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3. Configuring the Panel

kpanel is a highly flexible and configurable part of the KDE user interface. This section contains directions to help you customize it to your taste. For information about kpanelrc, the kpanel configuration file, see the Developers' Guide section.

Instructions are included below to configure

• Panel Position/Behavior
• Panel Buttons
• Virtual Desktops
• Application Starter

3.1 Panel Position/Behavior

To configure Panel and Toolbar position and behavior, right-click the panel on an area with no icons, and choose Configure from the menu. Click the Help button for specific information on the settings.

3.2 Panel Buttons

You can move, delete, or change the properties of a panel button by right-clicking the button's icon and choosing the desired option from the context menu that appears.

To add a button to the panel, use one of the following three methods:

• To place a window list button on the panel, choose application starter > Panel > Add Windowlist.

• To place an application from the Application Starter on the panel, choose application starter > Panel > Add Application, then continue through the menu to select the desired application. You can also place a submenu from the Application Starter directly on the panel using the same procedure; when you drill down to the desired submenu, select the first choice in the submenu, which is the submenu itself. For example, to place the Settings submenu on the panel, choose application starter > Panel > Add Application > System > System.

• Drag an icon from a kfm window or the desktop to the panel. Only .kdelnk files and folders containing .kdelnk files can be placed on the panel. Once you've placed an icon on the panel, right-click the icon and choose Properties from the menu to set it up. Note: when you place an icon on the panel this way, be careful not to move or delete the original .kdelnk file or folder, or the panel will not be able to display the icon.

Tool tips: kpanel displays tool tips for buttons on the panel and entries in the Application Starter. To set the tool tip for a button, right-click the button and choose Properties from the menu. Click the Application tab, and put text for the tool tip in the Comment field. You may need to restart kpanel for the changes to take effect (right-click the panel and choose Restart).

Application Swallowing: On the Execute tab of the properties of an Application icon, the "Swallowing on panel" settings allow you to have a button on the panel that displays a running application instead of a static icon. This is especially useful for small notification or status applications such as xbiff. Here's how:

• Set Execute to the name of the application to execute in the panel. Note that this is the Execute setting in the "Swallowing on panel" area.
• Set Window Title to the title of the window opened by the application when run normally from the desktop. kpanel uses the title to identify which window to pull into the panel. If the window doesn't have a title bar, run the application from the desktop and look at the taskbar to determine what title to use.

3.3 Virtual Desktops

To change the labels on the virtual desktop buttons on the panel or change the number of virtual desktops, right-click the panel on an area with no icons, and choose Configure from the menu. Click the Desktops tab in the KPanel Configuration window and make the desired changes (click Help for specific information on the settings).

3.4 Application Starter

To customize the user section of the Application Starter, choose application starter > Panel > Edit Menus. Follow the instructions in the kmenuedit utility to set up your choices.

To make your custom entries the primary entries on the menu, right-click the panel on an area with no icons, and choose Configure from the menu. Click the Options tab and select the "Personal First" choice.

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