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Simplified Theming for Big Box

LaunchBox for Windows

šŸ“‹ Summary

Make theming for Big Box more accessible by simplifying the theming language and providing better tools and documentation. The current XAML-based system is powerful but requires programming knowledge, which makes it difficult for designers and hobbyists to create or modify themes.

šŸŽÆ Feature Overview

  • Introduce a simpler markup-style theming language, inspired by web standards like:

    • HTML + CSS for layout and styling.

    • Lightweight scripting (e.g., JavaScript-like logic) for animations and interactivity.

  • Add a visual theme editor or live preview tool within Big Box or LaunchBox, so users can design and test themes without coding.

  • Create an official theming documentation hub, including:

    • Starter templates and component examples.

    • Style references and layout guides.

    • Tutorials for both beginners and advanced creators.

šŸ›  Example Use Case

A designer wants to make a minimalist grid-based theme.

  • Current process: Must learn XAML syntax and understand C# bindings.

  • Proposed process: Use a simple markup layout and CSS-like stylingā€”or adjust visuals directly in a built-in editorā€”with instant preview.

šŸ“¦ Benefits

  • šŸ§  Makes theming approachable for non-programmers.

  • šŸ§° Encourages more community-made themes and experimentation.

  • šŸš€ Speeds up theme creation and customization.

  • šŸ“š Builds a stronger, more diverse theme creator community.

  • šŸŒ Improves consistency and flexibility across all Big Box setups.

šŸ’” Notes

This would future-proof Big Boxā€™s theming framework by aligning it more closely with familiar design paradigms, lowering the learning curve, and encouraging broader creative participation.

Posted by elwooha6 Ā·
Status: Open To Community3 comments

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Comments3

  • AstroBob changed status to Open To Community
    Teamā€¢

    Oct 25, 2025

    Pinned

    Hi there!

    Thanks so much for submitting this request and for taking the time to explain your use case ā€” that context is always super helpful.

    Iā€™ve gone ahead and fleshed out the main idea using the info you provided, and Iā€™m opening it up to the community for further discussion and feedback. Please let me know if this fleshed-out version doesnā€™t match your original intended request.

    Feel free to let me know if you have any extra thoughts, examples, or edge cases you think might be relevant!

    Cheers,
    The LaunchBox team

  • light.sock6996

    ā€¢

    Feb 22

    I think itā€™s a bad idea because XAML has been well implemented for years in BigBox and it would require a considerable amount of development time to fix something that ainā€™t broken. I know XAML can be a pain but anyone can learn it nowadays with the help of a context-aware LLM. Plus thereā€™s CTC which is a full blown visual editor to mitigate this exact issue.

    Plus the alternative you brought up would impact performance and would be less than ideal knowing BigBox already has to do miracles in order to get huge libraries loading fine. I would rather see the dev time spent on performance improvements on the current stack.

    I already asked if they were interested in rewriting the core LaunchBox because it would benefit from a new codebase for multi-OS support and massive performance gains. Unless they open source their current codebase they wouldnā€™t be able to pull off such a rewrite without impacting dev time on the current version, which would impact paying users. Anyway their answer was ā€œnot gonna happenā€ so I believe this hasnā€™t changed over the past few years.

    But even if they would completely rewrite LaunchBox I think it would be easier to keep WPF support with something like Avalonia for Mac and Linux support.

    Take this with a grain of salt, Iā€™m not an expert, but as a theme creator Iā€™m against this feature request.

  • elwooha6

    ā€¢

    Oct 25, 2025

    Theming for BigBox CrossPlat

    Problem: Theming for BigBox is currently a task that requires programming knowledge.

    Desired Solution: Simpler method for theming so that a simple-minded designer like me can actually make something coherent.

    To be clear Iā€™m not even a complete novice with programming but when I try to convert my xml knowledge into xaml knowledge my brain pickles and catches on fire because I canā€™t make head nor tails of it. I figure now is the time to request simpler theme creation since the cross platform rewrite is hopefully in the design/early phases.

    I think this request could be tackled in a couple ways. Adopting a simple markup-style language for themes, something that feels more like traditional html+css for layout and javascript for logic. As well as a robust documentation hub so anyone looking to create something unique has a place to go instead of having to try and pick apart existing themes, hoping their caveman attempts to distinguish the important bits bears fruit.

    Maybe the ideas here are way off but the tldr is this: theming needs to be more accessible so anyone with a healthy interest in it can make something cool to share.