config.phundrak.com/docs/emacs/packages/visual-config.org

#+title: Emacs — Packages — Visual Configuration
#+setupfile: ../../headers
#+property: header-args:emacs-lisp  :mkdirp yes :lexical t :exports code
#+property: header-args:emacs-lisp+ :tangle ~/.config/emacs/lisp/visual-config.el
#+property: header-args:emacs-lisp+ :mkdirp yes :noweb no-export

* Visual Configuration
** Dashboard
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package dashboard
  :straight (:build t)
  :ensure t
  :after all-the-icons
  :config
  (setq dashboard-banner-logo-title "Phundrak’s Vanilla Emacs"
        dashboard-startup-banner    'logo
        dashboard-center-content    t
        dashboard-show-shortcuts    t
        dashboard-set-navigator     t
        dashboard-set-heading-icons t
        dashboard-set-file-icons    t
        initial-buffer-choice       (lambda () (get-buffer "*dashboard*"))
        dashboard-projects-switch-function 'counsel-projectile-switch-project-by-name)
  (setq dashboard-navigator-buttons
        `(((,(all-the-icons-faicon "language" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
            "Linguistics Website"
            ""
            (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "https://langue.phundrak.com")))

           (,(all-the-icons-faicon "firefox" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
            "Config Website"
            ""
            (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "https://config.phundrak.com"))))

          ((,(all-the-icons-octicon "git-branch" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
            "Dotfiles Sources"
            ""
            (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "https://labs.phundrak.com/phundrak/dotfiles")))
           ("!" "Issues" "Show issues" (lambda (&rest _)
                                         (browse-url "https://labs.phundrak.com/phundrak/dotfiles/issues"))
            warning))
          ((,(all-the-icons-faicon "level-up" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
            "Update Packages"
            ""
            (lambda (&rest _) (progn
                                (require 'straight)
                                (straight-pull-all)
                                (straight-rebuild-all)))))))

  (setq dashboard-items '((recents  . 15)
                          (agenda   . 10)
                          (projects . 10)))
  (dashboard-setup-startup-hook)
  :init
  (add-hook 'after-init-hook 'dashboard-refresh-buffer))
#+end_src

** Fringe
It’s nice to know which lines were modified since the last commit in a
file.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package git-gutter-fringe
  :straight (:build t)
  :hook ((prog-mode     . git-gutter-mode)
         (org-mode      . git-gutter-mode)
         (markdown-mode . git-gutter-mode)
         (latex-mode    . git-gutter-mode)))
#+end_src

** Icons? Did someone say icons?
/*YES! ALL OF THEM!*/

Ahem…

The package ~all-the-icons~ allows us to use a wide variety of icons in
Emacs for various purposes, wherever we want, and /THAT/ is *GREAT*! I’ll
(ab)use this feature in my config, be warned! *NOTE*: The first time a
configuration with ~all-the-icons~ loads on a machine, the needed fonts
might not be available, so you’ll need to install them with the
command ~M-x all-the-icons-install-fonts~.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package all-the-icons
  :defer t
  :straight t)
#+end_src

~prettify-symbols-mode~ is also a nifty feature of Emacs, and it is
built-in! With that, I can replace strings of my choice by another
character of my choice! First, let’s declare the general symbols that
will be used everywhere.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(defun prog-mode-set-symbols-alist ()
  (setq prettify-symbols-alist '(("lambda"  . ?λ)))
  (prettify-symbols-mode 1))

(add-hook 'prog-mode-hook #'prog-mode-set-symbols-alist)
#+end_src

We can now take care of the language-specific symbols. First, let’s
declare some symbols for the Lisp languages.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq-default lisp-prettify-symbols-alist '(("lambda"    . ?λ)
                                            ("defun"     . ?𝑓)
                                            ("defvar"    . ?𝑣)
                                            ("defcustom" . ?𝑐)
                                            ("defconst"  . ?𝐶)))

(defun lisp-mode-prettify ()
  (setq prettify-symbols-alist lisp-prettify-symbols-alist)
  (prettify-symbols-mode -1)
  (prettify-symbols-mode 1))

(dolist (lang '(emacs-lisp lisp common-lisp scheme))
  (add-hook (intern (format "%S-mode-hook" lang))
            #'lisp-mode-prettify))
#+end_src

Finally, similar to how ~org-appear~ behaves, let’s show the real string
of our symbols when the cursor is on it.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq prettify-symbols-unprettify-at-point t)
#+end_src

