Emacs: doric-themes version 0.4.0

These are my minimalist themes. They use few colours and will appear mostly monochromatic in many contexts. Styles involve the careful use of typography, such as italics and bold italics.

If you want maximalist themes in terms of colour, check my ef-themes package. For something in-between, which I would consider the best “default theme” for a text editor, opt for my modus-themes.

Below are the release notes.


Update to doric-themes version 0.4.0

This version brings several refinements to the package, as well as two new themes.

Enjoy doric-beach and doric-valley

Most of the Doric themes feel monochromatic. By contrast, the doric-beach (light) and doric-valley (dark) are dichromatic: they combine warm hues, such as orange, with cold hues like teal. They still are minimalistic, like the rest of the family, but appear a bit more playful than their more austere counterparts.

[ The doric-oak and doric-pine are similar in this regard. ]

Refashioned diffs

All diff interfaces, including Magit, diff-mode, and Ediff now rely on a comprehensive new subset of colours. They use colour-coded backgrounds throughout, whereas before they had just colour-coded text. The problem with highlighting only text is that it is harder to (i) discern the colour and thus (ii) quickly estimate the boundaries of a change.

For Magit in particular, there are distinct styles for the highlighted/current diff hunk, all other diff hunks, as well as the common word-wise (“refined”) diffs that all interfaces share.

Org agenda and dates are more consistent

The changes here are subtle but should contribute to a more pleasant experience, owning to the more careful emphasis of information. “Scheduled” entries are easier to notice, as they are distinct from other events. Date headings also have a more clear distinction from the tasks they contain.

For the M-x calendar, in particular, month and date headings are revised to be consistent with the Org agenda, while the diary and holiday faces are redone to look harmonious in context. Thanks to Amin Bandali for checking those and suggesting some tweaks.

Certain header-like faces stand out more

In various contexts, such as in git-mode commit message comments or Dired buffers, there are pieces of text that conceptually are headings. Those are rendered in a distinct style than other generic “bold” faces, to better perform their function.

Flymake fringe indicators are easier to spot

Those now have a fine background colour, coded to the type of warning.

Support for the lin and pulsar packages

Those define faces that affect the background of a line. These packages now feel right when used in tandem with the doric-themes.