Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

Danielsan · 2020-12-07 21:39:10

Hi guys,

I found this amazing dock for XFCE4 this morning: https://github.com/nsz32/docklike-plugin

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This is something that I have been waiting for a very long time, and I am very happy, hope it will be included in the official goodies.
For me what is just lacking is a proper expose function like skyppi-xd (which is quite buggy too), the XFCE activity plugin is uncomfortable exactly as the one of Gnome3.

Anyway to compile it on Debian/Devuan these are the recommended packages:

libxfce4panel-2.0-dev xfce4-dev-tools libxfce4ui-2-dev libwnck-3-dev

I haven't tested it on my personal machine, so I couldn't test the behavior on a multi-monitor setup...

Last edited by Danielsan (2020-12-10 05:24:12)

Danielsan · 2020-12-10 05:14:47

Am I the only one super excited for this dock? ?

Last edited by Danielsan (2020-12-10 05:15:24)

Jerry3904 · 2020-12-10 09:57:00

It looks like it deserves a careful look, especially since some of the Xfce Devs have been involved. Thanks for the notice.

peter.48 · 2020-12-10 16:39:58

Danielsan wrote:

Am I the only one super excited for this dock? ?

I honestly don't know...
As I am not one of those who opens 40 tabs in the browser, 10 programs, 10 terminal instances at the same time and 30 Thunar windows, I don't see anything that would be useful in my daily life with the computer...
Honestly every time I read or hear about docks, i don't understand it too much, it seems to me that for rational use of pc, XFCE panels are absolutely sufficient (the configuration possibilities are enormous compared to most other DEs). wink

Danielsan · 2020-12-10 20:03:44

Jerry3904 wrote:

It looks like it deserves a careful look, especially since some of the Xfce Devs have been involved. Thanks for the notice.

I would say that is already my "must have", and also in my wish list almost forever and I am just waiting for a better alternative for the activity-like plugin (skippy is fine but too buggy and pretty abandoned) and for someone else who is willing to fix the windowck plugin...

Danielsan · 2020-12-10 20:12:38

peter.48 wrote:

I honestly don't know...
As I am not one of those who opens 40 tabs in the browser, 10 programs, 10 terminal instances at the same time and 30 Thunar windows, I don't see anything that would be useful in my daily life with the computer...
Honestly every time I read or hear about docks, i don't understand it too much, it seems to me that for rational use of pc, XFCE panels are absolutely sufficient (the configuration possibilities are enormous compared to most other DEs).

I am exactly the one you described... But essentially a real integrated dock, like this one, simply merges two functions in one in a more rational and intuitive way. Now I don't need to have launchers and the list windows panel plugin to have quick access to some application and managing the others already opened. All those functions are managed by the dock which makes the launchers pretty unnecessary, since they just launch applications and anything else, now when you launch a pinned application it acts as task on your bar and when you close it acts as launcher, no duplicate icons and better space organization. It is really a great addition IMHO!

Last edited by Danielsan (2020-12-10 20:14:06)

peter.48 · 2020-12-10 23:56:46

In Spain it is said that "there is nothing written about taste".
Each one as he likes and that's it, it is already luck if we can do or have things to our liking. wink

Last edited by peter.48 (2020-12-11 01:04:42)

Danielsan · 2020-12-11 14:47:36

And how would you translate this in Spanish? big_smile

"there is nothing written about taste"

However my points are pretty technical and regard UI/UX which is not exactly a question a tastes... wink

alcornoqui · 2020-12-12 13:11:52

Danielsan wrote:

And how would you translate this in Spanish?
"there is nothing written about taste"

¡Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito! -> https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refrane … 9547&Lng=0

De gustibus non est disputandum -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustib … isputandum

wink

Laurentius · 2020-12-21 14:22:18

Danielsan wrote:

Am I the only one super excited for this dock? ?

I would be happy to have this plugin, if it works, too

Mark7 · 2020-12-26 21:30:07

I'm a big fan big_smile

AlFredo · 2021-08-06 18:08:54

I'm a big fan too!! wink

Using it for a while on Manjaro now - works perfectly!

Would be great if it would find its way into the official goodies! Have to agree with Danielsan, it combines the window buttons (with no labels) and the launcher plugin. Docklike saves screen space and you won't have two of the same icons in you panel (if you go with the hide label approach).

Thumbs up for Docklike.

