The KNewsTicker Handbook
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# Chapter 3. Configuring KNewsTicker

As KNewsTicker aims for tight system integration, there is more than one way to adjust the way it works:

Via KDE Control Center

  Start KDE Control Center by clicking on the button in the KDE panel or choose the corresponding entry in the K menu. Then browse to the KNewsTicker module in the tree view at the left by choosing News Ticker in the Personalization submenu.

With the right mouse button

  You can open the context menu for KNewsTicker by clicking on it with the right mouse button, or clicking on the button with the arrow on it and choose the the entry labelled Preferences in the menu.

# 3.1. General Configuration

## 3.1.1. Global Options

No matter what way you've chosen to access the configuration dialog, you will be presented the first tab of the preferences dialog, labelled General. Here you can define how fast the text should be scrolled around, what it should look like as well as other options for the applet. Here is a brief info on what each of the switches and buttons on this tab does:

News query interval

  Here you can define in what intervals KNewsTicker queries the configured news sources for new headlines. This depends generally on how fast you'd like to hear about news and how much load you want to put on the network:

  - A lower value (lower than 15 minutes) enables you to be notified about news very quickly if you want or need to. Please note, that it increases the network traffic significantly, though. Therefore, such low values shouldn't be used if you query popular news sites (such as Slashdot or Freshmeat) as they have generally already enough work with processing the incoming queries.

  - A higher value (higher than 45 minutes) won't make you hear about news that quick. For non-timecritical applications, it should be suitable, though. The positive aspect of longer intervals is that only very little load is put on the network; this saves resources and nerves, for you and the system administrators of the news sites you query.

  | The default value (30 minutes) should be appropriate and reasonable in most cases.

Use custom names for news sites

  Check this box to make the news ticker use the names you specified in the list of news sources (available on the tab labelled News sources) instead of the ones the news sites themselves report. This can be handy for news sites which report a very long or useless name.

Endless scrolling

  Check this box to avoid that ugly break and the end of the scrolling (when all the headlines have appeared once). If endless scrolling is enabled and the last headline has been shown, KNewsTicker will attach the first headline to the end of the scrolling text.

Scroll the most recent headlines only

  Check this button to show just the most recent headline for each news site, instead of showing every headline available from every news site.

## 3.1.2. Visual Options

Scrolling speed

  This slider lets you define how fast the scrolltext should be scrolling. If you have rather little space on your taskbar (and therefore a rather small news ticker), you should probably set this to a lower value so that you have a chance to read the headlines. For wider news tickers (and better eyes), a faster text is probably appropriate so that you have to wait for the next headline only as little as possible.

  | This value defines, after which period of time the text shall be scrolled a little bit further, e.g. this value is antiproportional. This means that lower values result in a faster scrolling text.

Direction of scrolling

  These options allow you to define in what direction the text should be scrolled, e.g. to the left or to the right, upwards or downwards.

Scrolltext font

  Click on the button at the right labelled "Choose font..." to choose the font which will be used for the scrolling text.

  | Certain fonts are harder to read that others, especially when they're used for a scrolltext, so you should probably choose a font which can even easily be read if it's moving.

Foreground color

  Click this button open a convenient color-selection dialog which lets you choose the color which will be used for the foreground of the scrolling text (e.g. the color of the text itself).

Background color

  Click this button to open a convenient color-selection dialog which lets you choose the color which will be used for the background of the scrolling text.

Highlighted color

  Click this button to open a convenient color-selection dialog which lets you choose the color which will be used for the color of the headlines when they are highlighted (when you move the mouse over them).

Underline highlighted headline

  Check this box to have the currently highlighted headline (e.g. the headline which is currently under the mouse cursor) underlined.

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Starting KNewsTicker |  | Configuration Of The News Sources