Conky-FULL 012417 1.5

****** NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS --  November 30,2019

UPDATE: A new version of Conky-FULL has been released for the 1.10* branch of conky. It includes a redesigned Theme Manager, smaller footprint, more themes, a new weather routine, a two-year cartoon script and some tool improvements. You can find it here:

www.deviantart.com/im-wayfarer…

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The image above shows Conky-Full and 14 of the 30 available themes. This version is designed for version 1.09* of conky. Those using newer releases should download the version from the link above.

Conky-FULL includes nine theme management utilities: Conky Theme Manager, Conky Theme Editor, Wallpaper Wizard, Root Wall Wizard, four flavors of a utility to manage the display of HDD/Partions, and a tool to modify the DPI (dots-per-inch) font values on the system. The suite is designed to make the conky highly versatile, easily configurable  and compatible with virtually any wallpaper, To accomplish this last feat, Conky-FULL employs a pallette management scheme that allows users to easily modify the colors for the various aspects of the conky and easily create their own themes.

The tools allow users to easily navigate and apply any of 30 different color schemes; configure network, battery, WIFI quality and media player montors; launch the theme editor, three additional conkys, a color selector, and two wallpaper configuration utilities; toggle between two different graphical configurations that utilize colored RAM, SWAP and HDD/Partition or gradient monitor bars, or between two different options related to the way the conky displays in relation to the wallpaper; and launch/relaunch the main conky, kill the conky, manually edit the configuration or access the help file. Additionally, one can monitor the "Caps Lock" and "Num Lock" keys (the bottom two corner decorations, left for num and right for caps).

The theme editor permits users to modify most aspects of the Conky without having to learn the coding structure, as well as launch the color and gradient bars managers. The last tools were a late addition to the Conky-FULL suite after a realization that configuring the monitor bars configurations would require users probe about in a lua file, commenting out lines, replacing lines and setting vertical offsets. Since the initial reason for this was to make configuring the conky easy for techies and newbies alike, it seemed the next obvious step.

The package includes Wallpaper Wizard and Root Wall Wizard. Wallpaper Wizard allow resizing graphics to accommodate virtually any size monitor and alternately modifying the result with a host of effects ranging from enhancement to blurring, from modifying the resized image into an impressionist painting to sharpening a small image that was fallen in love with years ago but abandoned because it did not look good stretched to fit today's larger monitors. The results can then be assigned to the screen or even saved into one's library.

The Root Wall Wizard also permits modifying the images in all the ways the Wallpaper Wizard does and a few more. However, it does not assign the desktop wallpaper, but rather the "root" wallpaper. When Conky is set in "Transparent" mode, and desktop transparency is enabled, the root wallpaper is visible through the Conky. This allows a user to have a crisp image on the desktop but behind the Conky the image is blurred and/or darkened, etched in granite, sketched in colored pencil, set in graytones, and a host of other options. In addition, effects can be combined or repeated until the result is satisfying and the Conky is clearly visible - no matter the wallpaper. When the Conky is set in "Gradient" mode, an adjustable tinted background is available. In Gradient Mode the editor also provides controls to adjust the gradient color and set the display from fully transparent to completely opaque.

Comprehensive information about Conky-FULL is available in the "ReadME.txt and "HelpME.txt" files. The second is the click of a button away in the Conky-FULL Theme Manager. It includes information on how to add your own color schemes, the various music players supported, network customization, and use of the two wallpaper wizards. I highly encourage reading both files to get the most out of the Conky and answer questions that are certain to arise.

Additionally, tooltips are available for all the GUI utility buttons and sometimes on the banners to make navigation and understanding as easy as possible.

To make the entire Conky work properly, one must have yad, gtkdialog, imagemagick, lm-sensors, hddtemp, feh, gcolor2, fortunes (plus fortunes-off), python-feedparser, xdotool, gifsicle and libimlib2 and (optionally) pinta installed. You will also need two font packages, DejaVu and Ubuntu Title. Some of these may be installed by default in your system. Don't omit the installation of the font packages. That will definitely impact the vertical and horizontal spacing.

Two additional Conkys can be launched and closed from the theme manager inlude a headline summary of news and lifestyle sites around the web and a program launcher that (kinda) integrates into the main Conky. The interactive launcher, I-Launch, requires manual editing of a .lua file. Additional icons are available in the Conky-FULL directory.

Update: Editor now handles Network changes more effectively.