Configuring the Panel

Procedure 3.7. Adding and Removing Panel Elements

1. Right-click an empty patch of the panel.

2. To add a new application to the panel:

   1. From the context menu, select Add Application to Panel.

   2. Select the application to add from one of the categories of the submenu. The application icon is inserted into the panel.

   3. To change the icon for the application, right-click the button and select Configure Application Button. By clicking the application icon in the dialog box that appears, open a new window in which to select a different icon.

   4. To remove the icon from the panel, right-click the icon and select Remove Button.

3. To add a new applet to the panel:

   1. From the context menu, select Add Applet to Panel.

   2. In the dialog box that appears, select the applet to add and click Add to Panel. The applet is inserted into the panel.

   3. To remove the applet from the panel, right-click the icon and select Quit. If the context menu of the applet does not provide a Quit menu item, hold the mouse pointer over the left-side boundary of the area and right-click the small black arrow displayed there. Select Remove.

4. You can also add additional panels of different types. To do so, right-click an empty patch of the panel and select Add Panel. Choose the type of panel to add from the submenu.

5. To remove the additional panel, right-click an empty patch of a panel, select Remove Panel and choose the panel to remove from the desktop.

Procedure 3.8. Moving Elements within Panels

1. To move an application icon to a different position in the panel, right-click the icon and select Move. 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.

2. 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 Move. Click again to insert the area at the new position.

Procedure 3.9. Changing Panel Appearance and Behavior

1. Right-click an empty patch of the panel and select Configure Panel. 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 Arrangement category.

2. If you added additional panels, a list appears at the top of the window, showing the available panels. Select the panel to configure.

3. If desired, choose a different position on the desktop, adjust the panel length, or increase or decrease the panel size and Apply your settings.

4. To activate or deactivate automatic hiding of the panel or change the default hiding options, click Hiding on the left window pane. Set the options according to your wishes and click Apply.

5. To change the color of the panel or to enable transparency or background images for the panel, click Appearance.

6. Below Button Backgrounds, you can choose a background for different parts of the panel. To color a part of the panel, choose Custom Color from the list for the respective button and click the button on the right to choose a color.

7. To make the panel appear transparent, activate Enable transparency. To increase visibility of the transparent panel also for very dark or very light backgrounds, click Advanced Options and set a color and the amount of tinting for the panel. Apply your changes.

8. To change the default behavior of the taskbar, click Taskbar on the left window pane.

9. To make the taskbar show only the applications from the currently active desktop instead of all applications, deactivate Show windows from all desktops.

10. Change the other taskbar options, if desired, and click Apply.

11. When all panel options are set according to your preferences, leave the configuration dialog with OK.