Linux Mint Forums

Guys,
I hook up my Mint 18 Mate to a work projector which changes my resolution to 1024x768 or something like that. I have 10 or so apps pinned to my "quicklaunch" (little panel next to start button) so that is permanently taking a bit of my "taskbar" horizontal space. When I am connected to the projector my horizontal space on the panel/taskbar shrinks to almost nothing and after opening 4-5 apps, they lose their icons and captions because they are squeezed too much.

I desperately need a Windows-like feature where you could extend the taskbar to a double functional height (not aesthetic one, i know how to do that). Apparently there was some buggy applet to do that but i never got it to work. I know this has been discussed in the past but I am hoping that new additions (18.3? etc) can resurrect the idea.

Can this be added to the feature request? This is a make or break it issue for me. I simply cannot use Mint for work if the active app tabs are indiscernible due to being squeezed too much. I literally don't know what to click on. Two lines would solve this perfectly, much like it does in Windows.

Is there hope on the horizon?

Right click on the task bar, select properties, change the pixel count

No, that feature is weird. It increases everything to crazy levels (that is not what I am after if you've read my post) and then when things are so big they are jumping out of the screen, two lines of taskbar apps will appear (that is what I want but NOT AFTER the first part of this sentence and large size of everything else). Does not work.

Maybe adding an extra panel can be a temporary solution to your problem.

How do I add a second panel???

Are the MINT people watching these forums? Can this be added to the features request? I presume no answer to this question means they're not reading all threads...

Their contact page suggested posting on the forum, that's why I did. Although I am sure Mint does not have double height panel in the present distr.

They do read these forums; that does not mean they see, read, and answer every single thread. If you want to be sure to be seen, then maybe open up an issue on the Github page for the MATE-panel.

Hi,
Did you see my possible workaround reply in your other same topic thread?
viewtopic.php?f=206&t=263215

I stumbled upon how to make a two-row panel on 18.3 XFCE, but don't remember exactly how it's done. But it's in there somewhere! No idea if MATE will do that or not.

yogi799 wrote: ⤴Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:59 am How do I add a second panel???

I do not have access to Mate system but on Cinnamon, right click pnel, go to panel settings, click add new panel. Should be something similar in Mate, I presume. I know it is not exactly the requested feature, but it might help OP.

Or let your child play with your PC, you will have two rows and can't take it back:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... -to-single

jimallyn wrote: ⤴Wed Feb 07, 2018 12:34 am I stumbled upon how to make a two-row panel on 18.3 XFCE, but don't remember exactly how it's done. But it's in there somewhere! No idea if MATE will do that or not.

Funny you should mention that, popped on here today to say about Xfce edition supporting multiple panels rows, actually supports from 1-6 rows.

- Xfce edition How-to:
Right click on the panel selecting the following -> 'Panel' -> 'Panel Preferences...' -> 'Number of rows:'

How do I add a second panel???

Right click on existing panel, choose 'Add Panel'; then move it where you want it.

I also have the same problem. I routinely work with over 10 windows open at the same time, and it's hard to keep track of which window is where when I'm limited to just one row. Windows 10 has this neat feature that restores the original position of all your desktop icons once you're done working with a larger-sized taskbar.

The workaround suggested doesn't seem to work for my version of Mate (19.1 64-bit). Right-clicking an existing panel only gives the options Add to Panel, Properties, Reset Panel, Delete This Panel, New Panel, Help, and About Panels. There is no Add Panel.

Was anyone able to confirm that having a 2nd panel is viable? For example, if you open 20 windows consecutively, how would the windows be distributed across both panels? Would you have to manually move windows yourself? It might be a huge hassle if what you really want is a single huge panel that has enough space to display both window titles and captions.

somelurker wrote: ⤴Thu Feb 27, 2020 5:38 am The workaround suggested doesn't seem to work for my version of Mate (19.1 64-bit). Right-clicking an existing panel only gives the options Add to Panel, Properties, Reset Panel, Delete This Panel, New Panel, Help, and About Panels. There is no Add Panel.

I don't use Mate, but New Panel sounds very close to the meaning of Add Panel, so that's what I'd try.

Also, this sounds like a proper feature, not a workaround. But that's nitpicking.

Hmm, I tried adding a new panel and then adding a Window List item to it, but all it did was duplicate the list of open windows I already had. Is there a way to make the second panel serve as an overflow for the first panel? It'd be very useful if I could do that.

Why don't you use the grouping feature in Mate's window list - that's what it's there for..



Alternatively, scrap the window-list and use the window-selector applet instead.

somelurker wrote: ⤴Sat Apr 18, 2020 12:19 am Hmm, I tried adding a new panel and then adding a Window List item to it, but all it did was duplicate the list of open windows I already had. Is there a way to make the second panel serve as an overflow for the first panel? It'd be very useful if I could do that.

Nope - the idea would be to have a 2nd panel dedicated to the window-list only

I guess I'll stick with a small taskbar for now. That's a whole lot of unused space on the first taskbar taking up much screen space. I'll test out the grouping feature. Thanks!

Edit: Grouping was effective. Arguably, it's more effective than simply doubling the height of the taskbar. If I doubled the height of the taskbar, the taskbar would float on top of everything, taking up more screen space and leaving less room for windows. I tinkered a bit and found that I didn't like "always group windows" because it required too much clicking even when I just had 2 browser windows open. But "never group windows" leaves little space when there are a ton of windows open. I was skeptical of "group windows when space is limited", but it works well enough for my purposes. I only wish I had finer control over when grouping is triggered. Ideally, the user would be able to specify the number of windows or minimum width of the windows somehow. But the worst case is that I intentionally open a few more windows to trigger grouping when needed. That's still a lot better than having 10 windows open that I have to work with but that I can't see the titles of. Thank you for the suggestion!

Is there already a way to fine tune when space is considered "limited"? Perhaps a setting in a text file somewhere?