Well then, did the panels look like this before you installed the new theme? Judging from some screenshots on the net, Mandriva seems to have a custom background for the panel looking like yours. I use Debian so I wouldn't know where this is kept. Maybe you should look for a panel.rc.

Also, if you create a .gtkrc-2.0 file and place it in your home folder, maybe it will overwrite the panel.rc that your Mandriva distro might be using. I have never used Mandriva but a .gtkrc-2.0 has always overwritten my panel for Archlinux and xubuntu.

It is strange, but I don't have gtkrc-2.0 file in my home folder, neither in the ~/ folder...

Should I edit from /usr/share/themes/themename...  :?

The file you're looking for is hidden, i.e it's not gtkrc-2.0 but .gtkrc-2.0. You need to enable the option to show hidden files in Thunar to see it.

Should I edit from /usr/share/themes/themename...  :?

style "panel"
{
  bg[NORMAL] = "#181818"
  bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "panel.png"
  fg[NORMAL] = "#FFFFFF"
  }

widget_class "*Panel*"      style "panel"
widget "*Panel*"            style "panel"
class "*Panel*"             style "panel"

Change the bg[NORMAL] color to whatever theme you want to match, and the fg[NORMAL] for readable text.

As for the panel.png, it should be 1 pixel wide, and as tall as you want your panel. It can be totally transparent to give the glossy effect over you bg[NORMAL] color..... or it can be a solid image like a gradient that will be placed and repeated over your bg[NORMAL] color.....

let me know if any of this works for you.

When I install a GTK theme, everything is OK, except the panel's colour   :-(

How could I fix that?

I am with Mandriva 2009.0, xfwm4.

Are you using a gtkrc-2.0 for the panel image?

If so, you would need to either delete the old gtkrc-2.0 file, or edit it to use your new theme's colors and a new image to match.

To me, it looks as if you used a clear "panel.png" of the kokodi xfwm4 theme..... it's something I use to do and a tip I've shared on the web for people that use the kokodi xfwm4 theme and would like a matching panel image.

If you use the clear image (with that glossy effect), and compositing turned on..... all you have to do is change your bg[NORMAL] to the matching color of your new theme.

Another hint for you. It seems that the "panel.png" image that the gtkrc-2.0 you are using is probably about 25px tall, and your panel is set to about 35px tall..... so it repeats itself instead of looking like a smooth glossy effect.

Try a bigger image, or make the panel the same height. If the panel image is clear, then like I said above, all you need to do is edit the bg[NORMAL] = "#3C3C3C" for the dark gray color, or bg[NORMAL] = "#3E6CA8" for the dark blue colors of your theme.

How could I fix that?

I am with Mandriva 2009.0, xfwm4.