--- On Fri, 2/26/10, Tejas Guruswamy <masterpatricko@gmail.com> wrote:
On 26/02/10 07:55, Charles Obler wrote:
Since we seem to be stuck with KDE 4 for a while, I decided that I might as well learn something about it. I've found several helpful tutorials, and I'm looking for others.
http://techgage.com/article/ten_kde_4_tricks_worth_knowing_about/1 http://techgage.com/article/ten_kde_4_tricks_worth_knowing_about/2
http://hanswchen.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/how-do-you-use-activities -- 17 Nov 2009
http://userbase.kde.org/Plasma -- 24 Feb 2010 There is a draft one on the SuSE wiki based on a discussion I was having recently on this ML at
I see that the guide begins with definitions. This is helpful. The definition of "desktop" needs some clarification, however. There is something that might be called a "desktop window". It's the first screen that we see when KDE4 starts. I regard it as the bottom level node in the hierarchy of folders. It's not a "group of application windows": It is one particular window in that group. For me, the "all-important buzzword" is "Activity". "Plasma" and "plasmoid" remind me of the Java term "applet": The terms are of interest mainly to the developer. The explanation of "Activity" is very helpful. It confirms what I have already gleaned. I still have questions about the "Dashboard". Is there one dashboard, or a separate dashboard for each activity? If one, then it seems to be related to the desktop window -- the root activity. The launch panel has an icon for showing the dashboard, but none for showing the desktop window. However, I can get the desktop window by clicking twice on the virtual desktop icon. In the tutorial, the activity bar becomes a separate panel. Alternatively, however, it can be added to the Desktop or to every Folder. The advantage is that the desktop or folder does not subtract from screen space. The disadvantage is that one has to get to the Desktop or Folder before one can select the Activity. But changing the Activity is not something I expect to be doing frequently, so I don't mind a few extra keystrokes. The tutorial now makes sense to me -- even the part about using a Folder as the Desktop, to emulate 3.5. But it didn't make sense the first time I read it -- several days ago. It's not enough to define the terms: I have to see how they extend existing concepts. That's why I like to start with the "Activity" concept.
Who selects these icons, I don't know. I just know that they are not exactly the icons I want.
By default, the Folder View activity - which is what you have added - points to the ~/Desktop folder. So what you see is the default icons SuSE provides. Basically, the Folder View activity (or applet) points to any actual folder on disk (or even a remote url) and displays its contents just as a file manager would. It can be any folder.
However, I doubt that it is really that simple.
It is! I promise! Try it and see, it works like magic!
I discovered most of the procedures above through trial and error. And one of the errors I made was rather scary: I found myself with NO desktop, nothing but a white screen, with no cashews, no right-click functionality, and seemingly no escape. I did have the taskbar panel, however, and clicking on the "Show plasma dashboard" restored things, for reasons I do not understand. Not sure what happened there, glad you got out of it OK :)
Just stick to the activity tab bar ...
Well, the problem has occurred again, several times, and now I can't fix it, even by logging out. My activity bars no longer function, and the "show dashboard" widget on the taskbar panel does nothing. I have tried removing almost all of my activities -- everything but the original "desktop activity" -- and adding them back. Still the activity bars are non-functional. I have an activity-bar panel, activity bars in the Folders, and an activity bar in the Desktop window. All have stopped functioning. I can click on them and the slider moves, but no activity switch occurs. How can I get back a functioning system? :) I will post this report in a separate message. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org