Locked panels

[kputem]

I have been trying XFCE 4.6.2 and it looks great.

However, I want to move everything from the top panel to the bottom panel and then remove the top one.

So I have tried to do it following the instructions given in the PCLOS magazine but I can't get it to work. If I right click on a top panel object, select 'move' and drag it to the bottom one, it doesn't move. Neither can I move objects along a panel to change their position.

Are the panels locked? If so, how do I unlock them, please? There's no lock/unlock option as there is in Gnome.

Many thanks for any help.

Cheers.

Keith

[longtom]

I am probably missing something here (I am good at that).

Why not remove the bottom panel and change the settings so the top panel becomes the bottom panel?

I don't know about any unlocking mechanism for the XFCE panel.

[kputem]

Hello longtom.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have done it your way and it works as far as having just one panel at the bottom. However, the items cannot be moved about on the panel, but are still locked in position. So I can't have it arranged as I would like.

I am wondering why I cannot just move the items as it says I can in the magazine articles.

Thanks again.

Keith

[longtom]

That is strange.  I am not in front of my Phoenix machine now but I am sure my stuff can move - I have moved it before.

[kputem]

Yes, it's very strange! I have not been able to find a posting from anyone else with this problem. so, it must be me doing something wrong - again.   

[longtom]

I right click on the item I want move and select "move" and release the mouse button.  I now move that thing freely in my toolbar.  If it is where it should be I left click et voila.

That's all I know....

[kensum71]

 :(I also can't move my panel items. When I right click one and select move, it gives me a piece of paper to hold and if I move that to another position on the panel, it goes back to the original position. Have tried several ways to move things and all has failed so far. This has been the same with compiz on or off. Will look forward to see if anyone figures out what we are doing wrong.

[greywolf]

I have not looked at this too closely (not my active system), but can confirm movement of icons/applets along xfce panels is not working here either. Latest iso download, fully updated and otherwise working just fine as usual.

When in xfce I use extra panel for app launchers (rather than a dock) and this is a major inconvenience. Also it never was so. Previous versions panel icon movement was as expected. Maybe an update has hidden the config option somewhere new?

Any ideas Sproggy? anyone?

cheers,
greywolf.

[longtom]

Since 4.8 is on the verge of appearing I don't see Sproggy rushing to this.  He is busy packaging I reckon.

[greywolf]

Since 4.8 is on the verge of appearing I don't see Sproggy rushing to this.  He is busy packaging I reckon.

Oh, totally agree!  It's not what I would consider urgent by any means - you can work around it by being careful with the icons (launchers in my case) in terms of what order you add them to the panel in the 1st place. I only really mentioned Sproggy in case he was not aware that it appears to have become an issue of sorts, and maybe he could look into it, particularly with v4.8 around the corner.

It is annoying but may well be an upstream xfce issue - they may well have moved it to an xml config file or something, I have no idea. If it is local though, it would be really nice to see it fixed in 4.8's release.

greywolf.

[kensum71]

Thanks for the reply greywolf; this is not a pressing matter and my very well be an upward concern that the new 4.8 may solve. I too thought in the past the icons could be moved physically but was not sure as I am not by no means an expert with xfce.

[burpnrun]

I know it's late in the game to comment on this thread, but it may be useful for other Xfce users seeking an answer to the panel button rearrangement issue, until the moving problem is fixed.

1.  go to ".config/xfce4/panel" directory in your Home folder.
2.  Open the "panels.xml" file with a text editor, after first taking a backup of it.
3.  Under the <items> section is the list of buttons, as they appear on the panel, left to right; each entry references a file in the ".config/xfce4/panel" directory ... just open it with a text editor if you need further information about the button.
4.  Just delete an line/entry, e.g., <item name="launcher" id="10"/> if you don't want it to appear in the panel.
5.  Move whole lines up/down to get the right sequence of buttons that you like.
6.  If you add a launcher in the panel using the desktop applet and it isn't in the right place, use the above techniques to put it where it suits you.
7.  SAVE the changed "panels.xml" file when you are finished.  I suspect a log out, and then back in again, will reflect the new changes you have made ... can't remember if necessary.

Also, a big +1 to the technique mentioned to consolidate to one panel (from the default 2) mentioned above, e.g., reverse the appearance (top to bottom, bottom to the top area), then right-click, MOVE, items from the old top one (e.g., tasks) from the old top to the new bottom, then delete the unneeded panel.