Working With Menus
This chapter describes how to use menus in the GNOME Desktop.
Introduction to Menus
menus
introduction
You can access all GNOME Desktop functions through menus. The panels
contains menus, so you can use a combination of menus and panels to perform
your tasks. You can perform various actions on your menus, such as copy menu
items to panels.
You can access the following menus in the GNOME Desktop:
Main Menu
: You can access the items in
the
Applications
menu from the
Main Menu
.
You can have many
Main Menu
buttons in your panels. You
can also access the items in the
Actions
menu from the
Main Menu
. The items in the
Actions
menu are
at the top level of the
Main Menu
.
Menu Bar
: You can access the items
in the
Applications
and
Actions
menus
from
Menu Bar
. You can have many
Menu Bar
applets in your panels.
Applications
menu: You can access many
of your applications, commands, and configuration options from the
Applications
menu. You can also access the
GNOME Desktop preference tools from the
Applications
menu.
Actions
menu: You can access commands that
enable you to perform various tasks from the
Actions
menu.
For example, you can start the
Search Tool
application,
or log out of the GNOME Desktop.
You can also right-click on the desktop to open the
Desktop
menu. The
Desktop
menu enables you to perform
desktop-related tasks.
All of these menus provide you with multiple ways to perform your tasks,
and enable you to work in the way that you prefer.
Menu Features
menus
features
Menus can contain the following items:
Submenus
Launchers or menu items
An arrow to the right of an item in a menu indicates that the item is
a submenu. When you point to the submenu, the submenu opens. You can choose
items from the submenu.
When you choose a launcher, the launcher starts an application or runs
a command. You can also right-click on a launcher to open a popup menu. The
popup menu enables you to add the item to a panel, and perform other tasks.
For more information on the popup menu, see the next section.
You can change the theme for your session to change how all your menus
look. To change the theme, use the
Theme
preference
tool.
Menu Item Popup Menu
menus
menu item popup menu
menu item popup menu
description
Items in menus have an associated
popup menu that enables you to perform tasks related to the item. When you
right-click on an item in a menu, the popup menu for the item opens. The popup
menu also contains a submenu that allows you to perform menu-related tasks.
You can use the menu item popup menu to perform the following tasks:
Add menu items as launchers to panels.
Remove items from menus.
Open the
Run Application
dialog with
the menu item command in the dialog.
Add menus to panels. You can add a menu as a menu object or
as a drawer object.
Add new items to menus.
Change the properties of submenus and menu items.
describes menu item popup menus.
launchers
adding to panel
menus
adding to panel
Menu Item Popup Menus
Item
Description
Add this launcher to panel
Adds the launcher to the panel from which you open
the menu.
Remove this item
Removes the launcher from the menu.
Put into run dialog
Displays the
Run Application
dialog with  the command from the
Command
field of the
launcher in  the command field on the
Run Application
dialog.
Properties
Displays a dialog that enables you to edit
the properties of the launcher.
Entire
menu
Add this as drawer to panel
Adds the submenu as a drawer to the panel from which you open the menu.
Entire
menu
Add this as menu to panel
Adds the submenu as a menu object to the panel from which you open the menu.
Entire menu
Add new item to this menu
Enables you to add an item to the submenu.
Entire menu
Properties
Displays a dialog that enables you to edit
the properties of the submenu.
Applications Menu
menus
Applications menu
The
Applications
menu contains a hierarchy
of submenus, from which you can start the standard GNOME applications and
preference tools. The
Applications
menu contains the
Desktop Preferences
menu. You can use
the
Desktop Preferences
menu to start the GNOME Desktop
preference tools. The
Applications
menu also includes the
file manager and the help browser.
The
Applications
menu resides in the following places:
Main Menu
Menu Bar
Start Here
location in the file manager
Actions Menu
menus
Actions menu
The
Actions
menu contains commands that enable you
to perform various tasks in the GNOME Desktop.
describes the commands in the
Actions
menu.
Actions Menu Commands
Menu Item
Function
Run Application
Opens the
Run Application
dialog.
Use the
Run Application
dialog to run commands. For more
information, see
.
Search for Files
Starts the
Search Tool
application. For more information, see the
Search Tool
manual.
Recent Documents
Displays a submenu of the last ten files which
you saved.
Take Screenshot
Takes a screenshot of the screen, and opens the
Save Screenshot
dialog. Use the
Save Screenshot
dialog to save the screenshot.
