Your must-have Shell extensions that don't exist yet

[Copper Bezel]

I apologize if this is a duplicate topic, but I couldn't find anything.

I can honestly see Gnome Shell's extension base surpassing Compiz in terms of both productivity and glitz. As things slow down and stop breaking so much, I imagine we'll be seeing a much larger number of available extensions. After sanderd17 showed off a new Trailfocus-style (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1873091&page=4#38) extension, I'm more convinced than ever. So what would be your top hypothetical Shell extensions?

Here are mine:

gnome-shell-extensions-i-have-a-keyboard-dammit - Navigate the shell with the keyboard.

I'm aware of the windows navigator extension, but it's fiddly beyond reason. At default, the shell is largely deaf to keyboard commands of any kind. In the Overview, I'd like to see Up Arrow and Down Arrow (by themselves) switch workspaces and Tab and Grave cycle forward and backward in the window list.

Alt+Tab is inconsistent with the way the rest of the shell works, but it's also a needless addition when the rest of the UI is driven from the Overview. It would be preferable to be able to navigate the shell the same way whether by mouse or by keyboard.

Enter and the arrow keys would also work as expected in the Shell's notifications and the like. At present, they're simply ignored.

gnome-shell-extensions-animations-add-on - Expand existing window animations for a seamless UI experience.

Nothing fancy, but I'd like to see a few more, and more consistent, animations for windows. (The Shell's own animations can be configured through its theming.) At present, windows come into being in a very pretty fade, but vanish suddenly when closed. Then there's a pretty minimize animation that's not even used in the default experience and could well have been used for closing, too. I'd like to see fade animations for quitting windows, as well as when switching tasks between overlapping windows.

gnome-shell-extensions-synapse - Replace this bloody worthless search with Synapse, because it's awesome.

Okay, maybe not really, but I'd like to see the Shell search replaced with something like Synapse. Synapse can run shell commands, search recent places and documents, search Wikipedia or Google, and even control media players all in one place, without ever touching the mouse or trackpad, and it does all of it lightning-fast. Unity's search is very similar, with almost all of the same features, really taking advantage of what Zeitgeist offers.

The Gimme extension for Shell doesn't come remotely close, and Shell's current search feature is just a (painfully slow, but that may be unique to my setup) filter for the applications menu with a couple of clickable-but-not-keyable buttons added for Wikipedia and Google. (Reasonably, the search already has you typing. It shouldn't require the mouse.)

gnome-shell-extensions-animations-transparent-menus - Make application and right-click menus slightly transparent.
Because, dammit.

What do you want to see happen in the wild and ever-expanding new world of Gnome Shell extensions?

[Perfect Storm]

Not a-must. But I like to a Desura Extension.
That's why I'm going to dip my nose in Javascript and .css - would be cool to make my own extensions.

[cbowman57]

I miss the fpmurphy righthotcorner extension.

Not an extension but I just map synapse to my menu key.

[IWantFroyo]

gnome-shell-extensions-dock-actually-goes-to-the-corners-of-the-flipping-screen

[Copper Bezel]

Tee-hee. = D


Not an extension but I just map synapse to my menu key.
Good call - I just think it'd be neat if Shell could have an integrated search with similar capabilities.

I'm okay with the left hotcorner for a couple of reasons. One is that I've always had Scale there to begin with. = ) But one thing I couldn't get used to under Shell was the right-hand close button, so I moved it to the left, and I'm used to using drag or scroll gestures in place of scrollbars, so I guess I've accepted the Ubuntu philosophy of letting the cursor rest on the left. But yeah, I can definitely see how a right-hand hot corner would be a nifty addition otherwise.

It is too bad so many of these extensions are breaking like this, but with any luck, that will slow down as Shell matures.

[Copper Bezel]

Not to bump, but I realized I forgot an obvious one:

gnome-shell-extensions-unity-quicklist


That's why I'm going to dip my nose in Javascript and .css - would be cool to make my own extensions.
Yeah, it does seem like a lower bar for entry than to do Compiz plugins with Python or something, so I'm tempted to find out what's actually involved in writing them, too.


