You can change the way your KDE desktop looks and behaves to suit your personal preferences.
Desktop elements can be locked in their current position to prevent them from being moved around on the desktop. As long as the desktop elements are locked you cannot add, move, or remove any objects to or from your desktop.
To lock or unlock the desktop elements, click the desktop toolbox at the upper right corner of the desktop and select or .
 |
Conversely, right-click an empty patch on the desktop and select menu items from the context menu.
In the following, you can find some examples of how to change individual desktops elements.
Procedure 1. Adding Program Icons to the Desktop
To create a link to an application and place it on the desktop or the panel, proceed as follows:
Click the button and browse to the desired application.
Right-click and select from the context menu that appears. If these menu items are not available, your desktop elements are probably locked. Unlock them first as described in Section 4.1, “Locking and Unlocking Desktop Objects”.
To change the icon position on the desktop, left-click the icon and drag it to the desired position.
To delete an icon from your desktop, right-click the program icon and select .
Procedure 2. Adding Widgets to the Desktop
Desktop widgets (or “plasmoids”) are small applications that can be integrated into your desktop or panel. To add widgets to you desktop, proceed as follows:
Right-click an empty patch on your desktop and select .
If these menu items are not available, your desktop elements are probably locked. Unlock them first, as described in Section 4.1, “Locking and Unlocking Desktop Objects”.
In the dialog box that appears, limit the selection of widgets that is shown with the drop-down list at the top.
Select a widget and click . The widget appears on your desktop.
To position the widget on your desktop, left-click the widget and drag it to the desired position.
To remove a widget from your desktop, right-click the widget and select the entry.
Procedure 3. Configuring Widgets
In order to configure widgets, the desktop elements need to be unlocked as described in Section 4.1, “Locking and Unlocking Desktop Objects”. To configure a widget, proceed as follows:
Hover your mouse pointer over the widget until a translucent frame appears around the widget, showing a number of symbols.
If the frame does not appear, your widgets are probably locked. Unlock them first as described in Section 4.1, “Locking and Unlocking Desktop Objects”
To change the widget size, left-click the scale symbol in the frame and keep the mouse button pressed while slowly moving your cursor across the desktop to scale the widget size.
To rotate the widget in any direction, left-click the arrow symbol in the frame and keep the mouse button pressed while moving your cursor in a circle across the desktop. There is a sticky boundary in the horizontal and vertical positions where you can “clamp” the widget, if you like. Of course, you can also arrange it in any tilted position.
To change the contents, settings, or properties of a widget, left-click the wrench symbol in the frame. Depending on the widget, there could be nothing to configure. In the configuration dialog box that appears, set the options according to your wishes.
Use the
Xsymbol in the frame if you want to close the widget.
You can customize the according to your preferences: Applications and widgets can be added to the quick launch area or the system tray in the main panel, or in additional panels. Panel elements and additional panels can be moved to different places or be completely removed at any time.
Click on the desktop toolbox (lower right corner, half-round icon) to open the settings panel. If you cannot find the desktop toolbox, it is probably locked. Right-click on a widget and choose .
To move a panel object to a different place within the panel, hover the mouse over the relevant widget. The mouse cursor turns into a crosslines-like form. When you click on the widget, you can move it to a different position. Click again to fix it at this place.
To change the overall appearance or behavior of the panel, click on the icons at the borders of the settings panel. The icons have the form of arrows and you can change the adjustment of the left and right side. If you click on one of these icons and drag them inside, the width of the panel is immediately changed.
The icons in the settings panel have the following meaning:
To place the panel on different sides of the screen use the button. Drag and drop it to the preferred place.
To change the height of the panel, click the button and move the mouse cursor to the end location.
If you need additional widgets on your panel, place them with the button.
To enlarge the distance between two widgets, use . A spacer widget appears on the right side. Drag and drop it to your preferred place.
To prevent the panel and widgets from being moved accidentally, use .
To adjust additional configurations, use .
Close the settings panel with the red close button on the right side.
Procedure 4. Changing the Desktop Background
You can change the background of your desktop to display colors, patterns, images and more. To select a picture to use as the background, proceed as follows:
Right-click an empty patch of the desktop and select . A configuration dialog appears.
From the label use the drop-down list, choose or as the background.
For an image wallpaper, choose a default wallpaper from the list. Download and install new wallpapers with . To use a custom picture, click the folder button beneath the list and select an image file from the file system. Define the of the image.
To have multiple images appear in mode, define the directory from which to select the pictures and set the time interval for the image change.
If you do not want an image or slide show, you can set a as desktop background.
Set the other options in the configuration dialog according to your wishes, and click to save your changes and leave the configuration dialog.
Apart from changing individual desktop elements, KDE allows you to personalize your desktop to a very high degree. Possibilities to adjust the overall appearance and behavior of your desktop can be found in the configuration dialog.
Start the from the by selecting +.
 |
The and tabs
provide different categories of settings. To get an impression of the
numerous possibilities, just hover the mouse over the category icon to
display a list of its content. Performing tasks in some areas of the
control center requires system administrator (root) permissions.
If you do not like the view style, click on the button to change it to a classical tree view.
Change the settings as desired. No changes take effect until you click . To discard changes in the recent view that you have not yet applied, click . To reset all items in the recent view to the default values, click .
To get back to the start-up view showing all categories again, click . You can also enter a search string at the top of the window (for example, ) to find the category which holds options related to the search string. Each character you enter in the field narrows down the search.