Color Keyboard Guide

[Phatmartino]

Hey, apologies I didn't get around to it yesterday... It's just another 20 arrays referencing the two new images...

I'll get it done for ya right after work today!

[Andreas Larsen]

That's perfect. I'm still in the process of the designing the rest of the theme so no stress at all

[Daniel0592]

Hello! Im trying to create a Fallout 3 Theme and'd really like to add a custom keyboard via winterboard. Can anyone tell me where I can find the files I need to customize?

[BenderRodriguez]

Hello! Im trying to create a Fallout 3 Theme and'd really like to add a custom keyboard via winterboard. Can anyone tell me where I can find the files I need to customize?

Library/ColorKeyboard/

[BenderRodriguez]

any news on the White Lines?

the White Top line above the keyboard...
the White Lines around the keys...

[Miss_KamiKaze]

Oh Oh my brain =3 something which seems to be so eay..is not really that eay to a noob Thanks for all the hard work you have put in for this Phatmartino!!! Also, wow for sticking with the thread and helping people for so long!! Rare to see!

I'm sure I'll be checking back in with questions. Just playing around for now =P Again Thanks, Great work!

[Andreas Larsen]

Hey, apologies I didn't get around to it yesterday... It's just another 20 arrays referencing the two new images...

I'll get it done for ya right after work today!

Hope I don't sound too impatient but I've got almost everything themed now except the dial and calculator and I want those to fit to the style of the keyboard - so when you have the time to look at those arrays I will be very thankful

any news on the White Lines?

the White Top line above the keyboard...
the White Lines around the keys...

I tried writing the developer of color keyboard but he didn't get back to me - would really want to remove 'em

[criticalsun]

Hey i was just wondering how do you change the color of the text on the pop up key? i looked everywhere for it and i cant seem to find a solution to it. the defult color is black on the text and i want to change it to a custom color. where do i change this? i just cant seem to find the code or the location to modify it. is it even changable? can some one reply back ASAP when they see this message. really need a helping hand; thanks!

Hey i was just wondering how do you change the color of the text on the pop up key? i looked everywhere for it and i cant seem to find a solution to it. the defult color is black on the text and i want to change it to a custom color. where do i change this? i just cant seem to find the code or the location to modify it. is it even changable? can some one reply back ASAP when they see this message. really need a helping hand; thanks!

[Phatmartino]

any news on the White Lines?

the White Top line above the keyboard...
the White Lines around the keys...

Hey, I'm guessing that anyone having somehow figured out something new (including myself) would shout it from rooftops the second they do... lol

As I said, I took as many guesses as I could come up with, and it's very possible it doesn't matter if we were to guess right... the Color Keyboard tweak may need to be updated to accommodate anyway...

Oh Oh my brain =3 something which seems to be so eay..is not really that eay to a noob Thanks for all the hard work you have put in for this Phatmartino!!! Also, wow for sticking with the thread and helping people for so long!! Rare to see!

I'm sure I'll be checking back in with questions. Just playing around for now =P Again Thanks, Great work!

Thanks!

Very nice to hear, though I admittedly quickly became so overwhelmed with CK support requests of all kinds, here and even more so behind the scenes via email, iMess, Twitter, you name it... that I feel I've let this guide fall way behind... Once you've done this much HTML formatting to a thread, it's (to me) far more daunting to try and edit/update than a ColorKeyboard.plist... Lol. So I've always enjoyed at least continuing to try and answer all questions as they come up...

A long time ago, YS Kim (the CK Dev) told me that this guide really inspired him to go even further with CK maintenance and expansion (around iOS 4)... Maybe if I can make the time to give this guide a huge facelift, it'll coax him back into the game?

Anyway, post any little questions you may have along the way, it's always my (and several other regulars') pleasure to help out!

Hey i was just wondering how do you change the color of the text on the pop up key? i looked everywhere for it and i cant seem to find a solution to it. the defult color is black on the text and i want to change it to a custom color. where do i change this? i just cant seem to find the code or the location to modify it. is it even changable? can some one reply back ASAP when they see this message. really need a helping hand; thanks!

Hey there!

