Set background color for specific torrent/tracker

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:50 -05:00

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Originally created by @Symbai on GitHub (Aug 8, 2020).

Would be nice if we can define custom background colors for specific torrents or trackers making it easier when you have a +600 torrent list.

Originally created by @Symbai on GitHub (Aug 8, 2020). Would be nice if we can define custom background colors for specific torrents or trackers making it easier when you have a +600 torrent list.

deekerman

2026-02-21 20:57:50 -05:00

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deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 8, 2020):

What about using categories and tags? What would be the additional value that this proposed feature provides over categories and tags?

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 8, 2020): What about using categories and tags? What would be the additional value that this proposed feature provides over categories and tags?

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

Yes two things:

Its colored
It allows us to view ALL trackers/torrents but STILL immediately see which torrent it is

Tags only allows us to have a completely separate list. Although we can add the tag column its not helpful as tags are texts only. You cannot browse a list of +600 torrents and immediately which torrent it is by text.

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): Yes two things: 1. Its colored 2. It allows us to view ALL trackers/torrents but STILL immediately see which torrent it is Tags only allows us to have a completely separate list. Although we can add the tag column its not helpful as tags are texts only. You cannot browse a list of +600 torrents and immediately which torrent it is by text.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

@Symbai

Yes two things:
1. Its colored

2. It allows us to view ALL trackers/torrents but STILL immediately see which torrent it is
Tags only allows us to have a completely separate list. Although we can add the tag column its not helpful as tags are texts only. You cannot browse a list of +600 torrents and immediately which torrent it is by text.

Can't see why "It's colored" is an advantage in and of itself; consider what the UI will look like one you have more than 5 different colors or so.
Since you only mentioned tags... Can't you achieve the same thing you mentioned with categories? The UI allows you to both sort by category (category column) and filtering by category.

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): @Symbai > Yes two things: > > 1. Its colored > > 2. It allows us to view ALL trackers/torrents but STILL immediately see which torrent it is > > > Tags only allows us to have a completely separate list. Although we can add the tag column its not helpful as tags are texts only. You cannot browse a list of +600 torrents and immediately which torrent it is by text. 1. Can't see why "It's colored" is an advantage in and of itself; consider what the UI will look like one you have more than 5 different colors or so. 2. Since you only mentioned tags... Can't you achieve the same thing you mentioned with categories? The UI allows you to both sort by category (category column) _and_ filtering by category.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

If you cannot see why colors make a difference I guess you never worked with tables in your whole life at all, whether its a comparison sheet, an Excel table or even the taskmanager in Windows 10:

Process Explorer:

You should start asking yourself why all of these have colors to highlight different entries in their tables. Dont you think there actually IS a reason for it?

Regarding columns: No. I dont want to sort or filter (in fact I sorted by a different column already). I simply want to keep an overview of a large list without searching / reading or filtering.

But I'm not really sure how to convince you with arguments when you simply don't want at all, which I guess is the more likely the case.

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): If you cannot see why colors make a difference I guess you never worked with tables in your whole life at all, whether its a comparison sheet, an Excel table or even the taskmanager in Windows 10: ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/14368203/89729607-e2fc0100-da26-11ea-8bea-0e8b5a0f239b.png) Process Explorer: ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/14368203/89729624-fb6c1b80-da26-11ea-84ec-8bc908d51a15.png) You should start asking yourself why all of these have colors to highlight different entries in their tables. Dont you think there actually IS a reason for it? Regarding columns: No. I dont want to sort or filter (in fact I sorted by a different column already). I simply want to keep an overview of a large list without searching / reading or filtering. But I'm not really sure how to convince you with arguments when you simply don't want at all, which I guess is the more likely the case.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

@Symbai

If you cannot see why colors make a difference I guess you never worked with tables in your whole life at all, whether its a comparison sheet, an Excel table or even the taskmanager in Windows 10:

No need for the hostility. The images you provided are a better illustration of your point than what you had previously provided, but, as you can see, it took us a while to get there.

You should start asking yourself why all of these have colors to highlight different entries in their tables. Don't you think there actually IS a reason for it?

Of course there is a reason for colors in these cases, but they are different than what you want the colors for in qBittorrent.

IMO, Process Explorer is a bad example for you to make your case. IMO it's precisely that kind of overuse of color I don't think is helpful, and makes the UI cluttered and looking like a clown's face.
Task manager is a good example of using colors in a table-like structure to convey meaning. But in the case of task manager, the color is just being used to convey magnitude of values in a universal sense (i.e. darker = more usage of a certain resource, relative to the range of its values), and uses a fixed limited number of shades (maybe 5-7?) of yellow-ish/orange-ish/red-ish.

