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3.4 Configuring the Panel
You can add the following objects to your panel: applications, applets
(mini-programs) and further panels. Applications and applets can either be
added to the quick launch area or the system tray in the main panel or in
additional panels. Panel elements and additional panels can be moved to
different places or be completely removed at any time.
Adding and Removing Panel Elements
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Right-click an empty patch of the panel.
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To add a new application to the panel:
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From the context menu, select .
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Select the application to add from one of the categories of the
submenu. The application icon is inserted into the panel.
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To change the icon for the application, right-click the button and
select . By clicking the
application icon in the dialog box that appears, open a new window in
which to select a different icon.
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To remove the icon from the panel, right-click the icon and select
.
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To add a new applet to the panel:
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From the context menu, select .
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In the dialog box that appears, select the applet to add and click
. The applet is inserted into the
panel.
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To remove the applet from the panel, right-click the icon and
select . If the context menu of the applet does
not provide a menu item, hold the mouse pointer
over the left-side boundary of the area and right-click the small black
arrow displayed there. Select .
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You can also add additional panels of different types. To do so,
right-click an empty patch of the panel and select . Choose the type of panel to add from the
submenu.
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To remove the additional panel, right-click an empty patch of a
panel, select and choose the panel to
remove from the desktop.
Moving Elements within Panels
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To move an application icon to a different position in the panel,
right-click the icon and select . The mouse
pointer changes into a cross-hair. Drag the pointer to the place in the
panel where you want to insert the icon then press the left mouse button.
The icon is inserted at the new position.
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In the same way, you can also move areas of the panel, such as the
desktop previewer, the taskbar, and the system tray: Hold the mouse
pointer over the boundary of the area and click the small black arrow
displayed there. From the context menu, select .
Click again to insert the area at the new position.
You can configure many aspects of the main panel and of additional
panels. For example, you can change size, length, and position of a panel
or activate transparency effects. You can also influence the taskbar
behavior.
Changing Panel Appearance and Behavior
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Right-click an empty patch of the panel and select
. A dialog opens in which you can
configure several aspects of the panel. To access the different
categories, click one of the icons at the left window pane. By default,
the dialog shows the options of the
category.
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If you added additional panels, a list appears at the top of the
window, showing the available panels. Select the panel to
configure.
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If desired, choose a different position on the desktop, adjust the
panel length, or increase or decrease the panel size and
your settings.
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To activate or deactivate automatic hiding of the panel or change
the default hiding options, click on the left
window pane. Set the options according to your wishes and click
.
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To change the color of the panel or to enable transparency or
background images for the panel, click .
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Below , you can choose a
background for different parts of the panel. To color a part of the
panel, choose from the list for the
respective button and click the button on the right to choose a color.
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To make the panel appear transparent, activate . To increase visibility of the transparent panel
also for very dark or very light backgrounds, click and set a color and the amount of tinting for the
panel. your changes.
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To change the default behavior of the taskbar, click
on the left window pane.
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To make the taskbar show only the applications from the currently
active desktop instead of all applications, deactivate .
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Change the other taskbar options, if desired, and click
.
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When all panel options are set according to your preferences, leave
the configuration dialog with .
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