Lock Screen
Lock Screen locks your screen.
Log Out
username
Logs you out of
the current session.
The
Actions
menu resides in the following
places:
Main Menu
. The items in the
Actions
menu are at the top level of the
Main Menu
.
Menu Bar
.
Using the Run Application Dialog
Run Application dialog, using
The
Run Application
dialog gives you access to the command
line. When you run a command in the
Run Application
dialog,
you cannot receive output from the command.
To run a command from the command line perform the following steps:
Display the
Run Application
dialog. You
can display the
Run Application
dialog in any of the
following ways:
From any panel
Add the
Run
button to a panel. Right-click on
the panel, then choose
Add to Panel
Actions
Run
.
Click on the
Run
button.
From the
Main Menu
Open the
Main Menu
, then choose
Run
Application
.
From the
Menu Bar
Choose
Actions
Run
Application
.
Use shortcut keys
The default shortcut keys to display the
Run Application
dialog are
Alt
F2
. You can change
the shortcut keys that display the
Run Application
dialog
in the
Keyboard Shortcuts
preference tool.
From a menu item popup menu
Right-click on an item in a menu, then choose
Put into run
dialog
from the popup menu. The
Run Application
dialog opens with the command from the menu in the command field.
The
Run Application
dialog is displayed.
Enter the command that you want to run in the blank field.
Alternatively, to choose  a command that you ran previously, click the
down arrow button beside the command field, then choose the command to run.
Alternatively, select the
Show list of known applications
option to display a list of available applications.
You can also use the
Run with file
button to
choose a file to append to the command line. For example, you can enter
emacs
as the command, then choose a file to edit.
Select the
Run in terminal
option to run the application
or command in a terminal window. Choose this option for an application or
command that does not create a window in which to run.
Click on the
Run
button on the
Run Application
dialog.
To Take a Screenshot
screenshots, taking
You can
take a screenshot in any of the following ways:
From any panel
Add the
Screenshot
button to a panel. Right-click
on the panel, then choose
Add to Panel
Actions
Screenshot
. Click on the
Screenshot
button to take
a screenshot of the entire screen. Use the
Save Screenshot
dialog to save the screenshot.
Use shortcut keys
To take a screenshot, use the following shortcut keys:
Default Shortcut Keys
Function
Print Screen
Takes a screenshot of the entire
screen, and displays the
Save Screenshot
dialog. Use
the
Save Screenshot
dialog to save the screenshot.
Alt
Print Screen
Takes a screenshot of the window to which the mouse points, and displays the
Save Screenshot
dialog. Use the
Save Screenshot
dialog to save the screenshot.
You can use the
Keyboard Shortcuts
preference
tool to modify the default shortcut keys.
From
Menu Bar
To take a screenshot of the entire screen, choose
Actions
Take Screenshot
.
A
Save Screenshot
dialog is displayed. To save the screenshot,
select the
Save screenshot to file
option. Enter the
path and filename for the screenshot in the drop-down combination box. Alternatively,
to save the screenshot to another directory, click
Browse
.
When you select a directory, click
OK
.
You can also save the screenshot to the desktop. To save the screenshot
to the desktop, select the
Save screenshot to desktop
option.
You can also save the screenshot to a web page. To save the screenshot
to a web page, select the
Save screenshot to web page
option.
Use a command
You can use the
gnome-panel-screenshot
command to
take a screenshot. The
gnome-panel-screenshot
command takes
a screenshot of the entire screen, and displays the
Save Screenshot
dialog. Use the
Save Screenshot
dialog to
save the screenshot.
You can also use options on the
gnome-panel-screenshot
command as follows:
Option
Function
--window
Takes a screenshot of the window
that has focus, and displays the
Save Screenshot
dialog.
Use the
Save Screenshot
dialog to save the screenshot.
--delay=
seconds
Takes a screenshot after the specified number of seconds, and displays the
Save Screenshot
dialog. Use the
Save Screenshot
dialog to save the screenshot.
--help
Displays the options for the
command.
Main Menu
menus
Main Menu
Main
Menu
Main Menu
introduction
The
Main Menu
provides access to
the
Applications
menu and many of the items in the
Actions
menu. You can access almost all of the standard applications,
commands, and configuration options from the
Main Menu
.
You can add
Main Menu
buttons to your panels. Click
on the
Main Menu
button to open the
Main Menu
.
