GNOME User's Guide
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# Global Panel Preferences

To start configuring the GNOME panel, select Global Preferences from the Panel submenu of the Main Menu (you can access the main menu by either pressing the foot icon or by right-clicking on the panel).

This will bring the Global Panel Preferences dialog up (this dialog is one of the components of the `GNOME Control Center`). With this dialog you can set properties that will affect all Panels you use now and any panels you add in the future.

Figure 19. The Global Panel Configuration Dialog

The Global Panel Configuration Dialog contains five tabs which help you configure the global properties of the GNOME Panel: `Animation`, `Buttons`, `Panel Objects`, `Menu`, and `Miscellaneous`. Each of these tabs is explained below.

## Animation Tab

This tab controls dynamic motion by the panel ("animation").

- `Enable animations` — This allows the animations configurable on this tab to be visible. The animations must be enabled to use the other features of this tab. The default position is on.

- `Constant speed animations` — By default, the animations start slowly, but then accelerate. If you enable this option, the animations will not use any acceleration.

- `Auto hide animation speed` — If you have the panel hiding automatically this will control how fast it occurs. The slowest setting is 1, the fastest, 100.

- `Explicit hide animation speed` — This controls the hide speed when you press the Panel's Hide Button. The slowest setting is 1, the fastest, 100.

- `Drawer sliding animation speed` — this will control how fast the drawer menu will raise when you press a Drawer button on the Panel. The slowest setting is 1, the fastest, 100.

- `Auto hide delay (ms)` — If you have the Panel set to minimize automatically this will allow you to control how much time passes before it minimizes. The Panel will start the time count once the mouse is no longer over it. It will appear again when the mouse is passed over the portion of the Panel that remains visible. This time is measured in milliseconds.

- `Auto hide minimized size (pixels)` — If you have the Panel hiding automatically this determines the number of pixels that will show while the Panel is minimized. To maximize the panel the pointer must enter the Panel area.

## Buttons Tab

This tab controls the appearance of panel buttons, i.e., launcher buttons, menu buttons, drawer buttons, and special (e.g., Logout and Lock Screen) buttons.

- `Tiles enabled` — This checkbox will enable background tiles for buttons of given type on the Panel.

- `Normal Tile` — This shows the image used for the tile in the up position (inactive, not pressed). To choose another image file, just click on the image, and it will launch the icon browser. Tiles must be enabled to access this option.

- `Clicked Tile` — This shows the image used for the tile in the down position (active, pressed). To choose another image file, just press on the image, and it will launch the icon browser. Tiles must be enabled to access this option.

- `Border width (tile only)` — This determines the width of the border around an icon. For example, if you set border width equal to 5, this will ensure that at least 5 pixels of the tile will be shown on every side of the icon; if necessary, the icon will be cropped. This is very useful if you have an icon that would normally cover up a tile. Tiles must be enabled to access this option.

- `Depth (displacement when pressed)` — This determines the depth an icon will displace when pressed. Tiles must be enabled to access this option.

This tab also contains 3 options which affect all types of buttons simultaneously:

- `Make buttons flush with panel edge` — allows you to align the button with the edge of the panel. If this option is not set then the border width setting is obeyed. By default this option is off.

- `Show button tiles only when cursor is over the button` — if this option is enabled, the tiles will only appear when mouse cursor is over the button.

- `Keep saturation low when cursor is not over the button` — Choosing this option will dim the panel buttons; the button will brighten up when the mouse cursor is over it.

## Panel Objects Tab

This tab controls options related to placement of objects on the panel.

- `Default movement mode` — here you can choose the default mode for moving the objects on the panel. Possible variants are

  - Switched — when the object you are moving hits another object, they switch places

  - Free — when the object you are moving hits another object, it "jumps" over it, so no other object is disturbed — this is a convenient option if you like the current arrangement of objects on your panel and want to lock it

  - Push — the object you are moving pushes all other objects in front of it, like a snow plow.

  You can override the default movement mode by dragging an object while holding Ctrl (for switched movement), Alt (for free movement), or Shift (for push movement) button pressed.

- `Padding` — This changes the amount of space (padding) between objects on the panel. It is measured in pixels.

## Menu Tab

This tab controls the appearance of Panel menus.

- `Use large icons` — This will use large icons (rather than the default size) in menus. Only practical for those with high resolution screens (1280x1024 and higher)

- `Show ... buttons` — This will add small buttons labelled by three dots (...) to all the items of the Main Menu. Clicking on such a button with the left mouse button will bring the pop-up menu for this item, i.e. the same menu which you get by clicking on the menu item wiht the right mouse button.

- `Show popup menus outside of panels` — When this button is on, it allows pop-up menus to appear away from the Panel. When toggled off, the pop-ups will appear over the Panel. This can be useful on smaller screens or cluttered desktops.

- `Keep menus in memory` — This will keep your menus in memory so that they do not rescan for added items. This can increase the speed of GNOME, but may also result in you missing new items added to your menu.

- `Global menu` — This allows you to configure the Global Menu which you get by right-clicking on the panel, or by using the keyboard shortcut. For each of the possible submenus (Programs, Favorites, etc.), you can choose whether it should be included as a part of the Global Menu, as a submenu, or not included at all. A description of these submenus is given in the section called Components of the Main Menu.

## Miscellaneous Tab

This tab controls options for various ...

- `Tooltips enabled` — This option defines whether GNOME should show a tooltip when the pointer pauses on a panel item.

- `Close drawer if a launcher inside it is pressed` — By default drawers will remain open when you select an item within one. This can be annoying as the drawer will remain open until you close it with a mouse click. With this option selected drawers will close automatically when you select any item within one.

- `Raise panels on mouse-over` — If you are using a window manager that is not GNOME compliant it will not understand its relationship with the Panel. This can cause your Panel to be covered by applications. If you enable this feature you can have the Panel automatically raise when your mouse is over it.

- `Keep panel below windows` — If you are using a GNOME compliant window manager the window manager will understand its relationship with the Panel. If you choose this feature the window manager and GNOME will allow applications to appear over the Panel. This can be useful on smaller screens.

- `Confirm removal of panels with a dialog` — If this option is enabled, GNOME will ask for confirmation before removing a panel.

This tab also allows you to configure some global key bindings. You can define key bindings for the Global Menu(ie. Popup Menu) and for the Run Program dialog. (The default key bindings for these are Alt-F1 and Alt-F2 respectively.) To change these key bindings, select a key from the drop-down list or press the Grab key… button and then press the desired key.

| NOTE

If you have problems with using Menu or Windows keys, the most probable explanation is that your X server was incorrectly configured: the keyboard type chosen during installation does not match your actual keyboard. If you are using `XFree86` server, you can fix it by manually editing the configuration file. This file, named `XF86Config`, is usually located in `/etc` or `/etc/X11` directory. Open this file with any text editor (not a word-processor!), find the line containing words `XkbModel` and change it to read

                  XkbModel "pc104"

You need to be root (system administrator) to do this. Now, logout of GNOME and restart the X server by simultaneously pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.

| WARNING
| Making a mistake while editing `XF86Config` file can make you keyboard or screen unusable in X Windows. Therefore, please be careful, make a backup copy of this file and make sure you know how to restore it from backup without using X Windows, i.e., from a terminal. If you don't, then do not edit it at all.

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