Here’s How to FIX Firestorm’s UGLY and make it look more like the beautiful default Second Life Viewer.

[davidventer]

Do you absolutely love the Firestorm Viewer’s feature set, like me, but you’re totally nauseated by the general grossness of the Firestorm Viewer’s disgusting and ancient-looking User Interface? Do you, like me, LOVE the clean and modern look of the default Second Life Viewer but you still prefer using the Firestorm viewer for its awesome feature set?

Well, now you can have the best of both (sort of) - The Firestorm Viewer's feature set with the appearance of the default Second Life Viewer (sort of).

Start by changing the Firestorm Viewer’s login screen to look like that of the default Second Life Viewer:

In Firestorm, before logging on, at the top of the Viewer, Click Viewer > Preferences, go to the Advanced tab and tick/enable "Show advanced menu"

Now a Debug menu option will appear at the top. Click on Debug > Show Debug Settings, Type “ForceLoginURL” into the search field and then in the empty text field of that setting, enter/set it to the following: https://viewer-login.agni.lindenlab.com

Upon restarting the Firestorm Viewer, the disgusting eyesore that is the MS Office 95-esque orange puke fire gradients and ugliness of the Firestorm Viewer's login screen will now be replaced by the beautiful login screen of the default Second Life Viewer.

To make the sickness-inducing hideousness of the Firestorm Viewer look even less so, and even more like the gorgeous default Second Life Viewer, Open Preferences: Skins, and choose Skin “Starlight” and Color Theme “Original Teal”

Oh and... Run the Firestorm Viewer in 'Viewer 6' mode, obviously.

Restart the viewer for all the changes to take effect. They should now persist throughout sessions.

If/when there's a Firestorm Viewer update, you may need to go through the process again.

You’re welcome.

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer
Fixing Typos

[Coffee Pancake]

Or just run Catznip. Our login screen is pure bliss ...

[davidventer]

17 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Or just run Catznip. Our login screen is pure bliss ...

That's great but unfortunately, Catznip is for Windows only. Not everyone is using Windows. I'm on macOS. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer

[Rowan Amore]

I normally input my user name and password long before the log in page has fully loaded.  It's sort of a non issue IMO.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

38 minutes ago, davidventer said:

Do you absolutely love the Firestorm Viewer’s feature set, like me, but you’re totally nauseated by the general grossness of the Firestorm Viewer’s disgusting and ancient-looking User Interface? Do you, like me, LOVE the clean and modern look of the default Second Life Viewer but you still prefer using the Firestorm viewer for its awesome feature set?

Well, now you can have the best of both (sort of) - The Firestorm Viewer's feature set with the appearance of the default Second Life Viewer (sort of).

Start by changing the Firestorm Viewer’s login screen to look like that of the default Second Life Viewer:

In Firestorm, before logging on, at the top of the Viewer, Click Viewer > Preferences, go to the Advanced tab and tick/enable "Show advanced menu"

Now a Debug menu option will appear at the top. Click on Debug > Show Debug Settings, Type “ForceLoginURL” into the search field and then in the empty text field of that setting, enter/set it to the following: https://viewer-login.agni.lindenlab.com

Upon restarting the Firestorm Viewer, the disgusting eyesore that is the MS Office 95-esque orange puke fire gradients and ugliness of the Firestorm Viewer's login screen will now be replaced by the beautiful login screen of the default Second Life Viewer.

To make the sickness-inducing hideousness of the Firestorm Viewer look even less so, and even more like the gorgeous default Second Life Viewer, Open Preferences: Skins, and choose Skin “Starlight” and Color Theme “Original Teal”

Oh and... Run the Firestorm Viewer in 'Viewer 6' mode, obviously.

Restart the viewer for all the changes to take effect. They should now persist throughout sessions.

If/when there's a Firestorm Viewer update, you may need to go through the process again.

You’re welcome.

Tell us how you really feel, don't hold back or anything... 

Drama much? 

If you have this many issues with the skin of a viewer, I dont even want to imagine what buying anything at a store with you would be like. What a load of pretentious BS. 

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

Tell us how you really feel, don't hold back or anything... 

Drama much? 

If you have this many issues with the skin of a viewer, I dont even want to imagine what buying anything at a store with you would be like. What a load of pretentious BS. 

Honestly, who pays that much attention to ANY log in screen ANYWHERE?  As long as I can easily input the info and get to where I need to be, that's all that matters.

[davidventer]

7 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

Tell us how you really feel, don't hold back or anything... 

Drama much? 

If you have this many issues with the skin of a viewer, I dont even want to imagine what buying anything at a store with you would be like. What a load of pretentious BS. 

Well, I got my point across, didn't I? *smirks*

[Drake1 Nightfire]

1 minute ago, davidventer said:

Well, I got my point across, didn't I? *smirks*

Not really. Unless your point was to sound like a SL viewer fangirl. 

[davidventer]

4 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Honestly, who pays that much attention to ANY log in screen ANYWHERE?  As long as I can easily input the info and get to where I need to be, that's all that matters.

