KDE4 Multi Desktop Setup

[exwintech]

I've been in KDE4 for several weeks now, and am adjusting to it gradually. Much about it you do get to like, after realising that you shouldn't "touch anything" you don't recognise, before investigating it, as the "involuntary changes" can be somewhat unexpected...

So I think I have just about everything "automatic" safely turned off - and am trying to just run things that I recognise and will actually use - indeed, KDE4.x is very like a Fuji HS10 camera - which comes with all of its "Fuji-isms" turned "On" by default - thus making many think it's a dreadful camera... However - once you find the Fuji-isms and turn them off - don't use "Auto" or "Program" - just the Priorities and Manual - it's a pretty good device.

I've been treating KDE4.x like that - and indeed, as you find the peculiarities and turn them off - it improves greatly! Indeed, I now have it almost at the point of "comfortable usability" - apart from one thing...  In another time and place, I was used to being able to have anything - icons, directories, shortcuts, the "Trashcan", so on - arranged on one Desktop - all in the same positions on the other 5 out of 6 Desktops. I'm probably in "Folder View" as that description turns up in assorted places...

Now - I can do this in KDE4 - but only by going to KDE CC > Virtual Desktops - and unticking the "Different Widgets for each Desktop" button. Apparently, an original in Linux, it doesn't know the difference between directories, icons and shortcuts, and seems to call all "Widgets".

That would be okay - if I hadn't gained a strange habit over many years of former KDEs, of having different Wallpapers - usually done with my own cameras - on each Desktop.

KDE4.x seems to think that Wallpapers are also "Widgets" (perhaps it thinks that "anything" in a Desktop made out of a Folder, is a Widget) - so that, with the "Different Widgets for each Desktop" button at "Off" - any "Image" selected as a Wallpaper for any one Desktop - is arrayed across every Desktop. That is - I can't use a separate Image per Desktop.

As KDe4.x has thousands of "settings" - there must be one I'm missing - that allows the same "directories and icons" positions across Desktops - but also allows a different Wallpaper for each Desktop.

I would be most appreciative to learn of this setting, please....

- History:- Waaay back in Myyy Day - "Bodgies" were the "Bikies" of the time, a rather boisterous lot. Their Ladies were called "Widgies" - and the smaller-dimensioned ones, "Widgettes"... So every time I see the TrendoName "Widget" in KDE4.x - I have visions of a wiry little female Bikie on a Triumph Thunderbird, blasting-off into the sunset... 

Regards, Dave.

[pinoc]

FullMonty has different widgets/launchers and wallpapers on different virtual desktops. If you like that you could have a look into FullMonty light, read the info about it and then go ahead.
-p.

[exwintech]

Pinoc - Thanks, that's a very interesting reply! But that's not quite what I meant by having different wallpapers per Desktop. That is - not some "view" in a completely new install in which each of 6 Desktops is made for specific tasks.

While it might be a long time ago, up until KDE4.x, for about a decade, KDE Desktops were much simpler, and you could position directories and icons, Trash, etc - on any Desktop - and they'd be in those positions on every Desktop. And you could put a different Wallpaper, camera image, so on, on each Desktop.

But all 5-6-7, etc, Desktops were general-purpose - could be used in any order for any tasks. Not "set" as one Desktop for Graphics, one for Internet, so on.

At present, I have my 6-7 "general function" Desktops, with directories and icons remaining positioned across them - what it won't let me do is put a different Wallpaper Image on each Desktop.

As I changed to the current version of PCLOS with KDE4.x when I bought a new PC - to get the current versions of Kim, Gimp, Digikam, RawTherapee, Kdenlive, so on, for my photography and video hobbies - I'll need to stick with KDE4.x - and perhaps just have a plain colour across the Desktops, as otherwise, if I'm careful with it - it is working tolerably well.

The new/current PCLOS O/S itself goes exceeding well with 2.8GHz 6-core CPU and 8GB DDR3 (PAE kernel installed.)

So perhaps I'd better not push my luck too far about the different Wallpapers thing. Possibly this ability might be added back in a later update of KDE4.x.

Regards, Dave.

[7272andy]

Dave,
I do the same thing, but the only way I've found to do it is to have "Different Widgets for each Desktop" ticked. Now all my links to folders, documents VMs etc show on all desktops, while my trashcan (a widget) only shows on desktop 1.



I could change that but it works the way I want it to.

Regards

[exwintech]

7272Andy - Apparently so....  But with "different widgets" per Desktop - do you just have 3-4 directories / icons showing - and separately position them in similar places per Desktop each time you use the computer?

With the "different widgets" ticked - on every Logout or Reboot, everything on every Desktop crowds up against the left edge of the screen - a bit like early versions of Win-95.

So - just have 3-4 items on the Desktop and re-position them across 6-7 Desktops at every Logon or start?

Or - put the needed items all inside 1 directory - and then it doesn't really matter where the darned-thing "defaults" to....?

It's surprising, with the vast ranges of settings KDE4.x has - that you can't get a setup that does as you want it to. The earlier "difference between Windows and Linux" was that Windows told Users what to do - and in Linux, Users told the computer what to do... 

