Themes

The theme (style) of the user interface is also defined in the model. A theme determines the colors, fonts and images that are used and is defined for all components of the user interface.

To apply themes that transcend a project, it is possible to Import and Export themes using the tasks. The export task generates JSON for a theme and saves it to a file; the import task can import this JSON file or read the theme from another project version in the same Software Factory.

Themes

Different theme types are available for the classic and the Universal user interfaces.

Classic theme

The classic theme contains a wide range of settings for the Windows, Web and Mobile user interfaces.

General

The general theme settings, such as the background color and the scrollbar, are defined in the General tab page.

Document tab

When tabs are opened from the menu, they can be active (selected) or inactive (not selected). The tab colors in this instance and the colors when you move over the tab can be set here.

Tab in theme

Tab

Where in the document component, the tab color can be set for colors opened from the menu. The colors for the background of the tabs within these main tabs are set here, shown in turquoise in the figure below.

Tab header height

There can be chosen from the following options:

header method options

• Default - The default is unchanged.

• Spacious - Extra padding based on font size.

• Manual - Manual padding in pixels around the header text.

Tab with manual height

Tab lines

It is possible to set the color of tab content lines and tab header lines.

Tab with transparent lines

Disabled tabs

Disabled tabs are styled by the GUI, by default. It is possible to manually style these tabs in the SF.

Disabled tab Code changelog

Tab color settings theme

The colors for the lines surrounding the tabs can be modified here. It is, for example, possible to make the tab header color a dark gray and the content border white (same as the background color). This significantly reduces the amount of lines on the screen in nested tabs.

Background

The color is set for the background of the application on the background tab. This background is displayed when no tabs are open. You can also set an image as a full screen background image by expanding it to full screen size. Be aware that this might cause some distortion of the image.

Add an image in the theme

Document

The background colors, which are displayed when a tab is opened, can be defined here (shown in violet in the figure below).

Document theme settings and the result

The splitter color, which is visible for example between a grid, a form and an image, can also be set here.

Pop-up

This is where the background color of a pop-up field is modified.

Scrollbar

This is used to indicate the background color and the color of the scrollbar.

Header and footer

The colors for the top and bottom of the application can be selected for the mobile application.

Setting the theme for mobile

Application list

This is where the colors of the applications at the bottom of the menu are styled.

Application list style

Splash screen

Setting the colors and logo for the splash screen is something that takes place in the IAM (Global Settings). The reason for this is that when opening an application, this does not necessarily mean that only one application is opened. The splash screen does not refer to one particular application.

However, you can specify here which components should and should not be displayed on the splash screen. The 'Button' component has not yet been implemented in the current Software Factory generation.

Setting splash theme

Badge

This section has been added to give the option to style the font and background color of badges.

Navigation

In the navigation section, it is possible to set every style option related to navigation.

Ribbon

When the colors are set for the ribbon, you can choose to set a general background color. In addition, you can set a mouseover color for a segment or for just a button

Theme settings for the ribbon

The color that is selected for the ribbon will appear behind an icon of a task, pre-filter, etc. in the ribbon within the work area.

Quickbar

If the menu is displayed as a quickbar, the theme settings can be specified here. For example, a background can be set, the groups and items can be given a color, and an image can be displayed at the bottom of the menu.

Tree

If the menu is displayed as a tree view, the theme settings can be specified here. For example, a background can be set, the groups and items can be given a color, and an image can be displayed at the bottom of the menu.

If users can switch between these types of menus, then both menus have to be set up.

Tiles

The settings for the tile menu, tile groups and individual tiles can be specified here. The tiles menu can be given a background color or image. Single tiles can be given a normal, selected and mouseover style.

Title bar

The changes made in the menu component will affect the bar above the ribbon of the application which hold the name of the application.

Bar above the ribbon of the application

Components

In this section, it is possible to style the different components: grid, form and cube.

Grid

When setting up the grid, various components can be modified for a grid view. For example, the general grid theme can be set up, including the background color.

If transparent is chosen in the 'line' component, the rows in the grid will be colored alternately in the color of the background and in a shade darker.

Grid view with alternating colors

In the following sub tabs, you can specify the group colors, row colors and the focus cell colors. These can be set for the active row, the selected row and for a mouse over.

Grid aggregation style

It is possible to style the grid aggregation (summary), for example:

Form

A color can be set for the background and the border of the form. In addition, the lines that appear under a group label can also be modified.

It is possible to set border color, background color and font color of form fields in edit and non-edit mode.

In the field component, the settings can be changed for the color of the mandatory, editable and read only field. If the application is not in a modify or add mode, all fields will adopt the color of the read only fields.

Show buttons on hover

An option to only show form buttons when hovering over the form with the mouse.

Cube

All settings for the cube can be modified in the cube theme component. This component is divided into three sub tabs. The general settings for the cube, such as the background color and the cube color, can be specified on the first tab. You can also define a color for the graph here. This color is displayed behind the graph, and the surrounding border can also be modified.

The field settings can be modified on the second tab. The background can be specified here, and the totals and the border can be assigned a color.

The colors for the areas, rows, columns, fields and cells can be specified in the third tab, area.

As shown in previous paragraphs, there are many different options available when it comes to setting up the theme. The theme is obviously a personal matter and provides the application with the look and feel that suits the organization. Thinkwise recommends adjusting the theme in line with the colors of the company, but to keep it neutral. A theme that is too prominent distracts and will not benefit productivity. When the colors of a theme are underexposed, this can be confusing because it is then not clear where one tab ends and the other begins. The right theme supports the application and benefits productivity.

