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<H3><A NAME="s3">3. Configuring the Panel</A></H3>

<P> 
<EM>kpanel</EM> is a highly flexible and configurable part of the KDE user 
interface. This section contains directions to help you customize it to 
your taste. For information about 
<A HREF="index-4.html#kpanelrc">kpanelrc</A>,
the kpanel configuration file, see the 
<A HREF="index-4.html#advanced">Developers' Guide</A> section.
<P>Instructions are included below to configure
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="#confPanelBehavior">Panel Position/Behavior</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="#confPanelIcons">Panel Buttons</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="#confVDesk">Virtual Desktops</A></LI>
<LI>
<A HREF="#confMenu">Application Starter</A></LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H3><A NAME="confPanelBehavior"></A> <A NAME="ss3.1">3.1 Panel Position/Behavior</A>
</H3>

<P>To configure Panel and Toolbar position and behavior, right-click the panel on
an area  with no icons, and choose Configure from the menu. Click the Help
button for specific information on the settings.
<P>
<H3><A NAME="confPanelIcons"></A> <A NAME="ss3.2">3.2 Panel Buttons</A>
</H3>

<P>You can move, delete, or change the properties of a panel button 
by right-clicking the button's icon 
and choosing the desired option from the context menu that appears.
<P>To add a button to the panel, use one of the following three methods:
<UL>
<LI>To place a window list button on the panel, choose 
<B>application starter > Panel > Add Windowlist</B>.
<P>
</LI>
<LI>To place an application from the Application Starter on 
the panel, choose <B>application starter > Panel > Add Application</B>, 
then continue through the menu to select the desired application.
You can also place a submenu from the Application Starter directly on
the panel using the same procedure; when you drill down to the desired
submenu, select the first choice in the submenu, which is the submenu 
itself. For example, to place the Settings submenu on the panel,
choose <B>application starter > Panel > Add Application > System >
System</B>.
<P>
</LI>
<LI>Drag an icon from a <EM>kfm</EM> window or the desktop to the panel. 
Only .kdelnk files and folders containing .kdelnk files can be placed on 
the panel.  Once you've placed an icon on the panel, 
right-click the icon and choose Properties from the menu to set it up.
<B>Note:</B> when you place an icon on the panel this way, be careful not to move
or delete the original .kdelnk file or folder, or the panel will not be
able to display the icon.
</LI>
</UL>
<P><B>Tool tips:</B> <EM>kpanel</EM> displays tool tips for buttons on the panel and
entries in the Application Starter. To set the tool tip for a button,
right-click the button and choose Properties from the menu. Click the
Application tab, and put text for the tool tip in the <B>Comment</B> field. You
may need to restart <EM>kpanel</EM> for the changes to take effect (right-click
the panel and choose Restart).
<P>
<P><B>Application Swallowing:</B> On the Execute tab of the 
properties of an Application icon, the "Swallowing on panel" settings 
allow you to have a button on the panel that displays a running 
application instead of a static icon. This is especially useful 
for small notification or 
status applications such as xbiff. Here's how:
<UL>
<LI>Set <B>Execute</B> to the name of the application to execute 
in the panel. Note that this is the Execute setting in the 
"Swallowing on panel" area.</LI>
<LI>Set <B>Window Title</B> to the title of the window opened by 
the application when run normally from the desktop. <EM>kpanel</EM> uses 
the title to identify which window to pull into the panel. 
If the window doesn't have a title bar,
run the application from the desktop and look
at the taskbar to determine what title to use. </LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H3><A NAME="confVDesk"></A> <A NAME="ss3.3">3.3 Virtual Desktops</A>
</H3>

<P>To change the labels on the virtual desktop buttons on the panel or change 
the number of virtual desktops, right-click the panel on an area with 
no icons, and choose Configure from the menu. Click the Desktops tab 
in the KPanel Configuration window and make the desired changes 
(click Help for specific information on the settings).
<P>
<H3><A NAME="confMenu"></A> <A NAME="ss3.4">3.4 Application Starter</A>
</H3>

<P>To customize the user section of the Application Starter, choose 
<B>application starter > Panel > Edit Menus</B>. Follow the instructions 
in the <EM>kmenuedit</EM> utility to set up your choices. 
<P>To make your custom entries the primary entries on the menu, 
right-click the panel on an area with 
no icons, and choose Configure from the menu. Click the Options tab 
and select the "Personal First" choice.
<P>
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