Procédure 2.1. Adding Program Icons to the Desktop¶

To create a link to an application and place it on the desktop or the panel, proceed as follows:

1. Click the Main Menu button and browse to the desired application.

2. Right-click and select Add to Desktop from the context menu that appears. If this menu item is not available, your desktop elements are probably locked. Unlock them first as described in Section 2.4.1, « Locking and Unlocking Desktop Objects ».

3. To change the icon position on the desktop, left-click the icon and drag it to the desired position.

Procédure 2.2. Adding Widgets to the Desktop or to the Panel¶

1. To add widgets to you desktop, right-click an empty patch on your desktop and select Add Widgets.

   To add a widget to the panel, right-click an empty patch on the panel, and select Panel Options+Add Widgets.

   If these menu items are not available, your desktop elements are probably locked. In this case, right-click and select Unlock Widgets first.

2. In the list that appears, select a widget. Use the scrollbar to browse through the available widgets. To limit the selection of widgets, either enter a search term in the input field or choose a Category.

3. To make the selected widget appear on the desktop or in the panel, double-click it and close the dialog box.

4. To remove a widget from your desktop or panel, right-click the widget and select the Remove... entry.

Procédure 2.3. Configuring Desktop Widgets¶

1. Hover your mouse pointer over the widget until a translucent frame appears around the widget, showing a number of symbols:

   If the frame does not appear, your widgets are probably locked. Unlock them first as described in Section 2.4.1, « Locking and Unlocking Desktop Objects ».

2. To change the widget size, left-click the scale symbol in the frame and keep the mouse button pressed while slowly moving your cursor across the desktop.

3. To rotate the widget in any direction, left-click the arrow symbol in the frame and keep the mouse button pressed while moving your cursor in a circle across the desktop. There is a sticky boundary in the horizontal and vertical positions where you can « clamp » the widget, if you like. Of course, you can also arrange it in any tilted position.

4. To change the contents, settings, or properties of a widget, left-click the wrench symbol in the frame. In the configuration dialog box that appears, set the options according to your wishes.

Procédure 2.4. Adding and Removing Panels¶

1. If you want multiple panels on the desktop, right-click an empty area on the desktop, select Add Panel and choose a panel type from the list.

   If these menu items are not available, your desktop objects are probably locked. In this case, right-click and select Unlock Widgets first.

2. Click the cashew icon at the end of the new panel to access the configuration options and customize the panel as described in Procédure 2.5, « Configuring Panels ».

3. To delete a panel, right-click a blank space in the panel you want to delete and select Panel Options+Remove this Panel. openSUSE requires that at least one panel is left on the desktop.

Procédure 2.5. Configuring Panels¶

You can customize all KDE panels according to your preferences. Applications and widgets can be added to the quick launch area or the system tray in the main panel or to additional panels. Panel elements and additional panels can be moved to different places or be completely removed at any time.

1. To access any options for the current panel, right-click an empty patch in the panel (or click the cashew icon at the end of the panel) and select Panel Options+Panel Settings. The panel changes view and shows its configurations options.

   If the menu item and the icon are not available, your desktop objects are probably locked. To unlock, right-click and select Unlock Widgets first.

2. To move panel objects to a different place within the panel, hover the mouse cursor over the respective panel object (for example, program icon, pager, task manager, system tray). The mouse cursor turns into a crosslines-like form. Click the object and move the cursor to the desired position in the panel. Click again to fix it at this place.

3. To enlarge the distance between two widgets, use Add Spacer.... A spacer widget appears on the right side. Drag and drop it to the preferred place.

4. To change the panel width, click and drag the small arrow icons at the left and right end of the settings panel. Use the arrow on the left side to set the panel's position and the arrows at the right side to set the maximum and minimum size.

5. To change the panel height, click the Height button and move the mouse cursor to the desired end location.

6. To place the panel at different sides of the screen use the Screen Edge button. Drag and drop the panel to the preferred location.

7. If you need additional widgets on your panel, add them with the Add Widgets... button as described in Procédure 2.2, « Adding Widgets to the Desktop or to the Panel ».

8. To remove program icons or widgets from the panel, right-click the unwanted object and select the menu item to remove the icon or widget.

   The icons in the system tray usually belong to applications running in the background. Therefore you can only remove those icons if you close those applications (right-click the icon and select Quit).

9. To prevent the panel and widgets from being moved accidentally, use Lock Widgets.

10. For additional configurations options like alignment and functions (like auto hide), click More Settings....

11. If all panel changes are according to your wishes, close the panel settings with the red close button on the right side.

Procédure 2.6. Changing the Desktop Background¶

You can change the desktop background to display images, a slideshow, patterns or colors. It is even possible to use a map of the globe or the weather report as desktop background.

1. Right-click an empty patch of the desktop and select Desktop Settings. A configuration dialog appears.

2. In the View section, choose a type from the Wallpaper drop-down list. The further configuration options depend on the choice of the object to use as background.

3. For example, to use an image wallpaper:

   1. Set Wallpaper to Image.

   2. Define the Positioning of the image.

   3. To use one of the available wallpapers, either choose a wallpaper from the list or click Get New Wallpapers to download additional wallpapers.

   4. To use a custom picture, click Open and select an image file from the file system.

4. Set the other options in the configuration dialog according to your wishes, and click OK to save your changes and leave the configuration dialog.

1. In order to select one or multiple files and folders in Dolphin, move your mouse pointer over the file or folder but do not click. A green cross appears on the upper-left edge. If you click it, the object is selected. To deselect again, click the red minus icon that appears if the object is currently selected.

   Alternatively, press Ctrl and click the objects you want to select or deselect.

