Modify the operator, date and clock text

 

I'm currently using the Moto theme and this is what my phone looks like starting out.



The operator "T-Mobile" is seen with the date, or in this case the battery charging status, below it.   The time is in the lower right corner.

You can customize these three items and move their position, change their colors and border widths, even make them invisible.   I'll show you how I make the operator invisible and how I move the time to be a little more to the left and up the screen.   Warning, If you make your operator invisible you'll never know what network you are in if that matters to you.   And if you make the date invisible you'll only know what your battery status is by looking at the battery icon which will give you an idea of where you are energy wise but won't tell you if the charge is complete or not.

Make sure to backup the files you download in these instructions before you attempt any modifications.   That way if something goes wrong, you can always upload your original files.

Start P2K Tools (these screen shots are from the older version of the program), click "Refresh", then navigate to "c/mobile/skins/Moto" and right click all the files in the window to the far right and click "Download".   You really only need to backup the .ski file, but I wanted them all downloaded.

I then created a new folder to store these files so they couldn't get lost.



Here's the status screen in P2K Tools while the files download.



Now go to the "c/mobile/picture" folder and find the wallpaper file you are using.   Download it and place it in the same folder with your skin files you just downloaded.



Now that you have the files you need to work with on the computer, you will need a program called Moto Skin, you can get it right here .   Start the program.   Then click on "File" and "Open".



Find the skin files you saved and highlight the .ski file and click "Open".



You'll get a warning message about how the wallpaper can't be found.



Click on the "..." button to find the wallpaper.



Highlight that wallpaper image you downloaded and put in the skin folder from earlier by clicking "Open".



Next click on "Options" then "Text rect". I find it helpful to do this next step.   This will visually show you the boundaries on the screen for each of the three items this program can manipulate.   When you match it up with the numbers seen later in the "X1", "Y1", "X2" and "Y2" boxes, it will make more sense.



Here's the screen we'll be working with.



Click "Operator text" in the middle window.   In the window to the right of that change the value of "Opacity" to "255" and click the down arrow at "Outline count" to change the value to "0".   You'll see that the operator's name is now gone.



Now you get the idea of what you can do with this program.   You could now easily make your date and clock disappear too, or change the color of the text or its level of opacity or the thickness of the outline border around the numbers and letters.   Now I'll show you how to move the clock text to somewhere else on the screen.   This will also demonstrate the disconnect between what you see on this program and what you wind up with when you restart your phone.   Expand the "Clock" box and click on "Digital Clock".



Now this is where the position numbers (X1, Y1, etc.) come in to play.   You might want to note what your numbers were originally before you start changing them.   I just put in random numbers to show you that the text block will move.   The clock looks horrible where it is, but that's ok for now.   Note: you should not attempt to put two items at the same Y1 and Y2 settings.   The phone tends to act erratically.



When you are done aligning things like you want them, click "File" and "Save as".



Then select the .ski you want to overwrite and click "Save".

Go back to P2K Tools and make sure you are still in the "c/mobile/skins/Moto" folder and then click "Upload".



Find the .ski file you just overwrote and saved and click "Open".   You'll then get the status bar screen while the file uploads.   Click the "Restart" button and check out your work.



Here's what my modified skin came out looking like.   Oh boy, you can see now what the program shows you and what your phone shows you can be different.   I had no indication that p.m. would get cut off on my clock.



You can continue to tweak the position, color, opacity and border thickness of your screen items.   It may take several tries to get things lined up just like you like it.   You may even get to a point where you over mod the phone and it locks up and the only thing you can do to fix it is monster pack it again.