The Popup text (and nearly every other little bit) are definitely changeable!

Though it does entirely depend on the setup of the plist you're working in, as to what needs to be altered and where it is... The CK.plist is a crazy versatile animal that allows at least a few different way to achieve most things.

Can you post a copy of your plist? I'd be happy to take a look and tell you what to look for...

Hope I don't sound too impatient but I've got almost everything themed now except the dial and calculator and I want those to fit to the style of the keyboard - so when you have the time to look at those arrays I will be very thankful

I tried writing the developer of color keyboard but he didn't get back to me - would really want to remove 'em

Ok, here's the skinny...

I was surprised to find that just trying to include the 20 new arrays only for the NumberPad images didn't work as expected. I had never needed to do this specifically, and just assumed it would work... It should really, I don't understand what the problem is, but as I just mentioned... there's usually a workaround.

So, slightly more than 700 lines of code later, it is possible to include all of the arrays that a Full Background Image theme would use (intended to call 108 separate BG images) and just change the image name in all to reference the 4 images we're trying to use. That works, no prob. But...

I assumed that you'd want to make the bottom left and right keys on the Npads the same gray color as the Function Keys on the rest of the normal kbs... Which I tried mocking up image-wise, and that left all code controlling those two keys needing white text instead of black like the rest. So unfortunately I ran into a snag... Most of the different instances those two keys can be in, are controllable via "Keyname" instead of "DisplayType", and the Keyname parameters are listed on the CK project site, but a few of them are not, and I incorrectly guessed at them until I ran out of ideas...

So, there are two options at the moment:

1. Include all the needed code to have the 2 separate NumberPad images be used, having all white keys:





2. Forego the separate Npad images and the 700 lines of code, and use the same BG images as the rest of the kb:




I know that neither situation is ideal, and I apologize it took so long to get to this point... lol


Let me know if either of these seem like a viable option to you.

[Andreas Larsen]

Hey, I'm guessing that anyone having somehow figured out something new (including myself) would shout it from rooftops the second they do... lol

As I said, I took as many guesses as I could come up with, and it's very possible it doesn't matter if we were to guess right... the Color Keyboard tweak may need to be updated to accommodate anyway...





Thanks!

Very nice to hear, though I admittedly quickly became so overwhelmed with CK support requests of all kinds, here and even more so behind the scenes via email, iMess, Twitter, you name it... that I feel I've let this guide fall way behind... Once you've done this much HTML formatting to a thread, it's (to me) far more daunting to try and edit/update than a ColorKeyboard.plist... Lol. So I've always enjoyed at least continuing to try and answer all questions as they come up...

A long time ago, YS Kim (the CK Dev) told me that this guide really inspired him to go even further with CK maintenance and expansion (around iOS 4)... Maybe if I can make the time to give this guide a huge facelift, it'll coax him back into the game?

Anyway, post any little questions you may have along the way, it's always my (and several other regulars') pleasure to help out!




Hey there!

The Popup text (and nearly every other little bit) are definitely changeable!

Though it does entirely depend on the setup of the plist you're working in, as to what needs to be altered and where it is... The CK.plist is a crazy versatile animal that allows at least a few different way to achieve most things.

Can you post a copy of your plist? I'd be happy to take a look and tell you what to look for...






Ok, here's the skinny...

I was surprised to find that just trying to include the 20 new arrays only for the NumberPad images didn't work as expected. I had never needed to do this specifically, and just assumed it would work... It should really, I don't understand what the problem is, but as I just mentioned... there's usually a workaround.

So, slightly more than 700 lines of code later, it is possible to include all of the arrays that a Full Background Image theme would use (intended to call 108 separate BG images) and just change the image name in all to reference the 4 images we're trying to use. That works, no prob. But...

I assumed that you'd want to make the bottom left and right keys on the Npads the same gray color as the Function Keys on the rest of the normal kbs... Which I tried mocking up image-wise, and that left all code controlling those two keys needing white text instead of black like the rest. So unfortunately I ran into a snag... Most of the different instances those two keys can be in, are controllable via "Keyname" instead of "DisplayType", and the Keyname parameters are listed on the CK project site, but a few of them are not, and I incorrectly guessed at them until I ran out of ideas...