Regarding columns: No. I dont want to sort or filter (in fact I sorted by a different column already). I simply want to keep an overview of a large list without searching / reading or filtering.

You may be sorted by some sort of other value already, but presumably what you want is some kind of filtering, right? Assigning colors to torrents so you can distinguish them is a way of classifying/filtering them.

If I understand correctly, you want an arbitrary number of colors for the purpose of classifying and filtering torrents. This is a quite different use of color than both examples you provided (even Process Explorer, which, like I said, overuses colors in a bad way, does not allow an arbitrary number of colors, much less set by the user, at least to my knowledge).

That being said, I'm struggling to understand how using arbitrary colors for the purpose of classifying and filtering torrents is superior to just using categories and/or tags. If you use categories correctly, you don't even need to sort torrents by category to get to the torrents of a certain category, you just need to select the desired category in the side bar, and only those torrents will be shown in the transfer list.

Let me know if I'm missing something, post more example images if need be.

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): @Symbai > If you cannot see why colors make a difference I guess you never worked with tables in your whole life at all, whether its a comparison sheet, an Excel table or even the taskmanager in Windows 10: No need for the hostility. The images you provided are a better illustration of your point than what you had previously provided, but, as you can see, it took us a while to get there. > You should start asking yourself why all of these have colors to highlight different entries in their tables. Don't you think there actually IS a reason for it? Of course there is a reason for colors in these cases, but they are different than what you want the colors for in qBittorrent. 1. IMO, Process Explorer is a bad example for you to make your case. IMO it's precisely that kind of overuse of color I don't think is helpful, and makes the UI cluttered and looking like a clown's face. 2. Task manager is a good example of using colors in a table-like structure to convey meaning. But in the case of task manager, the color is just being used to convey _magnitude_ of values in a universal sense (i.e. darker = more usage of a certain resource, relative to the range of its values), and uses a fixed limited number of shades (maybe 5-7?) of yellow-ish/orange-ish/red-ish. > Regarding columns: No. I dont want to sort or filter (in fact I sorted by a different column already). I simply want to keep an overview of a large list without searching / reading or filtering. You may be sorted by some sort of other value already, but presumably what you want _is_ some kind of filtering, right? Assigning colors to torrents so you can distinguish them is a way of classifying/filtering them. If I understand correctly, you want an arbitrary number of colors for the purpose of classifying and filtering torrents. This is a quite different use of color than both examples you provided (even Process Explorer, which, like I said, overuses colors in a bad way, does not allow an arbitrary number of colors, much less set by the user, at least to my knowledge). That being said, I'm struggling to understand how using arbitrary colors for the purpose of classifying and filtering torrents is superior to just using categories and/or tags. If you use categories correctly, you don't even need to sort torrents by category to get to the torrents of a certain category, you just need to select the desired category in the side bar, and only those torrents will be shown in the transfer list. Let me know if I'm missing something, post more example images if need be.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

Let me know if I'm missing something, post more example images if need be.

You missed a lot

Its an optional feature request that can be used for those who find it useful enough
It hurts no one to have it added
Everyone is free to add as many colors to as many torrents as he want. Maybe I only highlight 3 torrents green and the rest is default color? Then I have a total of 3 colors at all. And your argument of "UI cluttered" and "Clowns face" is gone.
Torrents in categories and tags appear as the same in the torrent list "Category -> all". If I select one tag or a category I only see all torrents that belong to this tag or category and the rest is hidden. This is something completely different.
I dont want to FILTER stuff. Filter means I only want to see specific items and hide everything else => no. I want to see ALL torrents at once and then have specific torrents appear in a specific color so I recognize them immediately in my list of ALL torrents.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh but I really don't see where exactly your problem is with my request about adding an optional feature for those who find it more useful than tags and categories. Especially because all of your arguments, which are only 2 by the way:

Too many colors are cluttering the UI => Everyone can as many colors as everyone wants. It can be 0 for you. And 1 for someone else, and for Process Explorer lovers it can be 145,634,131 colors, shouldn't be your problem since you don't have to look at it.
We have categories and tags => Yes we have which moves them into a separate "folder" only. This is not helpful when I want to view all torrents and recognize some of them in the list immediately. If we can do this with tags and categories, tell me how and we're done. Otherwise, its something completely different to what I've been requesting.

are disproved.

