Remove text from MATE panel

[ozaz]

Hello,

I'm new to Linux Mint (and Linux in general).
I'm trying Linux Mint 21.2 MATE.

Is there a way to remove the text from the panel elements that appear when you launch an application? I'd rather just have icons like in Cinnamon.
I've tried right clicking on the panel and selecting properties. But I don't see any options related to element/application text.

Thanks

[billyswong]

Try install mate-dock-applet, an alternative created by Ubuntu Mate that one can replace the default "Window List" on panel. Software Manager or apt install won't replace it for you automatically. So you will have to manipulate the panel by yourself to add the "Dock" and remove the "Window List".

"Pin" software on this Dock by hover mouse on the opened window dock item, then wait till the "pin xxx" tooltip pop up.

[ozaz]

Thanks. How do I remove the Window List?

[billyswong]

The handle for Window List is by the left edge of it. In some older theme one can see 3 dots on there. Now it is just somewhat invisible in default Mint theme. Right click there and one can control this panel item.

[ozaz]

Thanks. I'm reading up a bit on panels and panel objects/applets now. I can see how to add objects to panels (which seems very powerful) and now that you have explained it I can see how to remove objects (although the usability of this seems incredibly poor). Is there a way to identify what objects are currently in the panel and remove via a dialog/settings box instead of by the invisible handles?

[billyswong]

The fastest way to make the handle visible is to switch the theme (or the "control" part of the theme) to Mint-X. If you have customized the panel colour before, switch it back to "use system theme" temporarily. Switch the theme back to whatever you like after panel manipulation.

One can also see a list of MATE panel objects by go to dconf-editor then navigate to /org/mate/panel/objects. But that is not a good place for deleting panel objects. I use it for fine-tuning object positions only. There one can tell a panel object to be truly right-aligned, invariant to screen resolution.

[ozaz]

Thanks!