I think this is a different issue to the question of setting the sidebar theme colours. Might be worth a separate thread.

For my two cents I prefer the ST2 simple and clean layout over the TM one which is busier and uglier in my opinion. So if the TM option were to be implemented I would very much want it to be an option to choose between the two because I think Jon's current choice is the right one and wouldn't want to have it taken away and replaced with the TM one which I think is worse. 

 I actually think Sublime's version looks a lot nicer and cleaner. Folders have a > next to them. The file-ending tells you what kind of file it is. No need for extra clutter.

Theming has been possible for a while, but this is the only published custom theme I've seen:

https://github.com/buymeasoda/soda-theme

Fortunately, I've never felt like I needed another one.

You can set this for yourself.

Have a look in this file:
Packages/Theme - Default/Default.sublime-theme

You are seeking these settings:

    // Original settings

    {

        "class": "sidebar_container",

        "layer0.tint": [80, 80, 80],

        "layer0.opacity": 1.0,

        "layer0.draw_center": false,

        "layer0.inner_margin": [0, 0, 1, 0],

        "content_margin": [0, 0, 1, 0]

    },

    {

        "class": "sidebar_tree",

        "row_padding": [8, 3],

        "indent": 12,

        "indent_offset": 17,

        "layer0.tint": [214, 221, 230],

        "layer0.opacity": 1.0,

        "dark_content": false

    },

    {

        "class": "sidebar_heading",

        "color": [96, 110, 128],

        "font.bold": true,

        "shadow_color": [255, 255, 255],

        "shadow_offset": [0, 1]

    {

        "class": "sidebar_heading",

        "parents":

        [

            { "class": "tree_row", "attributes": ["selected"] }

        ],

        "shadow_color": [0, 0, 0] 

    },   

    {

        "class": "sidebar_label",

        "color": [0, 0, 0]

    },    Make a copy of those original settings so you can rollback if your experiments go wrong.

Then hack away at the settings until you get something you like. 

 
The bit you can't set there is the highlighting bar.For that you need to find this file:
Packages/Theme - Default/row_highlight_wide.png

Make a copy of that file to serve as a backup. (Safety first always!)

Then open the original file in your favourite image editor and change the colour to whatever you want.

If the changes you are making are not displaying then you may need to restart Sublime Text 2 to see the changes reflected.

Run amok and have fun. I've tried a few different ideas so far and am getting close to what I to be the permanent setting. The few hours of setting this up has been enough to convince me to buy Sublime Text 2 to reward developers who put so much control for this in my hands in such an elegant way. No nasty colour pickers etc etc. Just lovely settings I can change in the editor itself. An editor that knows its audience are savvy enough to want to use code to set things up. Simple brilliance.

Ah, this is exactly what I was looking for!  This feature should be marked as completed. 

 I agree this is "done" IMHO.

The point I forgot to make in my posting is to remember to keep a copy of your preferred settings/files in case a future update overwrites them.

Jon may need to replace the files at some point so may wipe away your hacking and a copy will make it faster to get back to where you want to be.

I have just realised that the 'right' way to do this is to copy the 'Default.sublime-theme' file into your 'Packages/User' folder and make changes in there. These changes will override the original default settings in a non-destructive way that should survive updates.

Learning, learning all the time.

If you have multiple Default.sublime-theme files, they'll be merged together (in a similar fashion to how multiple CSS files are applied). You can make a User/Default.sublime-theme file, and place only your customised rules in there - that way, when Default.sublime-theme is updated, you'll still recieve the updated portions, while retaining your customisations.

Scanning the current source tree makes it very difficult to identify between folders, files and filetypes. The current situation may be clean but this is form in favor of function. Form should enhance or compliment function not exclude it.

I propose a sidebar theming option to add icons based on filetype. Something in the like of the following:

- Folder names are bold

- Each filetype has a unique icon and preferably a unique colorcode

- Any filetype is supported but only the most common are actually themed

{"class": "sidebar_items","content_padding": [0, 0, 0, 20],"content_background_width": [16],"content_background_height": [16],"content_background_image": {"filetype:css": "Packages/Theme - Default/stylesheet.png","filetype:js": "Packages/Theme - Default/javascript.png","filetype:json": "Packages/Theme - Default/json.png"}}

Thanks!

