Showcasing PM's powerful G/UI customization

[Gemmaugr]

Except for the misinformed people that think Pale Moon is an old old rebuild of Firefox (which I'm thankfully starting to see less of now),
the next more "popular" detriment that is brought up, as I recommend this browser, is that it "looks old/antiquated/ancient/out-dated". People sadly often judge a book by its cover.

It might help alleviate this if https://addons.palemoon.org/themes/ were made to display whole screenshots by default,
(preferable in an ordered fashion and not the misaligned thing that is common today, and with the list as another drop-down option) to allow people to see the full extent of changes.
Another thing would be to have link from there to a section of the forum that showcases what other users have done with their browser, and a thread on how to affect changes yourself.

It's a shame that this has to be suggested at all, but I think many people don't even give PM a chance due to this unfortunate snap judgement.

[Moonchild]

Not sure what the issue is because each theme page (e.g. https://addons.palemoon.org/addon/australium/) shows a screenshot with relevant elements.

[Mæstro]

Looking old is part of Pale Moon’s appeal. I had been drawn to this browser in 2019 precisely because it has no part in the barren, flat design which has corrupted Firefox since eight(!) years ago. We should not hide our traditions beneath the same dull cloud as everyone else.

[Night Wing]

I like to pick a theme for Pale Moon that looks good "to me". My favorite theme for Pale Moon is "Past Modern Revisited" which can be found at the link below.

https://addons.palemoon.org/addon/past- ... revisited/

Before I had both my right and left eye surgically operated on to remove a cataract in each eye, I had very poor eyesight. I was technically legally blind. Now I have have 20/20 vision in both eyes set for distance since I chose distance lenses for each eye. I have to have "reading glasses" to write a personal banking check or read a book or newspaper.

With that said, this is why I enjoy using a desktop tower computer with it's 32" external monitor when I had such poor eyesight. But old habits are hard to "break". I use the Zoom Label 1.3 extension and have most of my bookmarks I visit each day set at 150% while other sites are set at 133%.

Back on topic.

I have customized the "Past Modern Revisited" theme using the Customize Toolbar where I moved things around and you can see what this theme now looks like with the screenshot below. This gives me maximum "vertical" viewing area for every page on every site I visit each day.

[Gemmaugr]

Not sure what the issue is because each theme page (e.g. https://addons.palemoon.org/addon/australium/) shows a screenshot with relevant elements.

I'm assuming people want an easier overview, with larger images out front (like https://themes.vivaldi.net/ , although those are mostly just Personas, but it's the size and ordering of the Theme's I'm highlighting). I too prefer lists and compact solutions, but I think a lot of people take a brief look and don't see the details at first glance. Showcasing others personal customization in a separate area would also make it apparent that Pale Moon is in fact Your Browser, Your Way.

Looking old is part of Pale Moon’s appeal. I had been drawn to this browser in 2019 precisely because it has no part in the barren, flat design which has corrupted Firefox since eight(!) years ago. We should not hide our traditions beneath the same dull cloud as everyone else.

And I am in no way saying to change the default theme to look more modern, as I myself use the older style of tabs below URL bar, showing Status at the bottom, and showing the Menu bar (since 2010). I like,want and prefer that to today's look for sure. I'm just saying to showcase what Pale Moon is capable of. That it can in fact look as modern as they like, with just a change of Theme.

[Gemmaugr]

I like to pick a theme for Pale Moon that looks good "to me". My favorite theme for Pale Moon is "Past Modern Revisited"..

-snipped for brevity-

I have customized the "Past Modern Revisited" theme using the Customize Toolbar where I moved things around and you can see what this theme now looks like with the screenshot below. This gives me maximum "vertical" viewing area for every page on every site I visit each day.

I'm glad to hear your sight is better!

I use the Default Theme personally. It's just my groove. Although with the above mentioned changes to various bars shown.

[MasterSlenderTR]

I use the Stratum theme with GlassMyFox effects applied.

[Gemmaugr]

I use the Stratum theme with GlassMyFox effects applied.

And it looks very nice indeed!

All three screenshots shown so far are very varied, and I think this power is worth bringing up as a point in Pale Moon's favor.

[suzyne]

Nostalgia or looking old doesn't appeal to me at all. And to my eyes, most of the themes look incredibly dated and are like little time capsules of computer fashions and trends of eras past.

I want a UI that blends into the background, not something that yells "Look at me!" like some of the themes. What's inside of each browser tab is most important to me, not distractions around the borders.

Currently, I have Maxi4 which is clean and simple without visual clutter. But then maybe I am also unusual because I have turned off the icons of the toolbar and prefer only having text.

Clipboard_05-21-2025_01.png

[Falna]

Nostalgia or looking old doesn't appeal to me at all. And to my eyes, most of the themes look incredibly dated and are like little time capsules of computer fashions and trends of eras past.