The figures below show an example of a strong visual theme and a minimalist theme.

A theme that is out of balance.

A minimalist theme

Colors and Fonts used

When creating a theme, it is recommended to use a limited set of colors. In the Colors used tab page, it is possible to see which colors are used and where they are used.

A color can be changed using the Update color task or by dragging the column to the preferred color. The same overview is available for the fonts used.

Fonts and colors used in a Theme

Universal theme

Universal GUI

For universal themes, the default mode can be set to either Dark or Light. Because a user can switch between the dark and light mode, settings are available for both the dark and light mode of the theme.

The specified font face and size of the selected fonts are used for the headers and body of the Universal user interface; the font color and style is ignored.

The background image can be set for both the dark and light mode.

Three colors are available to style an application:

• Main color - The primary color refers to the color that appears most frequently in the application.
• Accent color - The accent color refers to the color used to accent key parts of the user interface.

Universal theme settings

Compact mode in the Universal GUI

Universal GUI

Ample whitespace is required in an application. It improves comprehension, legibility, and focus, and it guides the user through the interface. However, some applications are less suited for the default data density used by the Universal GUI. A denser UI could make data in your application easier to scan, view and compare. For this reason, compact mode is available.

To select a default mode for your users in the config.json, use:

"spacingMode": "compact"

The options for spacingMode are compact and comfortable. Comfortable mode offers more spacing. Depending on the goal of your application, you may want to use a more compact or a more comfortable UI.

If you do not set this property explicitly, it will default to compact for desktop and comfortable for touch devices.

The user can override this option in their User preferences if they prefer a different density.

Compact mode compared to comfortable mode:

Setting	Compact	Comfortable
Font size	14px	14px
Grid row height	44px	44px
Spacing	4px	8px

Custom CSS in the Universal GUI

Universal GUI

It is possible to use custom CSS in the Universal GUI.

Every Universal GUI download contains a custom.sample.css file in the public folder. Rename this file once to 'custom.css' for each Universal GUI installation, even if you do not use the custom styles. Renaming ensures custom styles will not be overwritten when updating the Universal GUI. If you do not rename this file, a 404 error is displayed in your Developer tools.

Available topics:
* CSS classes in the Universal GUI
* Custom CSS: background image
* Custom CSS: logo
* Custom CSS: company logo in scroll bar
* Custom CSS: title
* Custom CSS: message
* Custom CSS: hide menu and header
* Custom CSS: transparent login form
* Custom CSS: hide 'Forgot password?' link
* Custom CSS: form section titles and group titles

CSS classes in the Universal GUI

The Universal GUI provides static CSS classes for a selection of elements, mainly on the login page. The BEM — Block Element Modifier naming convention is used to structure classes. Not all components have fixed classes yet.

We do not recommend using the generated CSS classes (like css-dz6rn8) for components that do not use BEM yet, as they will change over GUI versions. In some cases, you can use pseudo-classes, like :after or :nth-of-type(x) instead, which are less likely to change.

Custom CSS: background image

/* Add a background image */
.form__container {
  background-image: url('https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/img/thinkwhite.png');
  background-size: 5em;
}

Custom CSS: logo

/* Hide the original logo */
.login__group--icon {
  display: none;
}

/* Display an alternative logo */
.login__group--icon-container {
  background: url('https://office.thinkwisesoftware.com/thinkwise2.png');
  background-position: center;
  background-size: contain;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  height: 4em;
  width: 4em;
  margin-bottom: 8px;
}

Custom CSS: company logo in scroll bar

.scrollbar-container
{
    background: url(company logo url);
    background-position: center bottom;
    background-repeat: no-repeat;    
    background-size: 200px;
}

Custom CSS: title

/* Hide the original title */
.login__group--title {
  display: none;
}

/* Display an alternative title */
.login__group--header::after {
  content: 'Alternative title';
  font-weight: 500;
  font-size: 1.3125rem;
  font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
  padding-bottom: 9px;
}

Custom CSS: message

/* Display a message */
.card-content__login::after {
  content: 'Maintenance is scheduled for Sunday between 8AM and 12AM. The application will not be available then.';
  font-weight: 300;
  font-size: 0.9rem;
  font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
  color: #ba000d;
  display: inline-block;
  text-align: center;
}

Example: login page with a custom background image, logo and title, and a maintenance message

Custom CSS: hide menu and header

This example hides the menu and header, and only shows a dashboard or other start object.

/* Hide the sidebar menu */
#root > .sidebar {
    display: none;
}

/* Hide the header */
#root > main > header {
  display: none;
} 

/* Resize and reposition the main screen*/
#root > main > div {
  height: calc(100% - 16px);
  width: calc(100% - 16px);
  left: 0px;
}

Example: hidden menu and header

Custom CSS: transparent login form

.card__login
{
    background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9) !important;
}

Custom CSS: hide 'Forgot password?' link

#resetPassword {
    display: none;
}

Custom CSS: form section titles and group titles

/* Section title */
.section-title .text {
    font-size: 2rem !important;
    color: red;
}

/* Group icon */
.group-title svg {
    width: 28px !important;
    height: 28px !important;
    fill: blue !important;
}

/* Group title */
.group-title .text {
    font-size: 1.5rem !important;
    margin-top: -2px; // Align text with icon
}
.group-title {
    color: green !important;
}

Example: custom form section titles and group titles