[FM15 Guide] How to Edit the Sidebar

The new sidebar can be edited in various ways, the following instructions will allow you to edit the width, colour and text properties of the sidebar, though with some further experimenting it may be possible to do more things, however this should at least give people a starting place.

Before you start you will need a couple of things;

- If you are using the Default skins, then first download the Base Skins as any changes you make will need to be applied to them rather than the default skins, if you are using a downloaded skin then you should be able to edit that skin directly.

- You will need to make sure there are a couple of files located in the panels folder of the skin you are editing these are;

'client object browser.xml' - if not present obtain from the \skins\fm\panels folder (or \skins\fmc\panels folder for an FMC skin) extracted from the skins.fmf file.

'sidebar menu table.xml' - if editing the text values, if not present obtain from the panels.fmf file.

If you need to extract these files, once extracted copy them into the panels folder of the skin you are editing.

To Change the Width of the Sidebar

The Width of the Sidebar is controlled by the 'client object browser.xml' file you want to locate the following line of code (Line #30):

min_value="0" and max_value="1200" - Determine between which values the small icon only sidebar appears at (or the true_value sidebar), with default code the icon sidebar appears when window width is between 0 and 1,119 pixels, whilst the full sidebar will appear if you window width is 1,200 pixels or greater.

true_value="45" - At first glance controls the width of the icon sidebar, but really controls the width of the sidebar when your screen width is between the set min and max_values.

false_value="160" - At first glance controls the width of the full sidebar, but really controls the width of the sidebar when your screen width is outside of the min and max_values.

You can adjust these values to set the sidebar up in different ways.

If you want the full sidebar to always appear then you can set the max_value to zero, if you always want the icon sidebar to appear then set the max_value to something above the max. width your screen supports.

Alternatively you can set both true_value and false_value to the same value to stop them from being resized, if you set these values to a value below 125 with the default text settings then only the icon will appear, if you set them to a value above 125 the full sidebar will appear so setting the values to:

true_value="45" false_value="45" - This will always display the icon sidebar.

true_value="160" false_value="160" - This code will always display the full sidebar.

If you want the change when the full and icon sidebars appear then you just need to play around with the min_value and max_value values, so for example if you wanted the icon sidebar to appear at any width below 1,680 then you'd change the max_value code to read max_value="1680", you can also if you wanted have the full sidebar appear at 1,024 width, and 1920 width with the icon sidebar appearing inbetween by setting the code to: min_value="1025" max_value="1919"

To Stop the Sidebar being recoloured on team screens

Inside the settings folder for your skin you need to create a file called 'accent colours.xml' and paste into the file the following code:

If the skin you are using (such as an FMC skin) already has this file present then replace the existing code with the above code.

Alternatively you can download this file and put it into your settings folder for your skin if you don't want to create the file yourself, however you will still need to follow the below steps to adjust the colour.

You then need to adjust the red, green and blue levels on the bolded line to what colour you want the sidebar to appear (current values will set the sidebar to pure black), if you want the sidebar to have some transparency then lower the alpha value, if you want the sidebar to always be the same colour then set this value to the same as you set the non-club sidebar to in the below step.

The record line of this code tells the game if it detects a colour between those set ranges (with the ranges set covering all possible colours) to recolour it to the value declared in the colour row.

If you wish to set various colours then you can extract the default 'accent colours.xml' file from the settings.fmf file and play around with that.

Please note when creating/making any changes to this file reloading your skin in game will not refresh these values, if the game is running whilst you create this file or modify it you will need to exit and restart the game for the changes to be reflected in game.

To Change the Default Colour of the Sidebar

You will need to locate this line of code in the settings\<skin name> settings.xml file for your skin:

If it isn't present in your file paste the above code into the file, then to adjust the colour just alter the RGB values, whilst the alpha value affects how transparent the sidebar is, a value of 255 is solid, whilst 0 sets it to full transparency, values inbetween will give it various degrees of transparency.

