How to create a wallpaper slideshow (solved)

[MintHat]

I've downloaded several wallpapers, and want to make a slideshow of it, so I don't need to switch between them manually anymore.

Any thoughts on how to do this?

I'm using Mint 8 Helena 64bit.

Thanks.

[Aging Technogeek]

There are two apps in Package Manager that will do what you want. Search "drapes" and "wallpaper-tray". Check out both and choose the one you want.

[MintHat]

Thanks, using drapes to change background wallpaper every 15 minutes.
Works great

[hojo52]

There is another (more technical) way of doing this that requires no installation of software. The "Appearance" window supports xml and you can create an xml file that references the images you want transitioned to.

Here is an abridged version of the default installed slideshow (cosmos):

Code: Select all

<background>
  <starttime>
    <year>2009</year>
    <month>08</month>
    <day>04</day>
    <hour>00</hour>
    <minute>00</minute>
    <second>00</second>
  </starttime>
<!-- This animation will start at midnight. -->
  <static>
    <duration>1795.0</duration>
    <file>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</file>
  </static>
  <transition>
    <duration>5.0</duration>
    <from>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</from>
    <to>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/comet.jpg</to>
  </transition>
  <static>
    <duration>1795.0</duration>
    <file>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/comet.jpg</file>
  </static>
  <transition>
    <duration>5.0</duration>
    <from>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/comet.jpg</from>
    <to>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</to>
  </transition>
</background>


The <static> tags "show" the wallpaper for the specified duration (in seconds). The <file> tag is a direct path to your picture. So for each wallpaper you add a static section that shows how long you want to show it and then a transition section that defines what picture to change to. You can basically copy this file, plug in your wallpapers, and save it somewhere else.

Notes:
. I always make my last transition point to the first picture I show (not sure if that's necessary)
. The example code snippet transitions around every 30 mins I changed my static durations to 595 (approx 10 mins)
. The easy thing to do is create your background-1.xml file that defines your slideshow in a folder that has all the wallpapers you are using (make sure the paths are correct!)
. Look in "/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/" for all the files related to the system's cosmos slideshow.

Hopefully this helps someone who wants to understand how the default (cosmos) is setup. I now have all kinds of background slideshows and didn't need to install anything extra.

[MintHat]

@ hojo52:

Thanks, this looks very interesting.

[MintHat]

Found a program called "Wallpaper stacks", it can be found in the package manager.
There is a ppa at launchpad, if you want to keep it updated.

https://launchpad.net/wallpaper-stacks

I've used it in mint 9 to create a wallpaper stack.
Works very nice.
A very big thank you to the developer