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<?xml version="1.0"?>  <!DOCTYPE article [ <!ENTITY mdash "—"> <!ENTITY hellip "…"> ]> <article id="index"> <articleinfo> <title>The GNOME Panel Manual</title> <copyright> <year>2000</year> <holder>Red Hat, Inc.</holder> <holder>Dan Mueth</holder> <holder>Alexander Kirillov</holder> </copyright> <legalnotice id="legalnotice"> <para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:fdl"><citetitle>GNU Free Documentation License</citetitle></ulink>, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:fdl">here</ulink>.</para> <para>Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and those trademarks are made aware to the members of the GNOME Documentation Project, the names have been printed in caps or initial caps. </para> </legalnotice> <releaseinfo> This is version 1.0 of The GNOME Panel manual. </releaseinfo> </articleinfo> <sect1 id="introduction"> <title>Introduction</title> <para> <indexterm id="idx-a2"> <primary>Panel</primary> </indexterm> The GNOME <interface>Panel</interface> is the heart of the GNOME user interface and acts as a repository for the <link linkend="mainmenu">Main Menu</link>, user <link linkend="menus">menus</link>, application <link linkend="launchers">launchers</link>, <link linkend="applets">applets</link> (applications which run entirely within the panel), <link linkend="drawers">drawers</link>, and several <link linkend="specialobjects">special objects</link>. The <interface>Panel</interface> was designed to be highly configurable. You can easily <link linkend="panelproperties">customize its behavior and appearance</link> and <link linkend="appletadd">add or remove objects</link> to suite your personal needs and preferences. You can even have <link linkend="paneladd">multiple panels</link>, each with its own appearance, properties, and contents. This flexibility allows you to easily create a comfortable and efficient personalized desktop environment. </para> <para> This manual describes version 1.2 of the GNOME <interface>Panel</interface>. </para> </sect1>  <sect1 id="panelbasics"> <title>Panel Basics</title> <para> Using the GNOME <interface>Panel</interface> is very simple and will come easily to anyone who has used a graphical desktop environment. This section will give you a basic introduction to help you get started, and the following sections will discuss the various Panel objects and features in more detail. </para> <sect2 id="intropanel"> <title>Introduction to Panel Objects</title> <para> A <interface>Panel</interface> can hold several types of objects. The example <interface>Panel</interface> in <xref linkend="examplepanelfig" /> shows each type of Panel object. </para> <figure id="examplepanelfig"> <title>An Example Panel</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>An Example Panel.</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/example_panel" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> This example <interface>Panel</interface> contains the following objects: <itemizedlist> <listitem> <formalpara> <title>Menus</title> <para> Menus are lists of items, each of which either starts an application, executes a command, or is a submenu. In the example <interface>Panel</interface> in <xref linkend="examplepanelfig" /> , the left-most icon after the arrow is a stylized footprint icon (the GNOME logo). This is the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, one of the most important objects in the <interface>Panel</interface>. This menu provides access to almost all the applications, commands, and configuration options available in GNOME. The <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> is described in detail in <xref linkend="mainmenu" />. The second icon shown is a folder, the default icon used for user menus. GNOME allows users to create their own menus with personalized contents to use in addition to the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>. To open a menu, just click on the icon with the left mouse button. For more information on menus, see <xref linkend="menus" />. </para> </formalpara> </listitem> <listitem> <formalpara> <title>Launchers</title> <para> Launchers are buttons which either start an application or execute a command when you press them (click with the left mouse button). The third icon in the example <interface>Panel</interface> is a launcher which starts the <application>Gnumeric</application> spreadsheet. For more information on launchers, see <xref linkend="launchers" />. </para> </formalpara> </listitem> <listitem> <formalpara> <title>Applets</title> <para> Applets are applications which run inside a small part of the <interface>Panel</interface>. The fourth through eighth icons in the example <interface>Panel</interface> are applets. The first applet shown is the <application>GNOME Weather</application> applet, which periodically downloads the current weather conditions off the Web and displays the information. The second applet shown is the <application>Drive Mount</application> applet, which shows whether a disk (in this case, the floppy drive) is mounted and allows you to mount and unmount the drive with a single click of the mouse. The third applet shown is the <application>Quick Launch</application> applet, which acts as a container for launchers, but saves more space than placing your launchers directly on the <interface>Panel</interface>. In the example shown the <application>Quick Launch</application> applet contains six application launchers. Next is the <application>GNOME Desk