156 CHAPTER 10 PERSONALIZING (Cheap web hosting) UBUNTU: GETTING EVERYTHING
156 CHAPTER 10 PERSONALIZING UBUNTU: GETTING EVERYTHING JUST RIGHT Personalizing the Panels Panels are the long strips that appear at the top and bottom of the Ubuntu screen and play host to a choice of applets and/or icons. You can add a new panel by simply right-clicking an existing one and selecting New Panel, or you can remove a panel by right-clicking it and selecting Delete This Panel. Caution If you delete a panel, the arrangement of applets it contains will be lost. Of course, you can always re-create the collection of applets on a different panel. By right-clicking a panel and selecting Properties, you can change its size and dimensions. For example, by unchecking the Expand box, you can make the panel shrink to its smallest possible size. Then, when you add new applets (or, in the case of a panel containing the Window List, a new program is run), the panel will expand as necessary. This can be a neat effect and also creates more desktop space. Selecting the Autohide feature will make the panel slide off the screen when there isn t a mouse over it. Choosing Show Hide Buttons will make small arrows appear on either side of the panel so that you can click to slide it off the side of the screen when it s not in use. Working with Applets Almost everything you see on the desktop is an applet, with the exception of shortcut icons and the panels. A menu is a form of applet, for example, as is the Workspace Switcher. Ubuntu provides many more applets that you can choose to add to the desktop to provide a host of useful or entertaining functionality. To add an applet, right-click the Panel and select Add to Panel. As shown in Figure 10-10, you have a wide choice of applets, divided into categories. Many require configuration when they ve been created, so you may need to right-click them and select Properties. For example, you ll need to set your location in the Weather Report applet s properties so it can provide accurate forecasting. To remove an applet, simply right-click it and select Remove from Panel.