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): > > > Let me know if I'm missing something, post more example images if need be. You missed a lot - Its an **optional** feature request that **can be** used for those who find it useful enough - It hurts no one to have it added - Everyone is free to add as many colors to as many torrents as he want. Maybe I only highlight 3 torrents green and the rest is default color? Then I have a total of 3 colors at all. And your argument of "UI cluttered" and "Clowns face" is gone. - Torrents in categories and tags appear as the same in the torrent list "Category -> all". If I select one tag or a category I only see all torrents that belong to this tag or category and the rest is hidden. This is something completely different. - I dont want to FILTER stuff. Filter means I only want to see specific items and hide everything else => no. I want to see **ALL** torrents at once and then have specific torrents appear in a specific color so I recognize them **immediately** in my list of **ALL** torrents. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but I really don't see where exactly your problem is with my request about adding an optional feature for those who find it more useful than tags and categories. Especially because all of your arguments, which are only 2 by the way: 1. Too many colors are cluttering the UI => Everyone can as many colors as everyone wants. It can be 0 for you. And 1 for someone else, and for Process Explorer lovers it can be 145,634,131 colors, shouldn't be your problem since you don't have to look at it. 2. We have categories and tags => Yes we have which moves them into a separate "folder" only. This is not helpful when I want to view all torrents and recognize some of them in the list immediately. If we can do this with tags and categories, tell me how and we're done. Otherwise, its something completely different to what I've been requesting. are disproved.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

@Symbai

Its an optional feature request that can be used for those who find it useful enough

It hurts no one to have it added

It takes someone to implement this and deal with the maintenance burden, so it should be useful to as many users as possible, but sure.

Everyone is free to add as many colors to as many torrents as he want. Maybe I only highlight 3 torrents green and the rest is default color? Then I have a total of 3 colors at all. And your argument of "UI cluttered" and "Clowns face" is gone.

It should be obvious that my argument was about the potential for this to happen. If you only use 3 colors (or a similarly small number), then sure, it won't happen, but in that case, why not use 3 categories? Takes no time switching between them, and if you scroll the whole unfiltered list, you can quickly glance at the "category" column as you scroll and quickly recognize torrents of a certain category as you look at the category names in that column.

Torrents in categories and tags appear as the same in the torrent list "Category -> all". If I select one tag or a category I only see all torrents that belong to this tag or category and the rest is hidden. This is something completely different.

I dont want to FILTER stuff. Filter means I only want to see specific items and hide everything else => no. I want to see ALL torrents at once and then have specific torrents appear in a specific color so I recognize them immediately in my list of ALL torrents.

I want to view all torrents and recognize some of them in the list immediately. If we can do this with tags and categories, tell me how and we're done

It's still unclear to me why the "filter torrent names" search field, categories and tags are insufficient for you, and you insist on this workflow of only scrolling through the full list to find what you want. It's not like it's faster than selecting the category you know you're looking for anyway, and perhaps just marginally faster than searching by torrent name... If you are constraining yourself to that way of doing things, I would agree that different colors are easier to spot than different category names (text) when scrolling, but:

If you have a low number of either (~5), the difference is not much.
If you have a high number of different colors, isn't it easy to forget what each one stands for?

Here's one thing I would agree with: optional color coding for categories. I think that would bring in the best of both worlds: identification by name + easier to spot when scrolling.

Most feature requests are valid, it's just that some, like this one, don't strike me as particularly useful given the already existing workflows/possibilities. So it probably does not have a high chance of being implemented, at least not that quickly... In the meantime, I'm trying to suggest alternatives you can use to achieve the same goal.

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): @Symbai > - Its an optional feature request that can be used for those who find it useful enough > - It hurts no one to have it added It takes someone to implement this and deal with the maintenance burden, so it should be useful to as many users as possible, but sure. > - Everyone is free to add as many colors to as many torrents as he want. Maybe I only highlight 3 torrents green and the rest is default color? Then I have a total of 3 colors at all. And your argument of "UI cluttered" and "Clowns face" is gone. It should be obvious that my argument was about the _potential_ for this to happen. If you only use 3 colors (or a similarly small number), then sure, it won't happen, but in that case, why not use 3 categories? Takes no time switching between them, and if you scroll the whole unfiltered list, you can quickly glance at the "category" column as you scroll and quickly recognize torrents of a certain category as you look at the category names in that column. > - Torrents in categories and tags appear as the same in the torrent list "Category -> all". If I select one tag or a category I only see all torrents that belong to this tag or category and the rest is hidden. This is something completely different. > - I dont want to FILTER stuff. Filter means I only want to see specific items and hide everything else => no. I want to see ALL torrents at once and then have specific torrents appear in a specific color so I recognize them immediately in my list of ALL torrents. > I want to view all torrents and recognize some of them in the list immediately. If we can do this with tags and categories, tell me how and we're done It's still unclear to me why the "filter torrent names" search field, categories and tags are insufficient for you, and you insist on this workflow of only scrolling through the full list to find what you want. It's not like it's faster than selecting the category you know you're looking for anyway, and perhaps just marginally faster than searching by torrent name... If you are constraining yourself to that way of doing things, I would agree that different colors are easier to spot than different category names (text) when scrolling, but: - If you have a low number of either (~5), the difference is not much. - If you have a high number of different colors, isn't it easy to forget what each one stands for? Here's one thing I would agree with: optional color coding for categories. I think that would bring in the best of both worlds: identification by name + easier to spot when scrolling. Most feature requests are valid, it's just that some, like this one, don't strike me as particularly useful given the already existing workflows/possibilities. So it probably does not have a high chance of being implemented, at least not that quickly... In the meantime, I'm trying to suggest alternatives you can use to achieve the same goal.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