Not a-must. But I like to a Desura Extension.
Interesting - what would it do? I don't know much about Desura. Extensions for specific apps and services could be really interesting, depending on how they're handled.

[Perfect Storm]

Desura is a 'steam'-ish like app that runs natively in Linux. It offers indie games as well as free games. (also available for Windows).

I game a lot, and I have around 25 games in Desura. As for a gamer I think it would be cool to 'move' Desura tray icon up in Gnome Shell bar, next to audio, bluetooth and network.
Other than that, I think Desura tray are handling the game selection poorly and I would see some nice and cool way (may be some flashy as well) extension for it.

[JDShu]

I apologize if this is a duplicate topic, but I couldn't find anything.
gnome-shell-extensions-i-have-a-keyboard-dammit - Navigate the shell with the keyboard.


Forget extensions, this needs to be default behavior.

[tomasijeaux]

I'd really love to have grid of 4 workspaces like in unity. I'd like to switch between workspaces not only vertically but horizontally as well. That's a thing I don't like about gnome shell at most. Hopefully I won't have to wait for such an extension too long:)

[sanderd17]

Forget extensions, this needs to be default behavior.

yes, that right, just as browsing with the arrow keys through your search results.




gnome-shell-extensions-synapse - Replace this bloody worthless search with Synapse, because it's awesome.

Okay, maybe not really, but I'd like to see the Shell search replaced with something like Synapse. Synapse can run shell commands, search recent places and documents, search Wikipedia or Google, and even control media players all in one place, without ever touching the mouse or trackpad, and it does all of it lightning-fast. Unity's search is very similar, with almost all of the same features, really taking advantage of what Zeitgeist offers.

The Gimme extension for Shell doesn't come remotely close, and Shell's current search feature is just a (painfully slow, but that may be unique to my setup) filter for the applications menu with a couple of clickable-but-not-keyable buttons added for Wikipedia and Google. (Reasonably, the search already has you typing. It shouldn't require the mouse.)


Have you tried the zeitgeist extensions? One is called gimmie in Arch, and it changes the default search by ordening your search results by the most-used first. and it also creates a new tab.

I don't know exactly where I found it, but if you're interested, I'm willing to check it out.



gnome-shell-extensions-animations-transparent-menus - Make application and right-click menus slightly transparent.
Because, dammit.



This will never be an extension, this is a GTK+ theme feature. So you will only have it by using another GTK+ theme.

[cbowman57]

Originally Posted by Copper Bezel http://ubuntuforums.org/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=11416866#post11416866)
I apologize if this is a duplicate topic, but I couldn't find anything.
gnome-shell-extensions-i-have-a-keyboard-dammit - Navigate the shell with the keyboard.


Forget extensions, this needs to be default behavior.

Isn't that already available under Universal Access?

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[Copper Bezel]

Isn't that already available under Universal Access?
Not what I'm talking about (unless you're being sarcastic.)


This will never be an extension, this is a GTK+ theme feature. So you will only have it by using another GTK+ theme.
Can GTK3 do that? I don't mean the shell's own menus, but those of the applications. I'd imagine a shell extension could tweak the compositing in that way, but if GTK3 supports RGBA, there's definitely no need (and I want to know how to enable that now.) = D

Edit: Oh, and yeah, I played with Gimme. It's not bad - just not on the level of Unity's search or Synapse. I had an issue with my extensions and had to uninstall them, so I haven't got back around to trying that one.

There's another that adds recent documents to the Favorites items' right-click menus, too. I can't remember where I found it, either, but that one's particularly neat.

[cbowman57]

No, not being sarcastic. Just wondered if that toggles on the same effect. If it's already built into the shell it would make it easier for somebody to code an extension for it.

I've never used the shell on a laptop so I don't know what kinds of features would best suit it.