To Edit the Sidebar Text

The settings for the text of the sidebar is located in the 'sidebar menu table.xml' file, in that code you will see various lines of code that look like this:

There will be one line that controls the club sidebar, one for nation sidebar and another if you are unemployed, you then just need to edit the values on thise page to suit, you can also add other bits of text code found elswhere to adjust the style of the text further.

Sorry, 2nd instructions don't work right.

Bug step by step:

1. I load save "Dinamo" - sidebar team colour always

http://i.imgur.com/yXIFj9A.png

2. I load save "Liverpool" - sidebar default colour always

http://i.imgur.com/I2ZxBJi.png

3. I load save "Dinamo" again - sidebar default colour always, but:

Tactic screen - http://i.imgur.com/AD1wzVh.png

Home screen - http://i.imgur.com/1KJmjwz.png

Scouting button - http://i.imgur.com/ibTDDO7.png

Inbox button don't work etc.

Edited file "client object browser.xml" - http://rghost.ru/58944697

What XML would I need to change to align the top two lines on the sidebar with the main menu?

you need to change the height value for the titlebar in header.xml and the menustrip height in client object explorer.xml

Titlebar:

Find this bit of code in header.xml:

<!--titlebars-->

<container class="bordered_box" appearance="boxes/custom/interface/tab bar/paper" height="45">

<layout class="arrange_horizontal_attachment" alignment="left,extend" offset="0" gap="0"/>

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="vertical" layout_children="true" inset="0"/>

Change to:

<!--titlebars-->

<container class="bordered_box" appearance="boxes/custom/interface/tab bar/paper" height="40">

<layout class="arrange_horizontal_attachment" alignment="left,extend" offset="0" gap="0"/>

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="vertical" layout_children="true" inset="0"/>

Menu Strip:

Find this bit of code in client object browser.xml:

<!--actions bar-->

<container height="40">

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="all" inset="0" layout_children="true" />

Change to:

<!--actions bar-->

<container height="45">

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="all" inset="0" layout_children="true" />

Save both files. In FM, make sure skin caching isn't on and if it is, turn it off then click clear cache before you click confirm in Preferences.

Done.

Sorry, 2nd instructions don't work right.

Bug step by step:

1. I load save "Dinamo" - sidebar team colour always

http://i.imgur.com/yXIFj9A.png

2. I load save "Liverpool" - sidebar default colour always

http://i.imgur.com/I2ZxBJi.png

3. I load save "Dinamo" again - sidebar default colour always, but:

Tactic screen - http://i.imgur.com/AD1wzVh.png

Home screen - http://i.imgur.com/1KJmjwz.png

Scouting button - http://i.imgur.com/ibTDDO7.png

Inbox button don't work etc.

Edited file "client object browser.xml" - http://rghost.ru/58944697

Not sure what the problem is with those screenshots? It seems to be working fine, also tested your xml file in my game and didn't see any problems? I pressume by second instruction you mean stopping it from recolouring.

What XML would I need to change to align the top two lines on the sidebar with the main menu?

You can use Drakestone's method, or an alternative method is to extract the following files from the panels.fmf file:

panels\menubar\home icon.xml

panels\menubar\inbox icon.xml

And copy them into the panels\menubar folder for your skin (you may need to create the menubar folder).

Open the files and at the top will be this line:

<panel height="40">

Just adjust the height value until they are what you want. A value of 49 for the home and 35 for inbox should bring them in line.

The other coding in those files can also be used to change the colour of the icons as well as change the icon.