But I'm not into integrating version control.

As VCSs are moderately complex and different from one another it would be impossible to satisfy everybody's VCS needs making you settle for a half baked solution. Use the right tool for the job, an editor for writing your code and a dedicated VCS app for versioning your code.

I think a good solution would be to integrate a bash/command prompt that follows the file you are currently editing or the folder you have highlighted in the sidebar. This way you can do VCS from the terminal without leaving sublime (as long as your VCS supports command line controls, which I think most do, even in windows)

I agree the actual operations are better managed from a dedicated client, but having visual cues is really useful to me.

https://github.com/namsral/Coder-Icons

Could you help me?

I'd like to insert these icons to Sublime, but I don't know where to paste the config you posted here.

Thx!

Hi, I love this so so so much. Can you share it? add the code above is not work, how to do it? Thank you.

I assume this is a mockup, else how did you manage to get this working in sublime text 2? This would be far more than ideal to have in ST2.

So what do y'all think?

Can we have the source, please?

That's pretty :) With that scheme, it would be nice if the background melted into the sidebar

Just place this in the Packages/User folder and save as 'Default.sublime-theme'

My Sublime Text sidebar theme

If you want the sidebar border back, just change the tint of the sidebar_container class to whatever colour you desire (snippet below).

    {        "class": "sidebar_container",        "layer0.tint": [38, 38, 38],        "layer0.opacity": 1.0,        "layer0.draw_center": false,        "layer0.inner_margin": [0, 0, 1, 0],        "content_margin": [0, 0, 1, 0]    },

You can download my modified files here: SodaWithFolders.zip

I downloaded your zip but got same errors.

I changed the Soda original theme, copied your images and created a Github repository: https://github.com/leonardofaria/soda-theme

As easy to drag and drop the images as their width and height are the same as original. So no theme modification is needed.

You can get them here → Soda-Folder-Icons.zip 

I just copied these icons and it looks excellent with the dark Soda Theme. Thanks a lot!

You've won the internet.

Yes, thanks very much.  Just great.

Thanks everyone for the helpful posts.

Cheers!

Hello. I also think that the sidebar should have a better look by default.

I personally don't care because I use soda dark light theme, but, when I take a look at the desktop of my co-workers that didn't took time to properly configure their sublime text, it's just ugly and aggressive for the eyes (all of us need to activate the sidebar, we're working on a quite big program).

Here's a version that works with the most recent version of Sublime Text 2 (as of today, 2013-02-19): download via DropBox.

(Note that only the Soda Light theme has been updated.)

Theme - Nil has a nicely themed sidebar and its .sublime-theme is commented well explaining what each of the elements do if you want to look at an example.

I use Theme - Nil, but then paste in the sidebar folder icons code from Phoenix Dark (replace all class "disclosure_button_control" entries and include file group-closed.png and group-open.png). This will give you nice folder open and closed icons.

Could you share your modified Nil theme somewhere? 

Thanks in advance!

Here are the changes to modify Nil to have sidebar folder icons instead of arrows:

https://github.com/robertcollier4/st2-nil-theme/commit/471618a62d39fb4617ce08c201d15fa61dc35d84

https://github.com/robertcollier4/st2-nil-theme/commit/1b7e70303c426a021429b2065d3016afaf3c22d9

Thanks! Much better now :)

What do y'all think of this new UI concept? This design incorporates a new sidebar design and consolidates the tab and title bars allowing more screen real estate for your code. Click the image to see a more detailed view of the design.

New UI Concept

Awesome! Where can I get it?!?  :D 

This is how columns would look:

Column Layout

It's beautiful. I would like to create a theme based on this if you can also make command palette, status and search bar. Unfortunately it's impossible to merge tab and title bar.

What a clean look! Is it possible to skin ST2/3 that much though? It should really be made as a default out of the box. Your design makes me reconsider whether I really need the footer bar.