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Chapter�5.�The
KDE Control Center
The
KDE Control Center is the place to go to change any settings that
affect the whole of your KDE environment. You can open it using the
item in the
menu, or with its
command-line name, kcontrol .
The settings are divided into several major categories, which each
contain several pages of settings. To display a settings page, expand the
major category by clicking on the
+
button next to it,
and then click on the name of the page you want. The settings page then
appears on the right, and you can change settings to your heart's
content. No changes take effect until you click on the
Apply
button. If you decide, after making some
changes, that you want to leave the settings as they were, just click on
Reset
.
If you need more help with a page, visit that page, then click on the
Help
tab. You might also want to look at the
KDE Control Center Handbook, which you can open with the
->
.
Here you will find settings that change the way your KDE desktop and
applications look.
-
Background
-
This section controls the color or image that is set as your desktop
background. These settings can be applied to all virtual workspaces, or to
only a specific one. There are a range of background wallpapers that come
with KDE or you can supply your own.
-
Colors
-
This is where you can modify the colors for your kde applications.
There are a variety of color schemes installed with KDE by default, and
you can find others at kde-look.org. You can also create your own. Here you
can also modify the contrast and choose whether you want your KDE colors
to be applied to non-kde applications, for a more consistant overall
appearance.
-
Fonts
-
Here you can control the various font settings for KDE applications.
You can also modify here anti-aliasing settings, including what range of
fonts to exclude from anti-aliasing settings.
-
Icons
-
This section is where you can manage your icon themes and other
settings related to icons. New icon themes can be downloaded from
kde-look.org, and installed here. Conversely, you can remove icon themes by
highlighting them in the list and clicking remove. You can also set icon
sizes for various uses in KDE and effects to apply to icons.
-
Launch Feedback
-
This is where you can modify what kind of cursor and/or taskbar
feedback you'd like for launching applications. You can also set the
duration of this feedback here. For example, the default setting is for a
bouncing cursor with a duration of 30 seconds, or when the application has
loaded.
-
Screen Saver
-
Here you can configure options about your screensaver. You can
configure the timeout before it starts, and whether it requires a password
to unlock the screen.
-
Splash Screen
-
This is where you can install, remove and test the splash screens that
display on KDE startup. More splash screens can be downloaded from
https://www.kde-look.org.
-
Style
-
This section allows you to modify your widget style. A variety of
styles come with KDE, and more can be downloaded from https://www.kde-look.org. This is also
where you would enable or disable interface options such as transparent
menus, showing icons on buttons and tooltips. Some styles have more
configuration options than others.
-
Theme Manager
-
This is where you can create and manage themes that are made up of
personalized settings. They are a combination of desktop background, colors, KDE widget styles, icons, fonts and what Screensaver you'd like to display . This allows you to save your favorite
“looks” and apply them with the click of a mouse button.
-
Window Decorations
-
Here you can configure your window decorations. You can modify the
style as well as place the buttons in custom positions. Some window
decorations will have more configuration options than others.
Related Information
-
If
KDE Control Center
doesn't have the setting you want, you may need to edit a configuration file
manually. See the section called “Hand-Editing Configuration Files” for more
information about how to do this.
-
If you enjoy modifying the appearance of your KDE desktop,
you can find plenty of themes and styles at kde-look.org.
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