So, there are two options at the moment:

1. Include all the needed code to have the 2 separate NumberPad images be used, having all white keys:





2. Forego the separate Npad images and the 700 lines of code, and use the same BG images as the rest of the kb:




I know that neither situation is ideal, and I apologize it took so long to get to this point... lol


Let me know if either of these seem like a viable option to you.

1) Thank you!

2) Don't apologize - it's amazing what you do to help.

3) I think I could option 2 will be just fine, sorry to have caused you that much work though If you could send me the plist for option two I'll have a look at it and probably come back with a question or two

[Phatmartino]

Sure thing, here's a copy of the new plist...


circul8newplist.zip


I made the NumberPad Key "Rectangles" turn the Blue color when pressed, if you happen to want to change/tweak that, just look for these under <key>CustomColor</key>:

NpadPressedFGbegin

NpadPressedFGend


You could possibly just make an iP4 version, and the Landscape BG image will be auto-stretched for iP5... Don't think there's anything that would be lost on yours if it's stretched, but if you like, instead you could also include an iP5 specific version, and make that one's Land.png image 1136x324.


Let us know how it all goes, and obviously ask any little questions that may be necessary...

Hello! Im trying to create a Fallout 3 Theme and'd really like to add a custom keyboard via winterboard. Can anyone tell me where I can find the files I need to customize?

Hey, sorry I meant to grab this in the last multi reply and ended up missing it...

What BenderBendingRodriguez stated was the location on device of files involving the Color Keyboard tweak, which is generally the only way to theme the keyboard these days... The old method used WinterBoard and iAcces together to make a crude keyboard theme that is way out of date at this point...

If you're not specifically familiar with the Color Keyboard tweak and want to look into it, it's a paid tweak that costs a couple bucks on the BigBoss repo... It's totally up-to-date compared to iAcces, but does suffer from a wide variety of newer-ish annoying little bugs. Mainly visual anomalies, and the few functionality bugs do kind of involve more obscure instances... Feel a little bad turning anyone on to a paid tweak that's full of little bugs and has a bleak outlook as far as possible updating, but...

If you get into Color Keyboard theming, this is the place to maybe get a little backround info in the first few posts, and ask questions during/thereafter to your hearts content.

[criticalsun]

Ok heres the code(ill send you a plist as well; msg me if you have any problems):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>CustomColor</key>
<array>
<array>
<string>CKTextColor</string>
<string>6E6E6EFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKTextShadowColor</string>
<string>FFFFFFFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKHighlight</string>
<string>9DCF0BFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKGrayBegin</string>
<string>FFFFFFFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKGrayEnd</string>
<string>E3E3E3FF</string>
</array>

<array>
<string>CKTextColor2</string>
<string>FFFFFFFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKTextShadowColor2</string>
<string>FFFFFFFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKHighlight2</string>
<string>9DCF0BFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKGray2Begin</string>
<string>939BA6FF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKGray2End</string>
<string>666F7EFF</string>
</array>