Guide</application>, which allows you to control multiple virtual desktops, each of which can have multiple screens. You can move between desktops and screens by clicking with your left mouse button. The final applet shown is the <application>Tasklist</application>, which allows you to control your application windows in various ways, including changing the focus, iconifying windows, closing windows, and killing applications. The <application>Tasklist</application> shown is for a screen with only two windows, both of which are <application>Electric Eyes</application>. For more information on applets, see <xref linkend="applets" />. </para> </formalpara> </listitem> <listitem> <formalpara> <title>Drawers</title> <para> Drawers are essentially extensions of a <interface>Panel</interface> which can be opened or closed. They can hold anything the <interface>Panel</interface> can. The brown icon of a drawer in the example <interface>Panel</interface> is the default icon for drawers, although any icon can be used. Click on the <guiicon>Drawer</guiicon> icon with the left mouse button to open or close it. For more information on drawers, see <xref linkend="drawers" />. </para> </formalpara> </listitem> <listitem> <formalpara> <title>Special Objects</title> <para> Special objects are items you can add to a <interface>Panel</interface> which perform functions which are generally not available through the other <interface>Panel</interface> objects. The last item in the example <interface>Panel</interface> is a special object called the <guibutton>Logout Button</guibutton>. Pressing this with the left mouse button begins the logout sequence to end your GNOME session. For more information on special objects, see <xref linkend="specialobjects" />. </para> </formalpara> </listitem> </itemizedlist> </para> <para> Each of these object types is described in detail in the following sections. You can easily add, move, or remove Panel objects (see <xref linkend="appletadd" />). </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="rightclick"> <title>Right-Click Menu</title> <para> Clicking on any Panel object with the right mouse button brings up the Panel object's <guimenu>right-click</guimenu> menu. This menu contains <guimenuitem>Remove from panel</guimenuitem> for removing the object from the <interface>Panel</interface>, <guimenuitem>Move</guimenuitem> for moving objects within the <interface>Panel</interface> or between two <interface>Panels</interface>, the <guisubmenu>Panel</guisubmenu> submenu described below, and typically one or more object-specific menu items. For drawers, menus, and launchers the only object-specific item is <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem> which allows you to customize the properties and settings of the object. For applets, the <guimenu>right-click</guimenu> menu will often contain <guimenuitem>About...</guimenuitem> for viewing information about the applet such as the author's name and the applet version, <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> for viewing the applet's documentation, and <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem> for configuring preferences and settings for the applet. Applets often have other applet-specific controls in their <guimenu>right-click</guimenu> menus. </para> <para> The <guisubmenu>Panel</guisubmenu> submenu allows you to <link linkend="panelmove">create and remove <interface>Panels</interface></link> and <link linkend="appletadd">add objects</link> to the <interface>Panel</interface>. It also allows you to modify the properties of the particular <interface>Panel</interface> of interest using the <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem> menu item (see <xref linkend="panelproperties" />) or the properties of all <interface>Panels</interface> using the <guimenuitem>Global Preferences...</guimenuitem> menu item (see <xref linkend="globalpanelprefs" />). </para> <para> You can also right-click on the <interface>Panel</interface> itself. This will bring up the <link linkend="mainmenu"><guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu></link>. In particular, this menu also contains the <guisubmenu>Panel</guisubmenu> submenu described above. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="panelhide"> <title>Hiding the Panel</title> <para> <indexterm id="idx-a4"> <primary>Panel</primary> <secondary>Hide Buttons</secondary> </indexterm> <indexterm id="idx-a5"> <primary>Panel</primary> <secondary>Hiding</secondary> </indexterm> The left and right arrow icons seen at either end of the example <interface>Panel</interface> and in <xref linkend="fig2" /> are used to hide the <interface>Panel</interface>. <figure id="fig2"> <title>The Hide Button</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>The Hide Button</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/hide-button" format="PNG" srccredit="dcm" /> </screenshot> </figure> </para> <para> Pressing one of these arrows will hide the <interface>Panel</interface> by sliding it in the direction of the arrow pressed, so that the only part of the <interface>Panel</interface> which remains visible is the <guibutton>Hide</guibutton> button itself. Pressing it a second time will expand the <interface>Panel</interface>. </para> <para> <interface>Panels</interface> can be configured to automatically hide when you are not using it and reappear when you move the mouse to the part of the screen where the <interface>Panel</interface> resides. This can be useful if you are unable to run your system in a high resolution. To learn how to have a <interface>Panel</interface> auto-hide, see <xref linkend="panelproperties" />. