Linux Bible - Christopher Negus

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Move items– To move an item on a panel, right-click it, select Move, and drag and drop it to a new position.

      ● Resize items– You can resize some elements, such as the Window list, by clicking an edge and dragging it to the new size.

      ● Use the Window list– Tasks running on the desktop appear in the Window list area. Click a task to minimize or maximize it.

      The following sections describe some things you can do with the GNOME panel.

      Using the Applications and System menus

      Click Applications on the panel, and you see categories of applications and system tools that you can select. Click the application you want to launch. To add an item from a menu so that it can launch from the panel, drag and drop the item you want to the panel.

      You can add items to your GNOME 2 menus. To do that, right-click any of the menu names and select Edit Menus. The window that appears lets you add or delete menus associated with the Applications and System menus. You can also add items to launch from those menus by selecting New Item and typing the name, command, and comment for the item.

      Adding an applet

      You can run several small applications, called applets, directly on the GNOME panel. These applications can show information you may want to see on an ongoing basis or may just provide some amusement. To see what applets are available and to add applets that you want to your panel, follow these steps:

      1. Right-click an open space in the panel so the Panel menu appears.

      2. Click Add to Panel. An Add to Panel window appears.

      3. Select from among several dozen applets, including a clock, dictionary lookup, stock ticker, and weather report. The applet you select appears on the panel, ready for you to use.

Figure 2.17 shows (from left to right) eyes, system monitor, weather report, terminal, and Wanda the fish.

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Figure 2.17 Placing applets on the panel makes accessing them easy.

      After an applet is installed, right-click it on the panel to see what options are available. For example, select Preferences for the stock ticker, and you can add or delete stocks whose prices you want to monitor. If you don't like the applet's location, right-click it, click Move, slide the mouse until the applet is where you want it (even to another panel), and click to set its location.

      If you no longer want an applet to appear on the panel, right-click it, and click Remove From Panel. The icon representing the applet disappears. If you find that you have run out of room on your panel, you can add a new panel to another part of the screen, as described in the next section.

      Adding another panel

      If you run out of space on the top or bottom panels, you can add more panels to your desktop. You can have several panels on your GNOME 2 desktop. You can add panels that run along the entire bottom, top, or side of the screen. To add a panel, follow these steps:

      1. Right-click an open space in the panel so the Panel menu appears.

      2. Click New Panel. A new panel appears on the side of the screen.

      3. Right-click an open space in the new panel, and select Properties.

      4. From the Panel Properties, select where you want the panel from the Orientation box (Top, Bottom, Left, or Right).

      After you've added a panel, you can add applets or application launchers to it as you did to the default panel. To remove a panel, right-click it and select Delete This Panel.

      Adding an application launcher

      Icons on your panel represent a web browser and several office productivity applications. You can add your own icons to launch applications from the panel as well. To add a new application launcher to the panel, follow these steps:

      1. Right-click in an open space on the panel.

      2. Click Add to Panel arr Application Launcher from the menu. All application categories from your Applications and System menus appear.

      3. Select the arrow next to the category of application you want, and then select Add. An icon representing the application appears on the panel.

      To launch the application you just added, simply click the icon on the panel.

      If the application you want to launch is not on one of your menus, you can build a launcher yourself as follows:

      1. Right-click in an open space on the panel.

      2. Click Add to Panel arr Custom Application Launcher arr Add. The Create Launcher window appears.

      3. Provide the following information for the application you want to add:

      ● Type– Select Application (to launch a regular GUI application) or Application in Terminal. Use Application in Terminal if the application is a character-based or ncurses application. (Applications written using the ncurses library run in a Terminal window but offer screen-oriented mouse and keyboard controls.)

      ● Name– Choose a name to identify the application (this appears in the tooltip when your mouse is over the icon).

      ● Command– This identifies the command line that is run when the application is launched. Use the full pathname, plus any required options.

      ● Comment– Enter a comment describing the application. It also appears when you later move your mouse over the launcher.

      4. Click the Icon box (it might say No Icon), select one of the icons shown, and click OK. Alternatively, you can browse your filesystem to choose an icon.

      5. Click OK.

      The application should now appear in the panel. Click it to start the application.

      NOTE

      Icons available to represent your application are contained in the /usr/share/pixmaps directory. These icons are in either.png or .xpm formats. If there isn't an icon in the directory you want to use, create your own (in one of those two formats) and assign it to the application.

      Adding a drawer

      A drawer is an icon that you can click to display other icons representing menus, applets, and launchers; it behaves just like a panel. Essentially, any item you can add to a panel you can add to a drawer. By adding a drawer to your GNOME panel, you can include several applets and launchers that together take up the space of only one icon. Click the drawer to show the applets and launchers as if they were being pulled out of a drawer icon on the panel.

      To add a drawer to your panel, right-click the panel and select Add to Panel arr Drawer. A drawer appears on the panel. Right-click it, and add applets or launchers to it as you would to a panel. Click the icon again to retract the drawer.

Figure 2.18 shows a portion of the panel with an open drawer that includes an icon for launching a weather report, sticky notes, and a stock monitor.

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Figure 2.18 Add launchers or applets to a drawer on your GNOME 2 panel.

      Changing

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