Tips for a clean & tidy panel

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Ozo

Tips for a clean & tidy panel

Post by Ozo »

First, everything hear is hidden automatically. The panel on the left is stripped down including calendar, The menu panel is stripped down too.

I left the search window in the Menu as it is useful occasionally.

The clock was installed on the dock and a calendar launcher (Osmo) too to compensate for the missing panel applet. That applet does not work perfectly when the panel is on the side.The Shutdown applet was installed on the panel to compensate for the missing options on the stripped down Menu.

Plank Dock is customized to my preferences here but is easily modified to suit eg. icon size can be smaller. A useful attribute of this dock is that when selected the browser for example is maximized no matter where it is. If minimized to the panel it will open from the dock. If a second browser is needed then open it from the menu. Even if the browser is on a different workspace it will open. This is great for those of us who are used to operating from the bottom.

These numbers/arrows/text are courtesy of the Chrome extension Nimbus...

1....Chrome browser.
2....Menu. The icon is from Diviant Art.
3.....Shutdown/Restart applet.
4.....Audio applet. Scroll for volume change.
5.....Cerebro. This icon is the ready light.
6.....The network applet was removed and this is there by default.
7.....Plank dock.
8.....Xenlism-Wildfire icons are my favorite.
9.....Osmo calendar 0.2.14
10...Calendar desklet. Drag to hide.
11...Clock desklet. Drag to hide.

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Menu is totally stripped except for the search bar, no Favorites, no Shutdown options, no icons. There is seldom any need to ever open the menu now. Anything I might need is either on the panel or the dock. I do keep a full set of launchers hidden on the desktop which are easy to access. Notice the clock and calendar partially hidden in the r/h corners. This is in Double Scale. That is not my theme but was picked for effect (dead).

EDIT: I have since removed the clock desklet and now am using a Docklet clock.

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These launchers are hidden on the desktop but can be viewed in the Desktop file. This is better than Cinnamenu because it has only launchers you might use not every darn one.
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Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 8 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Ozo

Re: Tips for a clean & tidy panel

Post by Ozo »

I stripped the panel (on the left) and it still works great if not better. :idea: I thought , well if it is ok for the panel then why not the Menu. It is really small now and that is in double scale. You can scroll through All Applications, Games, and Accessories so what more do you need? The dock is still hiding below. :wink:

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Ozo

Re: Tips for a clean & tidy panel

Post by Ozo »

There is something called Workspaces which when used as well as a dock really keeps that panel clean. The dock is now used to launch programs to Workspaces. This means programs no longer minimize to the panel so the panel is very clean.

The program thumbnails are no longer viewed on the panel but a swipe into a hot corner (select in settings) opens a view of all the active programs at once. Here is a photo of the panel empty when really there are numerous active programs in Workspaces.

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Ozo

Re: Tips for a clean & tidy panel

Post by Ozo »

Panel on top is an option I like as it allows the horizontal applets. I put the red menu icon in the middle so the hot corners are not activated when stabbing for the menu. Panel on top does not slow down the Hot corners activation of Workspaces.

I have never liked the panel on top but since it is now used so little it makes sense.

The calendar applet looks good so Osmo and the docklet clock are gone.

Looks clean and tidy to me. :D

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