I should also mention there is already discussion going on about using colors in the transfer list to indicate certain status problems, like orange/red for "no working tracker". If that ends up going through, it would collide with this FR.

https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/pull/12697

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): I should also mention there is already discussion going on about using colors in the transfer list to indicate certain status problems, like orange/red for "no working tracker". If that ends up going through, it would collide with this FR. https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/pull/12697

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@thalieht commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

Sounds like a nice thing to have, maybe after #9939. When tags were implemented i said the same thing: we have categories! Why do we need tags?? Ok i didn't say it, but i thought about it. I've never used them but that doesn't mean that many people aren't doing so.

@thalieht commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): Sounds like a nice thing to have, maybe after #9939. When tags were implemented i said the same thing: we have categories! Why do we need tags?? Ok i didn't say it, but i thought about it. I've never used them but that doesn't mean that many people aren't doing so.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

@thalieht what about https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/13242#issuecomment-671078930?

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): @thalieht what about https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/13242#issuecomment-671078930?

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@thalieht commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020):

@thalieht what about #13242 (comment)?

This is about background color and optional.

@thalieht commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2020): >@thalieht what about #13242 (comment)? This is about background color and optional.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@railfrog50a commented on GitHub (Jun 14, 2023):

I would love to see this.
A different colour for different trackers.

@railfrog50a commented on GitHub (Jun 14, 2023): I would love to see this. A different colour for different trackers.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:54 -05:00

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@luzpaz commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2023):

Anyone interested in implementing this ?

@luzpaz commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2023): Anyone interested in implementing this ?

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@glassez commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2023):

Anyone interested in implementing this ?

The question is could it even be approved.

@glassez commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2023): > Anyone interested in implementing this ? The question is could it even be approved.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@luzpaz commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024):

Closing as duplicate of #9849

@luzpaz commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024): Closing as duplicate of #9849

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024):

@luzpaz How is that a duplicate? The issue #9849 wants to highlight non-working torrents. This issue is to highlight specific trackers. Completely different things.... 🤦‍♂️

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024): @luzpaz How is that a duplicate? The issue #9849 wants to highlight non-working torrents. This issue is to highlight specific trackers. Completely different things.... 🤦‍♂️

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@luzpaz commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024):

This ticket title specifies 'Set background color for specific torrent/tracker'
It seems interchangeable since 9849 overlaps with the request.

@luzpaz commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024): This ticket title specifies 'Set background color for specific **torrent/tracker**' It seems interchangeable since 9849 overlaps with the request.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024):

@luzpaz: When #9849 gets implemented, this request is still not resolved. Because while non-working torrents are highlighted there is still no way to highlight torrents based on trackers. Just because both are about highlighting torrents they are still not duplicates. I think you're making it too easy. Based on your thoughts you can close every crash report since they're all about crashes.

Edit: It would have been a duplicate if the mentioned issue more generally like "Highlight torrents based on custom rules" or something like that. But thats not what the mentioned issue is about.

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024): @luzpaz: When #9849 gets implemented, this request is still not resolved. Because while non-working torrents are highlighted there is still no way to highlight torrents based on trackers. Just because both are about highlighting torrents they are still not duplicates. I think you're making it too easy. Based on your thoughts you can close every crash report since they're all about crashes. Edit: It would have been a duplicate if the mentioned issue more generally like "Highlight torrents based on custom rules" or something like that. But thats not what the mentioned issue is about.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@stalkerok commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024):

In the trackers widget, torrents are already grouped by tracker. This may not be what you need, but it highlights torrents with the tracker you want.

@stalkerok commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024): In the trackers widget, torrents are already grouped by tracker. This may not be what you need, but it highlights torrents with the tracker you want.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 20:57:55 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024):

This request is about highlighting trackers by torrent, not grouping trackers, but thanks.

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Apr 9, 2024): This request is about highlighting trackers by torrent, not grouping trackers, but thanks.

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Set background color for specific torrent/tracker #10787