UBUNTU TIPS AND TRICKS

   Customize the Panel

Ubuntu includes a top panel and a bottom panel by default. If you prefer to keep only one panel at the bottom just like the Windows Taskbar, then these are the steps to follow:

1. Delete the bottom panel: right-click over it and click "Delete This Panel".
2. Move the top panel to bottom: right-click over it, select "Properties" and change Orientation from "Top" to "Bottom".
3. Add running program buttons: right-click the panel, select "Add to Panel", scroll down and select "Window List", click "Add".
4. Replace the Menu Bar ("Applications-Places-System") with the "Main Menu" to save space in the panel:
   
   1. Right-click the "Menu Bar" and select "Remove From Panel".
   2. Right-click the panel, select "Add to Panel" and choose "Main Menu", click "Add".
   3. Right-click the items (Firefox, etc) and untick "Lock to Panel".
   4. Right-click the added "Main Menu", select "Move" to relocate it to the far left. (See Note 1 below)
   
   
   

These are basic changes. The panels are much more flexible than the Windows Taskbar in that many items in the panels can be easily added, removed or configured.
Note 1: The Main Menu shows the "Lock Screen", "Log Out" and "Shut Down" items if you remove the "Indicator Applet Session" item (which shows your username and the shutdown button to the right of the panel). These three items are hidden from the Main Menu when the Indicator Applet Session item is on the panel.
Note 2: If you need to restore the panels to the original state, enter the following commands into the Terminal and re-start the system:

1. sudo gconftool-2 --shutdown
2. sudo rm -rf .gconf/apps/panel
3. sudo pkill gnome-panel  '

   Pin Programs to the Panel
Frequently used programs can be easily pinned to the panel.

1. Browse to the program from "Applications" or "Main Menu".
2. Drag and drop the program to an empty space in the panel, or right-click the program and select "Add this launcher to panel".
3. Right click the program icon, select "Move" and drop it to a new place in the panel.
4. Right click the program icon and select "Lock to Panel".

See also "Enable Windows 7 Superbar".

   Set Fully Transparent Panel

 

When you set the panel to be transparent in the default Ambiance theme in Ubuntu 10.10 or 10.04, you will find that some panel items' backgrounds are not transparent, but you can make them transparent and consistent with others, following these steps:

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Terminal.
2. Enter cp -R /usr/share/themes/Ambiance ~/.themes/
3. Enter gedit ~/.themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/apps/gnome-panel.rc (for Ubuntu 10.10) OR gedit ~/.themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/gtkrc (for Ubuntu 10.04), to open the file with gedit.
4. Search for this line bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "img/panel.png" (for Ubuntu 10.10) OR bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "panel_bg.png" (for Ubuntu 10.04)
5. Comment out the line by placing a # at the beginning of the line, like this: #   bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = ...
6. Save the file.
7. Go to System > Preferences > Appearance, switch to the other theme and then back to the Ambiance theme.

Note: If you'd like to change to the Radiance theme, replace Ambiance with Radiance in the above command lines, but you'd like to change to the New Wave theme, then enter cp -R /usr/share/themes/"New Wave" ~/.themes/ in step 2, enter gedit ~/.themes/"New Wave"/gtk-2.0/gtkrc in step 3, search for and comment out this line bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "Images/Panel/PanelBarLong.png" in steps 4 and 5 respectively.

   Enable Windows 7 Superbar

In Windows 7, frequently used programs can be pinned to the taskbar (hence called Superbar). Likewise, DockBarX, a Gnome panel plugin, can be added to Ubuntu to achieve almost the same effect to pin and unpin or launch the applications from the panel.

1. Go to Ubuntu Software Center > Edit > Software Source.
2. Select "Other Software" and click "Add"
3. At APT line, enter ppa:dockbar-main/ppa, click "Add Source" and "Close"
4. At the left panel of Ubuntu Software Center, select "PPA for Dockbar Main Group", which is added after the above steps
5. At the right panel, select DockbarX and click "Install"
6. Right click the panel and click “Add to Panel”.
7. Select the DockBarX Applet and click "Add".

Note: A thumbnail preview of a running program is also available to DockBarX. To enable this feature, right-click the DockBarX item on the panel, select Properties, choose Window List and tick "Show Previews". Other preferences such as appearance, window item and group button can also be configured by users.

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