WARNING: Do not use the (now removed) method to stop the sidebar from being recoloured as doing so will break the sidebar if you manage both a club and national side, as it appears the same code that recolours the sidebar also allows it to switch between national and club side modes, if the code is removed you lose access to the club sidebar options when also a nation manager

you need to change the height value for the titlebar in header.xml and the menustrip height in client object explorer.xml

Titlebar:

Find this bit of code in header.xml:

<!--titlebars-->

<container class="bordered_box" appearance="boxes/custom/interface/tab bar/paper" height="45">

<layout class="arrange_horizontal_attachment" alignment="left,extend" offset="0" gap="0"/>

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="vertical" layout_children="true" inset="0"/>

Change to:

<!--titlebars-->

<container class="bordered_box" appearance="boxes/custom/interface/tab bar/paper" height="40">

<layout class="arrange_horizontal_attachment" alignment="left,extend" offset="0" gap="0"/>

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="vertical" layout_children="true" inset="0"/>

Menu Strip:

Find this bit of code in client object browser.xml:

<!--actions bar-->

<container height="40">

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="all" inset="0" layout_children="true" />

Change to:

<!--actions bar-->

<container height="45">

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="all" inset="0" layout_children="true" />

Save both files. In FM, make sure skin caching isn't on and if it is, turn it off then click clear cache before you click confirm in Preferences.

Done.

Ok, I'm a little confused I thought it would just be a case of downloading the FM15 base skin file and changing the XML file in the relevant folder. But the header.xml that you state to amend is not there. Am I totally missing something?

It's not in the base skin that michaeltmurray put up I dont think no. If you just want the base skin with the bars aligned I'll do it for you if you like.

Yeah I just want the normal skin, but with the the top 2 lined up.

You can use Drakestone's method, or an alternative method is to extract the following files from the panels.fmf file:

panels\menubar\home icon.xml

panels\menubar\inbox icon.xml

And copy them into the panels\menubar folder for your skin (you may need to create the menubar folder).

Open the files and at the top will be this line:

<panel height="40">

Just adjust the height value until they are what you want. A value of 49 for the home and 35 for inbox should bring them in line.

The other coding in those files can also be used to change the colour of the icons as well as change the icon.

When I do this, the calander/date button get recoloured and stops working, any ideas how to stop this from happening?

When I do this, the calander/date button get recoloured and stops working, any ideas how to stop this from happening?

Editing them shouldn't cause any problems with the calender, make sure you have put the edited files into panels\menubar folder rather than only into the panels folder, it's possible if they are directly in the panels folder they may be overriding some other file that controls the calender. (Download this file, extract the files and copy the menubar folder and it's contents into the panels folder for your skin and it shold align them).

Ok found an alternative method to stopping the sidebar from being recoloured that should hopefully not mess up other stuff (basicaly gets the game to always recolour the sidebar to a certain colour regardless of what the team colour is).

Inside the settings folder for your skin you need to create a file called 'accent colours.xml' and paste into the file the following code:

If the skin you are using (such as an FMC skin) already has this file present then replace the existing code with the above code.

Alternatively you can download this file and put it into your settings folder for your skin if you don't want to create the file yourselve, however you will still need to follow the below steps to adjust the colour.

You then need to adjust the red, green and blue levels on the bolded line to what colour you want the sidebar to appear (current values will set the sidebar to pure black), if you want the sidebar to have some transparency then lower the alpha value, if you want the sidebar to always be the same colour then set this value to the same as you set the non-club sidebar to.

The record line of this code tells the game if it detects a colour between those set ranges (with the ranges set covering all possible colours) to recolour it to the value declared in the colour row.

If you wish to set various colours then you can extract the default 'accent colours.xml' file from the settings.fmf file and play around with that.

Please note when creating/making any changes to this file reloading your skin in game will not refresh these values, if the game is running whilst you create this file or modify it you will need to exit and restart the game for the changes to be reflected in game.

Nice one!

Now if they would only bring back the old tactics screen and the game would be great. Apart from the half-broken match engine of course, but nothing's perfect...

How can we make the sidebar icon only?

Sorry got it.

The Width of the Sidebar is controlled by the 'client object browser.xml' file you want to locate the following line of code (Line #30):

<attachment class="test_screen_size_attachment" alignment="horizontal" min_value="0" max_value="1200" set_property="widt" true_value="45" false_value="160"/>

Am I missing something, I'm in 'client object browser.xml' but there is no trace of the above code, I've even done a search and nothing.

