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Fred · 12-10-2005, 08:10 AM

CONFIGURING YOUR KDE DESKTOP - Pt. 2

Hiding the toolbar
To hide the taskbar (i.e. When you're mouse goes over it, it pops up), right click on a toolbar and go to Configure Panel and then to the tab “Hiding” and select “Show automatically” under Hide mode.

If you want to get rid of those annoying little arrows at the ends of your taskbars, go back into Configure Panel and go to the Hiding tab. Under the “Panel-Hiding Buttons” section, unselect “show right panel-hiding” Make sure you change the settings for the Main panel and the Child panel so that they both wont have the arrow.

Changing the Icons
Click on your menu and go to System->Configuration->Configure your Desktop.

In the list, click on system, then Theme Manager
Click on the little “Icons” button and a new window will pop up with your different icon options. If you want some additional icons, try going to www.kde-look.org When you've found the icon theme/s that you like, download them (obviously).

When it's finished downloading, in your configure icons window, go to “install new theme.” Select the file that you downloaded and click ok. BLAM! There it is. So just click on your new icon theme and press ok.

Getting Some Style
While you're in the theme manager (Menu->System->Configuration->Kde->System->Theme Manager), click on the tab “Style.” A new window will pop up. As you scroll through the “widget styles” you will see in the previews what each one will look like.

What I chose was Keramik. If you click on Configure, you will get some additional options like “Animate Progress bar.” If you click on the tab “effects” and go to the drop down menu for Menu effect, you can select Make translucent. By doing this, your menus will have transparency like your taskbar. I wouldn't make it very transparent, though, or it'll be hard to see the words in your menus because of the background. While you're here, go ahead and mess with the Combobox effect and Tooltip effect.

Colors
Once again, in the theme manager, click on Colors. When the new window pops up, you will see that on the left, are the “pre-boxed” color schemes and at the top is a preview. On the right side of the screen, you can select an item, and below it, select a new color for the item. Once again, I chose Keramik.

Background
To change the background, you can either click on that background button in Theme Manager, or you can just right click on your desktop and click “Configure Desktop.”

As you can see, you have the options of no picture, Picture, or Slide show. If you choose “No Picture,” you'll have the options of selecting a color from the “options” section, or making it fade from one color to the other.
If you choose “Picture,” you can select one from that drop down menu, or click on the little icon that looks like a file and go to the location where your backgrounds are stored.
Lastly, you can try Slide Show which, like it says, creates a slide show of pictures.
Click on slide show, and then on Setup.

To add some pictures to your slide show, click add and browse to location of your wallpapers, select the file, and then click ok. If you want to select more then one file, just click and drag over all of them. Now that you have your wallpapers ready, you can change how often they are rotated and if they are shown randomly or not. Click apply and Ok to finish setting up your wallpaper.

Window Decorations
For this one, go to Menu->System->Configuration->Configure your Desktop and go to the LookNFeel Section then to “Window Decorations.”

Change how the border around your windows look by scrolling through the drop down menu. You'll be able to see a preview right below it. Depending on your selection, you will have different decoration options at the bottom of the window.

Fonts
You can change the fonts by going to the Fonts section under LookNFeel and clicking on “Choose” to find Font set that you like better.

Adding Program Icons
You can start adding programs to the new taskbar by either dragging ones that are already on the bottom to the new one, or you can right click on your taskbar and go to add->Application Button->and sort through your menu for the program you want added. If you want to add an entire menu, click on “add this menu” at the top of the list. If you'd like to add programs to the taskbar, you can also do this by right clicking, going to add->applet or add->special button.

