How to install themes fast on Linux with Pling Store
Want an easy way to install themes for your Linux desktop? Don’t like messing around with system files? Check out Pling Store. It’s a great app that allows you to browse websites like Gnome-look.org, Opendesktop.org, and others and install many system themes with the click of a button! In this guide, we’ll show you how to install the Pling Store and use it too.
Installing Pling Store on Linux
Pling Store is used on opendesktop.org to quickly install theme files for the Gnome desktop, KDE Plasma desktop, XFCE, and many other desktop environments that have themes on the website.
Pling Store doesn’t come pre-installed on any Linux operating systems, and worse, none of the mainstream Linux operating systems even have Pling Store in their repositories. As a result, if you want to use this handy software to install themes for your Linux desktop in a flash, you will need to install with the generic Linux instructions.
To get Pling Store set up on your Linux PC, start by opening up a terminal window on the Linux desktop. Once the terminal window is open and ready to use, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined to get the app working on your computer.
Downloading Pling Store
Pling is only available to Linux users in the form of an AppImage file. The reason the folks behind Pling Store have stuck with AppImage is that it works on each and every Linux operating system out there, with no exceptions.
To start the installation of the Pling Store app, you will need to download it. To download it, head over to the Pling Store download page. Once on the download page, click on the “Files” tab.
Inside of the “files’ tab, you’ll see a download option for “pling-store-5.0.2-1-x86_64.AppImage”. Select the blue download button next to it to start the download.
The Pling Store AppImage file is roughly about 100 MB, so download shouldn’t take long at all. When the download completes, open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop. Then, use the CD command to move into the “Downloads” directory.
cd ~/Downloads
Once you’ve made it into the “Downloads” directory in the terminal, make use of the mkdir command to create a new folder with the name “AppImages.” This folder will house the Pling AppImage file so it is safe and out of the way.
mkdir -p ~/AppImages/
After creating the new AppImage file, make use of the mv command and move the Pling Store AppImage file into the newly created “AppImages” folder.
mv pling-store-*.AppImage ~/AppImages/
When the AppImage file is moved into the “AppImages” folder, use the CD command to move the terminal session there too.
cd ~/AppImages
From here, you will need to update the permissions of the Pling Store AppImage file. Using the chmod command, update the file’s permissions.
chmod +x pling-store-*.AppImage
Finally, open up the app using the command below.
./pling-store-*.AppImage
You can also open up the Pling Store on your Linux PC by opening up the “AppImages” folder in your Linux file manager and double-clicking on the Pling Store AppImage.
Creating a Pling account
While it is not required to use the app, creating a Pling account is a good idea. With your account, you’ll be able to comment on theme posts, and even upload your own creations or offer help to other users.
To create a Pling account, find the blue “Register” account at the top of the screen and click on it with the mouse. Once you click on it, you’ll be taken to an account creation screen. Follow the prompts to create an account.
Once you’ve created your account, log in to your account inside of Pling using your user credentials.
Install themes with Pling Store
The Pling Store is a web browser with various capabilities built into it to allow you to download and install themes for any Linux desktop environment (KDE Plasma, Gnome, Cinnamon, XFCE, and so many more) with the click of a button.
To install a theme for yourself, launch the Pling app, and follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: When the Pling app loads up, you will be presented with the Pling.com homepage. On this homepage, find the search box and click on it with the mouse.
Upon clicking on the search box with the mouse, you will be able to do a search. Write in the name of a theme you’d like to install, or if you can’t think of one, type in “Gnome themes,” “KDE themes,” etc.
Step 2: Look through the search results in the Pling Store app for the theme you’d like to install onto your computer. Once you’ve made your decision for the theme you’d like to install, click on it with the mouse.
Step 3: After selecting the theme you’d like to install with the mouse, you will be taken to the theme’s page. On the theme’s page, look for the “files” section.
Inside the files section, you’ll see the download options for your theme. From here, click on the “INSTALL” button to have Pling Store auto-download and install your new theme!