Hi Michael, having an issue with the sidebar colour mod such that it now shows either the club/nation colours on my own squad screens or a blue bar like this on all other screens:

I downloaded the base skin and the file you linked to above. I've tried leaving it as the default settings in the "accent colours.xml" and switching it to charcoal (R-49, G-51, B-63) but to no avail.

I've also installed panels as per the following, could these be interfering?

Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT - update:

1. on non-squad screens, I still get the blue bar

2. However, on the squad screen I have a nice transparent bar the first time I click on the sidebar. When I click into a player profile it goes blue. When I click "back" to the squad screen, it stays blue for a few seconds then changes back to transparent.

3. Even when I remove the "Accent colours" xml completely, I'm getting the blue bars.

Ok found an alternative method to stopping the sidebar from being recoloured that should hopefully not mess up other stuff (basicaly gets the game to always recolour the sidebar to a certain colour regardless of what the team colour is).

Inside the settings folder for your skin you need to create a file called 'accent colours.xml' and paste into the file the following code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE propertylist SYSTEM "http://www.sigames.com/dtds/properties.dtd">

<properties version="1.0">

<list id="items">

<!-- All Colours -->

<record min_hue="0" max_hue="360" min_saturation="0" max_saturation="100" min_lightness="0" max_lightness="100">

<colour id="accent_colour" red="0" green="0" blue="0" alpha="255"/>

</record>

</list>

</properties>

If the skin you are using (such as an FMC skin) already has this file present then replace the existing code with the above code.

Alternatively you can download this file and put it into your settings folder for your skin if you don't want to create the file yourselve, however you will still need to follow the below steps to adjust the colour.

You then need to adjust the red, green and blue levels on the bolded line to what colour you want the sidebar to appear (current values will set the sidebar to pure black), if you want the sidebar to have some transparency then lower the alpha value, if you want the sidebar to always be the same colour then set this value to the same as you set the non-club sidebar to.

The record line of this code tells the game if it detects a colour between those set ranges (with the ranges set covering all possible colours) to recolour it to the value declared in the colour row.

If you wish to set various colours then you can extract the default 'accent colours.xml' file from the settings.fmf file and play around with that.

Please note when creating/making any changes to this file reloading your skin in game will not refresh these values, if the game is running whilst you create this file or modify it you will need to exit and restart the game for the changes to be reflected in game.

One thing to note about changing accent colours.xml is that it appears to be a global setting (i.e. if you change it in one skin, it'll be reproduced in all skins), so if you do something like make the colour invisible (set the alpha value to 0), then any skin you have will exhibit the same behaviour (or at least it has for me)

One thing to note about changing accent colours.xml is that it appears to be a global setting (i.e. if you change it in one skin, it'll be reproduced in all skins), so if you do something like make the colour invisible (set the alpha value to 0), then any skin you have will exhibit the same behaviour (or at least it has for me)

Until you reload the game yes.

To Drakestone/Michael.

I don't have the below in my 'client object browser.xml' file is there something I've done wrong?

To Change the Width of the Sidebar

The Width of the Sidebar is controlled by the 'client object browser.xml' file you want to locate the following line of code (Line #30):

<attachment class="test_screen_size_attachment" alignment="horizontal" min_value="0" max_value="1200" set_property="widt" true_value="45" false_value="160"/>

Hi Michael, having an issue with the sidebar colour mod such that it now shows either the club/nation colours on my own squad screens or a blue bar like this on all other screens:

I downloaded the base skin and the file you linked to above. I've tried leaving it as the default settings in the "accent colours.xml" and switching it to charcoal (R-49, G-51, B-63) but to no avail.

I've also installed panels as per the following, could these be interfering?

Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT - update:

1. on non-squad screens, I still get the blue bar

2. However, on the squad screen I have a nice transparent bar the first time I click on the sidebar. When I click into a player profile it goes blue. When I click "back" to the squad screen, it stays blue for a few seconds then changes back to transparent.