<array>
<string>UIKBColorBackgroundStandardLine1</string>
<string>000000FF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>UIKBColorBackgroundStandardLine2</string>
<string>FFFFFFFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>UIKBColorBackgroundStandardGradientStart </string>
<string>FFFFFFFF</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>UIKBColorBackgroundStandardGradientEnd</string>
<string>9E9E9EFF</string>
</array>
</array>
<key>CustomLinearGradient</key>
<array>
<array>
<string>CKGradientGray</string>
<string>CKGrayBegin</string>
<string>CKGrayEnd</string>
</array>
<array>
<string>CKGradientGray2</string>
<string>CKGray2Begin</string>
<string>CKGray2End</string>
</array>
</array>
<key>Styles</key>
<dict>
<key>iPhone-Alert</key>
<array>
<array>
<string>DisplayType=DynamicString,DualString,Strin g,Space,Top-Level-Domain,Top-Level-Domain-Variant;ControlState=3</string>
<dict>
<key>EtchColor</key>
<string>CKTextShadowColor</string>
<key>ForegroundGradient</key>
<string>CKGradientGray</string>
<key>HighlightColor</key>
<string>CKHighlight</string>
<key>SymbolColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor</string>
<key>SymbolSecondaryColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor</string>
</dict>
</array>
<array>
<string>DisplayType=Return,Dictation,International ,More,Delete,Shift,Dismiss,Command;ControlState=3</string>
<dict>
<key>EtchColor</key>
<string>CKTextShadowColor2</string>
<key>ForegroundGradient</key>
<string>CKGradientGray2</string>
<key>HighlightColor</key>
<string>CKHighlight2</string>
<key>SymbolColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor2</string>
</dict>
</array>
<array>
<string>DisplayType=Shift;ControlState=6,7</string>
<dict>
<key>EtchColor</key>
<string>CKTextShadowColor2</string>
<key>ForegroundGradient</key>
<string>CKGradientGray2</string>
<key>HighlightColor</key>
<string>CKHighlight2</string>
<key>SymbolColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor2</string>
</dict>
</array>
</array>
<key>iPhone-Standard</key>
<array>
<array>
<string>DisplayType=DynamicString,DualString,Strin g,Space,Top-Level-Domain,Top-Level-Domain-Variant;ControlState=3</string>
<dict>
<key>EtchColor</key>
<string>CKTextShadowColor</string>
<key>ForegroundGradient</key>
<string>CKGradientGray</string>
<key>HighlightColor</key>
<string>CKHighlight</string>
<key>SymbolColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor</string>
<key>SymbolSecondaryColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor</string>
</dict>
</array>
<array>
<string>DisplayType=Return,Dictation,International ,More,Delete,Shift,Dismiss,Command;ControlState=3</string>
<dict>
<key>EtchColor</key>
<string>CKTextShadowColor2</string>
<key>ForegroundGradient</key>
<string>CKGradientGray2</string>
<key>HighlightColor</key>
<string>CKHighlight2</string>
<key>SymbolColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor2</string>
</dict>
</array>
<array>
<string>DisplayType=Shift;ControlState=6,7</string>
<dict>
<key>EtchColor</key>
<string>CKTextShadowColor2</string>
<key>ForegroundGradient</key>
<string>CKGradientGray2</string>
<key>HighlightColor</key>
<string>CKHighlight2</string>
<key>SymbolColor</key>
<string>CKTextColor2</string>
</dict>
</array>
</array>
</dict>
<key>BackgroundGradients</key>
<array>
<string>UIKBColorBlack</string>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>

[Andreas Larsen]

And I'm back (been busy releasing the theme to cydia and dealing with rip offs unfortunately)

I've released the CK to the ones who have donated to charity and they love it, so thank you very much for the help!

I only have one element that I want to tweak if possible and that's the grey separator lines between the keys on the numpad - is it possible?

[Alfroggy]

And I'm back (been busy releasing the theme to cydia and dealing with rip offs unfortunately)

I've released the CK to the ones who have donated to charity and they love it, so thank you very much for the help!

I only have one element that I want to tweak if possible and that's the grey separator lines between the keys on the numpad - is it possible?

Not possible no :-/

Thank you for C8 :thumbsup:

[sand_man]

Sorry to interrupt but is there a way to eliminate the popup keys altogether during normal typing?

Apologies if this has already been answered in this thread. Got through the 1st couple of pages and found it a technically challenging read.

TIA

[Phatmartino]

Sorry to interrupt but is there a way to eliminate the popup keys altogether during normal typing?

Apologies if this has already been answered in this thread. Got through the 1st couple of pages and found it a technically challenging read.

TIA

Hey! You're right that it's surely not covered here because no one's ever wanted to do that...

Interesting though... You could surely include a set of Popup images that are nothing but transparent, and include the needed plist code to make:

DisplayType=String;ControlState=1

Contain transparent hex values for Etch and Symbol...

Those bits together would make the normal Popups go away completely...

I may be missing a side affect or two in my haste involving the accented Popups, but...

It generally will depend on the theme you'd like make this happen for, whether code colored (plist only) or BG images are used would determine what and where the changes would need to be made...

Can you provide a little more info... Are you making a CK theme, or looking to do this with a theme(s) your just using?

