[Windows Mobile Development and Hacking General] kulet78:
ok here's a really quick crash course on messing with the layouts, once you have an .xml file open you would see what I call 4 different sections, Rules, General , Default and Layouts. Below is the xml file taken from my myUI theme, the weather tab. Its a really simple one.

Rules: - this is where you would define the layout that should be use depending on your device's resolution (portrait or landscape)

<Rules>
<ScreenCondition Width="240" Height="320">
<UseLayout Name="240x320"/>
</ScreenCondition>
<ScreenCondition Width="320" Height="240">
<UseLayout Name="320x240"/>
</ScreenCondition>

</Rules>

As you can see above, when the device is in portrait, its resolution would be 240x320 hence the code:

<ScreenCondition Width="240" Height="320">
<UseLayout Name="240x320"/>
</ScreenCondition>

the same goes for landscape resolution.

General - this is where you define font names, colors, font size and etc.

<General>
<DefaultFont Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="15" Bold="y" Color="FFFFFF"/>
<Color Name="LineColor" Value="FFFFFF"/>
<Int Name="LineOpacity" Value="255"/>
<Font Name="NameFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="12" Bold="y"/>
<Font Name="TempFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="18" Bold="y"/>
<Int Name="ItemCount" Value="32"/>
</General>

Default - this is where you define what "plugins" you will be using for the page and its properties (ie texts, profile, weather, menus and so on.

<Layout Name="Default">
<Plugins>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.GradBackground" Name="Background">
<Int Name="NoBackgrd" Value="0"/>
<Point Name="Separator3Y" X="0" Y="-960"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.Date" Name="Date"/>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.Text" Name="L1Text">
<String Name="Text" Value="< CP"/>
<Font Name="TextFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="10" Bold="n"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.Text" Name="L2Text">
<String Name="Text" Value="Weather"/>
<Font Name="TextFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="12" Bold="y"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.Text" Name="L3Text">
<String Name="Text" Value="C (1) >"/>
<Font Name="TextFont" Face="Tahoma" HeightPxl="10" Bold="n"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.Rect" Name="h1"/>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.Weather" Name="Weather" Skin="qa_weather_large_lock" DoubleSkin="va_weather_large_lock" MiddleSkin="ma_weather_large_lock" BoldFont="n">
<Int Name="TempAlignment" Value="1" />
<String Name="Selection" Value="selection2_m.bmp"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Class="Spb.LSP.ModernDClock" Name="ModernDClock" />
</Plugins>
</Layout>

Layouts - This is where you define where or which part of the screen you want to position the plugins you defined under Default section. You will use the x="xx", y="xx" for positioning and width and height for, well widht and height of the plugin. Below is for portrait mode.

<Layout Name="240x320">
<Plugins Extends="Default">

<Plugin Name="Background" Skin="qp_bkg_now" DoubleSkin="vp_bkg_now"/>

<Plugin Name="L1Text">
<BoundRect X="20" Y="1" Width="40" Height="17"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Name="L2Text">
<BoundRect X="40" Y="1" Width="160" Height="17"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Name="L3Text">
<BoundRect X="180" Y="1" Width="40" Height="17"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Name="h1">
<BoundRect X="10" Y="19" Width="220" Height="1"/>
</Plugin>
<Plugin Name="Weather">
<String Name="Selection" Value="selection_m.bmp"/>
<LeftTop X="20" Y="35"/>
<Point Name="Temp" X="102" Y="200"/>
</Plugin>
</Plugins>
</Layout>

That's it. I hope you can figure it out from here. Now this is not the only way to do it as different skinners may go about it in different ways. This is just how I see it and how I code my themes. There's really more into it than that but I hope this simple explanation would give you some insight. Try copying my codes first and changing the values to your liking and go from there. Believe me once you've managed to learn the basics, everything else will be easier.

Also, remember that the code really depends on what page you're editing. Some pages will have different plugins and attributes that others don't have. Try it and let me know what happens. If you need further help, don't post your question here, just pm me and I'll try to help you out in any way I can. We really don't want to flood this thread with how to's/tutorials since we already have one dedicated for it.