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="loggingout"> <title>Logging Out</title> <para> To log out of GNOME, right click on the <interface>Panel</interface> and select <guimenuitem>Log out</guimenuitem>. This will bring up the <interface>Logout</interface> dialog, shown in <xref linkend="logoutdialog-fig" />. </para> <figure id="logoutdialog-fig"> <title>The Logout Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Logout</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/logout-screen" format="PNG" srccredit="dcm" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> If you would like to save your current setup, select the <guilabel>Save current setup</guilabel> checkbox. This will save any GNOME applications you have open and configuration changes you may have made in the <application>Control Center</application>. </para> <para> The default way to log out is by using the <guilabel>Logout</guilabel> option, which ends your GNOME session but does not shut down the computer. Depending on your system configuration, you may also have the <guilabel>Halt</guilabel> option, which shuts down the computer, and the <guilabel>Reboot</guilabel> option, which will reboot the computer. </para> <note> <title>Note for advanced users</title> <para>The <guilabel>Halt</guilabel> and <guilabel>Reboot</guilabel> choices will only be shown if you have permission to execute the command <command>/usr/bin/shutdown</command>. </para> </note> <para> If you do not want to log out, press the <guibutton>No</guibutton> button and you will be returned to your GNOME session. Otherwise press the <guibutton>Yes</guibutton> button to log out. </para> <note> <title>Logging Out and Window Managers</title> <para> If you are running a window manager that is GNOME compliant, the logout feature will quit the window manager as well as GNOME. If you are running a non-compliant window manager you will have to quit the window manager yourself. </para> </note> <para> You can disable the <interface>Logout</interface> dialog so that selecting the <guimenuitem>Log out</guimenuitem> menu item will end your GNOME session without asking any questions. To do so, start the GNOME <application>Control Center</application> by selecting <menuchoice> <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Settings</guisubmenu> <guisubmenu>Startup programs</guisubmenu> </menuchoice> and uncheck the <guilabel>Prompt on logout</guilabel> button.  </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="lockscreen"> <title>Locking the Screen</title> <para> Sometimes you may want to leave your computer with GNOME running and not allow others to use or view your GNOME session. GNOME allows you to do this by locking the screen, requiring a password to unlock it. To lock your GNOME session, right click on either end of a <interface>Panel</interface> and select <guimenuitem>Lock screen</guimenuitem>. Alternately, if you have the <guibutton>Lock Button</guibutton>(see <xref linkend="lockbutton" />) on a <interface>Panel</interface>, you may just press this button to lock the screen. To unlock the screen, just type your login password. </para> <note> <title>Screensavers and the Lock Button</title> <para> The <guibutton>Lock screen</guibutton> button uses a feature of the <application>xscreensaver</application> program. This is the same program that the <application>Control Center</application> uses to set your screensaver. In order for the <guibutton>Lock screen</guibutton> button to work properly, you must have a screensaver enabled in the <application>Control Center</application>. </para> </note> </sect2> </sect1>  <sect1 id="mainmenu"> <title>The Main Menu</title> <para> <indexterm id="idx-a3"> <primary>Main Menu</primary> </indexterm> The footprint icon seen towards the left end of the example <interface>Panel</interface> (see <xref linkend="examplepanelfig" />) and in <xref linkend="main-menu-button-fig" /> is the <guibutton>Main Menu</guibutton> (yes, you guessed right, it is the footprint of the gnome). This menu provides access to almost all GNOME features — all the applications, configuration tools, command line prompt, <guimenuitem>Logout</guimenuitem> and <guimenuitem>Lock Screen</guimenuitem> commands, and much more. To access any of these items, click on the <guibutton>Main Menu</guibutton> button. You should release the mouse after pressing the <guibutton>Main Menu</guibutton> button so that you can take advantage of other mouse-activated features in the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> such as right-click pop-up menus and drag-and-drop from the menu to the desktop or <interface>Panel</interface>. </para> <figure id="main-menu-button-fig"> <title>The Main Menu Button</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>The Main Menu Button</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/mm-button" format="PNG" srccredit="dcm" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> You can have several <guibutton>Main Menu</guibutton> buttons on different <interface>Panels</interface>; all of them can be configured independently. </para> <sect2 id="globalmenu"> <title>Global menu</title> <para> In addition to the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> which you get by clicking on the foot icon, GNOME also provides a <guimenu>Global Menu</guimenu>, which contains the same commands but is not linked to any button. To access the <guimenu>Global Menu</guimenu>, right-click on any empty place on the <interface>Panel</interface>. You can also access the <guimenu>Global Menu</guimenu> by pressing <keycombo action="simul"> <keycap>Alt</keycap> <keycap>F1</keycap> </keycombo>. (You can change the default key for activating the <guimenu>Global Menu</guimenu> in the <link linkend="misctab"><guilabel>Miscellaneous</guilabel></link> tab of the <link linkend="globalpanelprefs"><interface>Global Panel Preferences dialog</interface></link>.) </para> <para> Note that the <guimenu>Global Menu</guimenu> is configured independently from the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, by using the <guilabel>Menu</guilabel> tab in the <link linkend="globalpanelprefs"><interface>Global Panel Preferences</interface></link> dialog. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="submenus"> <title> Components of the Main Menu</title> <para> The primary component of the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> is the <guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu> submenu, which contains a list of preconfigured submenus and menu items. Here you will find all the GNOME applications, from the <application>Gnumeric</application> spreadsheet to the <application>Free Cell</application> game, as well as quite a few non-GNOME ones, such as the <application>Netscape</application> web browser and the <application>emacs</application> text editor. In addition, the <guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu> submenu also contains the following commands: </para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> <guimenuitem>File Manager</guimenuitem> — launches the GNOME graphical file manager. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guimenuitem>Help system</guimenuitem> — launches the <application>GNOME Help Browser</application>. The <application>GNOME Help Browser</application> gives you access to most of the documentation installed on your system — not only GNOME documentation (the GNOME User's Guide, application manuals, …), but also other types of documentation (man pages, info pages, …). </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> <para> In addition to the <guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu> submenu, the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> also contains a number of other submenus and useful commands. Depending on your configuration, you may not see all of these. Also, some of them may be shown as submenus, and others included as part of the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, separated by horizontal lines from the other parts. These additional submenus and commands are: </para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> <guisubmenu>Favorites</guisubmenu>. This submenu, which is originally empty, is a place where you can put your favorite applications for quick access. You can edit this menu using the <application>Menu Editor</application>, which can be accessed from the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> by choosing <menuchoice><guisubmenu>Settings</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Menu editor</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>. You can also add any item from any other menu (in particular, from the <guimenu>Programs</guimenu> menu) to the <guisubmenu>Favorites</guisubmenu> menu by clicking on the item with the right mouse button and selecting <guimenuitem>Add this to Favorites menu</guimenuitem>. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guisubmenu>Applets</guisubmenu>. This submenu contains all the applets installed on your system. Selecting an applet will add it to your <interface>Panel</interface>. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guisubmenu>KDE menus</guisubmenu>. This shows the menus of the K Desktop Environment (KDE) if you have it installed on your system. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guisubmenu>AnotherLevel menus</guisubmenu> and <guisubmenu>Debian menus</guisubmenu>. These submenus show the default application menus for Red Hat Linux and Debian GNU/Linux, respectively. These will only appear for users of the particular distributions. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guimenuitem>Panel</guimenuitem>. This submenu can be used to change <interface>Panel</interface> properties (both for <link linkend="panelproperties"> <interface>individual Panels</interface></link> and <link linkend="globalpanelprefs">global</link>, i.e. for all <interface>Panels</interface>), <link linkend="add">add an object</link> to the <interface>Panel</interface>, <link linkend="panelremoving">remove the whole <interface>Panel</interface></link>, <link linkend="paneladd">create a new <interface>Panel</interface></link>, or view the <citetitle>Panel Manual</citetitle>. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guimenuitem>Desktop</guimenuitem>— This submenu contains <guimenuitem>Log out</guimenuitem>, which ends your GNOME session (see <xref linkend="loggingout" />), and <guimenuitem>Lock screen</guimenuitem> (see <xref linkend="lockscreen" />). </para> </listitem> <listitem id="runcommand"> <para> <guimenuitem>Run …</guimenuitem> — This menu item opens the <interface>Run Program</interface> dialog for executing shell commands (see <xref linkend="runbutton" />). </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> </sect2> <sect2 id="mainmenuconfig"> <title>Configuring the Main Menu</title> <para> To change the configuration of the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, right-click on the <guibutton>Main Menu</guibutton> button (shown in <xref linkend="main-menu-button-fig" />) and select <guimenuitem>Properties …</guimenuitem> from the pop-up menu. This will show the <interface>Menu Properties</interface> dialog. In this dialog, for each of the submenus of the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> listed above (<guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu>, <guisubmenu>Favorites</guisubmenu>, …) you can choose whether you want it to be shown as part of the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, as a submenu, or not at all. </para> <figure> <title>Menu Properties Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Menu Properties Dialog</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/mainmenu_properties" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> You can also edit the contents of the <guisubmenu>Favorites</guisubmenu> submenu (or, if you are the system administrator, also of the <guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu> submenu) using the <application>GNOME Menu Editor</application>. To start it, right-click on the <guibutton>Main Menu</guibutton> button and select <guimenuitem>Edit Menus …</guimenuitem>. Alternatively, you can start <application>GNOME Menu Editor</application> by selecting <menuchoice> <guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu> <guisubmenu>Settings</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Menu editor</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> from the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> itself. </para> </sect2>  </sect1>  <sect1 id="menus"> <title>Menus</title> <para> In addition to the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, discussed in <xref linkend="mainmenu" />, you can also add "normal menus" to a <interface>Panel</interface>. An example menu, in this case a <guimenu>Favorites</guimenu> menu containing three application launchers and one submenu titled <guisubmenu>Games</guisubmenu>, is shown in <xref linkend = "example-menu-fig" />. Unlike the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, normal menus only contain whatever launchers and submenus you place in them - no default submenus, <guimenuitem>Run...</guimenuitem> command, etc. as the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> has. You can also add any submenu of your <guimenu>Favorites</guimenu> menu or the <guimenu>Programs</guimenu> menu as a separate menu to a <interface>Panel</interface>; to do so, bring up this submenu from the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, right click on the submenu title, and select <guimenuitem>Add this as menu to panel</guimenuitem>. </para> <figure id="example-menu-fig"> <title>An Example Menu</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>An Example Menu</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/example_menu" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <sect2 id="addingmenus"> <title>Adding a Menu to a Panel</title> <para> To learn how to add a menu to a <interface>Panel</interface>, see <xref linkend="add" />. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="tearoff"> <title>Tearing Off a Menu</title> <para> All menus in GNOME have the tear-off feature: if you left-click on the "perforation" (thin dashed line at the top of the menu, right above the menu title), the menu will be turned into a separate window on your desktop, which will stay there even after you move the mouse cursor elsewhere. This is very convenient if you will be using the same command from some deeply nested submenu frequently. To remove a "torn-off" menu from your desktop, click on the <guibutton>Close</guibutton> button in the window title (its appearance and location depends on the window manager you are using, but usually it is the rightmost button, labelled by an "x"). </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="menusconf"> <title>Configuring a Menu</title> <para> You can easily change a menu name and icon (for user menus only, not for submenus taken from the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>). To do so, click on the menu, right-click on the menu title (at the very top of the list, above all other items), and select <guimenuitem>Properties…</guimenuitem> from the pop-up menu. This will bring up the <interface>Desktop Entry Properties</interface> dialog, quite similar to the <link linkend="launchers"><interface>Launcher Properties</interface> dialog</link>. </para> <para> To add a new item to the menu, click on the menu button, right-click on the Menu name, and select <guimenuitem>Add new item to this menu</guimenuitem>. This will bring up <interface>Create Menu Item</interface> dialog, in which you can enter the menu item name, comment, command, and type (see <xref linkend="launchers" /> for more information). To remove an item from the menu, right-click on the item and choose <guimenuitem>Remove this item</guimenuitem>. </para> <para> Finally, a frequently asked question is "How I can change the font and the background used by the menus?" The answer is that it is determined by the current GTK Theme, which can be changed using the <application>GNOME Control Center</application> by selecting <menuchoice> <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Programs</guisubmenu> <guisubmenu>Settings</guisubmenu> <guisubmenu>Desktop</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Theme Selector</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>. </para> </sect2> </sect1>  <sect1 id="launchers"> <title>Launchers</title> <para> Launchers