Doesn't matter which, but different plists will need different alterations...

There's definitely a way, happy to help.

[sand_man]

Hey! You're right that it's surely not covered here because no one's ever wanted to do that...

Interesting though... You could surely include a set of Popup images that are nothing but transparent, and include the needed plist code to make:

DisplayType=String;ControlState=1

Contain transparent hex values for Etch and Symbol...

Those bits together would make the normal Popups go away completely...

I may be missing a side affect or two in my haste involving the accented Popups, but...

It generally will depend on the theme you'd like make this happen for, whether code colored (plist only) or BG images are used would determine what and where the changes would need to be made...

Can you provide a little more info... Are you making a CK theme, or looking to do this with a theme(s) your just using?

Doesn't matter which, but different plists will need different alterations...

There's definitely a way, happy to help.

Thank you for the prompt response.

Actually it's a request from my sister in law and soon to be 1st time user of an Apple product. I was first selling her on the iPhone and 2nd the benefits of jail breaking.

With her limited exposure to iOS thus far her only complaint thus far is the keyboard pop ups!!!

Odd I know. Was hoping for a quick fix but if one does not exist so be it.

Another odd thing I've just noticed typing this on my iPad is there no pop ups???!!!

[Phatmartino]

Thank you for the prompt response.

Actually it's a request from my sister in law and soon to be 1st time user of an Apple product. I was first selling her on the iPhone and 2nd the benefits of jail breaking.

With her limited exposure to iOS thus far her only complaint thus far is the keyboard pop ups!!!

Odd I know. Was hoping for a quick fix but if one does not exist so be it.

Another odd thing I've just noticed typing this on my iPad is there no pop ups???!!!

You're absolutely right that there are no Popups on the iPad... It's actual keys just change, unlike the iPhone... If we get rid of the Popups, there won't be any pressed indication at all, but I'm sure for someone who finds the Popups bothersome, it might be just right!

Having a couple more minutes to think about it, I might be able to whip up a couple Plugins that could conceivably override the Popups text by just arming it along with any CK Theme...

Very interesting project in a few ways, I'm kind of curious to try typing a bit with no indicators... And I'm curious how well plugins that aren't tailored for a known theme might work...

I'm in my plist editor now trying to add a bit to criticalsun's...

I'll look into it and try to post something for you, too.

[sand_man]

You're absolutely right that there are no Popups on the iPad... It's actual keys just change, unlike the iPhone... If we get rid of the Popups, there won't be any pressed indication at all, but I'm sure for someone who finds the Popups bothersome, it might be just right!

Having a couple more minutes to think about it, I might be able to whip up a couple Plugins that could conceivably override the Popups text by just arming it along with any CK Theme...

Very interesting project in a few ways, I'm kind of curious to try typing a bit with no indicators... And I'm curious how well plugins that aren't tailored for a known theme might work...

I'm in my plist editor now trying to add a bit to criticalsun's...

I'll look into it and try to post something for you, too.

Wow, thank you. Very much appreciated.

[Phatmartino]

@Andreas:

Hey, didn't get a chance to concur that the Grid on the NumberPad is an eyesore that's never been themeable...

Also, great work on c8 for sure man!! Thanks!


@sand_man:

Here's a little zip file:


~Blank~CK.zip


The unzipped folder contains:


~Blank~Plugin - This folder goes in:

/Library/ColorKeyboard/Plugins/

...and can be armed in the CK Settings app. At the bottom of your list of themes is a button to select Plugins. Multiple Plugins can be armed and stacked like Winterboard themes, so just watch that no others are/get armed as well.


~Blank~Popups - This folder goes in:

/Library/ColorKeyboard/Popups/

and can be armed like any other set of Popups in the Settings app.


Interesting in use...

Let me know if it works out/helps.



@criticalsun:

Here's a modified plist for ya...


criticalsun.zip


All I did was add the code to create definitions you can apply hex values to for the Popup Text, like the rest of the parts that were already there.

Here are the Custom Color <arrays> I added:







These are the <keys> I added to apply the new definitions above, to the Popup Text:









Let me know if this get you what you need, or if any other needs arise!