[cbowman57]

@Copper Bezel,

Try this, open up dconf-editor and navigate to org>gnome>desktop>media-handling then disable automount-open. On my system it gives me an icon in the message tray but doesn't pop up that nonsense.

Glad you brought that up, it's been annoying me too but I usually encounter it when I'm trying to get something done & forget about it before I find a solution. :)

[Copper Bezel]

Oh, cool. I'll try that. Thanks! = )

[kvvv]

A nice task switcher.

[markbl]

but the "removable drives" bubble at the bottom that never times out is irritating the hell out of me.
I thought this was some quirky bug due to my environment but I now surprisingly realise that this is intended behaviour!

I like gnome-shell but there are some implementation issues which I don't understand, particularly regarding notifications, and those "hidden" sys tray icons etc.

[cbowman57]

Just for some perspective on what's available now.

Far left: Panel favorites extension
Center right: Weather extension
Progressing from the near right:


Classic systray extension (displaying Transmission icon)
Extended places menu extension
App menu extension (modified to reside on the right)
Media player extension (reuses volume control)

206181 << tiny thumbnail

[arzali]

I would like to see a dockbarx shell extension with mutter support.
Group scaling and peek are features i miss in GS

[Copper Bezel]

I think that would actually be on DockBarX's side, same as the Compiz support. Although I can't really imagine needing a dock under Shell, I am looking forward to AWN and DockBarX getting ported up to 11.10 as another option. (I don't think of the Shell Favorites as a dock, and I've stopped using the dock extension. The Favorites list is nuts for task switching, but the rest of the Overview makes switching and closing windows faster than a dock does.)

On that point, I could see an extension to change the Favorites behavior. I understand the frustration in that bit from Linus Torvalds now about how clicking the dock icon switches to the running instance instead of opening another, particularly since it also exits the shell. I've found myself using drag and drop almost exclusively.


I like gnome-shell but there are some implementation issues which I don't understand, particularly regarding notifications, and those "hidden" sys tray icons etc.
That's the indicator tray. The system tray and the indicator tray are separate in Gnome Shell, just as they were separate applets in Gnome 2 before Ubuntu merged them. It was stupid and inconsistent in Gnome 2, but I like it in Gnome 3 myself, because the separations are saner and it keeps the real system tray clean for always-present, hardware-related items. I don't need to see Glippy, ibus, and Dropbox all the time, and the new removable drives indicator is surprisingly useful. I just wish they behaved like Ubuntu's indicators (left-click only.)

Just me, though. And changing the automount behavior in dconf doesn't seem to fix the popup problem, which is all the more irritating because removable drives are so easy to unmount from the overview.

I have to admit that I'm still learning to work with the shell instead of against it. I'm getting used to the new Alt+Tab, which is kind of neat as a shortcut when you don't want to deal with the whole Shell methodology, and tapping the Shell key for the Overview is becoming a reflex that I find myself trying to use on my Gnome 2 side.

[cbowman57]

@Copper Bezel

I do the same, when I began using the shell it was just a matter of days before I was instinctively trying to control the DE as I would with G-S. It just felt natural and everything flows in a way that suits the way I use my computer.

This is an exact snapshot of my auto-mount configuration, it is identical in both my Arch & Ubuntu setups. It does leave the notification icon in the message tray but does not pop up and prompt me to eject (can't remember the other options). If it's not in dconf then I may have changed a setting in nautilus that affects the behavior, if that is part of the solution I guess we'll hunt that down too. :)

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[markbl]

That's the indicator tray. The system tray and the indicator tray are separate in Gnome Shell, just as they were separate applets in Gnome 2 before Ubuntu merged them. It was stupid and inconsistent in Gnome 2, but I like it in Gnome 3 myself, because the separations are saner and it keeps the real system tray clean for always-present, hardware-related items.

