Ok, who in here thinks that OTS2 simply rocks? I mean, you can't beat dropping the size of a theme cause now you don't have to include all the modules, you can just have them auto-download. It's Great! Not to mention the ease of personalizing themes. Props to ALL of those who helped create the Open Theme Standard 2! You guys are great.

OTS2 Theme Creation Site
http://o-t-s.sourceforge.net/theme_creation.html

Are You Having Problems Getting a Theme to Display?
If anyone is having problems with the new installer and not getting modules and themes to load, the problem is that the theme you are trying to use is not compliant with the new OTS2 (Open Theme Standard 2.0). You must make sure the theme is Fully OTS2 compliant before using or all you will get is a blank interface and a bunch of errors saying that the module is missing and could not load. Make sure to use the default theme if you are unsure the theme you want to use is or isn't OTS2. To check, go to the Theme Creation link above and see if the theme meets the requirements defigned in the new OTS2 Standard.

If you end up getting a blank screen, see if you can manage to get to your Litestep themes folder, usually C:\Litestep\Themes\ and edit the "themeselect.rc" file. Change whatever is in there to the following:
This will set your theme to the default theme that comes with the installer, it should work provided you did a full install with Omar's installer.


Modules and NetLoadModule
I know a lot of people have problems and questions regarding the module support with the new "*NetLoadModule" that you Should now use in All new themes. The reason behind having Litestep manage modules this way is to decrease the size of themes(IMO, correct me if I'm wrong here). Now, NLM(*NetLoadModule) is a great tool, I don't think anyone should have complains here. Not only does NLM download the module, but it also downloads the modules documentation which can be found in your Litestep install folder in the "modules" folder, then the "docs" folder(usually C:\Litestep\modules\docs).

Usage for NLM to load modules:

Standard
*NetLoadModule popup2-2.1.1

Specific DLL
*NetLoadModule rainmeter-0.9 load rainmeter


ShellFront Modules List
http://modules.shellfront.org
(thanks sryo for correcting my on this one)

Loose-Screws Modules
http://www.loose-screws.com/


I hope that this will help anyone having problems.

LZ

Another big modules site:
http://www.loose-screws.com

A guide to use old OTSv1 themes with OTSv2:
http://o-t-s.sourceforge.net/theme_installation.html#usingoldthemes

^_^

Totally Agree with you Lord_Zelo

also, if you keep your file manager open during the theme installation process, as suggested here, you can use the 'Switch to default theme' shortcut in the LiteStep folder should anything go wrong.

I'll add a feature to the next version of the LSThemeInstaller to make this whole process even easier. ;)

thanks for the help Lord Zelo, i appreciate it and we need people like you to keep LS moving forward. :)

Omar, that is great, is there a rehash litestep.exe link? I have had experiance where using the install theme on some themes that dont work, then using the reload default causes litestep to crash, I will of course make a list of the themes that are doing it. Seems to hapen when the theme cant fetch and install a module. This is obviosly bad theming, but a way to rehash litestep would be nice. In my experiance all the non litestep apps I have open such as Firebird and Thunderbird seem to still work fine, but all the litestep modules halt.

I have a couple question about OTS2. I understand that you use the module grabbing module to get all other modules. What exactly is the reasoning for this?

If its for the sake of having all modules in the same folder instead of copied in each theme, we could have done this without a loader module. If its for the sake of ease of download, that makes more sense, but the issue of having everyithing in one folder is sortof seperate.

Also, is it against OTS2 to include modules with your theme anyway? What if you have your own module that you haven't submitted to loose-screws? What if your theme only works with an old version of a certain module?

"If its for the sake of having all modules in the same folder instead of copied in each theme, we could have done this without a loader module." Yes, but it would have been a mess. You would need to manually download the modules, unzip them and place them in the folder. Just doesn't make sense.

"Also, is it against OTS2 to include modules with your theme anyway?" Yes

"What if you have your own module that you haven't submitted to loose-screws?" Well, submit it. Or don't include it. If you DO, it won't be OTS2.

"What if your theme only works with an old version of a certain module?" Then set the theme to use the older version. NLM doesn't grab the latest version, it grabs the version that is specified. For instance:
*NetloadModule popup2-2.0
-or-
*NetLoadModule popup2-2.1.2

OTS2 is a standard, not a set of rigid rules.
There are some settings which it requires, but others can be bent.

also, shellfront modules list url is http://modules.shellfront.org (so root can track bandwith usage)

Hi, I just downloaded Litestep yesterday and ended up skipping a few classes this morning because i was too busy playing around with it.

