NetBeans Twilight Theme!
May 28th in ThemesThose of you who follow us on Twitter might be aware that I've recently become smitten with Netbeans. Personally, when coding, I prefer to use a dark theme. It's less harsh on my eyes. Unfortunately, there simply aren't many available for Netbeans. After an hour or so of searching, I was able to find exactly one theme -- which was mostly specific to Ruby. So, I took it upon myself to convert the popular Twilight theme to Netbeans/PHP!
Installation Instructions
To add this theme, simply open "Preferences" ("Options" on PC) and click "Import" at the bottom. Then browse for your zip file -- do not unzip -- and click "okay!" That's it.
* Note - At this point in time, I've only coded for HTML, PHP, and JavaScript. As I'm still "debugging", so to speak, I'll continue to update the downloadable source code. If you notice any quirks/inconsistencies in the coloring, please feel free to let me know, via the comments. ... And if you like this theme, please send a link to your NetBeans buddies!
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Zy May 28th
Awesome!
( )I like that textmate-ish style!
Scott May 28th
Awesome thank you! NetBeans is fantastic.
( )RevellNL May 28th
Looks really nice! Couldn’t find an “import” option on PC though.. Just moved the content of the zip file to “C:\Documents and Settings\_USER_\.netbeans\6.5\” and it worked. Thanks for the theme!
( )Blaine May 28th
For a PC, it’s under Tools > Options > Import
( )Bingu June 14th
Thanks, I use 6.5 too. I unzip the zip file to the dir It worked now
( )Zy May 28th
Yarrr.. by the way, which version do you use? Because I’m unable to find theme import option.
And how did you achieved that solid look’n'feel of the GUI? Mine is somewhat “OMG it’s full of gradients!”…
( )Jeffrey Way May 28th
I’m using the latest nightly build. They’ve updated the UI quite a bit.
( )http://bits.netbeans.org/download/trunk/nightly/latest/
Zy May 28th
Thanks Jeff.
Meshach June 4th
Ah, thanks Jeff I was wondering why I didn’t see any import option.
Downloading 6.7 now.
mr.jinx May 28th
what version of netbeans are you using? 6.5 doesn’t have any “import” button…
( )Jeffrey Way May 28th
Sorry guys. I’m new to NetBeans and am using the 6.7 dev build. I just assumed that all versions had the import option.
If you’re using an older version, just do what @RevellNL mentioned.
( )Jeffrey Way May 28th
Or better yet – download 6.7 beta.
mr.jinx May 28th
thanks for the answer, i’ll do what @RevellNL suggested
Ryan May 28th
Which directory if using a Mac?
( )Gilbert May 28th
I’ve been using the PHP version of Netbeans for a few days now (probably spurred on by your mentions on twitter) and I’ve been impressed enough to take it on as my new IDE for PHP.
So I might have a pop at this theme. Thanks.
( )thrstn May 28th
For linux users that don’t have the import button just unzip the theme into ~/.netbeans/*YOUR_VERSION*/
( )Dan May 28th
Holy awesomeness!
( )Kevin van Zonneveld May 28th
Definitely going to give this one shot, looking good… Thanks a lot!
( )Raducu May 28th
Thanks! Already using the theme with some modifications:
- Changed the tag color to blue (a little contrast – rgb(102,153,255))
- Highlight color changed to red background and white foreground.
You should try the blue. It looks better.
( )One question though: What’s with the line in the center of the screen ?
Dan May 28th
I think that may be a guide showing him where the 80-character mark is for each line
( )Raducu May 28th
Can I disable it? (or at least change the color to match the background)
( )I don’t find the line useful right now
Anonymous May 28th
That’s the 80 column line. Tools > Options > Editor > Formatting > Right Margin in 6.5
( )Anonymous May 28th
Forgot can be changed by Tools > Options > Fonts & Colors > Highlighting > Text Limit Line
Blaine May 28th
It has to do with the right margin setting. To modify this, go to
Tools > Options > Editor > Formatting > Right Margin
( )Blaine May 28th
…on a PC
Raducu May 28th
Thanks Blaine
Finally Dreamweaver can rest in peace.
I tried Notepad++, Aptana, Zend Studio, e Text Editor and other programs but I think NetBeans is perfect for me.
Alex Weber May 28th
Awesome thanks! I’ve been looking for this exactly!
( )EllisGL May 28th
Had to change the font to Monospaced. Looks good.
( )dev3k May 28th
for linux users with netbeans 6.5 put files into /home/YOUR USER/.netbeans/6.5
( )Andrew May 28th
Yes, I dropped the “Editors” directory into the conf directory and then select “tools”> “Options” >”Font & Colors” and in the profile section, select Netbeans_Twilight then “ok”
You should see a preview at the bottom of the screen.
( )Marko Randjelovic May 28th
Thank you!
( )Yorick Peterse May 28th
NetBeans is a horrible application in my opinion, mainly because it’s performance is so damn horrible compared to other clients, such as Aptana. If you are on a mac looking for an IDE, I suggest using Komodo IDE. There’s a Ruby like template for it as well
( )Jeffrey Way May 28th
I 100% haven’t noticed these performance issues that you speak of.
