Save Real Estate Gnome Desktop Ubuntu Karmic

[johnathanamber]

Hey everyone,

So my main goal is to save real estate space on my gnome desktop.

I like the single button setup on KDE. Is there anything like that for Gnome? Something that will integrate a single button for Applications, Places and System?

I have already moved all of my panels into a single panel with the exception of my 'Quick Launch' panel.

I don't like that the drawer does close automatically once you select an app to load. If I can get it to close once an app has been clicked on, then I'd use that.

I've also been toying with the idea of using a dock to replace that.

Any further ideas on how to save real estate space in a Gnome Desktop Environment?

Thank you and God bless,
Johnathan

[quixote]

If you right-click in free space on the panel and select "Add", one of the choices is a "Main Menu" button. That has all three in the one button. I use it myself, being a real estate fan too.

[johnathanamber]

You know I did use that once before and forgot all about it. THANK YOU!

Any suggetions on a high performance dock that won't crash?

Thank you and God bless,
Johnathan

[quixote]

A high performance dock that won't crash? You're not asking much, are you :D ? I've been wanting to use one myself, but the quirkiness issues mean I haven't yet. The one I have on my list to try is awn-dock (avant-window-navigator). I've also heard Cairo well spoken of. What are your experiences with docks?

[trimmer]

The dock I am using is Gnome-do. It works out pretty well for me because I do not need to have "set" or permanent selections in my dock. The dock icons change to fit my most recently used apps. Very convenient if you ask me. Then I still use the main menu for everything else.

To get the dock in Gnome-do be sure to select the docky option in the preferences otherwise Gnome-do will default to invisible.

[quixote]

That's gorgeous. I'll really have to give that a try.

[johnathanamber]

Hey y'all!

I've actually ended up abandoning the AWN Dock. Went with a single panel payout. Yes, yes, it is less flashy, buy it dows give the most real estate and the most functionality.

I've found several gnome applets to do the trick:
(On the left)
Desktop View
Trash
DockBarX

(On the right)
System Monitor
Notification Area
Indicator Applet
Clock
Indicator-session
Shutdown

As you can see with the screenshot, very little space is used.

[Jackelope King]

I still like the functionality of a dock, especially one that autohides. I use a pair of Docky docks (a places dock on the left of my screen, and a window manager on the bottom), which nets me a little extra screen real-estate on the bottom of my screen. Docky does the side-of-the-screen dock, which Gnome-Do didn't allow, and it's a lot more solid than AWN or Cairo on my install. I've even managed to replace a lot of Gnome-Do's functionality with the Cardapio main menu.

The top panel is where I netted a lot of extra vertical space. gnome-global-menu can replace most program-specific menus, and I've used Compiz to chop the titlebars off of maximized programs (such as Firefox, as seen in the screenshot below). I just added the xte buttons on the far right to replicate the windows controls for these maximized windows. So essentially, my top panel doubles as my titlebar for maximized windows.

And in Firefox itself, I use the Hide GUI bars extension to normally keep everything but the tab bar hidden away, and instead of a bookmarks bar, I use Fast Dial and All-in-One Sidebar to keep that organized.

[johnathanamber]

It is interesting to put the window buttons and menu items in the top panel for instance.

And it might even work out better in some instances.

Personally, if I could get the panel to have the intellihide feature of AWN, then I'm sure I'd use it.

I personally don't like things 'hanging' over other programs. But I guess there is no way around it.

Wish you could use the Windows Logo to access the panel menu... oh well. Using the Alt menu key instead.

Finding the best way to access the most used programs and still the old ones is actually pretty hard when you need to maximize space, speed and functionality.

part of the reason why I decided with the single panel... are several:
It is default with Gnome, no extra apps are required.
Since no other apps are required... it is faster loading.
-This also saves on disk space and CPU usage.
When I reinstall or upgrade to the latest Ubuntu version, it is just about guaranteed to work outside of new Gnome features.

(I have my home folder running off another drive, so when I reinstall and login as that user, I log out and then as root to create the symbolic link and... viola! Everything is back to where it was, minus the need to install the other apps.)

BTW, the panel does have 'autohide' capabilities. I just like AWN' intellihide better.

Thank you,
Johnathan

[anantshri]

I prefer Docky as a Dock and till today which is 30 days continuous its yet to crash once. BTW it has intellihide

i prefer using USP https://launchpad.net/usp

and then ever beautiful dockbarX for panel management

and all this crammed up in single bar except docky.

Desktop Screenshot : http://www.flickr.com/photos/anantshri/4651834449/
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4651834449_20d81ce66d_m_d.jpg