3. Even when I remove the "Accent colours" xml completely, I'm getting the blue bars.

Shrew, I think you need to edit the colour of the default colour also. See below. Change the Alpha to '0'.

To Change the Default Colour of the Sidebar

You will need to locate this line of code in the settings\<skin name> settings.xml file for your skin:

<!-- it's a non-human object - so go this colour for for the sidebar background-->

<colour name="colour side bar" red="35" green="35" blue="145" alpha="255"/>

If it isn't present in your file paste the above code into the file, then to adjust the colour just alter the RGB values, whilst the alpha value affects how transparent the sidebar is, a value of 255 is solid, whilst 0 sets it to full transparency, values inbetween will give it various degrees of transparency.

To Drakestone/Michael.

I don't have the below in my 'client object browser.xml' file is there something I've done wrong?

To Change the Width of the Sidebar

The Width of the Sidebar is controlled by the 'client object browser.xml' file you want to locate the following line of code (Line #30):

<attachment class="test_screen_size_attachment" alignment="horizontal" min_value="0" max_value="1200" set_property="widt" true_value="45" false_value="160"/>

Got the same problem.

EDIT - ignore me, going blind in my old age.

Got it working. Absolutely fantastic. Thanks to both Michael and Tommo for the help.

Got the same problem.

Glad it's not just me. Any ideas anyone?

To Drakestone/Michael.

I don't have the below in my 'client object browser.xml' file is there something I've done wrong?

To Change the Width of the Sidebar

The Width of the Sidebar is controlled by the 'client object browser.xml' file you want to locate the following line of code (Line #30):

<attachment class="test_screen_size_attachment" alignment="horizontal" min_value="0" max_value="1200" set_property="widt" true_value="45" false_value="160"/>

It's there in the default files make sure you have extracted and checked the correct file (it will be in the panels folder for either the fm or fmc skin) if you are using a custom skin then it depends on what changes the skinner has made, if the skinner has changed the file you'll need to extract the default file and compare the two to put the code back.

Glad it's not just me. Any ideas anyone?

Right, I have found the right file to extract now. I have;

<attachment class="test_screen_size_attachment" alignment="horizontal" min_value="0" max_value="1200" set_property="widt" true_value="45" false_value="160"/>

and I have changed true value and false value both to 45 to show the icon sidebar only but the change isn't showing in game, I have restarted the game but it still doesn't show.

Any idea?

It's there in the default files make sure you have extracted and checked the correct file (it will be in the panels folder for either the fm or fmc skin) if you are using a custom skin then it depends on what changes the skinner has made, if the skinner has changed the file you'll need to extract the default file and compare the two to put the code back.

I'm having problems finding it which fmf file needs extracting?

For that file extract it from: \SteamApps\common\Football Manager 2015\data\updates\update-1511 as it was updated in the patch (seems the patch actually added the line in question to the file)

I'm having problems finding it which fmf file needs extracting?

I think I'm right in saying that there is a skins.fmf file for each update and I used the one from the latest update.

One thing to note about changing accent colours.xml is that it appears to be a global setting (i.e. if you change it in one skin, it'll be reproduced in all skins), so if you do something like make the colour invisible (set the alpha value to 0), then any skin you have will exhibit the same behaviour (or at least it has for me)

Yep just noticed that and unfortantley the code won't work if it's in the general settings file it only seems to be picked up in that file, I've also noticed that the accent colours file also controls the coloured backgrounds on the competition news screen aswell, so it seems any way of altering the recolouring will cause issues elsewhere

The competition news screen looks bloody awful, so that's a blessing really.

Tom will you be gracing us with a Stelko X5 this year

I can't get my head around this bit...

- You will need to make sure there are a couple of files located in the panels folder of the skin you are editing these are;

'client object browser.xml' - if not present obtain from the \skins\fm\panels folder (skins\fmc\panels for an FMC skin) extracted from the skins.fmf file.