As someone who works in UI Design, and Graphic Design, and as someone who spends a lot of time In Second Life, my view into the virtual world matters. Any graphic designer would be triggered by the Firestorm Viewer's Login Screen and UI. And I'm sure there are some other people out there who aren't GUI specialists who would also enjoy a less hideous Firestorm.

If you don't care about it, that's fine too, and in that case, this post is obviously not for you. If it does bother you, this is a guide on how to fix it. 

[davidventer]

2 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

Not really. Unless your point was to sound like a SL viewer fangirl. 

At least I'm not the one firing off personal attacks and prejudiced labels at a stranger. If the Firestorm UI doesn't bother you, why even comment on this thread? Just ignore it and move on. This thread is for those who are bothered by the ugliness of the Firestorm Viewer. Does attacking me over something that doesn't even concern you  make you feel better? You need help buddy!

[Rowan Amore]

10 minutes ago, davidventer said:

As someone who works in UI Design, and Graphic Design, and as someone who spends a lot of time In Second Life, my view into the virtual world matters. Any graphic designer would be triggered by the Firestorm Viewer's Login Screen and UI. And I'm sure there are some other people out there who aren't GUI specialists who would also enjoy a less hideous Firestorm.

If you don't care about it, that's fine too, and in that case, this post is obviously not for you. If it does bother you, this is a guide on how to fix it. 

People in these forums complain about EVERYTHING.  I've yet to see anyone aside from you complain that firestorm is ugly.  That's not to say people don't but I'd have thought it would have been mentioned somewhere...at least once.   Maybe I need to dig back deeper.

People DO complain about the confusing UI in both viewers but not their overall beauty which is subjective at the least.

[davidventer]

59 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

I've yet to see anyone aside from you complain that firestorm is ugly

I presume, generally, that people who don't really like Firestorm's appearance would simply not use it, or reluctantly tolerate it without saying anything. And just because no one else has said anything about it before, does that mean I shouldn't? Even if I'm the only one who thought about this (that's doubtful), it's still helpful to someone who might want to try Firestorm's awesome feature set but was maybe holding out or avoiding using it because of how hideous it is. Now others who prefer the default viewer can actually try Firestorm and use its awesome features but with a familiar appearance, and not be discouraged by how ugly it looks compared to the clean/modern Login screen and UI of default viewer. 

I'll say this again; If you don't care about it, that's fine too, and in that case, this post is obviously not for you.

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer

[Dyna Mole]

A quick reminder, in hopes of averting a train wreck ... Spirited discussion and constructive disagreement are welcome, but name-calling and airing of grievances are not appropriate in our discussion areas. That includes language that is intended to incite an angry response.

[Solar Legion]

Then best handle the OP.

[davidventer]

6 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

Then best handle the OP.

While I agree that my OP language was perhaps a bit 'unsavory' to get the point across of how ugly I think Firestorm is (and I'm 100% sure I'm not alone in this), it was not meant to incite angry responses, nor am I the one name-calling or firing off personal attacks. Also, this is going off topic. This post was meant for people who prefer the default viewer, so that they can instead try Firestorm's awesome features without being discouraged by its awful UI. Again, if it doesn't bother you, ignore this, move on. Thank you.

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer

[Jackson Redstar]

Isn't that like, FireShaming? Even though its the best at something, it's unacceptable because it's ugly? LOL

[Solar Legion]

1. Don't care.
2. This is a public forum - deal with getting responses from anyone who wishes to do so.
3. Your language on the "topic" is rather obviously targeted/chosen to elicit the responses you've gotten thus far.
   1. If your intent had been otherwise, you would have simply pointed users to the relevant options without any further descriptors of any kind.
4. No further responses will be required - I am in no mood to deal with this sort of buffoonery.

[davidventer]

16 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

1. Don't care.
2. This is a public forum - deal with getting responses from anyone who wishes to do so.
3. Your language on the "topic" is rather obviously targeted/chosen to elicit the responses you've gotten thus far.
   1. If your intent had been otherwise, you would have simply pointed users to the relevant options without any further descriptors of any kind.
4. No further responses will be required - I am in no mood to deal with this sort of buffoonery.

 

1. Obviously you do. Otherwise, why even respond here?

2. I am aware of that, but there are rules. I'm not the one name-calling.

3. It was meant as keywords for people who are triggered by Firestorm's UI, not to illicit personal attacks from anonymous forum trolls, but I'm well aware that this is the internet and that there are people who somehow feel better about themselves when they attack others from behind an anonymous avatar. 

3.1. Again, keywords. Along with a helpful guide. Apologies if my language was unsavory but did I personally attack anyone? No. And even if I did not explain my personal disgust at the Firestorm UI, some people would've probably still felt the need to attack me from the comfort of their anonymous online personas, such is life on the internet, so I may as well use the necessary keywords that'll make it easy for those who dislike Firestorm's UI to find this post.

4. Refer to your own point 2, above.

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer

[davidventer]

29 minutes ago, Jackson Redstar said:

Isn't that like, FireShaming? Even though its the best at something, it's unacceptable because it's ugly? LOL

 

Not shaming, quite the contrary...

Firestorm is an amazing viewer. Some just don't use it because of how it looks, or they reluctantly tolerate it in order to have access to its awesome features.