are buttons which reside in your <interface>Panel</interface> and start an application or execute a command when clicked. A launcher can use any icon and has a customized tooltip to display a message when the cursor is passed over the launcher. </para> <para> You can change a launcher's properties, such as the icon it uses and its name, by right-clicking on the launcher and selecting <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem> from the pop-up menu. This brings up the <interface>Launcher properties</interface> dialog, shown in <xref linkend="launcherpropsfig" />. A similar dialog is used when you create a new launcher (see <xref linkend="add" />). Note that internally GNOME makes no distinction between menu items and launchers: these are just different representations of the same thing. You can place any menu item on a <interface>Panel</interface>, and it will appear as a launcher. Therefore, all the information below applies equally to launchers and menu items. </para> <figure id="launcherpropsfig"> <title>Create Launcher/Launcher Properties Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Create Launcher/Launcher Properties Dialog</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/launcher_properties_basic" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> The <interface>Laucher Properties</interface> dialog has two tabs: <guilabel>Basic</guilabel> and <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel>. In the <guilabel>Basic</guilabel> tab, you can set: </para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Name</guilabel> — this is the application name, for example, <userinput>GNOME terminal</userinput>. This name will be used if you later put this launcher in a menu. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Comment</guilabel> — this is a brief explanation of what this application does, for example, <userinput>Terminal emulation program</userinput>. This will be used for tooltips. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Command</guilabel> — the actual command that runs the application, for example, <userinput>gnome-terminal</userinput>. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Type</guilabel> — should be <guilabel>Application</guilabel>; do not change it unless you want to create something other than an application launcher. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Icon</guilabel> — this is the icon which will be used to represent the launcher in the <interface>Panel</interface>. If no icon is specified, a default icon will be used. To change the icon, just click on it to launch the icon browser. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Run in Terminal</guilabel> — this specifies whether the application should be run inside a terminal. If the application doesn't create any windows on its own, check this button. If you are unsure, leave it unchecked. </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> <para> The <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> properties tab is shown below. It is intended for advanced users; most of the time, you will not need to change any of these settings. </para> <figure id="launcheradvpropsfig"> <title>Launcher Advanced Properties Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Launcher Advanced Properties Dialog</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/launcher_properties_advanced" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> In the <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> tab, you can set: </para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Try this before using</guilabel> — you can enter a command here, and GNOME will check if this command can be executed. If the command cannot be successfully executed, the launcher (or menu item) will not be shown even if you added it to a <interface>Panel</interface> or menu. It is mostly used by people preparing GNOME distributions. For example, the default GNOME <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> contains an item for the <application>TkRat</application> e-mail program, but you will only see this item if you have <application>TkRat</application> installed on your system. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Documentation</guilabel> — currently not used. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> <guilabel>Name/Comment translations</guilabel> — here you can set translations of the <guilabel>Name</guilabel> and <guilabel>Comment</guilabel> to other languages. For example, for <application>GNOME Terminal</application>, the translations to Spanish (es) are name: <userinput>Terminal UNIX de GNOME</userinput> and comment: <userinput>Emulador de terminal GNOME</userinput>. This means that if a user sets his language to Spanish during login (this can be done by selecting the desired language from <guimenu>Languages</guimenu> menu of the <application>GNOME Display Manager</application> when logging in) he will see <guimenuitem>Terminal UNIX de GNOME</guimenuitem> in the menu and <guilabel>Emulador de terminal GNOME</guilabel> as the tooltip. The actual command that runs the terminal is unchanged. </para> <para> To add a new translation, enter the language 2-letter code and translations of <guilabel>Name</guilabel> and <guilabel>Comment</guilabel> fields in the empty fields under the list of current translations, and press the <guibutton>Add/Set</guibutton> button. To change one of existing translations, select the row from the list, edit the fields you want to change, and press the <guibutton>Add/Set</guibutton> button. To remove one of existing translations, select it in the list and press the <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button. </para> <para> You can find the list of all languages supported by GNOME along with their 2-letter codes in <ulink type="http" url="http://www.gnome.org/gnomefaq/html/x867.html">GNOME Frequently Asked Questions</ulink>. </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> <para> All of the changes you make in the <interface>Launcher Properties</interface> dialog will take effect when you press <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> or <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. Pressing <guibutton>OK</guibutton> closes the dialog; pressing <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> will allow you to continue editing. </para> </sect1>  <sect1 id="applets"> <title>Applets</title> <para> Applets are GNOME applications which reside in a <interface>Panel</interface>. An applet's appearance typically reveals the state of the applet or other information. Applets often have buttons, sliders, entries, or other methods to allow you to control their behavior. </para> <figure id="example-applets-fig"> <title>Example Applets</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Example Applets</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/panel_applets" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> Some example applets are shown above(see <xref linkend="example-applets-fig" />). At the very left is the <application>Mixer Applet</application> which allows you to change the volume level and mute the sound. Next is the<application>Sound Monitor Applet</application>, which displays the current volume of sound being played and allows you to control various sound features. The third applet is the <application>GTCD Applet</application>, a CD player which has all its controls available in the applet and displays the track and time.The next applet is the <application>Drive Mount Applet</application>, used to mount and unmount drives with a single click of the mouse. This is followed by the <application>Desk-Guide Applet</application> which shows you your desktops and the applications which are running on them. The last applet shown is the <application>Tasklist Applet</application> which allows you to control certain aspects of each application or window which is open. </para> <para> GNOME has many useful applets. Just right click on a <interface>Panel</interface> and add some applets to your <interface>Panel</interface> to find out which applets are available and which ones are best for you. Right click on each applet to see a menu listing various commands and operations the applet can do and to access the documentation for the applet. </para> </sect1>  <sect1 id="drawers"> <title>Drawers</title> <para> The simplest way to think about a drawer is that it is a container to store things. Typically one may use a drawer to hold multiple launchers which are related to each other in some way, such as the various applications in GNOME Office. The drawers in the GNOME <interface>Panel</interface> take this one step further by making a drawer an actual extension of the <interface>Panel</interface> itself. Thus, a drawer is a collapsible branch of an existing <interface>Panel</interface>. It can contain anything that a <interface>Panel</interface> can, including launchers, applets, and other drawers. </para> <figure> <title>An open Drawer</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>An open Drawer</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/drawer_open" format="PNG" srccredit="dcm" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> Once you have placed a drawer on a <interface>Panel</interface>, you may click on it to "open" the drawer, revealing its contents. You may then add items to the drawer in the same way you would add items to a <interface>Panel</interface>, right clicking on the end of the drawer with the arrow to open the <link linkend="globalmenu"><interface>Global Menu</interface></link>. You can close the drawer by clicking on its icon again or by clicking on the arrow at its end. </para> <para> You can configure a drawer's properties by right clicking on the drawer's icon and selecting <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem>. This brings up the <interface>Drawer Properties</interface> dialog. Here you can select the icon used for the drawer by clicking on the icon. A tooltip may be entered by typing in the <guilabel>Tooltip/Name</guilabel> entry. This tooltip will be displayed whenever the mouse is moved over the drawer to remind you what is inside. One may also select whether the <guibutton>hide button</guibutton> and arrow are displayed at the end of the drawer. </para> <figure> <title>Drawer Properties Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Drawer Properties Dialog</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/drawer_properties" format="PNG" srccredit="dcm" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> You may also control the background color or image of the drawer. Just right click on the drawer and select <guimenuitem>Properties...