Xfce Forum

newuser3

Member

Registered: 2023-04-04

Posts: 4

(thunar) Can I use different icons/themes for different folders?

I have two folders whose files/subfolders have similar names. These are shared files/folders and I cannot rename them.

To avoid mixing up the files, I'd like to customize thunar so that e.g. all files/subfolders under folder #1 use one theme and/or icons, and the ones in folder #2 use a different theme and/or icons. I only need this modification in thunar and not elsewhere in xfce -- off-hand I can't think of any other ways such customization might affect the rest of xfce but I could have overlooked something; what I meant to say is that I don't require this modification to affect the rest of xfce.

Thanks for your help!

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: (thunar) Can I use different icons/themes for different folders?

The only thing that might work would be to use customized thumbnails for folders. Using this procedure, you can create a custom thumbnail for any folder.

---

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

mint4all

Member

From: off the map

Registered: 2018-08-21

Posts: 276

Re: (thunar) Can I use different icons/themes for different folders?

I have two folders whose files/subfolders have similar names. These are shared files/folders and I cannot rename them.

To avoid mixing up the files, I'd like to customize thunar so that e.g. all files/subfolders under folder #1 use one theme and/or icons, and the ones in folder #2 use a different theme and/or icons. I only need this modification in thunar and not elsewhere in xfce -- off-hand I can't think of any other ways such customization might affect the rest of xfce but I could have overlooked something; what I meant to say is that I don't require this modification to affect the rest of xfce.

Thanks for your help!

Greetings!

Your question is interesting, and I remembered that years ago I read about a "FolderColor" extension for Mate and Unity ( @ http://www.webupd8.org/ ). That extension has since been moved to github, but still won't work with xfce. Looking at the python source for the Mate extension I learned that it adds "metadata" to a file/folder URI that controls customized folder colors (via a custom icon set I believe). Back in the IBM OS/2 and NT4.0 days, that's what they called "extended attributes" iirc.

Now I came across a FOSS discussion of a roughly equivalent xfce-feature introduced with Thunar v4.18: the setting of a custom background and foreground color for a particular file/folder. While it doesn't recolor the actual thumbnail/icon (thus doen't mess with your icon theme), after testing it a bit I think it does do a decent job of highlighting selected files/folders for user purposes. Perhaps worth a try? Since Thunar accomplishes this with metadata-strings attached to the file/folder's URI, it doesn't introduce any added digital cruft. Perhaps this feature would work for you?

Cheers, m4a

Last edited by mint4all (2023-08-19 22:04:25)

---

Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support

advice1010

Member

Registered: 2023-02-19

Posts: 105

Re: (thunar) Can I use different icons/themes for different folders?

Sorry if this is not relevant, you mention that you don't "need" it to but you did not say you dont' "want" it to show up elsewhere.
Would using different "Emblems" on your two folders work for you?  I am not sure how they apply to other elements within XFCE / your setup?
Again I apologize if this is not relevant to what you are looking for.

I had a similar question, I thought you could change folder icons in XFCE / Thunar for specific folders, but I recently realized that this cannot be done?
I thought I was just overlooking something.

Anyways hope this helps

Last edited by advice1010 (2023-08-19 21:56:07)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: (thunar) Can I use different icons/themes for different folders?

I had a similar question, I thought you could change folder icons in XFCE / Thunar for specific folders, but I recently realized that this cannot be done?

You can do this with customized thumbnails for folders that I linked to above.

---

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

advice1010

Member

Registered: 2023-02-19

Posts: 105

Re: (thunar) Can I use different icons/themes for different folders?

@ToZ
Hey ToZ good to see you again, thank you for the response.
I will look into this, at least there is a solution, but seems like it might be more of a trick, hopefully XFCE developers will consider adding the option like other DEs / Windows have where you can select custom folder icons by going into the folders "properties".
Home / Bookmark default folders have different folder icons so it seems possible, just wish the feature would be made available to users.

Thank you again though for your response.