Vertical Panels in Gnome 3 (or Cinnamon)

[cb474]

I'm excited about the Mint release of Gnome 3. It's the first time I've had any hope that it would become usable and not an annoying regression, based on form over function. And the combination of Mate plus Gnome 3 is a brilliant idea. I feel like Mint is really the only distro showing vision and leadership, in the face of the Gnome 3 release.

But one feature that is an absolute must for me, on my laptop, is thin vertical panels. I don't want to waste any vertical space with panels, but have plenty of extra horizontal space. This is one of the elements I most like about Gnome 2. It would be an amazing improvement if Mint came up with a way to implement vertical panels in Gnome 3. And I would especially love to see this in the LMDE edition. Thanks.

[bimsebasse]

That setup can be achieved in less than ten minutes in MGSE, all you need is a dock (e.g. awn or docky), adding a gnome shell extension to hide the top panel, disabling 2 already added extensions to remove the bottom panel, and setting up your vertical dock how you want it. This is Linux, you're not stuck with the default desktop setup, there are plenty options to have it your way.

[cb474]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm familiar with AWN and Docky. I'd call those docks, rather than panels, in the Gnome sense. I don't really like them. I like the kind of layout and configurability that the Gnome panel (especially as it was in Gnome 2) offered. So I'd simply like to be able to take the panels in Gnome 3, as they appear with Mint's MGSE and drag them to the sides of my screen (as had been possible for eons in Gnome 2).

I'm quite familiar with Linux and the non-default options. I've been using Linux for a long long time, even if I haven't posted much in this forum. But with the advent of Gnome 3, I don' t think there really is anything out there equivalent to the Gnome 2 panels in vertical mode. Except for XFCE, but I prefer a more full featured desktop.

[linuxviolin]

Wow, verticals panels in GNOME 3? Well, "if I wanted icons that run down one side of the display, I’d be using Unity, which at least includes other tools to make them more useful."

[cb474]

Have you ever tried vertical panels in Gnome 2? They are far more featured and usefull than awn, docky, unity. The unity vertical "panel" is just another dock, it's not a panel. I think people are just not getting what sort of functionality would be lost with any of those suggestions. And it makes no sense in Gnome 3 to impose space wasting horizontal panels on people who want to optimize vertical space. Especially on laptops and netbooks that Gnome 3 is supposed to be good for. This is simply a valuable functionality that has lost in the shift from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3.

I don't know why I can't make a suggestion without people mocking it. If it's not something you value or are unable to understand fine. It doesn't mean it wouldn't be valued by and useful to others. All I want to do is be able to move the panels to the side of screen as was always possible in Gnome 2. It's a simple and useful idea.

[linuxviolin]

Have you ever tried vertical panels in Gnome 2? They are far more featured and usefull than awn, docky, unity. The unity vertical "panel" is just another dock, it's not a panel. I think people are just not getting what sort of functionality would be lost with any of those suggestions. And it makes no sense in Gnome 3 to impose space wasting horizontal panels on people who want to optimize vertical space. Especially on laptops and netbooks that Gnome 3 is supposed to be good for. This is simply a valuable functionality that has lost in the shift from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3.

I don't know why I can't make a suggestion without people mocking it. If it's not something you value or are unable to understand fine. It doesn't mean it wouldn't be valued by and useful to others. All I want to do is be able to move the panels to the side of screen as was always possible in Gnome 2. It's a simple and useful idea.

If you want to say GNOME 2 is, was, better than GNOME 3 or Unity then I can agree with you about this...

[cb474]

If you want to say GNOME 2 is, was, better than GNOME 3 or Unity then I can agree with you about this...

Yes, there we agree, because I definitely would say that!

So I guess I'd just like to have Gnome 3 offer some of the same basic functionality as Gnome 2, since it remains to be seen how well the various keep Gnome 2 alive projects will do. (I know Mint is adopting Mate, but Mate isn't really supporting all the Gnome 2 packages yet.) I'd like to have an up-to-date system (ideally rolling release) but with Gnome 2 functionality (or a Gnome 3 that can approximate it).

For me, vertical panels is a very basic and essential element of functionality in any desktop environment (although often ignored or poorly implemented).

[bimsebasse]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm familiar with AWN and Docky. I'd call those docks, rather than panels, in the Gnome sense. I don't really like them. I like the kind of layout and configurability that the Gnome panel (especially as it was in Gnome 2) offered. So I'd simply like to be able to take the panels in Gnome 3, as they appear with Mint's MGSE and drag them to the sides of my screen (as had been possible for eons in Gnome 2).

With AWN you can make an almost exact replica of a classic gnome top panel, just a matter of configuring and adding the proper applets. Not saying you should be perfectly happy, then - it's certainly a hassle that gnome shell doesn't give the possibility to have vertical panels. On a widescreen laptop myself and vertical panels make more sense on those, you don't wanna lose horizontal window space.

[cb474]

Thanks. I'll take another look at AWN. If I got it set up to my satisfaction, will I be able to get rid of the top and bottom panels in MGSE? If not, it would sort of defeat the purpose of saving vertical space.

It is a little ridiculous to have to go through this hassel, just to get something that existed in Gnome 2 and was trivially simple to set up. I'm honestly considering just switching to Debian Stable, since it will be supported for a while and has a plain old Gnome 2 desktop. But it would be nice to think that there is a way to move forward with Gnome 3 and have an acceptable/usable experience.

[everfree]

I agree 100 percent with the OP about vertical panels ! It is such a basic setting , how it is dismissed as unneccesary is silly. Such an "advanced" desktop that all these wonderful things and you cannot change the panels to vertical ?
In the days of 4/3 screens , the panel position reeally didn't matter so much. But with the widesceens of today, what I want is all the vertical space used AND have the panel visible on the side. Not too much to ask for at all. Until then ... MATE willl do ... and I think Mint for that

[cb474]

Yes, Mate continues to be my solution also. I don't care what new fangled interface they come up with in Gnome 3 (which to me still adds nothing over Gnome 2/Mate). If you can't have vertical panels on a laptop with a relatively short wide screen LCD, then it's just a huge step backwards. XFCE has vertical panels. KDE does it. I don't know why Gnome 3 thinks a one size fits all solution is a good idea. People have different needs on different machines. Gnome 3 needs to get with it. If not, it would be great if Mint fixed this limitation by adding veritcal panels as an option in Cinnamon.