Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Booting newer pups with 2nd trays makes me realize I remove or change a majority of launchers. Notes on what I actually use from traditional:

zip (xarchiver) I run all the time from roxfiler, yet I never launch it to create an archive or manually open one.

connect I use from the 1st tray's notification area.

abiword really needs to be Libre's write or another word processor.

I still use geany, but edit is leafpad.

install I use to get to the ppm in new live boots, and

file's default directory gets changed to /.

I use console from quicklaunch.

@JASpup :-

I have a whole range of different launch methods..!

Obviously, there's the main launcher icons on the desktop. Then, there's all the Menu items.

On top of these, I keep an entire bunch of 'standard' launchers in the QuickLaunch area, to the left of the JWM 'tray', beside the Menu button.....always the same items, from Puppy to Puppy. I also keep a bunch of 'standard' launch icons in the notification area, over to the right, near the clock. Fredx181 & musher0 between them figured out a way to use YAD to place icons here which, when clicked upon, will launch an item.

One of these is what I call my 'Right-click Utilities' icon. When right-clicked, this brings up a sub-menu with a list of launchers to various utilities.

Besides all that, there's also a few icons on the desktop, as I mentioned in the other thread, which, when clicked upon, will launch a ROX window with a few grouped desktop launchers in each one, sym-linked from their respective locations in /usr/share/applications. One of these will launch all my screen-capture apps. Another will launch all my webcam apps. A third keeps all my video-calling apps neat & tidy. And so on...

------------------------------

As if all that wasn't enough, I've built my own alternative to JWMDesk, which I've called 'PuppyDeskApps'....complete with launcher 'splash screen', and credits notice! This uses mainly standard Puppy commands, along with two special 'Reset' buttons, that will reset the PuppyPin desktop icon file and /root/jwmrc 'Menu' file in the rare event of them going AWOL. Hasn't happened since I've had this new HP tower, but it used to be a regular occurrence with certain Pups on the old Compaq tower.....

[Desktop - Click to enlarge:-]

And also, I have a few 'hidden' icons grouped around the CPU/graphics logo, middle-right of the screen. These are dragged onto the desktop as normal, then 'hidden' by using a transparent PNG icon... Plus, a quick 'PowerGUI' launcher at the very far right-hand end of the tray.

[...and Extras. Click to enlarge:-]

Enough 'launch' methods, I think, to satisfy even the fussiest geek! I see all this as something of a "showcase" for the many different desktop 'tweaks' we can apply to the JWM/ROX-filer combo.....which just goes to show how extremely versatile Puppy can be.

Mike.

Hello,
when I started with Bionicpup64 there were only icons on the desktop. E.g. with a browser full screened the desktop icons were not visible, I had to minimize etc.

Later I discovered that in Bionicpup64 and Fossapup64 can be set the lauch bar as hybrid (hide tray behind windows unless mouseover). My tray is placed above and I like it much. This way of launching is quick and effective.

Mike, your approach is very sophisticated

For good old plain ROX don't forget the favourites (bookmarks) button to quickly navigate to folders...and it can be configured nicely. Mine looks like this:

@Feek :-

Feek wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 3:40 pm

Mike, your approach is very sophisticated

Yah think so..?

Nah, mate; it's a right bloody MESS, is what it is..!! I've tried out tons of different ways of doing things over the years, and every one of them has just kind of got left ('abandoned', more like..!) when I've finished experimenting with it...

I've got way too much time on my hands, I think....

Like I said, though, it DOES rather act as a 'showcase' to demonstrate some of the things Puppy is capable of.....and graphic design has been a hobby for a great many years, so my desktops always get built from the ground up.

I need summat to keep me out of mischief..!!

Mike.

HEY @mikewalsh!

Your window borders and windows look REALLY NICE! Is that just tweaking the JWM?

~geo

geo_c wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:44 pm

HEY @mikewalsh!

Your window borders and windows look REALLY NICE! Is that just tweaking the JWM?

~geo

Umm.....riiight. What window borders d'you mean, specifically? On the PuppyApps window, is that what you're referring to?

No, it's a bit more than just tweaking. I'm using a set of GTK themes I found & downloaded a couple of years ago, called "Shades of Gray". I can upload 'em, if you're interested; can't remember where I found them. However, some of it IS 'tweaking'.....of the /root/.jwm/jwmrc-theme file. I've been "playing around" with THAT one for years.

