How to modify KDE4 menu, main panel, and desktop?

[aguila]

Noone mentioned (5) yet...

a) right-click on the desktop or the cashew and unlock widgets; a cashew will appear at the right hand-side of the panel

b) right-click on the PC icon and click settings/options

c) click on the icon and chose a different one

btw: clicking on the cashew on the right of the panel gives you further options to change the appearance of the panel, including autohide options.

[Bald Brick]

3) How to manually hide and un-hide the main panel?

Actually you can't in KDE4.

Linuzoid told you how to make it auto-hide, but that's not the same thing as hiding it manually in KDE3 (where you on top of that also could set it to hide automatically as in KDE4).

 

[aguila]

What you can do is to choose "Windows can cover panel" which will make the panel always visible on the desktop, but application windows can cover it. It will come to the foreground though when you hit the edge, just as a panel on autohide.

This way you will have it visible when windows are not maximized but out of the way when they are.

Found this quite usable for a second panel where I have my menu button and app starters.

[sir_herrbatka]

http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/?content=149654

what about this? :-)

[aguila]

Nice find, should do exactly what the OP is looking for.

[Bald Brick]

http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/?content=149654

what about this? :-)

I just built it and it seems to work perfectly! I think joseppi should make a package request.

(If he doesn't I will. Edit: I already did.)

Good find, sir_herrbatka.  

[Archie]

Noone mentioned (5) yet...

a) right-click on the desktop or the cashew and unlock widgets; a cashew will appear at the right hand-side of the panel

b) right-click on the PC icon and click settings/options

c) click on the icon and chose a different one

btw: clicking on the cashew on the right of the panel gives you further options to change the appearance of the panel, including autohide options.

Fancy that ... calling me "Noone"

Reply #4 at the bottom ...

Signed Noone.

[aguila]

Ooops 

Sorry, Mr. Noone 

[Archie]

No problem. Twice mentioned = highlighted.

[joseppi]

Thanks very much to all of you good friends for your very helpful responses to my questions.  Sorry I forgot about the forum rule to ask only one question per post. I will try to remember.

From this topic #106694 I copied the contents (560 lines and 2900 words) and distilled it down to 35 lines and 474 words to keep as a reference, and perhaps to be helpful to others, too. So, I put it on a web page here:

http://www.ziplinux.com/pcl/106694.htm

After trying dozens of different Linux versions, PCLinux 2009 Mini-Me with KDE-3.5 has been the best one I have used. But since it is no longer supported, I'd like to try to devise something similar. A couple years ago, I registered the domain name ziplinux.com in the hope of eventually trying to make a distro by that name that would be small, stable, glitch-free, fast, and extremely easy to install, boot, and run with a single click.

Please share your thoughts here: http://www.ziplinux.com/