Merge pull request #1437 from serebit/patch-2

[micro.git] / runtime / help / colors.md

diff --git a/runtime/help/colors.md b/runtime/help/colors.md
index 98f94cbab1621f4a3ad685420ea5561cebe9c626..d89c7692d33234a13fc970269d3d5df8556d530e 100644 (file)
--- a/runtime/help/colors.md
+++ b/runtime/help/colors.md
@@ -2,83 +2,78 @@
 
 This help page aims to cover two aspects of micro's syntax highlighting engine:
 
 
 This help page aims to cover two aspects of micro's syntax highlighting engine:
 

-- How to create colorschemes and use them
-- How to create syntax files to add to the list of languages micro can highlight
-
+- How to create colorschemes and use them.
+- How to create syntax files to add to the list of languages micro can highlight.

 
 ## Colorschemes
 
 
 ## Colorschemes
 

-Micro comes with a number of colorschemes by default. Here is the list:
-
-* simple: this is the simplest colorscheme. It uses 16 colors which are set by
-  your terminal
-
-* mc: A 16-color theme based on the look and feel of GNU Midnight Commander.
-  This will look great used in conjunction with Midnight Commander.
-  
-* nano: A 16-color theme loosely based on GNU nano's syntax highlighting.   
-  
-* monokai: this is the monokai colorscheme; you may recognize it as Sublime
-  Text's default colorscheme. It requires true color to look perfect, but the
-  256 color approximation looks very good as well. It's also the default
-  colorscheme.
-
-* zenburn: The 'zenburn' colorscheme and works well with 256 color terminals
-
-* solarized: this is the solarized colorscheme. You should have the solarized
-  color palette in your terminal to use it.
+To change your colorscheme, press Ctrl-E in micro to bring up the command
+prompt, and type:

 
 

-* solarized-tc: this is the solarized colorscheme for true color; just make sure
-  your terminal supports true color before using it and that the MICRO_TRUECOLOR
-  environment variable is set to 1 before starting micro.
+```
+set colorscheme monokai
+```

 
 

-* atom-dark-tc: this colorscheme is based off of Atom's "dark" colorscheme. It
-  requires true color to look good.
+(or whichever colorscheme you choose).

 
 

-* cmc-16: A very nice 16-color theme. Written by contributor CaptainMcClellan
-  (Collin Warren.) Licensed under the same license as the rest of the themes.
+Micro comes with a number of colorschemes by default. Modern terminals tend to
+have three different kinds of color support. The most common is 256 color where
+the terminal provides 256 standardized colors (except the first 16 may be configured
+by the user). A 256-color theme requires a terminal with 256 color support and
+is the most portable.

 
 

-* cmc-paper: Basically cmc-16, but on a white background. (Actually light grey
-  on most ANSI (16-color) terminals)
+A 16-color theme uses the 16 user-configurable colors (or 16 default colors on
+old terminals). These colorschemes are guranteed to work, but won't look great
+unless the 16 colors are configured to the user's liking. Using a 16-color theme
+will also preserve the terminal's theme because the terminal usually uses its 16
+colors for prompts or other coloring.

 
 

-* cmc-tc: A true colour variant of the cmc theme.  It requires true color to
-  look its best. Use cmc-16 if your terminal doesn't support true color.
+Some terminals support "true color" with 16 million colors (using standard RGB values).
+There is no one standard for this color support among terminals so this method
+is not guaranteed to work. Usually truecolor must also be enabled by the user. The
+colorschemes using true color will look exactly as intended. If true color is not
+supported, a true color colorscheme will approximate its colors to 256-color.

 
 

-* codeblocks: A colorscheme based on the Code::Blocks IDE's default syntax
-  highlighting.
+Here is the list of colorschemes:

 
 

-* codeblocks-paper: Same as codeblocks, but on a white background. (Actually
-  light grey)
+### 256 color

 
 

-* github-tc: A colorscheme based on Github's syntax highlighting. Requires true
-  color to look its best.
+These should work and look nice in most terminals. I recommend these
+themes the most.

 
 

-* paper-tc: A nice minimalist theme with a light background, good for editing
-  documents on. Requires true color to look its best. Not to be confused with
-  `-paper` suffixed themes.
+* `monokai` (also the `default` colorscheme)
+* `zenburn`
+* `gruvbox`
+* `darcula`
+* `twilight`
+* `railscast`
+* `bubblegum`

 
 

-* geany: Colorscheme based on geany's default highlighting.
+### 16 color

 
 

-* geany-alt-tc: Based on an alternate theme bundled with geany. 
+These may vary widely based on the 16 colors selected for your terminal.

 
 

-* flamepoint-tc: A fire inspired, high intensity true color theme written by
-  CaptainMcClellan. As with all the other `-tc` suffixed themes, it looks its
-  best on a
+* `simple`
+* `solarized` (must have the solarized color palette in your terminal to use this colorscheme properly)
+* `cmc-16`
+* `cmc-paper`
+* `geany`

 
 

-To enable one of these colorschemes just press CtrlE in micro and type
-`set colorscheme solarized`. (or whichever one you choose). You can also use
-`set colorscheme monochrome` if you'd prefer to have just the terminal's default
-foreground and background colors. Note: This provides no syntax highlighting!
+### True color

 
 

-See `help gimmickcolors` for a list of some true colour themes that are more 
-just for fun than for serious use. (Though feel free if you want!)
+These require terminals that support true color and require `MICRO_TRUECOLOR=1` (this is an environment variable).

 
 

+* `solarized-tc`: this is the solarized colorscheme for true color.
+* `atom-dark-tc`: this colorscheme is based off of Atom's "dark" colorscheme.
+* `cmc-tc`: A true colour variant of the cmc theme.  It requires true color to
+  look its best. Use cmc-16 if your terminal doesn't support true color.
+* `gruvbox-tc`: The true color version of the gruvbox colorscheme
+* `github-tc`: The true color version of the Github colorscheme

 
 ## Creating a Colorscheme
 
 
 ## Creating a Colorscheme
 

-Micro's colorschemes are also extremely simple to create. The default ones ca
-be found
-[here](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/colorschemes).
+Micro's colorschemes are also extremely simple to create. The default ones can
+be found [here](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/colorschemes).

 
 They are only about 18-30 lines in total.
 
 
 They are only about 18-30 lines in total.
 


@@ -205,7 +200,7 @@ In the future, plugins may also be able to use color groups for styling.
 
 ## Syntax files
 
 
 ## Syntax files
 

-The syntax files is written in yaml-format and specify how to highlight
+The syntax files are written in yaml-format and specify how to highlight

 languages.
 
 Micro's builtin syntax highlighting tries very hard to be sane, sensible and
 languages.
 
 Micro's builtin syntax highlighting tries very hard to be sane, sensible and