However, there are some pieces of information which are critical to a music player, and they are:
- Song Title
- Artist
- Album
- Playing or Paused
- Song Progress
- Battery Level
- Volume Level
- Shuffle and Repeat status
--- End quote ---
I disagree. I don't care at all about shuffle and repeat (I never change those settings) and I couldn't care less about Artist (my theme does have the composer however, which is critical).
Also, why do people keep assuming that one only ever listens to songs? It's a title, not a song title!
DrewVosburg:
Most of the themes on this site are pretty iffy. They certainly aren't taking advantage of the tools built into Rockbox.
I understand that you won't change shuffle and repeat, but if they were turned on, don't you think it would be frustrating if you didn't know?
gevaerts:
--- Quote from: DrewVosburg on January 11, 2011, 03:01:03 PM ---Most of the themes on this site are pretty iffy. They certainly aren't taking advantage of the tools built into Rockbox.
--- End quote ---
Then don't use them. That's not a reason to deny them to other people though.
--- Quote from: DrewVosburg on January 11, 2011, 03:01:03 PM ---I understand that you won't change shuffle and repeat, but if they were turned on, don't you think it would be frustrating if you didn't know?
--- End quote ---
That reasoning leads to having an indication for every single setting. Why don't you specify an indicator for e.g. backlight on hold? Wouldn't it be frustrating if that changed and you didn't know?
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