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<p>Starting with commit <code>29b5e57e</code> to the <code>main</code> branch of <a href="https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes">the Modus
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themes</a>, users have the option to
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customise the presentation of the Org agenda. This will become widely
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available through upstream Emacs and GNU ELPA in version <code>1.5.0</code> of the
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themes (tentative release frame in early July). The new variable is
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<code>modus-themes-org-agenda</code>, which accepts an alist where each combination
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corresponds to specific parts of the agenda buffers. Those parts are
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parameterised to be styled independent of each other.</p>
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<p>First an overview of the user-facing code and then some screen shots:</p>
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<pre><code class="language-elisp">(setq modus-themes-org-agenda
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'((header-block . (variable-pitch scale-title))
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(header-date . (grayscale bold-today))
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(scheduled . uniform)
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(habit . traffic-light-deuteranopia)))
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</code></pre>
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<p>Those associations correspond in the given order to:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>The block headers that describe each agenda view. For example, when
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you do <code>M-x org-agenda</code> followed by <code>n</code> you get a header at the top
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that describes the days’ view and one further below which pertains to
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all pending tasks.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>The date headers in the day views.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Items with a scheduled timestamp assigned to them. Remember that
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“scheduled” refers to the day/time a task should be started: it is not
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a deadline (read <a href="https://bzg.fr/en/on-using-to-do-lists-efficiently/">On using to-do lists
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efficiently</a>
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(2021-04-26) by Bastien Guerry, the Org maintainer).</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>The <code>org-habit</code> graph for those who use it to track their consistency
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over recurring tasks (e.g. daily exercise).</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>The <code>header-block</code> and <code>header-date</code> keys accept lists of values which
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combine their effects. For instance, <code>header-date</code> can use a
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<code>workaholic</code> value to apply uniform colouration to weekdays and weekends
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and combine it with <code>grayscale</code> so that the colours are black/white
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instead of the default shades of cyan. Those lists can be one item
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long, such as <code>(header-date . (grayscale))</code>. For more items, the order
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is not significant, so <code>(header-date . (workaholic grayscale))</code> and
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<code>(header-date . (grayscale workaholic))</code> yield the same results.</p>
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<p>The <code>scheduled</code> and <code>habit</code> keys accept a symbol, as shown in the sample
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alist above.</p>
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<h2>Default looks</h2>
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<p>This is an agenda buffer without any customisations whatsoever. We use
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colour to differentiate the various constructs, but try not to overdo it
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as users’ agendas can be rich with entries and too much colour can be a
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hindrance to productivity.</p>
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<p><a href="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-operandi-org-agenda-default.png"><img alt="Modus Operandi default" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-operandi-org-agenda-default.png" /></a></p>
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<p><a href="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-vivendi-org-agenda-default.png"><img alt="Modus Vivendi default" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-vivendi-org-agenda-default.png" /></a></p>
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<h2>Tweaked looks</h2>
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<p>Here is the same agenda view with the following styles (remember to read
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either the doc string or the manual’s entry on the matter):</p>
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<pre><code class="language-elisp">(setq modus-themes-org-agenda
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'((header-block . (variable-pitch scale-title))
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(header-date . (grayscale bold-today))
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(scheduled . uniform)
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(habit . simplified)))
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</code></pre>
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<p><a href="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-operandi-org-agenda-tweaked.png"><img alt="Modus Operandi tweaked" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-operandi-org-agenda-tweaked.png" /></a></p>
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<p><a href="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-vivendi-org-agenda-tweaked.png"><img alt="Modus Vivendi tweaked" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-vivendi-org-agenda-tweaked.png" /></a></p>
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<h2>Deuteranopia styles</h2>
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<p>As I have noted before, such as in <a href="https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2021-05-19-modus-themes-status-update/">my latest status
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report</a>
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on the Modus themes’ progress, we provide the tools to empower users
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with red-green colour deficiency (deuteranopia). This practically means
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to avoid unconditional colour-coding that relies on a distinction
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between red and green, by substituting green with blue. To that end,
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the themes provide <code>modus-themes-success-deuteranopia</code> (e.g. for Org
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“DONE” tasks or Isearch matches) and <code>modus-themes-diffs</code> which has
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relevant styles with a red-blue design.</p>
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<p>For <code>modus-themes-org-agenda</code>, the only place where we need to introduce
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such an alternative is for the <code>org-habit</code> graph. We do so by tweaking
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the <code>traffic-light</code> style/workflow as <code>traffic-light-deuteranopia</code>: it
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uses red, yellow, and blue to present its indicators.</p>
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<p>With those configurations we get the following samples:</p>
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<pre><code class="language-elisp">(setq modus-themes-success-deuteranopia t)
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(setq modus-themes-org-agenda
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'((header-block . (variable-pitch scale-title))
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(header-date . (grayscale bold-today))
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(scheduled . uniform)
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(habit . traffic-light-deuteranopia)))
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</code></pre>
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<p><a href="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-operandi-org-agenda-deuteranopia.png"><img alt="Modus Operandi deuteranopia" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-operandi-org-agenda-deuteranopia.png" /></a></p>
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<p><a href="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-vivendi-org-agenda-deuteranopia.png"><img alt="Modus Vivendi deuteranopia" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/2021-06-02-modus-vivendi-org-agenda-deuteranopia.png" /></a></p>
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<h2>Attention to detail</h2>
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<p>To develop this variable, I benefited from the insights, commentary,
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suggestions, and testing of Gustavo Barros <a href="https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/-/issues/208">in issue
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208</a> (the
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discussion has over 200 comments as of this writing). Gustavo put
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forward the idea of reviewing the old defaults, which eventually led us
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to the realisation that only a new customisation option would suffice;
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an option in the form of an alist to offer us maximum flexibility.</p>
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<p>Internally, the design of <code>modus-themes-org-agenda</code> draws from the
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in-progress patch of Philip Kaludercic on the redesign of compound
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values for the numerous customisation options the themes provide,
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starting with <code>modus-themes-mode-line</code> (refer to the discussion in
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<a href="https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/-/merge_requests/40">merge request
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40</a>).</p>
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<p>Through the discussion with Gustavo, we also identified areas where Org
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itself can be improved. Those will be formalised as patches and sent to
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the maintainers. Their basic idea is to implement faces that are
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optimised for their context in the agenda buffers. I shall work on
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those as soon as I am done with this report and will write about them in
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those web pages after they are accepted by upstream.</p>
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<p>In short, we pay attention to detail and want the best possible result
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for all users. Thanks again to Gustavo for the fruitful collaboration
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thus far and thanks in advance to Philip for the forthcoming patches!</p>
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<hr />
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<p><strong>NOTE:</strong> The <code>modus-themes-org-agenda</code> supersedes the now-deprecated
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<code>modus-themes-org-habit</code>. Users of the old variable can get the exact
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same styles by controlling the <code>habit</code> key inside of the new alist, with
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possible values still being the same as before, plus the
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deuteranopia-optimised addition, namely: <code>nil</code> (default), <code>simplified</code>,
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<code>traffic-light</code>, <code>traffic-light-deuteranopia</code>.</p>
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