2.3. Customizing KDEFedora's KDE defaults are altered from the original upstream developers' versioneven more so than GNOME is modified from its upstream version. For this reason, some die-hard KDE fans don't like working on a Fedora system. Like GNOME, KDE can be tweaked, fiddled, and configured to look and work just the way you want. 2.3.1. How Do I Do That?Most KDE configuration is performed through the KDE Control Center, which is found on the K menu. The Control Center is shown in Figure 2-9.
Figure 2-9. KDE Control CenterAlong the lefthand side of this window, there is a collapsible menu of configuration categories; each category contains several subcategories, which can be revealed or hidden by clicking on the +/- icon in front of the category name. Each subcategory is handled by a separate configuration module. When you click on a configuration category, the configuration module for that category is shown on the righthand side of the window. You can also configure some desktop components by right-clicking on them. For example, right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Configure Desktop will bring up a subset of the Control Center options, which is useful for changing the appearance of the desktop. Unlike GNOME, KDE settings are not usually automatically applied; you must click on the Apply button before your changes take effect.
2.3.1.1. Customizing the desktop appearance using themesTo configure KDE themes, select Appearance & ThemesTheme Manager in the Control Center (Figure 2-9). You can select a theme from among the options listed by clicking on it and then clicking Apply. To install a new theme, click the "Get new themes..." link in the upper-right corner to open the Konqueror web browser with the kde-look home page (http://kde-look.org). Select a theme that is packaged into a .kth file and download it to your system. Click the Install New Theme button within the KDE Control Center and open the downloaded file to install it into the list of available themes.
2.3.1.2. Customizing the panelsKDE panels are configured in much the same way as GNOME panels. You can add a new panel by right-clicking on an existing one and selecting Add New PanelPanel. You can move the new panel to any edge of the screen by dragging it with the mouse.
To delete a panel, right-click on any panel and select Remove Panel, and then select the panel you wish to remove. It is not possible to remove the original panel. If the panel contains anything, a confirmation dialog will appear before the panel is deleted. To add items to a panel, right-click on the panel and select "Add Applet to panel" or "Add Application to panel"the difference being that applets run within the panel, displaying information or performing useful actions, while applications are simply buttons that launch programs. To delete an application from the panel, right-click on it and select "Remove application." To delete an applet, place your mouse cursor over it, which will cause a small bar to appear beside it; right-click on this bar, and select "Remove applet." To move a panel object, middle-click on the object (or on the bar beside the object if it is an applet) and drag it to the desired location. To push other objects around, hold down the Shift key while dragging; to move between bars, left-click and drag. To set a panel's properties, right-click on a panel and select Configure Panel, which displays the window in Figure 2-10. You can also start the KDE Control Center and select DesktopPanels, in which case the window arrangement is modified slightly to fit into the design of the Control Center. Figure 2-10. KDE panel configuration windowIn either case, you will have buttons or tabs for Arrangement, Hiding, Menus, and Appearance. The Arrangement section contains these settings:
The settings affect the panel selected by the "Settings for" drop-down menu. As you adjust the settings, the preview in the Screen section is updated to show your changes. The Hiding section contains three settings:
Like the Arrangement options, the Hiding options are applied to the panel selected with the "Settings for" control. The Appearance section lets you configure icon mouseover effects (which include really big, animated tool tips), tool tips helps, colored or patterned button backgrounds, and a pseudo-transparency effect for panels. 2.3.1.3. Customizing the desktop backgroundThe background image or color is adjusted using the Appearance & ThemesBackground option in the Control Center. You can get to the same configuration module by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Configure Desktop, then selecting the Background button. Figure 2-11 shows the window that appears. Figure 2-11. KDE desktop background configurationYou can individually configure the desktop background for each virtual desktop. This can make it easier to identify which virtual desktop is currently displayed, but it can use a lot of memory and increases the amount of time it takes to switch desktops. The "Settings for Desktop" control selects the desktop to be configured; use All Desktops to use the same image on all of the virtual desktops. In this configuration module, there are two sections:
There are also two special buttons:
2.3.1.4. Customizing the window manager's behaviorTo configure window-manager behavior, right-click on a title bar and select Configure Window Behavior. Figure 2-12 shows the window that appears. You can access the same options through the Control Center using the Appearance & ThemesWindow Decorations, DesktopWindow Behavior, and the DesktopWindow-Specific Settings options. Figure 2-12. KDE window-manager behavior configurationThe KDE window manager, kwin, offers extensive configuration options:
2.3.1.5. Customizing KonquerorSince Konqueror was designed as both a web browser and a file manager, it offers many options for customization. You can access these configuration options by selecting SettingsConfigure Konqueror from within Konqueror, or within the KDE Control Panel by selecting KDE ComponentsFile Manager. The arrangement of the configuration options is slightly different, depending on the route you take get there; Figure 2-13 shows both layouts. Figure 2-13. Konqueror configuration window; Control Panel version (left) and Konqueror Settings version (right)Here are some of the most useful customizations:
2.3.1.6. Customizing keyboard shortcutsKeyboard shortcuts are configured using the Control Center option Regional & AccessibilityKeyboard Shortcuts, shown in Figure 2-14. To add or change a shortcut, double-click on an action in the list of actions under the Shortcut Schemes tab or a command under the Command Shortcuts tab. Enter the new shortcut (such as Ctrl-Shift-H) and click OK, or click on the whisk-like icon beside the Shortcut field to clear it. Figure 2-14. KDE keyboard shortcut configuration2.3.2. How Does It Work?KDE configuration options are stored in text files in ~/.kde/share/config. The format of these files varies slightly, but most take the form of name and value pairs divided into sections denoted by section titles in square brackets: [$Version] update_info=kfmclient_3_2.upd:kfmclient_3_2 [HTML Settings] AutomaticDetectionLanguage=0 [KonqMainWindow Toolbar Speech Toolbar] IconText=IconOnly Index=4 ...(snip)... [SearchBar] Mode=1 Since these are text files, they may be copied from one account to another. 2.3.3. What About...2.3.3.1. ...setting the defaults for new users?The directory /etc/skel acts as a template, or skeleton, for new account creation. Any KDE configuration files placed in /etc/skel/.kde/share/config will get copied to new user accounts automatically. 2.3.4. Where Can I Learn More?
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