OK, makes sense, except for the fact that the "indicator" tray is normally hidden so the user can't see the indications!? I have long used gm-notify to show a colored icon for when I have unread gmail. Unlike most (all?) of the other gmail notifiers it works instantly using google sync. Using gnome-shell, how can I get that, or another notifier, to give me an obvious indication on my screen that I have unread gmail pending, e.g. as I return to my pc from elsewhere? From what you say, it seems gm-notify should be in the system tray rather than the indicator tray?



And changing the automount behavior in dconf doesn't seem to fix the popup problem, which is all the more irritating because removable drives are so easy to unmount from the overview.

Doesn't stop it happening for me either.

[cbowman57]

I like mailnag over gm-notify but YMMV.

Now you guys have me wondering what else I have changed on both systems that makes it work for me (auto-mount). Whatever it is I've accidentally managed to do it on 2 regularly used distros. ???

[Copper Bezel]

Actually, it's working for me, now. For me at least, it was the third option there, "autorun-never", that needs to be ticked. Thanks for the screenshot!


OK, makes sense, except for the fact that the "indicator" tray is normally hidden so the user can't see the indications!? I have long used gm-notify to show a colored icon for when I have unread gmail. Unlike most (all?) of the other gmail notifiers it works instantly using google sync. Using gnome-shell, how can I get that, or another notifier, to give me an obvious indication on my screen that I have unread gmail pending, e.g. as I return to my pc from elsewhere? From what you say, it seems gm-notify should be in the system tray rather than the indicator tray?
If I'm understanding the Gnome Shell way of doing things, a version of gm-notify built against Gnome Shell would probably stay hidden in the indicator area and pop up a little notification at the bottom if you received a message. I haven't played with the chat integration (because I simply don't use IM, even if I'd been using Shell for more than three days) but I understand it's quite smooth - cbowman57 or someone else might know more about how that method works.


I do the same, when I began using the shell it was just a matter of days before I was instinctively trying to control the DE as I would with G-S. It just felt natural and everything flows in a way that suits the way I use my computer.
Yeah, it really does get under your skin pretty damned fast. I really didn't expect that, but it's an extremely well-thought-out design.

I'm still having a lot of little stability and performance problems with Mutter, and I'm starting to think that it's just a poor fit for my hardware. But damn does my muscle memory miss Shell when I go back to my 11.04 install.

And I'm really beginning to wonder how difficult that keyboard navigation extension would be for a novice to tackle. = )

[cbowman57]

Glad it was something simple.

If I understand some of this discussion correctly you guys need an extension to put indicators in your top panel? There are a couple available but I can't find a link for the one I prefer, it's simply called icontopbar & doesn't contain a valid url for the creator (might be from the frippery collection). I'll attach the one I use, but here's a link to another one that works, it just didn't suit me. https://github.com/rcmorano/gnome-shell-gnome2-notifications

[false truths]

gnome-shell-extensions-notification-tray-on-the-side

Because I liked having Docky on the bottom, and I can't use Gnome Shell without Docky..

[markbl]

If I'm understanding the Gnome Shell way of doing things, a version of gm-notify built against Gnome Shell would probably stay hidden in the indicator area and pop up a little notification at the bottom if you received a message.
Yes, gm-notify does pop up messages in the gnome-shell message area. But they are only transient. For mail I (and surely most people?) want a static "unread mail" indicator which I will notice immediately if I return to my pc after being absent.

PS: It is my understanding that mailnag only checks mail periodically (using pop or imap) which is primitive compared to the instant notification gm-notify gives.

[markbl]

I'll attach the one I use, but here's a link to another one that works, it just didn't suit me. https://github.com/rcmorano/gnome-shell-gnome2-notifications
I'll use "official" shell notifications, e.g. from the webupd8 ppa, but I baulk at installing "random" source. I used to do that kind of stuff when I was younger but not anymore. I want a reliable desktop.

[cbowman57]

- deleted

[Copper Bezel]

I have to admit, I'd pretty much install extensions I got from a shabbily-dressed man in the alleyway who claimed to be a well-respected taxi driver, but then, I'm still calling the 11.10 install my "test" installation, even if I'm turning out to be actually using it. (It's so ... damned ... productive!)