'sidebar menu table.xml' - if editing the text values, if not present obtain from the panels.fmf file.

Where do I find these files? I need to create a panels folder in the d/loaded skin folder, and that's fine, but I have no idea where to locate the files that need to go in it.

I can't get my head around this bit...

Where do I find these files? I need to create a panels folder in the d/loaded skin folder, and that's fine, but I have no idea where to locate the files that need to go in it.

You need to extract skins.fmf and panels.fmf using the resource archiver

You need to extract skins.fmf and panels.fmf using the resource archiver

Where on earth is that? I've never done anything like this before, so I've really no idea here. I've never even heard of a resource archiver.

I basically just want an icon-only toolbar on FMC, but because no-one ever makes new skins for FMC, I kinda figured I'd need to do it myself, but I've no idea where to start.

Try this: FMC Small sidebar skin (I'd already done it for someone else)

Try this: FMC Small sidebar skin (I'd already done it for someone else)

You sir, are a genius. Can't thank you enough for this!

michaeltmurrayuk, do you know how to put the club logo furthest down on the side bar?

Cool, will have a play with this later on..

Can the icon images be changed in the sidebar? to custom ones?

michaeltmurrayuk, do you know how to put the club logo furthest down on the side bar?

Yes, I would like to know how to do that as well...I see it on the Steklo skin and it looks great.

Can the icon images be changed in the sidebar? to custom ones?

Yes they can, you have to change the appropriate images in your skins graphics/icons/26px folder.

Yes they can, you have to change the appropriate images in your skins graphics/icons/26px folder.

home icon attempted

I've managed to cusomise my sidebar button, but i cant find the one for staff.. or how to get the sendary squads to match

any ideas?

For the staff icon, just create an image in the same folder and call it staff.png.

bugger - cheers drake.. woo ho that my sidebar done than... looks alright, quite please with it.

michaeltmurrayuk, do you know how to put the club logo furthest down on the side bar?

You need to edit the sidebar menu table.xml file, locate this bit of code:

<!--club/nation selector-->

and paste this in above it:

<!-- Primary Logo -->

<widget class="picture" id="lgtF" scale_picture="true" keep_aspect_ratio="true" image_alignment="bottom">

<layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="bottom" inset="0"/>

<attachment class="test_setting_attachment" get_setting="show_badges" default_value="true" set_property="hidn">

<boolean id="value" value="false"/>

</attachment>

<!-- tells the picture to listen to the 'main picture' global property being set, and set its own file property from it -->

<record id="object_property">

<integer id="get_property" value="mnpc" />

<integer id="set_property" value="file" />

</record>

</widget>

That will display the main logo on the bottom of the sidebar. If you want to move it up increase the inset value. If you want to change where it is positioned change the image_alignment value. however note it just sits behind the sidebar options at the moment, if you want it to show on top paste the above code down here the bottom of the file but above the </panel> bit at the bottom, if you want it to move the sidebar contents then it requires more than a quick checking of the code, also doesn't seem possible to display the secondary logo (can get a weird cut-off transparent nation logo to show using the sbpc id?)

Can the icon images be changed in the sidebar? to custom ones?

Icons are controlled by the various xml files located in the panels\menubar folder, there should be one for each icon, xml file controls what graphic is displayed, colour of graphic and colour of any text.

Hi. I can't change the widt of the sidebar, the line of code indicated in the first post (<attachment class="test_screen_size_attachment" alignment="horizontal" min_value="0" max_value="1200" set_property="widt" true_value="45" false_value="160"/>) is not in the "client object browser.xml".

Any help ?

bugger - cheers drake.. woo ho that my sidebar done than... looks alright, quite please with it.

Did you sort out the under21/18 images? If not you need to create this image.

icons/26px/additional squads.png

Did you sort out the under21/18 images? If not you need to create this image.

icons/26px/additional squads.png

cheers might have to keep the defaut for the most part not sure on the text postion