( )Alex Weber May 29th
My notebook isn’t the fastest thing in the world but I actually switched from Aptana to NetBeans partly because of the performance…. and haven’t looked back.
( )Gilberto Ramos May 29th
actually netbeans is one of the best IDE for all the supported languages it has!! I don’t even think the reference you are taking to have that opinion!
( )Tubal Martin May 30th
Aptana (Eclipse) is waaaay slower than Netbeans….
( )G.L. May 31st
Netbeans is more responsive as compared to Eclipse and Aptana for me.
( )Dustin Lakin June 2nd
I love Netbeans, never seen any performance problems. Plus works great as my JAVA IDE as well. Would be happy to never see eclipse again.
( )Steve Flee October 2nd
Are you kidding? Aptana and Eclipse are slow as mollasses – and I’m running on a pretty new MacBook Pro. I switched to netbeans last week, and have been evangalistic about it in our engineering dept!
( )Donna May 28th
How does netbeans compare with Eclipse? I’ve used eclipse for java development but I can’t get the debugger working for php, so I’m looking for a new IDE. Maybe netbeans is it! I’m on windows.
( )Geoff May 29th
If Netbeans was a person, it’d be my hero! Been using it since 6.1, when the PHP plugin had a hard-coded light yellow background. Ugh! Nice to see what you’ve managed to rustle up with it. Looking forward to trying this out.
( )Sirupsen May 29th
For some odd reason I seem to not beeing able to get this working? I download the file, and imports it as .zip. But it doesn’t work. Anyone having the same problem?
( )Sirupsen May 29th
Ow, fail! I just had to change it in the Editor menu.
( )Joe May 31st
I don’t like NetBeans for PHP. It has some good features, but not too many of them. I would go with Zend Studio if you have the money, or with PDT if you’re an open source, free product guy. Zend Studio was the only product along the way who gave me all the features i need with constant development on new ones. That my opinion though…
( )Kevin van Zonneveld June 2nd
PS
Looking good combined with the Inconsolata Font as well, did a little write up on that here: http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net/techblog/article/install_the_best_coding_font/
( )Ringo June 3rd
Does anyone know where I can find similiar “color themes” for Eclipse?
( )Meshach June 4th
Here are my settings I sort of tweaked Jeffrey’s theme.
( )Meshach June 4th
Oops pasted in the wrong thing.
http://cid-53e962c555a0fc59.skydrive.live.com/embedrow.aspx/Public/My%7C_NetBeans%7C_Settings.zip
( )Meshach June 4th
STILL the wrong thing.. lol
Here it is:
http://szzzaa.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pDwh3h-33jhqEwc_lBSbw9qpIQBO2K1v3CLu4PRxwl10v0S3GiuyWk8nJBiLt_dSu1S-Wl-vL7gmMc5NsRbFrvZDkBYpXUEJY/My_NetBeans_Settings.zip?download
twilight fansite June 11th
awesome theme design my friend
( )Parker June 24th
I use APTANA, NETBEANS,DREAMWEAVER .now guys i love aptana for frontend development,especially javascript.when it comes to php ,i would say NETBEANS is more powerful,because you can just right click a function name and it takes you to the file where it was declared
( )so to be honest is good to be flexible with more than just one IDE
j2eehunter June 24th
This Theme is looks good for only php and html development.
This is not at all Good for java/j2ee/j2me developer…
( )Annoymous June 28th
He did say that he converted this to PHP :p
( )puur July 1st
VERY NICE Theme thankx Jeff.
But i have one problem, why is there no highlighting for the open / close bracket ? have you an idea where i can fix this ?
(For Example in the theme city lights it works)
( )puur July 1st
ou sorry… it was my mistake.. it was a open/close bracket in one line so the linecolor (highlight current line).. is same as the highlight color for open/close brackets…
Sorry.
( )Joe Nicosia July 1st
Thanks for taking the time to build this … I just switched from TextMate into NetBeans for my primary PHP IDE and it is a pleasure to use my favorite theme!
( )oscar July 4th
Hey, i imported the zip file and restart netbeans 6.7 but nothig changed
( )pete in melbourne July 19th
Nice theme…I thought I was the only one who didn’t like the garish white coding screen. Dark is nice, almost contemplative. Your zip file is good help for those wanting to make their own themes (like me!) as the NetBeans doco can be a bit difficult.
( )Jack Perry August 14th
Is it possible to has this converted to a Notepad++ style? It’s absolutely gorgeous.
( )Damian Dawber September 22nd
Fantastic! I’m really liking my little NetBeans set up now
I made some changes to the JavaScript theme and have published it to my blog because, well, I guess I should…
http://www.damiandawber.co.uk/2009/09/netbeans-twilight-js-theme/
I noticed the ruby theme some time ago and was a bit gutted I found no equivalent for PHP.. alas, you’re a gem
( )David Rodriguez October 2nd
This is sweet!!!!! Just what I was looking for.
Thanks
( )LeChuck October 29th
Excellent theme. Great job!!!
There is a way to change the tags colors for Smarty Plugin, I don’t find how.
Of course, I try changing in Options > Fonts & Colors panel but always show tags on blue and with black background is very difficult to see something.
Any Help?
( )thanks
wallpaperocks November 20th
what twilight is that? is it twilight saga?
( )