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jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

[Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

I'd like to stop the window buttons from blinking when a window updates or otherwise thinks I need to be alerted. I've unticked the box in window manager tweaks "notify of urgency by making a window's decoration blink", but the behavior hasn't changed.

This old post had a thorough discussion but didn't come to a great resolution

https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=7989

Does anyone have any ideas? Is this issue common, or something specific to my install? I'm running a vanilla xfce desktop on gentoo.

Thanks in advance for the help, and I'm happy to provide any additional information.

Last edited by jyoung (2023-09-30 19:19:01)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,034

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

Try adding the following to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

button.suggested-action {}

You can add other tweaks in there to fine-tune. Which GTK (Appearance) theme are you using?

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jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

I'm actually not seeing gtk.css in that folder either. I do see settings.ini. The gtk theme listed in settings.ini is Raleigh.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,034

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

I'm actually not seeing gtk.css in that folder either.

Create the file if it doesn't exist.

The gtk theme listed in settings.ini is Raleigh.

Raleigh is a GTK2 theme. What does the following return:

xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName

...or look at Settings Manager > Appearance > Style.

Also, what version of Xfce are you running?

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jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

Okay, with that command it looks like I'm running Adwaita. The Xfce version is 4.18.

Creating ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css and adding that line didn't seem to have an effect.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,034

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

For Adwaita, try this instead (in ~/.config/gtk-3.0.gtk.css):

button.suggested-action { 
   color: none; 
   outline-color: none; 
   border-color: none; 
   border-bottom-color: none; 
   background-image: none; 
   text-shadow: none; 
   -gtk-icon-shadow: none; 
   box-shadow: none; 
}

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jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

Thanks a ton! I've made this change about a week ago, and I haven't seen this issue since.

jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

I know it's been a while, but I might have spoken too soon. It looks like this fix partly suppresses the behavior. Now, when a window wants to get attention, the window button no longer blinks, but it does appear in the current workspace. It's less noticeable, but still annoying. Does anyone know if there's a way to suppress that behavior also?

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,034

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

Do you mean that you only show windows from the current workspace in the Window Buttons plugin, but when a window from another workspace demands attention, its button still shows up on the plugin?

If so, there is a hidden setting to disable that:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /plugins/plugin-2/include-all-blinking -t bool -s false --create

...make sure to change the number "2" in "plugin-2" to match the actual Window Buttons ID on your system (which you can get by hovering your mouse over the plugin in the panel Items tab.

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jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

Okay! Do you know if this takes effect immediately, or should I log in and log out?

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,034

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

It should take effect immediately (or at least it did for me). If not, just restart the panel:

xfce4-panel -r

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jyoung

Member

Registered: 2017-08-11

Posts: 29

Re: [Solved] how to stop window buttons from blinking

That worked perfectly! Thanks for the help!