Tutorial: Theming

Theming

Theming of AUX

The AUX widget library comes with a slim default theme, based on the color scheme of the AUX brand. It is split into different layers of CSS to offer a starting point for different approaches. From editing a handful of color variables to low-level theme designs, various development paths are possible.

main.css

main.css is a variable-based high-level color theme representing the AUX color scheme. If you want to start development out-of-the-box to concentrate on the design later, include this style sheet into your project and start development, it already includes all its dependencies.

To play around with color schemes add a <style></style> section to your main HTML file or add a new CSS file to the project with a copy of the variables section of main.css from the :root block at the top of the file. Change the colors to get an impression of different combinations.

If you need further, minor changes, start overwriting existing definitions in a new file or a <style></style> tag.

If you feel the need for heavier intervention, copy main.css to a new location and start editing the new file directly. Include this one instead of main.css into your project and make sure the import of the dependency basics.css points to the correct location relative to your new file.

If you find yourself overwriting and correcting a vast amount of rules, creating your own theme might be the better idea.

basics.css

basics.css is a second layer of CSS taking care of lengths like paddings, margins and the like. It is not as high-level as main.css, not as low-level as essentials.css, but more like a launch pad for custom themes. Lots of variables at the top of basics.css give some control over the general appearance, distinct from the theme design. The main use case is to give widgets some dimensions, positioning and other defaults to make them at least appear on the screen - unstyled but in the right place.

Use it as a dependency for your own custom theme, overwrite the default variables to make it fit your design ideas or start overwriting/adding rules for more extensive changes.

Maybe your imagination goes way beyond the direction main.css and basics.css take and you want to create your own highly customized theme, the only CSS file really needed is essentials.css.

essentials.css

essentials.css is a technical dependency for all AUX widgets and is required for the functionality of the library. Experts might feel the need to overwrite even rules from this layer of CSS but be warned - changes can lead to unpredictable results. It is not recommended to skip this file while developing a theme from scratch, neither is making any changes to it recommended.

Icons

AUX widget library comes with a set of icons. To see a list of available icons open the file styles/fonts/AUX.html in a browser. This set will grow in the future while keeping backwards compatibility. It occupies private space unicode chars from ô€€€ onwards. A dependent CSS file defines rules to offer classes like .aux-icon.gear or .aux-icon.lowpass. Additionally these icons can be used directly in the Icon widget, e.g. <awml-icon icon=play></awml-icon> or <awml-button icon=question></awml-button>.