I hadn't noticed it until now, but one neat feature for tablets is that flicking the background in the Overview switches workspaces. It also looks really damned cool.

Another extension occurred to me -

gnome-shell-extensions-hey-i-needed-that

I'm finding it irritating that the shell is automatically invoked when a workspace other than the last becomes empty. It's particularly annoying with Synapse, since launching anything from Synapse on an empty workspace means that the shell is invoked while the application loads, or dialogue windows called by indicators, but it's also just inconsistent, because it doesn't happen when the last workspace is empty.

[sanderd17]

About that touch-scrolling, you can also grab the "applications" overview and drag it around. But if you try it, you notice that the dragging is paginated (you can't stop dragging between two pages of applications). This is while the interface lets you assume it's a continuous thing (with a scrollbar, icons split in half if they go over the border ...).

According to me, that's a design problem. If it is paginated, it should show one nice aligned grid with icons per page, and have pagination dots instead of a scrollbar. If it is continuous, you should be able to drag-scroll to a where you want (and not be bounded by the page boundaries).

[Copper Bezel]

Good observation - you're right, and that's highly strange. The pages should be defined by an integer multiple of the icon row height (ideally, you know, one) instead of an arbitrary pixel size. I've never used that view, because it's pointless to begin with (an alphabetical list of all installed apps? Really?) but playing with it, it's already frustrating me. (Try to scroll to a specific row and watch it disappear off the bottom when I let go, etc.)

[cbowman57]

Thought you guys might be interested in this, the git for what will become the "official" Linux Mint extensions. I've tried the menu & bottom panel extension, the menu is especially impressive. The window list extension is running without error but frankly I'm not sure what it is supposed to do. (Figured it out, shows the running apps in the bottom panel)

If you download the tarball it includes every extension, drill down through the /usr directory.

Linux Mint extensions git (https://github.com/linuxmint/MGSE)

If you don't use the bottom panel extension the menu will insert itself upper left.

Let me re-phrase that, if you are fond of the Linux Mint or GnoMenu style menu you will likely be amazed at what this extension is doing.

This is what the menu looks like in the top panel, and one with the window list, bottom panel & mint menu.

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[cbowman57]

Mr. Murphy has reworked the mint menu extensions, IMHO they feel a little smoother & lighter than the one from the git, though I'm sure they aren't quite done yet.

Here's a very short video of the rhsmenu & lhsmenu in action. With the panel favorites incorporated into the menus I was able to remove that clutter from my panel.

>> : Link to youtube video Gnome 3.2 shell twin menus (http://youtu.be/xO1-5AW2nX0?hd=1)

** crossposted from the Customize Gnome shell thread **
(http://youtu.be/xO1-5AW2nX0?hd=1)

[cbowman57]

A panel menu type of extension to enable/disable extensions.

OR

a command line method to launch gnome-tweak-tool in the Extensions tab so it could be incorporated into a launcher.

[cbowman57]

This would make a really cool extension if it were possible.

208925

Link (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/12/unity-shortcut-overlay-coming-to-ubuntu-12-04/)

[t.rei]

I really really miss an extension that puts ONLY THE CHAT NOTIFICATIONS into the top panel.

Not the drives and all that - it makes sense that most of those are not cluttering the top panel. But the amount of chats I miss, due to the invisible notifications at the bottom... GAH. I do not have my eyes glued to the screen at all times, so yes, I miss important chat-messages like "CPO: come over to see me as soon as you get back" ... NOT GOOD.

It would be a HUGE increase in usability, if the little pictures and names and message-count-indicators on each of them would be something visible WITHOUT having to use the mouse to look for them, or - when using the overview/dash - look in the opposite corner of the screen. I just don't see the bottom right corner of the screen when looking for an application to open on far left side. talking about a 24" screen.

I tried to understand it in my free time. ;) No success...