** Ligatures
The font I’m using supports ligatures, but Emacs in GUI mode does not.
And of course, there’s a package for that.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package ligature
  :straight (ligature :type git
                      :host github
                      :repo "mickeynp/ligature.el"
                      :build t)
  :config
  (ligature-set-ligatures 't
                          '("www"))
  ;; Enable traditional ligature support in eww-mode, if the
  ;; `variable-pitch' face supports it
  (ligature-set-ligatures '(eww-mode org-mode elfeed-show-mode)
                          '("ff" "fi" "ffi"))
  ;; Enable all Cascadia Code ligatures in programming modes
  (ligature-set-ligatures 'prog-mode
                          '("|||>" "<|||" "<==>" "<!--" "####" "~~>" "***" "||=" "||>"
                            ":::" "::=" "=:=" "===" "==>" "=!=" "=>>" "=<<" "=/=" "!=="
                            "!!." ">=>" ">>=" ">>>" ">>-" ">->" "->>" "-->" "---" "-<<"
                            "<~~" "<~>" "<*>" "<||" "<|>" "<$>" "<==" "<=>" "<=<" "<->"
                            "<--" "<-<" "<<=" "<<-" "<<<" "<+>" "</>" "###" "#_(" "..<"
                            "..." "+++" "/==" "///" "_|_" "www" "&&" "^=" "~~" "~@" "~="
                            "~>" "~-" "**" "*>" "*/" "||" "|}" "|]" "|=" "|>" "|-" "{|"
                            "[|" "]#" "::" ":=" ":>" ":<" "$>" "==" "=>" "!=" "!!" ">:"
                            ">=" ">>" ">-" "-~" "-|" "->" "--" "-<" "<~" "<*" "<|" "<:"
                            "<$" "<=" "<>" "<-" "<<" "<+" "</" "#{" "#[" "#:" "#=" "#!"
                            "##" "#(" "#?" "#_" "%%" ".=" ".-" ".." ".?" "+>" "++" "?:"
                            "?=" "?." "??" ";;" "/*" "/=" "/>" "//" "__" "~~" "(*" "*)"
                            "\\\\" "://"))
  (global-ligature-mode t))
#+end_src

** Modeline
The DoomEmacs modeline looks nice in my opinion, let’s use it.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package doom-modeline
  :straight (:build t)
  :defer t
  :init
  (doom-modeline-mode 1)
  (setq find-file-visit-truename t)
  :custom
  (doom-modeline-height 15)
  (doom-modeline-enable-word-count t)
  (doom-modeline-continuous-word-count-modes '(markdown-mode gfm-mode org-mode))
  (doom-modeline-mu4e t)
  (doom-modeline-env-version t)
  (doom-modeline-buffer-file-name-style 'truncate-upto-project)
  :config
  (mu4e-alert-enable-mode-line-display))
#+end_src

** Pixel-perfect alignment of Markdown and org-mode tables
Usually, I have no issue with the alignment of the tables I write in
org-mode and (more rarely) Markdown. However, there are occurrences
where I’ll use a character that does not exactly respect my monospace
font, which messes with the alignment of the table (often when I do
linguistics stuff). A solution to this is the package ~valign~. A little
caveat though, as its name implies ~valign~ helps with vertical
alignment. If some lines are too high, they won’t exactly fit. Unless?
Unless ~valign-fancy-bar~ is set to ~t~.

For now, I disabled the hook with org-mode and markdown-mode because
it slows down opening these files quite a lot. I’ll re-enable the hook
once it is fixed.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package valign
  :defer t
  :straight (:build t)
  :after (org markdown-mode)
  ;; :hook ((org-mode markdown-mode) . valign-mode)
  :custom ((valign-fancy-bar t)))
#+end_src

** Secret mode
Sometimes, I want to hide the text displayed by Emacs but not lock
altogether my computer. In this case, ~secret-mode~ comes in handy.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package secret-mode
  :defer t
  :straight (secret-mode :build t
                         :type git
                         :host github
                         :repo "bkaestner/secret-mode.el"))
#+end_src

** Solaire: Incandescent Emacs
A common issue when you have a lot of windows opened in Emacs is
sometimes there’s just too much. Is the first window source code? Is
the other one just an open email? Oh, let’s not forget the ~*Messages*~
buffer open next to another source buffer.

Solaire-mode applies a subtle but useful tweak to your current colour
scheme: the background of programming buffers is slightly lighter than
the background of other buffers. (Or is it other buffers that have a
slightly darker background? I’m not sure.)
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package solaire-mode
  :defer t
  :straight (:build t)
  :init (solaire-global-mode +1))
#+end_src

** Theme
You may have noticed I use the Nord theme pretty much everywhere on my
computer, why not Emacs? In my opinion, its aurora variant is nicer
than the default Nord theme since it is richer in colours --- just a
personal preference.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package doom-themes
  :straight (:build t)
  :defer t
  :init (load-theme 'doom-nord-aurora t))
#+end_src

** Rainbow Delimiters
This makes Lisp especially more readable, but it’s also nice to have
for any language that has delimiters like brackets too.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package rainbow-delimiters
  :straight (:build t)
  :defer t
  :hook (prog-mode . rainbow-delimiters-mode))
#+end_src

** Y’all want some more /COLOURS/?
It is possible to make info buffers much more colourful (and, in my
opinion, easier to read) with this simple package:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package info-colors
  :straight (:build t)
  :commands info-colors-fnontify-node
  :hook (Info-selection . info-colors-fontify-node)
  :hook (Info-mode      . mixed-pitch-mode))
#+end_src