As you can see, I've chosen to put the programs regularly used for browsing, etc on the taskbar on the left (child panel) and I put the programs for customization on the bottom taskbar (main panel). This is my own personal preference, feel free to do what makes you comfortable. If you're looking for any additional options to any of these configurations, I suggest you check out kde-look.org and see what they have.
If you have any questions/suggestions, feel free to start a thread with the topic

12-10-2005, 08:10 AM	#3 (permalink) Top
Fred Moderator Join Date: Jun 2004 Age: 23 Male Posts: 659 Times Helpful: 37 Status: Offline My Computer	CONFIGURING YOUR KDE DESKTOP - Pt. 2 Hiding the toolbar To hide the taskbar (i.e. When you're mouse goes over it, it pops up), right click on a toolbar and go to Configure Panel and then to the tab “Hiding” and select “Show automatically” under Hide mode. If you want to get rid of those annoying little arrows at the ends of your taskbars, go back into Configure Panel and go to the Hiding tab. Under the “Panel-Hiding Buttons” section, unselect “show right panel-hiding” Make sure you change the settings for the Main panel and the Child panel so that they both wont have the arrow. Changing the Icons Click on your menu and go to System->Configuration->Configure your Desktop. In the list, click on system, then Theme Manager Click on the little “Icons” button and a new window will pop up with your different icon options. If you want some additional icons, try going to www.kde-look.org When you've found the icon theme/s that you like, download them (obviously). When it's finished downloading, in your configure icons window, go to “install new theme.” Select the file that you downloaded and click ok. BLAM! There it is. So just click on your new icon theme and press ok. Getting Some Style While you're in the theme manager (Menu->System->Configuration->Kde->System->Theme Manager), click on the tab “Style.” A new window will pop up. As you scroll through the “widget styles” you will see in the previews what each one will look like. What I chose was Keramik. If you click on Configure, you will get some additional options like “Animate Progress bar.” If you click on the tab “effects” and go to the drop down menu for Menu effect, you can select Make translucent. By doing this, your menus will have transparency like your taskbar. I wouldn't make it very transparent, though, or it'll be hard to see the words in your menus because of the background. While you're here, go ahead and mess with the Combobox effect and Tooltip effect. Colors Once again, in the theme manager, click on Colors. When the new window pops up, you will see that on the left, are the “pre-boxed” color schemes and at the top is a preview. On the right side of the screen, you can select an item, and below it, select a new color for the item. Once again, I chose Keramik. Background To change the background, you can either click on that background button in Theme Manager, or you can just right click on your desktop and click “Configure Desktop.” As you can see, you have the options of no picture, Picture, or Slide show. If you choose “No Picture,” you'll have the options of selecting a color from the “options” section, or making it fade from one color to the other. If you choose “Picture,” you can select one from that drop down menu, or click on the little icon that looks like a file and go to the location where your backgrounds are stored. Lastly, you can try Slide Show which, like it says, creates a slide show of pictures. Click on slide show, and then on Setup. To add some pictures to your slide show, click add and browse to location of your wallpapers, select the file, and then click ok. If you want to select more then one file, just click and drag over all of them. Now that you have your wallpapers ready, you can change how often they are rotated and if they are shown randomly or not. Click apply and Ok to finish setting up your wallpaper. Window Decorations For this one, go to Menu->System->Configuration->Configure your Desktop and go to the LookNFeel Section then to “Window Decorations.” Change how the border around your windows look by scrolling through the drop down menu. You'll be able to see a preview right below it. Depending on your selection, you will have different decoration options at the bottom of the window. Fonts You can change the fonts by going to the Fonts section under LookNFeel and clicking on “Choose” to find Font set that you like better. Adding Program Icons You can start adding programs to the new taskbar by either dragging ones that are already on the bottom to the new one, or you can right click on your taskbar and go to add->Application Button->and sort through your menu for the program you want added. If you want to add an entire menu, click on “add this menu” at the top of the list. If you'd like to add programs to the taskbar, you can also do this by right clicking, going to add->applet or add->special button. As you can see, I've chosen to put the programs regularly used for browsing, etc on the taskbar on the left (child panel) and I put the programs for customization on the bottom taskbar (main panel). This is my own personal preference, feel free to do what makes you comfortable. If you're looking for any additional options to any of these configurations, I suggest you check out kde-look.org and see what they have. If you have any questions/suggestions, feel free to start a thread with the topic