Dark Mode: Scroll bar so dark I can barely see it

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
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1

I use Dark Mode.

See the screenshot:

where
where432×832 8 KB

Can you spot the scroll bar? Difficult, isn’t it? And when it’s not at the top, it’s even harder to spot.

This distracts from my writing because too often I find myself searching for the scroll bar. This is exacerbated by being unable to use my mouse’s click-scroll function so that I don’t need to touch the scrollbar. (This is a feature I requested a couple of years ago.)

I could not find a way to change the color, which would have solved it. As a feature request, it would be helpful if the scroll bar color could be customized.

I note that this issue was raised in the Windows beta for Vers. 3 and also mentioned as an issue for the Mac.

This is not a complaint. I hope by pointing this out, Scrivener can be improved. :slight_smile:

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I’ve filed this to the Windows area, as whatever the Mac does is Apple’s thing, not Scrivener. It doesn’t have themes in the same sense as Windows does.

I do agree the dark mode UI needs a lot of work. I put in some time making Scapple’s dark mode better:

25099700-wScap--updated_scrollbars
25099700-wScap--updated_scrollbars747×460 10.1 KB

So a lot of the hard work is done.

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3

Thanks, Amber. I really appreciate your responsiveness. :slight_smile:

To me, it boils down to:

  1. Choose a more contrasting color/shade for the scroll bar in the Dark Mode.
  2. Allow users who wish to to customize the scroll bar color.
  3. Provide a feature common in other Windows programs, web browsers, etc.: the click-scroll function.
4

In a Theme, you can customize the Scrollbar to your heart’s delight:

image

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5

Hmm. Several weeks ago I tried to, but didn’t think it was possible. I had customized pretty much everything else. I’ll revisit this. Thanks for the tip!

6

Oh, wait. In the appearance settings, there is no setting for the scroll bar color or other scrollbar attributes. Are you saying that I could save my setting as a theme file (.scrtheme), unzip it, and modify the color (and maybe other things) there? I’m off to tinker! :slight_smile:

7

Yes, in a Theme. You’ll have to update the QSS Stylesheet to change the colors. I have code if you want it…

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8

Yes, that would be fantastic. I’ve been writing it myself, but this will save me time.

9

WhiteRedScroolbars.zip (232.7 KB)

The White Theme with Red scrollbars…

Njoy!

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10

That was super helpful! I was able to analyze how you did that and craft CSS code that changed the scrollbar handle to the color I wanted:

purple
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Here is the code I added to the .qss file:

/* Horizontal scrollbar */
QScrollBar:horizontal {
   border: none;
   background: darkgray;
   height: 20px;
   margin: 0px 20px;
}
QScrollBar::handle:horizontal {
   background: #55007F; /* Desired hex color */
   min-width: 20px;
}

/* Vertical scrollbar */
QScrollBar:vertical {
   border: none;
   background: darkgray;
   width: 20px;
   margin: 20px 0px;
}
QScrollBar::handle:vertical {
   background: #55007F; /* Desired hex color */
   min-height: 20px;
}

It was cool that you provided those white vector files, especially that 3d gripper image for the handle. When I have some time, I’ll try adding them. Can you tell me where they go? Do I need to create the appropriate image folder, add the .svg files to it, and then include it in the .scrtheme (zipped) file?

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11

Custom icons for a Theme go in an Icons folder under the application folder, where the executable is. In some circumstances they won’t load, so I have a copy of that folder in the Application Support folder, where the Themes are stored.

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12

@AntoniDol, why didn’t you tell me you’ve written a book on mastering Scrivener for Windows themes?

In looking at the “Read sample” pages on Amazon, it turns out that I have the exact tools you recommend, including Visual Studio Code (which I installed a couple of days ago) and AutoHotKey (also installed just a few days ago). Plus, I’ve been thinking about learning more about the Qt framework.

I’m off to buy your book. :slight_smile:

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13

And you have a subreddit on this? ScrivenerThemeBuilders

Very cool. I just joined.

1 Like