So while it might be most remiss of me - I can't tell this Desktop setup what to do... Never mind - there might sometime be a "User Compatibility Plugin" (one like the excellent G'MIC for Gimp?) - that allows full User-desired functions.

I also wonder if there's away to put ShowPhoto back into the Konqueror bar - so one can sort through hundreds or thousands of downloaded camera images rapidly with Page Up/Down, while seeing them at whatever size the Konky window was adjusted to - and the selected ones could be Drag-Copied from the scrolling pane on the right, to another directory.

This was particularly useful when shooting RAW+JPEG - as the RAWs would be ignored, just the JPEGs shown - so allowing the RAWs worth post-processing to be copied out.

I suppose the old version of Konky with that function wouldn't run in KDE4.x.... Or - would it - maybe with some "tweaking"...?

Yes - I do have Virtual-Box running well - and could run "a previous version" in that - but transferring hundreds / thousands of images just to sort them would be a bit of a pain... 

Regards, Dave.

[uggy]

 exwintech   

With the "different widgets" ticked - on every Logout or Reboot, everything on every Desktop crowds up against the left edge of the screen - a bit like early versions of Win-95.

If you change from "folder View" to "desktop view" you can put whatever you want on each desktop, but you must have the "different widgets for each desktop" ticked

You can have multiple "open" folders on any desktop set to display whatever items you wish.

Logout or reboot wont change your layout.

Hope this helps

[blarney]

Why not use 'Activities' ? You can have different wallpaper/Icons/directory views etc,  and have multiple desktops on each one...

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/the-mystery-of-kde-activities-1.html

Cheers,
Blarney

[7272andy]

I can't answer all the questions Dave but ...

7272Andy - Apparently so....  But with "different widgets" per Desktop - do you just have 3-4 directories / icons showing - and separately position them in similar places per Desktop each time you use the computer?

With the "different widgets" ticked - on every Logout or Reboot, everything on every Desktop crowds up against the left edge of the screen - a bit like early versions of Win-95.

So - just have 3-4 items on the Desktop and re-position them across 6-7 Desktops at every Logon or start?

Or - put the needed items all inside 1 directory - and then it doesn't really matter where the darned-thing "defaults" to....?

All the desktops are set to folder view and are pointed at Home
I don't tend to have much on my desktop (choice rather than necessity), but if I do add something to one desktop it appears on all desktops (unless its a widgit).
Initialy all icons position themselves towards the top left corner (as you noted), but once moved to where I want them they stay put. If I want them in different places on each desktop I can just move them to where I want them, all placements survive logout/login and reboots.

I does sound like a setting issue, I'll create a new user and see what happens there

Regards
Andy

[djohnston]

Why not use 'Activities' ? You can have different wallpaper/Icons/directory views etc,  and have multiple desktops on each one...

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/the-mystery-of-kde-activities-1.html

Cheers,
Blarney

Probably a question of perception, preferences and old habits. I know I was overwhelmed when first presented with a KDE4 desktop. Even today, I carefully consider making any desktop changes, for fear the results won't be what I intended. And, this is in VirtualBox! Just saying, I can understand his point of view.

[Just18]

I logged into root user, set all desktops to Folder View which I do not ordinarily use, increased the number to 4 from default 2, and applied different wallpaper to each, after enabling different widgets on each desktop.

There were three icons on each desktop by default.

I moved those around to various positions on each desktop so they were all different.

I went to the menu and chose to Add to Desktop from the right click option of the Dolphin entry.

The Dolphin icon appeared on the 4th desktop only .....  and on top on the icon I had left in the top left hand corner. I moved it to mid screen.

I then rebooted, had auto login set to my user account, logged out of that and into root account.

All icons were as I had left them.

So it seems to me that the behaviour exwintech wants is on this root account by default.

Now the question is .......  turning off which option caused the problem on his install?

I have no idea 

[blarney]

Why not use 'Activities' ? You can have different wallpaper/Icons/directory views etc,  and have multiple desktops on each one...

Probably a question of perception, preferences and old habits. I know I was overwhelmed when first presented with a KDE4 desktop. Even today, I carefully consider making any desktop changes, for fear the results won't be what I intended. And, this is in VirtualBox! Just saying, I can understand his point of view.

I must admit it took me quite a while to get my head around the idea of kde 'activities', But now, its one of the first things I set up with a new install. I have a main activity where I put general icons and plasma widgets that show temp/cpu/disk info and then a multimedia activity with folder views of all media files.. After that, other hobbies that include Horse racing/Ebook editing/Astronomy each have their own activity and wallpaper/url links. All with plasma widgets aplenty!

I liked KDE 3.5 I absolutely adore KDE 4.6.5!! 

Cheers,
Blarney

[Bald Brick]

I logged into root user, set all desktops to Folder View which I do not ordinarily use, increased the number to 4 from default 2, and applied different wallpaper to each, after enabling different widgets on each desktop.

There were three icons on each desktop by default.

I moved those around to various positions on each desktop so they were all different.