PS: maybe removing the cairo dependencies could make it bit more XFCE-ish smile

Last edited by AlFredo (2021-09-08 11:11:18)

ToZ · 2021-08-06 19:00:13

The docklike plugin is now an official component of Xfce. See https://gitlab.xfce.org/panel-plugins/x … ike-plugin. It was recently merged in.

makem · 2021-08-07 14:46:30

Having installed this on Xubuntu 20.04 and rebooted, please tell a noob how to see it, start it? My panel has not changed, do I need to do something every time I start?

Edit: I found a page which helps:

https://www.linuxuprising.com/2020/12/d … -only.html

But then I have the dock added into and not replacing my current panel.

Last edited by makem (2021-08-07 17:23:49)

ToZ · 2021-08-07 20:56:24

makem wrote:

But then I have the dock added into and not replacing my current panel.

What do you mean? This is a plugin that gets added to the panel. It doesn't replace the panel. You can create a new panel or remove the plugins from the existing panel that you don't want.

makem · 2021-08-08 12:21:11

ToZ wrote:

makem wrote:
But then I have the dock added into and not replacing my current panel.
What do you mean? This is a plugin that gets added to the panel. It doesn't replace the panel. You can create a new panel or remove the plugins from the existing panel that you don't want.

Yes, I saw the four icons and at the time I had several important web tabs and windows open. I noticed that the web page icon only appeared to know about one so I left well alone for a few days.

However, what I did see when looking into this was that there were just the 4 icons in the panel and I wondered if they triggered each separate web page in the panel as previously and whether tabs were remembered within each page.

I appreciate that I can remove all other plug-ins but will have to wait until I am able to experiment.

I just hoped someone may explain a little more how it all works rather than heading in blind as I am sure it is a brilliant idea.

Jerry3904 · 2021-08-09 10:02:47

It is installed by default in MX-21, whose first beta is currently being tested, so we wrote a somewhat detailed Wiki entry:

https://mxlinux.org/wiki/docklike-taskbar/

Not sure if that would help.

AlFredo · 2021-09-08 11:22:14

Great to see it's implemented! Finally all native DE launchers are on the same page.

@makem, see how to set up an xfce panel in general: e.g. https://www.journeybytes.com/use-xfce-panel-as-dock/ ... and many more if you google "how to set up an xfce panel"

Last edited by AlFredo (2021-09-08 11:22:47)

Danielsan · 2021-10-05 14:05:46

The good thing is that now it is also officially part of the project:

https://docs.xfce.org/panel-plugins/xfc … ugin/start
https://gitlab.xfce.org/panel-plugins/x … ike-plugin

Nice!!! ???

Tio · 2021-10-05 18:57:06

We are also switching our custom linux distro TROMjaro (tromajro.com) from Gnome to XFCE. Very close to a Beta. And we too use this docklike plugin. I find it a lot more intuitive for most users. What if XFCE implements it as default in their environment? smile

Also, it needs to be better integrated with XFCE overall, like you should be able to drag and drop new apps to it, or right click them and add to docklike.

A huge thank you to you guys for making this!

openChameleon82 · 2025-04-20 13:21:55

It's cool, I love it BUT it still doesn't provide a very simple function: dragging/reordering the added apps on the dock with the left mouse button (hold). It has so many options and functions but the devs still lost themselves in a glass of water with usability.

eriefisher · 2025-04-20 19:41:41

I have been using Plank for sometime now. Works well(under X only) and highly configurable.

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#1 2020-12-07 21:39:10

Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#2 2020-12-10 05:14:47

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#3 2020-12-10 09:57:00

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#4 2020-12-10 16:39:58

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#5 2020-12-10 20:03:44

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#6 2020-12-10 20:12:38

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#7 2020-12-10 23:56:46

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#8 2020-12-11 14:47:36

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#9 2020-12-12 13:11:52

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#10 2020-12-21 14:22:18

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#11 2020-12-26 21:30:07

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#12 2021-08-06 18:08:54

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#13 2021-08-06 19:00:13

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#14 2021-08-07 14:46:30

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#15 2021-08-07 20:56:24

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#16 2021-08-08 12:21:11

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#17 2021-08-09 10:02:47

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#18 2021-09-08 11:22:14

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#19 2021-10-05 14:05:46

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#20 2021-10-05 18:57:06

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#21 2025-04-20 13:21:55

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

#22 2025-04-20 19:41:41

Re: Docklike finally a dock made for XFCE4

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