XFCE no application launcher

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ruwa
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XFCE no application launcher

Post by ruwa »

HI,
this is a newbie question.
My system: I installed Mint Cinnamon 19.2, then added Mate, then added XFCE to try it out for more speed.
Now, I am missing an application launcher. That is, there is a menu bar at the bottom of a screen, but no application launcher
SCREEN.jpg
SCREEN.jpg (4.22 KiB) Viewed 5399 times

Who can help?

Best, RuWa
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MrEen
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Re: XFCE no application launcher

Post by MrEen »

Hi ruwa, and welcome to the forum.

If the command ls -la ~/.config/xfce4/panel doesn't include a whiskermenu-1.rc file the only way I know to restore it is to reset the whole panel with this command:

Code: Select all

xfce4-panel --quit ; pkill xfconfd ; rm -rf ~/.config/xfce4/panel ; rm -rf ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-panel.xml ; xfce4-panel
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rossdv8
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Re: XFCE no application launcher

Post by rossdv8 »

Also, you might be able to add one by right clicking an empty area of the panel, choosing:
Panel > Add New Items
Then look about 3 or 4 items down from the top and you might see Applications Menu.
(or enter 'app' next to the magnifying glass icon)
Click Applications Menu, and click Add.

If you are lucky you should get a new Applications Menu at the very right hand end, or at the very left hand end, of the Panel, depending how you have your settings.
Current main OS: MInt 21.3 with KDE Plasma 5.27 (using Compiz as WM) - Kernel: 6.5.0-15 on Lenovo m900 Tiny, i5-6400T (intel HD 530 graphics) 16GB RAM.
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daveysprockett
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Re: XFCE no application launcher

Post by daveysprockett »

The hint for whiskermenu was what was needed!

Had the same issue, but saw after re-running the panel that there were errors on starting the menu: this pointed me to the solution:

apt install xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin

is also necessary if you wish to have a (std) menu.
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rossdv8
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Re: XFCE no application launcher

Post by rossdv8 »

Something that's not a bad idea if you ever have to install Xfce again is to open Synaptic Package Manager afterwards and search for xfce4, then go through and install most of the things that look useful.

There's an item called 'xfce4-goodies'. I have never seen the logic for not including this package in the general install package for Xfce4, but I suppose there might be something proprietary in it.

Whatever the reason, one of the things it has is the Whisker Menu plugin.

OK, I checked! In case (as I often do) I simply assumed the menu thingy was there.
Once xfce4-goodies is installed, the various Panel plugins are available to install or remove via Right Click > Panel > Add New Items.

N O T E though. It is still worth going back to Synaptic and repeating the search for xcfe4. Not All of the available Panel plugins are installed with xfce4-goodies.
There are a few less used but still useful plugins like 'mount' (allows you to mount devices from the Panel), that are not there and need to be added separately.
Xfce has a LOT of customisation available . .

But it still beats me why the Whisker Menu plugin is not in the standard installation !!

Here's the Synaptic listing for xfce4-goodies:

enhancements for the Xfce4 Desktop Environment

The "Goodies for Xfce" project includes additional software and artwork that
are related to the Xfce desktop, but not part of the official release.

This package will install the following Xfce4 related plugins:
* Extra artwork (xfce4-artwork)
* Battery levels monitor (xfce4-battery-plugin)
* Clipboard history (xfce4-clipman-plugin)
* CPU frequency management plugin (xfce4-cpufreq-plugin)
* CPU utilisation graphs (xfce4-cpugraph-plugin)
* Date and time plugin (xfce4-datetime-plugin)
* Disk performance display (xfce4-diskperf-plugin)
* Filesystem monitor (xfce4-fsguard-plugin)
* Generic monitor, for displaying any command result (xfce4-genmon-plugin)
* Mail watcher (xfce4-mailwatch-plugin)
* Network load monitor (xfce4-netload-plugin)
* Notes plugin (xfce4-notes-plugin)
* Quick access to bookmarked folders, recent documents and removable
media (xfce4-places-plugin)
* Sensors plugin, frontend to lm-sensors (xfce4-sensors-plugin)
* Smartbookmarks plugin (xfce4-smartbookmark-plugin)
* System load monitor (xfce4-systemload-plugin)
* Timer plugin (xfce4-timer-plugin)
* Command line with history (xfce4-verve-plugin)
* Wireless lan monitor (xfce4-wavelan-plugin)
* Weather monitor (xfce4-weather-plugin)
* Keyboard configuration (xfce4-xkb-plugin)
* Archive management for Thunar (thunar-archive-plugin)
* Media tags editor for Thunar (thunar-media-tags-plugin)
* Alternate menu plugin (xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin)

It'll install some standalone applications too:
* Tiny text editor (mousepad)
* Images viewer (ristretto)
* CD/DVD burner (xfburn)
* Frontend to dictionaries (xfce4-dict)
* Notification daemon (xfce4-notifyd)
* Tool to take screenshots (xfce4-screenshooter)
* Task manager (xfce4-taskmanager)
* Terminal emulator (xfce4-terminal)

Some packages are only suggested because they bring too much dependencies,
but you may find them interesting:
* Cellular modem plugin (xfce4-cellmodem-plugin)
* Indicator (conform to the Ubuntu MessagingMenu specification) plugin
(xfce4-indicator-plugin)
* Another commandline plugin (xfce4-minicmd-plugin)
* Frontends to MPD (xfce4-mpc-plugin, xfmpc)
* Radio plugin (xfce4-radio-plugin))
* GIO/GVfs frontend to manage connections to remote filesystems (gigolo)
* Media player (parole)
* Power Manager (xfce4-power-manager)

This is a metapackage to ease upgrades, installations, and provide a
consistent upgrade path from previous versions. It can safely be removed with
no ill effects.
Current main OS: MInt 21.3 with KDE Plasma 5.27 (using Compiz as WM) - Kernel: 6.5.0-15 on Lenovo m900 Tiny, i5-6400T (intel HD 530 graphics) 16GB RAM.
Sharks usually only attack you if you are wet
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