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Windows 7 RSS Themes, All You Need To Know

By Martin on August 11, 2010 in windows 7 themes | Comments { 5 }

RSS themes have been a new addition to the Windows 7 operating system. We have covered them before, but never explained how to create them. This article acts as a guide, so that everyone will be able to create Windows 7 Rss themes in the end. Do not worry, it is not as complicated as it sounds.

Lets take a closer look at the difference between RSS themes and standard themes first. Actually, there is only one difference: Standard Windows 7 themes use local images as the desktop background. Windows 7 was the first Microsoft OS to introduce wallpaper packs that could automatically be shuffled in specified intervals.

RSS themes pull the desktop wallpapers from RSS feeds. They download them to the local computer system, and act as normal themes otherwise. The desktop backgrounds that are downloaded are stored in the temporary Internet files, which means that they will eventually be replaced.

Lets start with the basics. User Themes are stored in the user directory in Windows 7, more precisely in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes. This is important for instance to delete a theme, or to edit it after it has been installed.

Windows 7 Theme Template

Below is a theme template for a Windows 7 Aero theme. It contains several variables, some of which need to be edited to make it as an RSS theme.

[Theme] DisplayName={themename}


[Slideshow]

Interval=1800000

Shuffle=1

RssFeed={rssfeedurl}
[Control Panel\Desktop]

TileWallpaper=0

WallpaperStyle=10

Pattern=
[Control Panel\Cursors]

AppStarting=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_working.ani

Arrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_arrow.cur

Crosshair=

Hand=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_link.cur

Help=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_helpsel.cur

IBeam=

No=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_unavail.cur

NWPen=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_pen.cur

SizeAll=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_move.cur

SizeNESW=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nesw.cur

SizeNS=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ns.cur

SizeNWSE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nwse.cur

SizeWE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ew.cur

UpArrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_up.cur

Wait=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_busy.ani

DefaultValue=Windows Aero

Link=
[VisualStyles]

Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles

ColorStyle=NormalColor

Size=NormalSize

ColorizationColor=0X6B74B8FC

Transparency=1

[MasterThemeSelector] MTSM=DABJDKT

The following two variables need to be edited to create a RSS theme in Windows 7:

DisplayName={themename}: Replace {themename} with a custom name of the theme, e.g. wallpapers
RssFeed={rssfeedurl}: Replace {rssfeedurl} with the feed url of a feed that includes photo attachments.

Not everyone wants to use a Windows Aero theme, below is the code to change the style to Windows 7 Basic, or Windows Classic:

Windows 7 Basic

[VisualStyles] Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles Composition=0 ColorStyle=NormalColor Size=NormalSize ColorizationColor=0x6B74B8FC Transparency=1

Windows Classic

[VisualStyles] Path= ColorStyle=@themeui.dll,-854 Size=@themeui.dll,-2019 Transparency=0

Just replace the [VisualStyles] part of the theme template with either one to switch from Windows 7 Aero to one of the other visual styles.

Now that we have established how the templates needs to look, we need to locate compatible RSS feeds that we can use for our daily dose of new wallpapers. One destination with a sheer endless supply of photos is Flickr, the popular photo hosting website.

We use the following Flickr RSS feed as an example:

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=40961104@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom

Remember, the two variables that we need to change are the name of the theme, and the rss feed url. Take a look at the new code below:

[Theme] DisplayName=Flickr Wallpapers


[Slideshow]

Interval=1800000

Shuffle=1

RssFeed=http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=40961104@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
[Control Panel\Desktop]

TileWallpaper=0

WallpaperStyle=10

Pattern=
[Control Panel\Cursors]

AppStarting=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_working.ani

Arrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_arrow.cur

Crosshair=

Hand=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_link.cur

Help=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_helpsel.cur

IBeam=

No=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_unavail.cur

NWPen=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_pen.cur

SizeAll=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_move.cur

SizeNESW=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nesw.cur

SizeNS=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ns.cur

SizeNWSE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nwse.cur

SizeWE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ew.cur

UpArrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_up.cur

Wait=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_busy.ani

DefaultValue=Windows Aero

Link=
[VisualStyles]

Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles

ColorStyle=NormalColor

Size=NormalSize

ColorizationColor=0X6B74B8FC

Transparency=1

[MasterThemeSelector] MTSM=DABJDKT

Now, copy that code, and paste it into a new text document in Windows 7. Rename the text document so that it uses the .theme extension. A double-click will install the new theme in Windows 7. Since it is an RSS feed, Windows 7 will ask during installation if all attachments should be downloaded. Make sure to select yes so that the most recent images are downloaded to the computer.

subscribe to rss feed

The theme background will be black for some time. It takes some time to download the new wallpapers. If you do not see a change after a minute or so you may have added an RSS feed without proper photo attachments. Just try to find a different one in this case.

The downloaded wallpaper images should be displayed if you click on Desktop Background in the Personalization menu of Windows 7 (you get there by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Personalize).