Archetypal

I created the Archetypal theme based on the layout of Netscape Navigator 4. Unlike common browsers which offer minimal control over web navigation, Netscape gave users an almost overwhelming amount of controls. This made it perfect to test out the various features of K-Meleon and its skin system. The name is based on the idea that Netscape was a fundamental part of our collective imagination of what the web was and what it could be. To use this theme:

1. Download the .zip file below.
2. Extract the .zip file and place the Archetypal folder in your K-Meleon/skins/ folder or profile/skins/ folder.
3. Open K-Meleon and press F2 to open the preferences window. Choose the HighResolution skin and set your toolbar size.
4. Restart K-Meleon for changes to take affect.

Screenshots

• K-Meleon 76 running at a high resolution.
• And K-Meleon 74 running at a lower resolution. The theme was built for the current version of K-Meleon, but takes advantage of the backwards compatability in K-Meleon's theme system.
• It even runs on K-Meleon 1.5 for Windows 98 and although many of the more interesting buttons like Restart don't have an appropriate command, the navigation buttons all work fine.
• The arrows beside many buttons indicate available right-click menus with more functionality.
• Even though this is a classic-style skin, it contains a Privacy Bar that works perfectly on KM75+ but does not crash older versions and a hidden-by-default bonus menu with window management features like "Show all tabs," "Show all windows," and undo.
• Using the Moonscape theme to style about pages is possible.
• Compact toolbar setups are of course also possible, especially if K-Meleon hides the tab bar when only one tab is open.

Tips

This theme offers a lot of buttons. The small grip button beside the URL bar locks and unlocks the toolbars. Right-click it to see a list of available toolbars. The "guide" button will search the K-Meleon forums rather than a search engine. You may notice a little arrow on many buttons, these indicate that there is considerable functionality available in the right-click menu for that button. The go button is the default location for XUL-based extensions to place their buttons. The privacy bar menus are available from a toolbar button now. If you're adding toolbar buttons to a theme be sure to check out menuicons.cfg as its comments list menu locations in the browser for most of the command icons.

Links

• K-Meleon forum thread about Archetypal. Feel free to drop by if you have questions.
• K-Meleon Wiki Tutorial on installing, modifying, and creating skins for the browser.
• FOXSCAPE theme by Michael Walden. Most of the artwork in Archetypal comes from this theme and it would not possible without it as a valuable resource.