Let me know if you want to give those themes a try, OK?

Mike.

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:55 pm

Umm.....riiight. What window borders d'you mean, specifically? On the PuppyApps window, is that what you're referring to?
However, some of it IS 'tweaking'.....of the /root/.jwm/jwmrc-theme file. I've been "playing around" with THAT one for years. Let me know if you want to give those themes a try, OK?

Mike.

Well, no, I guess I mean the launcher. Transparent with a white border and rounded corners. Then you have all those applets on the right. I'm not big fan of applets, but they look nice!

Actually I'd love to see the /.jwn/jwmrc-theme file and see if I can compare it to mine and decipher a little bit of what's going on there.

And while I'm giving out compliments, nice drive icons you have there!

~geo

geo_c wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:22 pm

Well, no, I guess I mean the launcher. Transparent with a white border and rounded corners. Then you have all those applets on the right. I'm not big fan of applets, but they look nice!

Actually I'd love to see the /.jwn/jwmrc-theme file and see if I can compare it to mine and decipher a little bit of what's going on there.

And while I'm giving out compliments, nice drive icons you have there!

~geo

Oh, Gawd. Here we go (again).

This is where I start to just get embarrassed. D'you know how many people have asked this very same question - or questions - over time?

Scores, certainly (if not hundreds). And they all want to know how do I do it? Where do I get the "dock" from? Where can they download it, and how does it install.....and how do you set it up?

Everybody assumes this is either an application, obtained from somewhere.....or a script of some kind. And we ALL know scripts can be modified, right?

Did I mention that graphic design is a very long-standing hobby of mine?

Ok. Here goes. Ready for this? (Sure about that, hm..?)

I CHEAT. (*whoops*)

There ya go.....!!

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Like everyone else, I've tried various docks over the years, and, quite simply, they weren't what I wanted. I wanted summat very simple, yet all were loaded down with lots of useless "features". So I thought to myself, "Hang about. I can achieve exactly what I want, with next to no effort. I know JUST how to do it, too."

To design my desktop wallpapers, I download images from various Google and/or DuckDuckGo searches. I then use MooiTech's 'PhotoScape' - an app I got very handy with in Win XP - running under WINE (where it runs 100% perfect).

I then modify the hell out of those images, drawing/adding all kinds of things on top. Those "launchers" are, quite simply, drawn directly onto the wallpaper..! No magic. No clever coding. This is a 100% custom, personal solution.....one that works for me, because I don't consider graphic design stuff to be work. For me, it's fun, pure & simple.....and something which I get a great deal of enjoyment out of. And it has the advantage that various wallpaper designs can be lightly-modified/re-cycled between Puppies, and the "docks" are already there. All I have to do is drag launchers to the desktop, add/change icons, then move 'em into place. Simples!

(And it looks a whole lot MORE sophisticated than it really is...)

Sorry if I've dashed your hopes! (*Bad Mike!*) I feel like such a fraud when I admit to my 'solution', but, like everyone else.....you deserve to know.

(*cringe...*)

Mike.

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 11:04 pm

I then modify the hell out of those images, drawing/adding all kinds of things on top. Those "launchers" are, quite simply, drawn directly onto the wallpaper..! No magic. No clever coding.

(And it looks a whole lot MORE sophisticated than it really is...)

Sorry if I've dashed your hopes! (*Bad Mike!*) I feel like such a fraud when I admit to my 'solution', but, like everyone else.....you deserve to know.

(*cringe...*)

Mike.

I am ROLLING ON THE FLOOR. Really, you made my night! I was a getting a glum with all the busy work I've been doing today.

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 1:28 pm

@JASpup :-

As if all that wasn't enough, I've built my own alternative to JWMDesk, which I've called 'PuppyDeskApps'....complete with launcher 'splash screen', and credits notice! This uses mainly standard Puppy commands, along with two special 'Reset' buttons, that will reset the PuppyPin desktop icon file and /root/jwmrc 'Menu' file in the rare event of them going AWOL. Hasn't happened since I've had this new HP tower, but it used to be a regular occurrence with certain Pups on the old Compaq tower.....

We didn't knock you for motivation.

@mikewalsh But when you think about it, it really is like magic. A magic sleight of hand, an illusion.

This thread inspired me to re-visit launching from a filer window. I discuss my approach in this post: viewtopic.php?p=37080#p37080