I will use Swiftfox as an example for this guide but any application should work in a similar way.
It works well with Gnome, KDE, XFCE 4*, Fluxbox* and WindowMaker*
*no drag 'n drop support .
Usally when I boot up my laptop I start Swiftfox after the boot has finished. I found a way to launch Swiftfox in the background and put an icon in the systemtray instead of the old shortcut icon in the panel. The difference is marginal, a little longer nautilus start time and the Swiftfox icon is on the right side of the taskbar instead of the left.
So after the boot I have an icon next to the gaim/skype icons (Or whatever you have) in the systemtray and when I click the icon it works just as the gaim or skype icons in the system tray.
When I close the Swiftfox window it will minimize back to the system tray.
Lets start:
Copy and paste the following into a teminal window.
For Ubuntu Dapper add the following lines in the file :sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
For Ubuntu Breezy add the following lines in the file :deb http://asher256-repository.tuxfamily.org dapper main dupdate french
deb http://asher256-repository.tuxfamily.org ubuntu main dupdate french
Save the changes and exit gedit, then enter this command in the terminal:deb http://asher256-repository.tuxfamily.org breezy main dupdate french
deb http://asher256-repository.tuxfamily.org ubuntu main dupdate french
Now enter this in the terminal:sudo apt-get update
Now rightclick on the desktop and choose create document and choose emty filesudo apt-get install alltray
Name the file
If you want the file to not be hidden just name it startme.startme
Open up the file and enter the following:
/opt/swiftfox/swiftfox can be something else on your system, make sure you put the right path to application you want to use.alltray /opt/swiftfox/swiftfox &
Save the file, make it executable and move the file to some directory, I use my homedirectory. If you use KDE move the file to /home/USERNAME/.kde/Autostart
cd /home/USERNAME/Desktopsudo chmod +x .startmeNow, if you use KDE do the following:mv .startme /home/USERNAME/
Go to "Session Manager" in "Control Center"; Select "Restore manually saved session" or "Start with empty session"
If you use Gnome do the following:
Go to: "System->Preferences->Sessions"
In Tab "Startup Programs" add this script to "Additional startup programs", just wright down the path to the file, should be /home/USRNAME/.startme
In Tab "Session options" disable "Automatically save changes to session"
Logout, login and it should work!
If you want to run an application that doesnt have a systemtray icon add the following to the script after "alltray applicationname"
Example that i use-i /path-to-icon.png &
That puts the home folder in the systemtray and gives me a very fast way to access the homefolder.alltray nautilus --no-desktop -i /usr/share/pixmaps/gnome-home.png &
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