To change the plot properties click on the "View -> Plot Properties" menu or the plot properties button , this opens the "Set Plot format" dialog shown in Figure 1
The option "various" is enabled in histogram type combobox only when "All Datasets" option is selected in Dataset combobox. If histogram type is set to "various", all the datasets type plotted in corresponding plot are made different.
When "All Datasets" is selected in "Dataset" combobox, an option to "Apply changes to All Plots" is enabled. Enabling this feature applies property of respective plot panel to all the plot panels present with histogram plotted and even that will be created newly.
To use transparent colors vary the alpha value in the color chooser box which pops up by clicking the colored button with label Color: