Homescreen layouts

[Guest slick_b_69]

Hi, ive been reading the forum and ive been hearing people say that they've got the "perfect" homescreen layout. Well, would you guys mind posting your layouts here so others like me could also have the perfect layout? :lol:

Thanks :D

[Guest drblow]

er .... what people are talking about most probably is the many different skins available. Obviously, there is no 'perfect' homescreen layout - just the one that's perfect for you!! That's why alot of people here tend to customise their skins.

You can learn all about skins by clicking the modaco links in this post, then download some from smartphony.org - and then customise them all!!

EDIT - By the way - welcome to modaco - this is where you will find anything & everything thats good about smartphones!!

[Guest lisann]

You can also get some really cool skins from http://www.coolsmartphone.com

[Guest midnight]

theres plenty of skins on modaco, just browse through this customisation section (including my very own Reload1.3 skin, which is definitely the best skin for me hehe (shameless plug :lol:))

[Guest slick_b_69]

Alright, ill give that a try :lol:

Ive been reading on the skinning thread but im kinda tech stupid when it comes to XML and stuff... :oops:

So far, all ive done is make my own background, theme, edited the info and question screens... haven't had much luck with designing a skin although i know what kind skin layout i want :cry:

[Guest drblow]

:lol:

Don't worry about it m8! There are so many skins available now, you'll be able to find at least 1 you like.

Then what you do is -

open activesync on your pc

browse IPSM/application data/home

copy the .xml file (eg. skin.xml / skin.home.xml ) to your pc desktop (or wherever!!)

open the xml file from desktop with notepad

If you read the many threads on plugins (mostly the section in articles on homescreens) then you should be able to start to identify what plugins do what, & what you can edit on them. Looking at the xml files from skins you like will help you to understand how they are put together (with attatched images, colours etc).

In the simplest possible way I can think of :shock: - an xml file contains code for the homescreen to set colours, text, background images & plugins (these being calendar, clock etc).

The actual xml file itself contains (in order) basic info about the file maker's name etc, and the name of the skin (usually repeated for different languages), then a colour scheme (where the coulours for all aspects of the phone like homescreen, menus, highlight etc are set) and then a list of plugins (where the clock, icon bar, calendar etc are arranged). Plugins can be set to pretty much any location on the home screen (within certain limitations) and can have colours/sizes set for text, background images etc - all for selected & unselected states.

As with most things, it's always very difficult to explain simply about editing xml - the best thing is just to start messing about with things, and then checking the results on the phone.

And you've always got the aid of the modaco genius's to back you up!

Good luck! :wink: