1. TBacker's Avatar
    I'm trying to do some basic tweaks and cleanup of the default theme for my Storm.

    I'm having some frustrating issues with Plazmic and hope a theme developer or two has some insight.

    1. I'm trying to standardize on the BB Alpha Sans fonts as they are decent, fully sizable, etc. However, in many cases they won't stay aligned as set, and the sizes as designed are not what actually appears on the device or simulator. Case in point is the clock in the banners - I set a size and position and set it to center align, but when I run the theme in the real world, the damn thing aligns left and the size is off a bit. Another case is the network status (1xev, 1XEV...). I set it to the right size, and in the real world, it's so tiny it's almost unreadable.

    2. I have yet to make any changes to the app launch button layouts (this is a variant of Precision Zen), but when I run the theme in the real world in landscape, the two rows of buttons are like 50 - 60 pixels off the bottom of the screen, almost like it's expecting a menu bar down there or something.

    It just seems like Plazmic is buggy as ****, or minimally, no where near realistic in it's layout. I'm spending twice as much time on buggyness as I am on the theme itself.

    BTW - I'm running the last released version from March.

    Am I missing something?
    07-10-09 12:21 PM
  2. Collins521's Avatar
    For the font centering, it's going to center to where ever the box is that is for the time/network/etc...so that box is where it's going to center, if you are trying to center it on the whole screen you'll need to drag the box from each side to side so it centers in the center of the screen
    07-10-09 12:46 PM
  3. BboyerUGA's Avatar
    I'm trying to do some basic tweaks and cleanup of the default theme for my Storm.

    I'm having some frustrating issues with Plazmic and hope a theme developer or two has some insight.

    1. I'm trying to standardize on the BB Alpha Sans fonts as they are decent, fully sizable, etc. However, in many cases they won't stay aligned as set, and the sizes as designed are not what actually appears on the device or simulator. Case in point is the clock in the banners - I set a size and position and set it to center align, but when I run the theme in the real world, the damn thing aligns left and the size is off a bit. Another case is the network status (1xev, 1XEV...). I set it to the right size, and in the real world, it's so tiny it's almost unreadable.

    2. I have yet to make any changes to the app launch button layouts (this is a variant of Precision Zen), but when I run the theme in the real world in landscape, the two rows of buttons are like 50 - 60 pixels off the bottom of the screen, almost like it's expecting a menu bar down there or something.

    It just seems like Plazmic is buggy as ****, or minimally, no where near realistic in it's layout. I'm spending twice as much time on buggyness as I am on the theme itself.

    BTW - I'm running the last released version from March.

    Am I missing something?
    Welcome to the trials and tribulations of a theme builder. We're expected to do so much with so little. As for the font sizes, always do bigger. They do shrink on the device for go knows whatever reason.

    As for #2, what do you mean app launch button? Do you mean the application screen? Cuz the homescreen doesn't have a landscape view.
    07-10-09 12:54 PM
  4. TBacker's Avatar
    For the font centering, it's going to center to where ever the box is that is for the time/network/etc...so that box is where it's going to center, if you are trying to center it on the whole screen you'll need to drag the box from each side to side so it centers in the center of the screen
    Yup - that's what I've been doing. I'll center the box on the screen, and set the box to center align (in it's fonts setting in the inspector).

    I've even tried making the box as wide as the screen (there's nothing else on either side) and making sure it's set for center justify. Same result. It's almost as if, for the time display, the box size and justifications are just being ignored or not exported.

    Looks fine in Plazmic, offset in real life. I'm not near the development machine right now to do a screen cap.
    07-10-09 01:11 PM
  5. TBacker's Avatar
    As for #2, what do you mean app launch button? Do you mean the application screen?
    The app screen in landscape. There's two rows of icons / buttons. The bottom edge of the bottom row is normally supposed to be on the bottom edge of the display. In this case is about 60 px above it.

    I'm about to start from total scratch on this. Thought I was saving time by starting with the Zen option at startup, but it seems like it's a bit strange to begin with.

    Unless I can somehow extract the default Verizon Zen theme from my device and start with that... Hmmm. This is a lot of trouble to make me feel more warm and fuzzy about my phone
    07-10-09 01:15 PM
  6. BboyerUGA's Avatar
    The app screen in landscape. There's two rows of icons / buttons. The bottom edge of the bottom row is normally supposed to be on the bottom edge of the display. In this case is about 60 px above it.

    I'm about to start from total scratch on this. Thought I was saving time by starting with the Zen option at startup, but it seems like it's a bit strange to begin with.

    Unless I can somehow extract the default Verizon Zen theme from my device and start with that... Hmmm. This is a lot of trouble to make me feel more warm and fuzzy about my phone
    Yea...ALWAYS do custom. If you do the zen or today it always messes up. I dunno why. Also, are there more than 8 icons in the app screen cuz that could be why there is a big gap (if there are less than 8)
    07-10-09 01:21 PM
  7. TBacker's Avatar
    Thanks guys for the help!

    Nice to know I'm not nuts and Plazmic is, ummm, shall we say problematic.

    It makes the advanced themes you and others release even more impressive when you know the development **** that it must be. I'm just trying to refine an existing simple theme and I've been ready to get uzzi out and head for a rooftop!
    07-10-09 01:32 PM
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