Backstage tab item coloring v11

[pschimmel]

Hi!

I've updated to v11.0.2.
I now see that in the backstage area there is no highlighting of the tab item background and also not for the selected item anymore.
The only highlighting that happens is with the thick border that appears on the left side of the tab.
Is this done intentionally?
I saw that there are still brushes defined in the different themes for mouse hover and selection background, but they do not seem to have an effect.

I know that this pretty much matches with the office style, but unfortunately it does not comply with our companies style guide.

[batzen]

Hi.

It's intentional as I try to stay close to the current Office versions.
The new design was discussed in #957 since 2021.

All defined brushes should be used. Which ones aren't used? Please keep in mind that some, like Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.RibbonTabItem.MouseOver.Background, default to Transparent now.

but unfortunately it does not comply with our companies style guide.

Which parts don't comply and what is blocking you from making the proper style/color adjustments to comply with your companies style guide?

[pschimmel]

See attached example.

FluentTest.zip

I tried to overwrite the brush resources like this:

<!--  BackstageTabControl  -->
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabControl.Background" options:Freeze="True" Color="LightGray" />
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabControl.Button.MouseOver.Background" options:Freeze="True" Color="Red" /><!-- Unknown -->
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabControl.ItemsPanelBackground" options:Freeze="True" Color="Gray" />

<!--  BackstageTabItem  -->
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabItem.Header.Foreground" options:Freeze="True" Color="Black" />
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabItem.MouseOver.Background" options:Freeze="True" Color="Yellow" /><!-- Only affects background of back button -->
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabItem.Selected.Background" options:Freeze="True" Color="Cyan" /><!-- Vertical bar -->

I think the resource "Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabControl.Button.MouseOver.Background" is not used at all.
I also changed "Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabItem.MouseOver.Background", but this only has an effect on the background of the back button.
I found out that the "Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabItem.Selected.Background" affects the brush of the vertical bar in front of the selected tab. I found it just a bit strange that this is named "...Selected.Background"

In order to completely fullfil my company's regulations, I would have to make the background of the tab header lighter on mouse hover and darker when it is selected. This clearly differs from the current MS Office behavior
Here's a mockup:

Also, it would be good if we could change the focus frame color.

[batzen]

Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabControl.Button.MouseOver.Background isn't used. I forgot to delete it.

To get exactly what you want you'll have to clone and modify Fluent.Ribbon.Templates.BackstageTabItem, which is about 100 lines plus the style, if you want to define colors/brushes there.
Would that be ok for you, or do you absolutely need Fluent.Ribbon to support this out of the box?

[pschimmel]

Thank you for taking a look. I think it's not worth the effort and would make future updates difficult. Personally, I would add a resource for the focus border brush and remove the resource that is not used anymore. Thanks. Bastian Schmidt ***@***.***> schrieb am So., 15. Feb. 2026, 06:48:

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*batzen* left a comment (fluentribbon/Fluent.Ribbon#1265) <#1265 (comment)> Fluent.Ribbon.Brushes.BackstageTabControl.Button.MouseOver.Background isn't used. I forgot to delete it. To get exactly what you want you'll have to clone and modify Fluent.Ribbon.Templates.BackstageTabItem, which is about 100 lines plus the style, if you want to define colors/brushes there. Would that be ok for you, or do you absolutely need Fluent.Ribbon to support this out of the box? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1265 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACE4I4YZLJJSRSQWYF7U2GD4MACBDAVCNFSM6AAAAACUPXNQO6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTSMBTGM3DSMJUGY> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>