I went to the menu and chose to Add to Desktop from the right click option of the Dolphin entry.

The Dolphin icon appeared on the 4th desktop only .....  and on top on the icon I had left in the top left hand corner. I moved it to mid screen.

I then rebooted, had auto login set to my user account, logged out of that and into root account.

All icons were as I had left them.

So it seems to me that the behaviour exwintech wants is on this root account by default.

Now the question is .......  turning off which option caused the problem on his install?

I have no idea  

I think he's switched to desktop view while still expecting the KDE3-like behaviour of folder view. (He might even prefer one of the other four views on some of his desktops.)


exwintech,

If you set a desktop to folder view it behaves a bit like a KDE3 desktop: it shows you the icons in ~/Desktop or any other folder you tell it to use. If you point all your folder view desktops to the same directory you should see the same icons on all desktops. But you should still be able to control the placement of the icons.

If you switch to desktop view you won't see those icons on the desktop. You can however add a folder view widget to the desktop instead, in which case you can see them within that widget. If you pick a seamless theme for your widgets, the icons within your folder view widget will seem to be on the desktop itself.

But a folder view desktop is like a folder view widget that covers the whole desktop.

Whether you use folder view or desktop view you can add icons to the desktop in other ways, e.g. by dragging them there from a menu, or by right-clicking them in a menu and then clicking "Add to Desktop". These icons will then be created as widgets on the desktop and they will remain there even if you switch from folder view to desktop view. But if you've ticked "Different widgets for each desktop" you will only see them on the desktop where they were created.

Unless you've changed the way either kind of icons look, they may look alike. However, if you don't see them in desktop view they probably aren't widgets. And on mouse-over, with widgets unlocked, the icons that are widgets will (like other widgets) show the same vertical bar that allows you to easily, move, resize, rotate or close them.

But, as mentioned, folder view and desktop view aren't the only views you might want to explore. And as blarney wrote you might want to check out Activities too. (I couldn't survive without them.)


 

[exwintech]

Uggy - I think I'll need to go to a spare logon to try that - I'm scared to try it here - as clicking on 'controls' can so totally scramble things it takes ages to get back to "user-usable".

Blarney - I don't actually want different Desktops and Views all on each Desktop... As Activities seems to do. Just 1 Desktop per Desktop - that behaves as KDE Desktops did for so many years.

7272Andy - Yes, there's likely some special setting I can't find - or something tricky I clicked and now can't find...  The whole KDE4.x is just so multiple-complicated and awkward - it's odd that there isn't a Setting - or a Plugin - that just gives "Plain-Jane" Desktops as in previous versions. Where anything and everything stayed where it was put across all Desktops - and one could run different photos, etc, as wallpapers on each.

Maybe not everyone would want or need such an "optional default" - but it's surprising that it doesn't exist... Or - that such is just so very complicated to set-up in the KDE4.x maze - that it appears to be beyond explanation.

Djohnston - Yes, indeed, and now I seem to have Desktops at least behaving "normally" in regard to the dirs and icons - I dread trying to "change" that to get different wallpapers per Desktop - as any attempts at changes all too often scramble the setup already there, and do unpredictable things... Then, as I don't know what that's done - getting back to "where it was" can take ages.

Just18 - Yes, having to run as Root to get Desktops to 'obey instructions' would feel like running one of the 'Bunnties...!

Bald Brick - You say, "If you set a desktop to folder view it behaves a bit like a KDE3 desktop: it shows you the icons in ~/Desktop or any other folder you tell it to use. If you point all your folder view desktops to the same directory you should see the same icons on all desktops. But you should still be able to control the placement of the icons."

Well, I think I'm doing that now. What you can't have, though, is icons-etc staying in one place on each Desktop - AND put different images-wallpapers per Desktop. It apparently 'thinks' that wallpapers are Widgies or those Spasmy things - and also puts the same image on all Desktops.

According to the Fish-hook thing in the top right corner, it seems to say I'm in Folder View - unless it just says that because some other setting makes it 'think' that.

- Thanks, everyone, for the efforts - but all the different answers seem to indicate that KDE4.x doesn't actually have any "basic" or "previous version default" mode.

Regards, Dave.

[Bald Brick]

all the different answers seem to indicate that KDE4.x doesn't actually have any "basic" or "previous version default" mode.

I think the "basic" mode for desktops is desktop view. But because so many users wanted KDE4 to behave more or less like KDE3, folder view has become an unofficial default. Nevertheless it should be possible to set up KDE4 according to your personal preferences.

[blarney]

Blarney - I don't actually want different Desktops and Views all on each Desktop... As Activities seems to do. Just 1 Desktop per Desktop - that behaves as KDE Desktops did for so many years.

Using activities you can choose folder view for each desktop. This is much the same as a KDE 3 desktop. Icons and wallpaper can be changed at will for each activity and create an environment close to what you prefer. You could if you wish then delete all the extra desktops and just have one per activity.

I prefer to enjoy all the new paradigms. Folder view widgets within a desktop view is fine by me.

cheers,
Blarney