It's been a long time since I've taken a look at the Themes page but I have to agree that most of them are pretty retro, which I don't find appealing.

I'm assuming people want an easier overview, with larger images out front (like https://themes.vivaldi.net/ , although those are mostly just Personas, but it's the size and ordering of the Theme's I'm highlighting).

I do agree that that is a more attractive way of displaying them. Not that I'm that impressed by their themes either.

And I am in no way saying to change the default theme to look more modern.

Hmm. It wouldn't be my top priority, but a more modern default theme probably would help dispel some of those mistaken initial impressions that it's an 'old' browser.

Off-topic:

I use the Default Theme personally. It's just my groove. Although with the above mentioned changes to various bars shown.

There's an old (locked) thread where people used to post their desktops that might be of interest. Mine's in there somewhere. What my Pale Moon looks like

[Moonchild]

So, if you want flat blended/bland themes for your browser, and don't find the themes that are present on the site appealing, then why don't you make one yourself and share it?
Yes there are multiple there that harken back to retro computing. There are also some there that offer flat/modern looks. Maybe under-represented because more Pale Moon users don't like flat UIs than those that do...

[suzyne]

I think an issue with having too modern a look is that it might raise expectations that Pale Moon also works the same as other modern browsers.  Which perhaps it doesn't do quite enough?

I don't find the current default UI offensive in any way, it's just a bit timelessly older in a classic way.

One of my visual annoyances (and this is with all browsers, not just Pale Moon!) is the way extensions can really mess with the look of the main window, with a distinct set of artistic looks and colours. At the very least, I think it would be cool for any browser to have a "convert to gray-scale" for the UI which includes all the add-ons. That wouldn't solve the problem of sometimes amateurish looking art, but at least the colours wouldn't clash!

Maybe the distraction of this is why I turn off the icons?

Clipboard_05-21-2025_03.png

I love how Pale Moon is so flexible with the UI, and I am going to plug this theme a second time.

https://addons.palemoon.org/addon/maxi4/

[Gemmaugr]

After looking up "how to create a theme in Pale Moon", I found viewtopic.php?f=46&t=28481 and see now why this might not be looked upon favorably by the powers that be. Not while trying to keep up with living "standards" redoing stuff needlessly as well. It is a bit of a catch-22 like Athenian said, sadly. I'd still say it's the most customizable browser out there currently though. Maybe, perhaps, at some lull point in the future, this might be worth re-visiting.

[Lucio Chiappetti]

Looking old is part of Pale Moon’s appeal. I had been drawn to this browser in 2019 precisely because ...

I concur. I can't date my move from Firefox to Pale Moon, but it occurred when FF went Australis, and at the time my motivation was purely based on the look (tabs on bottom, status bar). Only later I learned and appreciated many other features of Pale Moon.

Talking about "modern" (italian "moderno" from "moda"="fashion" i.e. fashionable), what is fashionable is not always a "progress" (latin "pro-gredior", a "step forward", i.e. advancement). I am a very peaceful person but "whenever I hear the word modern, I reach for my revolver" (virtually). For instance when in my favourite MUA (Alpine) I receive HTML e-mail with a notice I'm not using a modern mailer.

I've never looked into Pale Moon themes. My customization is: (1) to ensure all buttons are purely text; (2) there is a status bar; (3) On top I have menu bar, navigation toolbar simplified, a custom bar, bookmark toolbar, tabs; (4) button text is a large enough readable font, black on light gray. One reason I use the GTK2 is because (4) can be achieved fudging a simple text file (actually I'd like Pale Moon to honour X11 Xresources, which is a customization way I'm familiar with, but I realize it would be difficult for simultaneous Windows/Linux support).

[lyylbrown]

I concur. I can't date my move from Firefox to Pale Moon, but it occurred when FF went Australis, and at the time my motivation was purely based on the look (tabs on bottom, status bar). Only later I learned and appreciated many other features of Pale Moon.

Talking about "modern" (italian "moderno" from "moda"="fashion" i.e. fashionable), what is fashionable is not always a "progress" (latin "pro-gredior", a "step forward", i.e. advancement). I am a very peaceful person but "whenever I hear the word modern, I reach for my revolver" (virtually). For instance when in my favourite MUA (Alpine) I receive HTML e-mail with a notice I'm not using a modern mailer.

I've never looked into Pale Moon themes. My customization is: (1) to ensure all buttons are purely text; (2) there is a status bar; (3) On top I have menu bar, navigation toolbar simplified, a custom bar, bookmark toolbar, tabs; (4) button text is a large enough readable font, black on light gray. One reason I use the GTK2 is because (4) can be achieved fudging a simple text file (actually I'd like Pale Moon to honour X11 Xresources, which is a customization way I'm familiar with, but I realize it would be difficult for simultaneous Windows/Linux support).

I saw you mentioned using GTK2 to customize the Pale Moon theme — can you share more about how you configured it specifically? I also want the same theme with black text on a light gray background.