Xfce Forum

Hypersphere

Member

Registered: 2014-02-03

Posts: 7

Primary Monitor on Right: How to Have Desktop Icons on Right?

In my multiple monitor setup, I have my primary monitor on the far right. I am able to keep the panel on the primary (right-hand) monitor. However, the desktop icons are on the far left-hand monitor.

Using KDE, I have been able to get the configuration I want, with the primary monitor on the right, and the desktop icons on the primary monitor. In fact, KDE enables me to put the desktop icons anywhere on the primary monitor without losing the configuration. However, for other reasons, I prefer to use Xfce.

Is there anyway to do this? I have tried the Nvidia Xserver settings, the Xfce settings, and arandr, all to no avail.

Thanks.

GuzziGuy

Member

Registered: 2013-04-27

Posts: 2

Re: Primary Monitor on Right: How to Have Desktop Icons on Right?

A me-too on this - I'm having the same issue. If you figured it out, let me know

Hypersphere

Member

Registered: 2014-02-03

Posts: 7

Re: Primary Monitor on Right: How to Have Desktop Icons on Right?

I think that in order to have desktop icons stay put on the right-hand primary monitor in Xfce, it would be necessary for Xfce to have an option to manage the desktop in "Folder View" mode, akin to this option in KDE.

The nearest thing to this that is available in Xfce is "screenlets", which has a folderview screenlet that you can keep on the desktop as a desktop widget. You can select the Desktop folder to be displayed in the screenlet. The desktop icons will still be on the left monitor, but at least you can see and access them on the right-hand monitor. This is especially important in my setup, because I have 3 computers and 3 monitors, with each computer running a different OS (Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows). I have the option of a single computer displaying to 1, 2, or all 3 monitors. Therefore, at times one or more monitors will be displaying a different OS from linux on the right, thus covering up the linux output on the center or left-most monitor. With a Desktop folderview screenlet, I can keep track of desktop icons on the far-left monitor even if its linux output is being covered by output from another computer.

Unfortunately, I have found the screenlets application to be buggy and apparently not well maintained. It is also a rather poor substitute for the FolderView desktop option in KDE.

I hope that the Xfce development team will introduce a KDE-like FolderView desktop option in a future release. Other than the lack of this feature, I really enjoy using Xfce, especially with the aesthetically pleasing settings used by Linux Mint.