To Add a Main Menu to a Panel
Main Menu
adding to panel
You can add as many
Main Menu
buttons
as you want to your panels. To add a
Main Menu
to a panel,
right-click on any vacant space on the panel. Choose
Add to Panel
Main Menu
.
Menu Bar
menus
Menu Bar
Menu
Bar
Menu Bar
introduction
Menu Bar applet. Menus: Applications, Actions.
The
Menu Bar
provides access to the
Applications
and
Actions
menus. You can access
almost all of the standard applications, commands, and configuration options
from the
Menu Bar
.
To Add a Menu Bar to a Panel
Menu Bar
adding to panel
You can add as many
Menu Bar
applets as you want to your panels. To add a
Menu Bar
to a panel, right-click on any vacant space on the panel. Choose
Add to Panel
Menu Bar
.
Customizing Your Menus
menus
customizing
You can modify the contents of the following menus:
Applications
menu
Desktop Preferences
menu
You use the following GNOME Desktop components to customize menus:
Menus on panels
Nautilus
file manager
When you use panels to customize your menus, you use the menu item popup
menu. For more information, see
.
When you use the file manager to customize your menus, you must access the
Applications
menu or the
Desktop Preferences
menu from within the file manager. To access the
Applications
menu or the
Desktop Preferences
menu, open a file manager
window.
To access menus
in the file manager, access one of the following URIs in the file manager:
Menu
Enter this URI
Applications
menu
applications:///
Desktop Preferences
menu
preferences:///
For more information on the file manager, see
Nautilus File
Manager
.
To Add a Menu
menus
adding
To add a menu, perform the following steps:
In a file manager window, access the location where you want
to add the menu. For example, if you want to add a menu to the
Applications
menu, enter
applications:///
URI.
Choose
File
Create Folder
. An untitled folder
is added to the menu. The name of the folder is selected.
Type a name for the folder, then press
Return
.
The next time that you log out then log in again, the menu is in the
assigned location.
To Add a Launcher to a Menu
menus
adding launchers to
To add a launcher to a menu, perform the following steps:
Right-click on any item in the menu to which you want to add
the launcher.
Choose
Entire menu
Add new item to this menu
. A
Create Launcher
dialog is displayed.
Enter the properties of the launcher in the
Create
Launcher
dialog. For more information on the elements in the
Create Launcher
dialog, see
Working With Panels
.
Click
OK
.
To Add a Launcher to an Empty Menu
To add a launcher to an empty menu, perform the following steps:
In a file manager window, access the menu where you want to
add the launcher.
Choose
File
Create Launcher
. A
Create
Launcher
dialog is displayed.
Enter the properties of the launcher in the
Create
Launcher
dialog. For more information on the elements in the
Create Launcher
dialog, see
Working With Panels
.
Click
OK
.
To Copy a Launcher to a Menu
menus
copying launchers to
To copy an existing launcher to a menu, perform the following
steps:
In a file manager window, access the location from which you
want to copy the launcher.  For example, if you want to copy a launcher from
the
Applications
menu, enter
applications:///
URI.
Select the launcher that you want to copy, then choose
Edit
Copy File
.
In a file manager  window, access the location to which you
want to copy the launcher.
Choose
Edit
Paste Files
. The launcher is added to the new location.
Alternatively, you can drag the launcher from one location to another.
The next time that you log out then log in again, the launcher is in
the new menu location.
To Edit the Properties of a Menu
menus
editing properties
To edit the properties of a menu, perform the following
steps:
Right-click on any item in the menu that you want to edit.
Choose
Entire menu
Properties
. A
Launcher Properties
dialog is displayed.
Modify the properties of the menu in the
Launcher
Properties
dialog. For more information on the elements in the
Launcher Properties
dialog, see
Working With Panels
.
Click
OK
.
To Edit a Menu Item
menus
editing menu items
To edit a menu item, perform the following steps:
Right-click on the item that you want to edit.
Choose
Properties
. A
Launcher Properties
dialog is displayed.
Modify the properties of the launcher in the
Launcher
Properties
dialog. For more information on the elements in the
Launcher Properties
dialog, see
Working With Panels
.
Click
OK
.
To Delete an Item from a Menu
menus
deleting menu items
To delete an item from a menu, use the menu item popup menu.
To delete an item from a menu, perform the following steps:
Right-click on the item that you want to delete.
Choose
Remove this item
.
