Cheers!
Daniel

Hi again.

Here's a step-by-step to build a multiple-item menu with the Xfce panel's Launcher applet.

(etcetera, etcetera)

Hope that's clear. Post again if you run into problems.

Hi!

Thanks for the information!  I was sort of doing that making of launchers.  But only one per panel because I didn't realize you could have multiple launchers on a panel!  Well, at least I've got that figured out.  Works just as well as a dock thing too!

Here's a step-by-step to build a multiple-item menu with the Xfce panel's Launcher applet.

- Right-click the panel, choose Add New Item..., choose Launcher.
- A new icon button appears on the panel. Right-click it and choose Properties.
- This Properties window is where you'll be doing you're building. You don't have to choose 'OK' and close it before you're done.
- Note the lefthand subwindow. Below it are arrow and +/- buttons. Click + to add a new item (a 'sublauncher'?) to the menu-to-be.
- On the righthand side of Launcher are Name:, Icon:, Command:
- Suppose the first item on the menu will be the Xfce file manager, Thunar. In the Name: field, enter 'Thunar', or 'File manager', or whatever you like.
- Click on the icon next to Icon: This brings up a dialog where you can pick an icon from the zillions in your system's icon files. They're organised in categories, or you can look under 'All'. Find an icon you like for Thunar (or use the Thunar one) and choose OK.
- Back in the main window, you now need to choose the command the launcher will use to summon up the mighty god Thunar. To the right of Command: is a little icon. Click it and a dialog opens which is a file browser defaulting to /usr/bin. Scroll down to the thunar executable, choose it and click 'Open'.
- Add more items to the launcher menu in the same way. To remove an item, select it in the lefthand subwindow and hit the - button below the subwindow. Use the up and down arrows to move an item up and down in the menu. Note that the *bottom* item in the lefthand subwindow list will be the *top* item in the menu.
- Two more things to do before closing the Launcher Properties dialog. First, you need to 'deactivate' the icon button that launches the menu, i.e. the one you see on the panel. This is labelled 'New Item' by default when you add a Launcher to the panel. If you've already used this item to create an app launcher, add a new New Item. Select it in the lefthand subwindow. Make sure you leave Command: blank. Choose a suitable icon (my Apps menu launcher has a 'gears' icon). You don't have to enter a Name:. This menu-launching item should sit at the *top* of the lefthand subwindow. (I know, I know, not logical.)
- When you've created a multiple-item launcher, an arrow will associate with it on the panel. You can choose where this arrow sits using the Arrow: dialog in the Launcher Properties window. I prefer 'Inside Button'.

You can add a script to the menu. Just put the path to the script in the Command: box. To put admin-level items in the menu, prefix the command with gksudo, e.g. gksudo /usr/bin/synaptic to launch Synaptic Package Manager. When you choose this item from your drop-down menu, the sudo authentication box appears, and after entering your admin password you're taken to the app, e.g. Synaptic.

In my previous post I mentioned building one of these multiple-item launcher menus for files. Just enter 'xdg-open /path/to/filename' in the Command: box. You don't have to enter this text each time you create a menu item. Just do one, then select the text you put in the Command: box and copy it. Add a new item, paste that text in its Command: field and edit the right-hand end of the entry, i.e. the filename and path details. xdg-open uses the default app to open the file. If it's an HTML file, it'll launch in your default browser. If it's plain text, in your default text editor. Etc.

Hope that's clear. Post again if you run into problems.

Hi.

I looked at Avant WN, docky and Gnome Do. None were as easy to tweak as the Launcher app in Xfce panel. I have 2 launchers on my panel: one for frequently used apps, one for frequently used files. Click on the launcher icon and I get a menu-list of apps/files. The word used in the menu, the icon and the order of appearance is my choice - it doesn't get much more tweak-friendly than that.:) For the files launcher I use the command 'xdg-open path/to/file', which opens a file with the default application for that file type. It all works with the amazing speed we've got used to with Xfce...

Thanks for that.  I had trouble with Docky, that came with ZevenOS.  It mostly worked, but it wouldn't let some windows take up the bottom third of the screen.

I usually use autohide panels as drop down menus for my frequently used stuff.  One for Internet apps and the other for office apps.

Can you make launchers into drop down menus, then?  I just assumed one launcher is only capable of launching one app.  But if a launcher can launch multiple apps, that is cool indeed!

I looked at Avant WN, docky and Gnome Do. None were as easy to tweak as the Launcher app in Xfce panel. I have 2 launchers on my panel: one for frequently used apps, one for frequently used files. Click on the launcher icon and I get a menu-list of apps/files. The word used in the menu, the icon and the order of appearance is my choice - it doesn't get much more tweak-friendly than that.:) For the files launcher I use the command 'xdg-open path/to/file', which opens a file with the default application for that file type. It all works with the amazing speed we've got used to with Xfce...

I rather like Xfce.  It took a little getting used to at first, but I like it!

I'm using Mint 9 Xfce on my Acer One Aspire netbook, and ZevenOS (Xfce desktop built atop Ubuntu) on my Toshiba Satellite A100 laptop.  The former runs much faster than with the original XP and the latter runs so much faster than the original Vista (yuck!) that it's hard to believe it's the same machine!

I really like using a few panels, on auto hide, as drop-down launchers.  It took me a while to figure out how to configure the launchers on it, but I like the results!

Can anyone tell me what a good Dock launcher would be to use with Xfce?  I'd probably only use that for my desktop (will switch to an Xfce system before too long), if I use it at all.

Thanks!