<type>documentation</type>
<domain>custom</domain>
<id>qt-styles</id>
<title>Display Style and Colors</title>
<date>$Date: 2007-09-24 23:16:39 -0400 (Mon, 24 Sep 2007) $</date>
<version>$Revision: 16483 $</version>
<product>all</product>
<product-version>5+</product-version>

**UI Color Configuration**

The colors used for the user interface are selected with the `User Interface > Display
Mode <script:show_preferences_gui#prefname="gui.display-mode">`__, `User Interface > Light
Theme <script:show_preferences_gui#prefname="gui.light-display-theme">`__ and `User
Interface > Dark Theme <script:show_preferences_gui#prefname="gui.dark-display-theme">`__
preferences. The default on Windows and macOS is to match the native look for the OS as
much as possible. On Windows, this is always a light theme. On macOS, Wing tracks the OS's
light or dark display setting as it changes. On Linux, Wing cannot match the OS display
style and instead uses a dark display theme by default.

**Editor Color Configuration**

By default, the editor matches the display theme described above. This can be changed with
the `User Interface > Light Editor
<script:show_preferences_gui#prefname="gui.light-editor-theme">`__ and `User Interface >
Dark Editor <script:show_preferences_gui#prefname="gui.dark-editor-theme">`__ preferences,
by selecting ``Use Selected`` and choosing one of the available light or dark themes.
This affects editor background color and the color of markers on text such as the
selection, debug run marker, caret line highlight, bookmarks, diff/merge annotations, and
other configurable colors. Themes also define 20 additional colors that appear in the
preferences menus that are used for selecting colors.

Most of the defaults set by the theme preference can be overridden on a value-by-value 
basis in preferences. For example, the `Editor > Selection/Caret > Selection Color
<script:show_preferences_gui#prefname="gui.qt-text-selection-color">`__
preference is used to change the text selection color to a value other than
the one specified in the selected theme.  Each such preference allows
selection of a color from the current theme, or an arbitrary
color from a color chooser dialog.

~~~if not WING101:
In Wing Pro and Wing Personal, the colors used for syntax highlighting code in the editor can be configured
separately, as described in `Custom Syntax Coloring <ref:custom/syntax>`__.
~~~

**Adding a Custom Theme**

Additional themes can be defined and stored in the ``palettes`` sub-directory
of the `Settings Directory <ref:install/user-settings-dir>`__.  This directory
must be created if it does not already exist.  Example themes
are included in your Wing installation in ``resources/palettes``.  After adding
a theme in this way, Wing must be restarted to make it available for use.  After
that, it will appear in the theme selectors on the first preferences page.