2. Right-click and select Copy or Cut from the context menu.

3. Navigate to the destination folder in which to insert the object.

4. To create a new folder at the current location, select File+Create New+Folder or press F10. Enter a folder name in the new window and press Entrée.

5. To insert the object you copied or cut in Étape 2, right-click the destination folder in the main display field and select Paste. The object is copied or moved there.

6. To delete a file or folder, right-click the object in the main display field and select Move to Trash from the context menu. The object is moved to the trash bin. From there, you can restore it if necessary or delete the object permanently.

Procédure 2.9. Changing the View

1. To switch from the bread crumb view to the editable version of the location bar, press F6. Enter a path to a directory by typing it in. After typing an address, press Entrée or click on the background of the bread crumb view.

   To delete the contents of the location bar click the black X symbol on the left. To switch back to bread crumb view, press Ctrl+L.

2. To change the view of the currently displayed folder, either click Icons, Details, or Columns in the toolbar. Dolphin remembers the selected view for each folder. Click Split or press F3 to view the contents of the current folder in two separate columns. Now you can navigate to a different directory in each column and easily drag or drop objects or compare the contents of directories. Press F3 again to leave the split view.

3. To make Dolphin also show hidden files, select View+Show Hidden Files.

4. To view more details about the files (like access permissions or ownership) in the working space, select View+Additional Information and enable the corresponding options.

5. To add further directories to the Places panel, drag a folder from the working space to the Places panel and drop it there. Right-click and use the context menu to hide, edit or remove entries from Places.

6. To add more panels to the main window, select View+Panels and select additional panels such as Folders, or Terminal.

Procédure 2.10. Changing Dolphin's Overall Behavior

If you want to change Dolphin's overall behavior or view, select Settings+Configure Dolphin and explore the options offered in the Dolphin configuration dialog.

1. To use the same view mode for all folders, click General in the left sidebar and activate Use Common View Properties for All Folders. Click View Modes in the left sidebar and adjust the options for the individual view modes. Click Apply to save the changes.

2. If you want Dolphin to show a different directory on start-up, or if you want to permanently use the editable location bar instead of the bread crumb view, click Startup in the left sidebar and change the relevant options.

3. To configure which entries and services to show in the Dolphin context menu, click General. On the Context Menu tab, activate the entries to show. Click Services in the left sidebar and activate or deactivate the respective services to appear in the context menu.

4. Click OK to save the changes and to close the Dolphin configuration dialog.

Procédure 2.11. Searching the Web

1. To start a search on the Web, click the left icon in the search bar (located next to the location bar) to open a list of search engines.

2. Select the desired engine and type your search keywords into the input field.

3. Press Entrée to start the search.

4. To search the current Web page with Firefox or Konqueror, press Ctrl+F to open a find bar at the bottom of the window. Enter your search keyword there and use the buttons beneath the bar to search in different directions or to configure search options such as Match Case.

1. From the menu, select Settings+Configure Kontact....

2. In the left side pane under Mail, click Identities and select the identity that KMail has automatically created for you. Modify it by entering your full name and e-mail address and confirming your changes.

3. Click Accounts in the left side pane under Mail and Add at least one account on the tabs for Receiving and Sending mails. (Optionally, you can configure multiple mail accounts).

   Usually, the following information is required for both incoming and outgoing mail: Account Type, Server Name and Port. Depending on the account, you may also need to set encryption or authentication options. If you are not sure about the settings or items to select, consult your Internet Service Provider or system administrator.

4. Confirm the setup and leave the configuration dialog with OK.

Procédure 2.12. Working with Bookmarks and Annotations

With Okular, you can review a document by highlighting certain text parts or adding annotations or bookmarks that Okular then attaches to the file in the form of metadata. Note that the annotations and markers you add are not stored within the document, so you cannot print them or pass them on to other users.

1. To add a bookmark for a page, click the page in the sidebar or in the main display field and press Ctrl+B. The page is added to the Bookmarks list on the left sidebar. Right-click the bookmark entry to access a context menu for going to this bookmark or renaming, or removing it.

2. To create an annotation for a page, press F6 and select one of the annotation tools from the toolbar that appears. The annotation is added to the list of Reviews and is flagged with the login name of the user who created it. Use the icons at the bottom of the sidebar to group the annotations by page, by author or to show the annotations for the current page only.

3. To open a pop-up note and add text for an annotation (or to remove an annotation), right-click the annotation entry in the Reviews list and select the corresponding menu item. The annotations or markers you added are automatically attached to the file, you do not need to save them.

Procédure 2.13. Searching by Name¶

To use a filename (or a part of it) as the search keyword, proceed as follows:

1. Enter the filename or a part of the filename in the Named input field. Use wild cards, such as an asterisk (*), to indicate missing characters in the filename.

2. Specify the folder in which to search for the file. Either enter a path to the folder in Look in or click Browse to locate the folder.

3. To search subfolders, check Include Subfolders.

4. Click Find to start the search. The results are displayed in the lower part of the dialog. To directly open the result, just click it. Right-click it to choose one of the options from the context menu.

Procédure 2.14. Searching by Contents or Properties¶

For a more detailed search, you can also specify further options, such as a text the file must contain or the creation or modification date of a file. To search for content or properties, proceed as follows:

1. On the Name/Location tab, specify at least the path to search for the file. You can leave Named empty.

2. To search for certain content in a file, click the Contents tab. In Containing Text, enter the word or phrase the file to find must contain. This option does not work for all types of files.

3. To search for properties such as creation or modification date of the file, click the Properties tab and choose the options you want.

4. Click Find to start the search.