</guimenuitem> to open the <interface>Drawer Properties</interface> dialog. Then select the <guilabel>Background</guilabel> tab to bring up the <interface>Panel Background Dialog</interface> (see <xref linkend="panelbacktab" />). </para> </sect1>  <sect1 id="specialobjects"> <title>Special Panel Objects</title> <para> There are several special Panel objects which are not considered menus, applets, or launchers. These special objects are described below. </para> <sect2 id="lockbutton"> <title>The Lock Button</title> <figure> <title>The Lock Button</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>The Lock Button</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/panel_lockbut" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> The <guibutton>Lock Button</guibutton> is a <interface>Panel</interface> button which starts a screensaver which locks the screen. In order to remove the screensaver and access the GNOME session again, you must supply your password. For more information on locking the screen, see <xref linkend="lockscreen" />. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="logoutbutton"> <title>The Logout Button</title> <figure id="logoutbuttonfig"> <title>The Logout Button</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>The Logout Button</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/panel_logoutbut" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> The <guibutton>Logout</guibutton> button is used to exit the GNOME desktop environment. It initiates the logout sequence, bringing up the <interface>Logout Dialog</interface>, as described in <xref linkend="loggingout" />. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="runbutton"> <title>The Run Button</title> <figure id="runbuttonfig"> <title>The Run Button</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>The Run Button</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/panel_runbutton" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> The <guibutton>Run</guibutton> button opens the <interface>Run Program</interface> dialog, shown in <xref linkend="runprogramdialog-fig" />. This gives you access to the command line prompt. It is not a full-blown shell, so it is not a replacement for <application>GNOME terminal</application>, but it is very convenient when you need to enter just one command quickly. You can also open the <interface>Run Program</interface> dialog by using a keyboard shortcut. The default keyboard shortcut is <keycombo action="simul"> <keycap>Alt</keycap> <keycap>F2</keycap> </keycombo> but you can change this in the <link linkend="misctab"><guilabel>Miscellaneous</guilabel></link> tab of the <link linkend="globalpanelprefs"><interface>Global Panel Preferences dialog</interface></link>. </para> <figure id="runprogramdialog-fig"> <title>The Run Program Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>The Run Program Dialog</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/panel_runprogram" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> The command entry has a history buffer which allows you to execute a previously entered command by pressing the <guiicon>down arrow</guiicon> icon located to the right of the text field and selecting the command. It also has a <guibutton>Browse…</guibutton> button, which allows you to choose a file — this filename will be appended to the end of your command. For example, you can enter <userinput>emacs</userinput> (an extremely powerful text editor) on the command line and then use the <guibutton>Browse…</guibutton> button to select the file to be edited. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="swallowedapps"> <title>Swallowed Applications</title> <para> You can run many applications which are not applets inside the <interface>Panel</interface> as if they were applets. Applications which you pull into the <interface>Panel</interface>, even though they are not GNOME applets, are called "swallowed applications". Applications do not have to be GNOME-compliant to be swallowed. In general, the only constraints for swallowing an application are that the application must be small enough to fit in your <interface>Panel</interface> and you must know the title of the window you would like to swallow. In many cases, the application can be automatically shrank to fit in the <interface>Panel</interface>, as specified in the <interface>Create Swallowed Application Dialog</interface>. If the application is not small enough to fit in the <interface>Panel</interface>, the <interface>Panel</interface> will generally grow to allow the application to fit. </para> <figure id="swallappfig"> <title>Create Swallowed Application Dialog</title> <screenshot> <screeninfo>Create Swallowed Application Dialog</screeninfo> <graphic fileref="./figures/panel_swallow" format="PNG" srccredit="muet" /> </screenshot> </figure> <para> The <guilabel>Title of application to swallow</guilabel> is the window title, typically displayed on the top left edge of the window. (Note that the window title is case sensitive.) The <guilabel>Width</guilabel> and <guilabel>Height</guilabel> determine the size of the swallowed application in the <interface>Panel</interface> in pixels. </para> <para> If you leave the <guilabel>Command</guilabel> field empty, this dialog will create an empty window of given size on the panel which will sit there waiting for a window with the given title to appear on your desktop. As soon such a window appears (for example, when you choose appropriate item in the menu), it will be swallowed. </para> <para> You can also enter any command in the <guilabel>Command</guilabel> field; this command will be executed before trying to swallowing the window to the <interface>Panel</interface> (and each time the <interface>Panel</interface> is restarted afterwards). This is normally used to start an application which you want the <interface>Panel</interface> to swallow. </para>