Appearance - share customizations?
There's a lot to like about MD, but let's face it: the default appearance of MD is kind of dated and (IMHO) not so easy on the eyes.
Of course, there are plenty of customization options. But it's tedious to experiment, making a change or two, then exiting the menus to see how it looks, then trying again, then....you get the idea. And even this approach assumes that we've figured out all the aspects that can be change in the first place.
So two questions:
(1) Would anyone who has developed a nice, modern-looking theme customization be willing to post a screenshot and (ideally) give at least a few hints on how to produce it? and (2) Is there any way to share a file of customizations that one could apply without going through a bunch of changes in the menus? That is, can appearance settings be exported/imported, and would a settings file work across platforms, e.g., both on Windows and Mac? (Probably not, but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask....)
Obviously not fundamental, earth-shaking questions -- but everyone needs a lighter topic once in a while!
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1 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 01 Dec, 2024 06:43 PM
I presume you are not on Mac?
2 Posted by bheck11 on 01 Dec, 2024 10:13 PM
@Stuart: I should have clarified: I am on a Mac.
3 Posted by derekkent23 on 02 Dec, 2024 08:57 AM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Hi bheck11
I assume you have played with the layout of the Summary Page under FILE – PREFERENCES – SUMMARY tab.
Also I assume you have tried the 6 Themes provide by Moneydance under FILE – PREFERENCES – APPEARANCE tab.
If you are not happy with any one of the standard themes you can select the theme you like most and then Customise it.
The layout and colour scheme of Moneydance is a personal thing. What one person likes another does not. A screenshot of my Side Bar and Summary Page of a test Data Set attached.
Customising the theme can be tedious and certainly take time to get it right. Its easy to make a change the result of which you don’t like. When I customised my theme I made a copy of the theme at various stages of its creation, so if I made a false step I could reinstall the last theme I was happy with.
The file that the Moneydance theme is stored in is called custom_theme.properties
On Windows and Linux computers this file can be located by FILE – SHOW DOCUMENT FOLDER and navigating up one level. I did my setup on Windows and copied the file to Linux. The same file works on both operating systems. I am not a Mac user but I assume it’s the same for Mac.
Hope this helps.
4 Posted by bheck11 on 02 Dec, 2024 12:22 PM
@Derek: thanks for the helpful response and particularly for sharing the screenshot of your customization. One thing I noticed right away that would help readability for me is increasing the contrast of the background color for alternate rows, in this case the rows in the list of securities. I'll have to try that.
To answer your initial questions (and further clarify mine), yes, I've looked at the available themes and have made a few changes already, i.e., have done a little customization. As you say, it can be tedious work, which is why it would be nice to piggyback on what others have done already. (BTW, there are plenty of other examples of sharing "how to's" in these discussions, and it would be wonderful if there were some way to find more of them! But that's an issue for another time.)
Thanks also for identifying the customzations file. I've only switched from Windows to Mac recently, so have not delved into the Mac mechanisms, such as where the customization file is stored. I did try a spotlight search without success; are there other more knowledgeable Mac users out there who can chime in on the whereabouts of any customizations file?
5 Posted by derekkent23 on 02 Dec, 2024 12:49 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Hi bheck11
As I say I am not a Mac user but to find custom_theme.properties file the first thing I would try is in Moneydance FILE – SHOW DOCUMENT FOLDER and navigating up one level.
Also colour for alternate rows is a feature Account registers.
Have Fun Stay Safe.
6 Posted by bheck11 on 02 Dec, 2024 03:21 PM
On the Mac version of MD, there is no "Show Document Folder" command, at least not in the File section of the menus. (I think this is a Mac thing: the Mac OS and apps for the Mac do not make it easy for users to go poking around in "hidden" parts of the file system.)
7 Posted by TonyRI on 02 Dec, 2024 03:38 PM
In Windows the "Show Documents Folder" is under the "Help" menu, not sure about Mac
Help > Show Documents Folder
8 Posted by derekkent23 on 02 Dec, 2024 03:55 PM
I am not support staff, just a user.
Hi bheck11
Sorry, TonyRI is correct. I did mean to say in Moneydance try Help > Show Documents Folder.
Have Fun, Stay Safe.
9 Posted by bheck11 on 02 Dec, 2024 04:11 PM
LOL, I had looked everywhere except the help menu! Anyway, I looked and alas, no separate customization file at the specified location. In fact, nothing but the main data file .moneydance. Same for the "Show Backup File Location" option: nothing but backup files of the form ..moneydancearchive.
So unless some Mac user with more experience than I can find a separate customization file, I don't see a way to exchange customizations directly. I also don't see a way to backup a customization at any point in order to recover from a bad move. Nor would it be possible to save different customizations.
Hey MD support and/or knowledgeable users, is all this really true in the Mac world?
Even so, it would be fun (and useful) to see screen shots of different customization ideas!
10 Posted by jeff_l on 02 Dec, 2024 04:32 PM
In order to find your custom_theme.properties file on MacOS...
From Within Moneydance go to Help/Show Documents Folder.
Clicking that opens a Finder window. Below the Documents folder you should now see a folder named Library.
Click that to find Application Support. Now you should see a a folder named Moneydance. The custom file is located there.
In order to find this location quickly in future, you might like to Right Click this location & select Make Alias. The Alias created can be dragged somewhere else on your system making it more accessible, such as your Documents folder.
fellow user
11 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 02 Dec, 2024 04:56 PM
Or just use toolbox. Top right. Open md file/folder. Custom theme file.
12 Posted by bheck11 on 04 Dec, 2024 02:57 PM
Thanks @Stuart and @Jeff: I did find the customization file. Knowing where this is enables sharing. (if anyone wants to share) and also backing up or even creating multiple customized files.
A specific question about appearance: all of the customizations under Appearance are for colors. Doers anyone know of a way to increase the space between rows in registers (the vertical "padding")? IMO, registers would be a lot easier to read if there slightly more separation between the rows (lines).