I just wanted to say that another thing to do if litestep crashes or a theme doesn't work and you didn't happen to click yes when it prompted you if you wanted to load the default theme was control+alt+delete (in win 2k and xp) and terminate the process litestep. Then click file, new task and browse to the theme installer and and select a different one or one that works. I guess this may be more complicated than just changing the text file and you need at least one theme you have confidance in.

Alternatively, after you terminate the litestep PID, you can just click file, new task, and browse to windows/explorer and just go back to explorer shell (am i using the terminology right here?)

Again, I'm a total newbie but comfortable programming and having things not work. You'll probably be seeing me posting questions later on once i've read the docs.

Cheers!

In fact that's sometimes what i do to switch between explorer and litestep because there may be some functionality i'm more comfortable in explorer and either litestep doesn't have it or i just don't know how to access/use it.

So where can I get some OTS2 themes? And how do I install them again...?

Um... by clicking on the "Themes" tab? To install you usually just doubleclick the .lsz file, or use the LS Theme Installer (should be in the popup under "LiteStep")

ok, i jus got lite for the first time yesterday. never even heard of this b4, but my friend told me to get it, so im still pretty much a noob at this stuff. im tryin to get a theme to work, but none are ots2 complient. The only ones that are, are the nature themes, and ones that look like crap.none of the ones i want are ots2. any good sites out there to get decent looking ots2 themes? or is there anyway to make an ots1 theme ots2 complient?

Quick question, guys and gals.

I get this popup on breeze, darkbar, and others.

Error: Could not find initModuleEx().

It was searching in C:\LiteStep\modules\rainmeter-0.8\SysInfo.dll.

Where can I get this, it's an error on more than one of my themes.

You appear to be loading the wrong DLL. You may have selected "sysinfo.dll" instead of "rainmeter.dll" in NLM's dialog. Check LiteStep\NLM\NetLoadModule.ini.

Well that was it. Thanks a ton ilmcuts. :D

And that's why people should put "load rainmeter.dll" on the *NetLoadModule line.

BTW, you can have NLM install module that are not in the module archives. Read the docs, every 50th copy includes a free toy.

i cannot get a theme to install. Ive been reading everything for hours. This is the message from LSTI i get:
LiteStepDir found: [C:\LiteStep]
PersonalDir found: [C:\LiteStep\profiles\j\personal]
ThemesDir found: [C:\LiteStep\profiles\j\themes]
LSThemeInstaller running from: [C:\LiteStep\utilities\LSThemeInstaller.exe]
parameter to LSThemeInstaller: []
nonexistent file selected: []
INSTALL: will attempt to install theme from archive: [C:\Documents and Settings\j\My Documents\Hellfire\theme.rc]
ERROR: decompression of theme archive failed, exiting
theme was not installed

I Have been looking through the forums for the past 2 days and have found alot of answers I was looking for...but, as with any thing that is worth doing in life, for each answer I have a 100 more questions. Right now I have to Problems I cant seem to over come.

Problem 1: Most themes will not run.
They Show in EZChange but when I click on them the "Switch" button becomes "Whited" out, the theme does'nt load and Proyect1 runs in the TaskManager using 90 some % of my Processor. The themes say they are open theme compatible.

2: I am not sure if I am Running the newest version of LS and Question if it is OTS..help...please?

OS: XP no SP
LiteStep 0.24.7 Build Beta 4 (Not Sure if this qualifies as RC 1)

BTW I am already sold on LS!!!

No, Beta 4 is not RC1. Either way, RC2 is out already, check the downloads section. I doubt many people will be able to help you with "EZ2Install" though, it's known to be quite buggy. The recommended (and more mature) installer is Omar's LS Installer 3.x.

Omars installer did the trick, Thanks!!

How do i get my old windows xp skinn???

I've read at least 50 copies of the docs, and *I* never got a toy.

I think you better tell where u can download the livestep installer! becaus I downloaded a theme and now I cannot instal it! So what is next?

Next up is learning the name of the shell: LiteStep. See? It's not that difficult. After that comes the hard part: learning not to post your questions randomly in threads that has nothing to do with your issue. Work on that and you might just get some help.

the third is learning not to be rude. "I think you better tell me..." ummm...we don't HAVE to do anything.