Xfce Forum

yhu420

Member

Registered: 2020-04-28

Posts: 2

[Feature request] Builtin emoji picker

Hi,

There's one thing I like a lot on my Windows machine, when I press Super + ; , this opens a small minimalist panel to input emojis. I couldn't find any equivalent on linux desktops. I know I can install some ibus extensions and stuff, but this never worked well for me. I would love if this could me an option that could be enabled/disabled out of the box.

That's such a bummer since right now, both Mac & Windows have quick & useful ways of typing emojis, but Linux is still lagging behind.

What do you guys think? Would this be a great addition to the Xfce desktop?

alcornoqui

Member

Registered: 2014-07-28

Posts: 832

Re: [Feature request] Builtin emoji picker

I don't use emojis much, but sure, it'd be nice.

For reference (a lot of info here, mostly Ubuntu/GNOME related): How to insert an emoji into a text in Ubuntu 18.04 and later?

yhu420

Member

Registered: 2020-04-28

Posts: 2

Re: [Feature request] Builtin emoji picker

I know this works out-of the box for GTK apps, because it's a GTK feature. But it wont for anything else, including the most important, web browsers. Good point though.

BenyaminL

Member

Registered: 2019-10-11

Posts: 70

Website

Re: [Feature request] Builtin emoji picker

For now, you can map you application finder to some shortcut key, and spawn they emoji picker there, and just copy the emoji to any application you need. I accidentally tried this and works, as you right click on xfce4-notes, you can insert emoji there, as it's a GTK apps.

Quite a workaround for now.

dchmelik

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2022-04-02

Posts: 29

Website

Re: [Feature request] Builtin emoji picker

I don't see XFCE-notes, and what's the keystroke on standard/classic 101-key keyboards (no Windows keys)?  The keystroke above sounds vague because isn't clear whether it's two or three keys.  The standard notation (since times of old MS-DOS help) to write keys is write them inside angled brackets like <CTRL><ALT><DEL> (restart) or <ALT>fo (alt file open) and not put plus in between because that becomes unclear/confusing.

PaperNick

Member

Registered: 2013-05-26

Posts: 107

Re: [Feature request] Builtin emoji picker

Not a direct solution, but there's built-in support for emoji in ibus. IBus is essentially a different input method system. I think it's used in Gnome by default:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/IBus

If you're on a Ubuntu-based distro, you can install ibus through apt:

sudo apt install ibus

To switch to ibus, head over to Settings Manager → Language Support → Keyboard input and select "IBus" from the dropdown. You can configure keyboard shortcuts and layout through ibus-setup command. It's also in the start menu under the name "IBus Preferences".

Now that you've setup ibus, here's how you can enter emoji in every text field:
1. Focus on the text field
2. Press <Ctrl><dot> or <Ctrl><semicolon>
3. You will see an underlined letter "e"
4. In this state, type "smile" or ":)" and press <Space>
5. To apply the selected emoji, press Enter

To trigger a category menu with emoji:
1. Press <Ctrl><dot> or <Ctrl><semicolon>
2. Press <Space>

To trigger search based on the typed text:
1. Press <Ctrl><dot> or <Ctrl><semicolon>
2. Type "beer"
3. Press <Space> twice
4. To apply the selected emoji, press Enter

Last edited by PaperNick (2022-12-23 09:47:11)