Now they can make it look less hideous and enjoy its awesome features, and have an over-all more pleasant experience through their view into the virtual world, without having to tolerate the hideous login screen or the unpleasant color-scheme in order to have access to the awesome feature set.

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer

[Modulated]

2 hours ago, davidventer said:

Do you absolutely love the Firestorm Viewer’s feature set, like me, but you’re totally nauseated by the general grossness of the Firestorm Viewer’s disgusting and ancient-looking User Interface? Do you, like me, LOVE the clean and modern look of the default Second Life Viewer but you still prefer using the Firestorm viewer for its awesome feature set?

Well, now you can have the best of both (sort of) - The Firestorm Viewer's feature set with the appearance of the default Second Life Viewer (sort of).

Start by changing the Firestorm Viewer’s login screen to look like that of the default Second Life Viewer:

In Firestorm, before logging on, at the top of the Viewer, Click Viewer > Preferences, go to the Advanced tab and tick/enable "Show advanced menu"

Now a Debug menu option will appear at the top. Click on Debug > Show Debug Settings, Type “ForceLoginURL” into the search field and then in the empty text field of that setting, enter/set it to the following: https://viewer-login.agni.lindenlab.com

Upon restarting the Firestorm Viewer, the disgusting eyesore that is the MS Office 95-esque orange puke fire gradients and ugliness of the Firestorm Viewer's login screen will now be replaced by the beautiful login screen of the default Second Life Viewer.

To make the sickness-inducing hideousness of the Firestorm Viewer look even less so, and even more like the gorgeous default Second Life Viewer, Open Preferences: Skins, and choose Skin “Starlight” and Color Theme “Original Teal”

Oh and... Run the Firestorm Viewer in 'Viewer 6' mode, obviously.

Restart the viewer for all the changes to take effect. They should now persist throughout sessions.

If/when there's a Firestorm Viewer update, you may need to go through the process again.

You’re welcome.

Thank you for the tip. I prefer the simpler layout of the SL login to Firestorm's.

[Fritigern Gothly]

1 hour ago, davidventer said:

As someone who works in UI Design, and Graphic Design, and as someone who spends a lot of time In Second Life, my view into the virtual world matters. Any graphic designer would be triggered by the Firestorm Viewer's Login Screen and UI.

Oh cool, so you will be making a new Firestorm skin?

[NiranV Dean]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

People in these forums complain about EVERYTHING.  I've yet to see anyone aside from you complain that firestorm is ugly.  That's not to say people don't but I'd have thought it would have been mentioned somewhere...at least once.   Maybe I need to dig back deeper.

People DO complain about the confusing UI in both viewers but not their overall beauty which is subjective at the least.

*ahem*

May i introduce: ME.

I have been complaining about Firestorm's ugly skin (and not just the main skin but also the massive amount of breakage in several others, like the V1 skin that horribly scales) long before this person even existed! How could you forget about me 😢

[davidventer]

37 minutes ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

Oh cool, so you will be making a new Firestorm skin?

I'd have to look into that, but the great thing about Firestorm is that, it already has built-in skin options, with a skin option that's close to default. So, I don't feel that this is entirely necessary, and I don't think that the Firestorm team will be including any more skins into their stack. I remember reading something somewhere on the Firestorm Jira that they won't be doing that because of the number or files or lines of code already in the stack and that adding more would not be ideal. 

As a special request to them, I would ask to make the default Second Life Viewer UI an option, as that's the viewer that Firestorm is built-on anyway, not removing that theme and leaving it as an option would be awesome.

Starlight Teal is close, but it's not quite default. The windows don't have those beautiful rounded edges; the content spacing is a bit messed up; the buttons have some transparency to them; the chat interface is completely different; the bar at the top looks totally different. But seeing as Starlight Teal is an option that's close to default, adding another theme to the stack is not really necessary, nor will they accept a new theme nor add it to a future releases.

Anyone designing a new theme for Firestorm now would have to market the theme themselves, provide a download for it, and explain to others how to manually add it to Firestorm as an option. The painstaking manual theme installation process would then need to be repeated every time there's a viewer update, which would not be worth the effort for most when they can just choose Starlight Teal as an option to get a close-to-default and close to 'as-intended' experience. But maybe if more people raise their voices on how much they dislike Firestorm's UI, the Firestorm team will hopefully keep the Default UI  that their viewer is built upon anyway, and just add to it, rather than changing it. Then we can have a UI as intended by Linden Lab but with awesome extra features.

Edited November 26, 2021 by davidventer

[Rowan Amore]

25 minutes ago, NiranV Dean said:

*ahem*

May i introduce: ME.

I have been complaining about Firestorm's ugly skin (and not just the main skin but also the massive amount of breakage in several others, like the V1 skin that horribly scales) long before this person even existed! How could you forget about me 😢

I assumed you used Black Dragon?  😀

[Coffee Pancake]

2 hours ago, davidventer said:

That's great but unfortunately, Catznip is for Windows only. Not everyone is using Windows. I'm on macOS. 

About that .. 

https://get.catznip.com/downloads/beta

R13 will include MacOS