Link to my forum: Test forum only
SMF version: SMF ver 2.1.4
TP version: TP ver 3.0.0
Default Forum Language: English
Theme name and version: Default SMF Curve2
Browser Name and Version: Brave 1.62.156
Mods installed: None. All screens are fresh installs with no settings changed other than described below.
Related Error messages: None.

After a fresh install of TP with no settings changed, the front page looks like this.
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All Panel styles are set to this default setting
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Then I change all Panel styles to this setting with no other changes.
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Now the Front Page looks like this with a continuous blue background in the top row of title bars across the full width of the page.
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When in the forum, we see the same continuous blue in the top bar across the page.
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Next I want to remove the Center panel and mix in articles with forum topics on the Front Page. So I add an article and set it to display on Front Page. Now we have a different style of title bar displayed for the article.
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The article has been left at its default setting of "Use frame and title style from theme". All the category settings are at their defaults.
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I can't figure out how to get articles to display on the Front Page using the same "catbg+windowbg" style as all the blocks and in the forum. The goal is to have a uniform look and continuous blue title bars in the top row across the full width of the page. Anyone know how to do this?

Membergroup colors exist in SMF: they just do not color the membernames like TinyPortal and the mod do.

that mod you linked me to worked, so problem solved

I do have a question though out of curiosity

Why without tinyportal installed do I still have the color option on membergroups as if it is a feature on its own?

is it because tinyportal files still exist on my hosting site?

just curious, so I though I would ask, marking this as solved though, so thank you

This mod does the same I think...

https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=3067

Showing the memberhroup colors is a TinyPortal function. If you uninstall you revert to standard SMF.

Standard SMF does not show user names in the membergroup colors.

So not an issue in my opinion...

If you want SMF to behave this way, will will have to check the mods or request a feature there...

LOL, thanks! I'll never stop trying to learn things and I just turned 62.

Well, this happened quite a number of years ago and I was using SMF 2.0. So, I'm sure that you may have to take a different approach because of the coding and db changes. But, I do remember having smiley issues.  I believe there was left over phpBB code somewhere and had to edit the db but I can't seem to find the topic for it (not here).

You might want to search for 'smileys' instead of 'phpBB' in your database.

EDIT: If that doesn't work, you want to create a full fresh smf install for testing so you can compare your db to the fresh one.

@Skhilled - Like your text !! "Once you stop learning...!"

So you just copied them into one of the 2.1 smiley directories - Fugue or Alienine - and then chose to display that set as your smileys. Then you had no smiley directory called phpBB anymore? Is that right?
Did you get additional new smileys displayed from the new set that weren't in the phpBB set?

I did try a similar thing and copied them into a set called "Default". And even though that was set to be the default smiley set, the posting window required the presence of the phpBB smiley directory. I also changed the setting for the smiley directory in the admin theme panel (Select default smiley set for this theme), but somewhere there was still a  reference to the phpBB directory. I searched the database for phpBB and couldn't find anything that looked like a setting. So I never fully solved it. Just ended up having to have the phpBB smiley directory there along side the default smiley directory, both containing the same set of smileys.

@davo88 - I remember being in the same situation. I made a test site and just copied the images into new smf smileys so I wouldn't have to deal with the smf/phpBB issue.

That's great. I was concerned another new user might come along, encounter a similar problem and maybe get the wrong impression about TP. I would never have connected the unusual panel layout that appeared after installation, with a smiley issue.