Customizing Nautilus

You can customize Nautilus to suit your requirements and preferences. This section describes how to customize Nautilus.

Setting Your Preferences

Use the Preferences dialog to set preferences for the Nautilus windows and desktop. To display the Preferences dialog, choose Edit -> Preferences.

You can set preferences in the following categories:

• The default settings for views.

• The appearance of the Nautilus windows and desktop.

• The behavior and visible components of new Nautilus windows.

• The behavior of the desktop and Trash.

• The behavior of items in icon views and list views.

• The information that is displayed in icon captions.

• Items that are displayed in the side pane.

• Performance options to improve the performance of Nautilus.

To Set View Preferences

You can specify a default view, and default settings for icon views and list views. To specify your default view settings for Nautilus windows, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Views from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–7 lists the view settings that you can modify. The Preferences dialog contains an Icon View Defaults group box and a List View Defaults group box. The group boxes contain mostly the same dialog elements. Each dialog element is described once in Table 7–7.

Table 7–7 View Preferences

Dialog Element	Description
View new folders using	Select the default view for folders. When you open a folder, the folder is displayed in the view that you select.
Arrange Items	Select the characteristic by which you want to sort the items in folders that are displayed in this view.
Default zoom level	Select the default zoom level for folders that are displayed in this view. The zoom level specifies the size of items in a view.
Sort in reverse	Select this option if you want to reverse the order by which items are sorted in this view. If you select this option, the order of the characteristic you select in Arrange Items is reversed. For example, if you select By Name from the Arrange Items drop-down list. You can select the Sort in reversed order option to sort the items in reverse alphabetical order.
Use compact layout	Icon view only. Select this option to arrange the items so that the items in the folder are closer to each other.

To Select a Nautilus Theme

Nautilus includes themes that you can use to change the look-and-feel of the Nautilus windows and the desktop. To set your preferences for the font and theme of the Nautilus windows and desktop, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Appearance from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–8 lists the font and theme settings that you can modify.

Table 7–8 Appearance Preferences

Dialog Element	Description
Nautilus Themes	To change your Nautilus theme, choose a theme from the list.
Add Theme	To add a new Nautilus theme, click on the Add New Theme button. A dialog is displayed. Use the dialog to find the new theme.

To Set Preferences for New Windows

To set your preferences for new Nautilus windows, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Windows from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–9 lists the window settings that you can modify.

Table 7–9 New Window Preferences

Option	Description
Open each file or folder in a separate window	Select this option to open a new window when you open a file or folder.
Display side pane	Select this option to display a side pane in new windows.
Display toolbar	Select this option to display a toolbar in new windows.
Display location bar	Select this option to display a location bar in new windows.
Display statusbar	Select this option to display a statusbar in new windows.

To Set Desktop and Trash Preferences

To set your preferences for the Nautilus desktop and Trash, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Desktop & Trash from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–10 lists the desktop and Trash settings that you can modify.

Table 7–10 Windows and Desktop Preferences

Option	Description
Use Nautilus to draw the desktop	Select this option to use Nautilus to manage your desktop. If you do not use Nautilus to manage your desktop, you cannot do the following: Use the Desktop menu. Use Nautilus to change the pattern or color of the desktop background. Use the Nautilus Home launcher and Trash launcher. The Home launcher and Trash launcher are not displayed on the desktop.
Use your home folder as the desktop	Select this option to use your home directory as the desktop directory, instead of the default directory. If you select this option, the contents of your home directory are displayed as desktop objects.
Ask before emptying the Trash or deleting files	Select this option to display a confirmation message before Trash is emptied, or files are deleted.
Include a Delete command that bypasses Trash	Select this option to add a Delete menu item to the following menus: The Edit menu. The popup menu that is displayed when you right-click on a file, folder, or desktop object. When you select an item then choose the Delete menu item, the item is deleted from your file system immediately.

To Set Icon and List Views Preferences

To set your preferences for items in icon views and list views, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Icon & List Views from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–11 lists the settings that you can modify for items in icon views and list views.

Table 7–11 Icon and List Views Preferences

Option	Description
Activate items with a single click	Select this option to perform the default action for an item when you click on the item. When this option is selected, and you point to an item, the title of the item is underlined.
Activate items with a double click	Select this option to perform the default action for an item when you double-click on the item.
Execute files when they are clicked	Select this option to run an executable file when you choose the executable file. An executable file is a text file that can execute, that is, a shell script.
Display files when they are clicked	Select this option to display the contents of an executable file when you choose the executable file.
Ask each time	Select this option to display a dialog when you choose an executable file. The dialog asks whether you want to execute the file or display the file.
Hidden files	Select this option to display hidden files in the view pane. The first character in a hidden file name is a period (.).
Backup files	Select this option to display backup files in the view pane. The last character in a backup file name is a tilde (~).
Special flags in Properties dialog	Select this option to show the following special flags in the Permissions tab on a properties dialog: Set User ID Set Group ID Sticky
Folders before files	Select this option to list folders before files when you sort a folder.

To Set Icon Captions Preferences

An icon caption displays the name of a file or folder in an icon view. The icon caption also includes three additional items of information on the file or folder. The additional information is displayed after the file name. Normally only one item of information is visible, but when you zoom in on an icon, more of the information is displayed. You can modify what additional information is displayed in icon captions.

To set your preferences for icon captions, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Icon Captions from the Preferences dialog.

Select the items of information that you want to display in the icon caption from the three drop-down lists. Select the first item from the first drop-down list, select the second item from the second drop-down list, and so on. The following table describes the items of information that you can select:

Information	Description
Size	Choose this option to display the size of the item.
Type	Choose this option to display the description of the MIME type of the item from the File Types and Programs preference tool.
Date modified	Choose this option to display the last modification date of the item.
Date changed	Choose this option to display the last modification date of the inode of the item. An inode is a data structure that contains information about individual files in UNIX file systems. Each file has one inode. An inode contains the node, type, owner, and location of a file.
Date accessed	Choose this option to display the date that the item was last accessed.
Owner	Choose this option to display the owner of the item.
Group	Choose this option to display the group to which the owner of the item belongs.
Permissions	Choose this option to display the permissions of the item as three sets of three characters, for example -rwxrw-r--.
Octal permissions	Choose this option to display the permissions of the item in octal notation, for example 764.
MIME type	Choose this option to display the MIME type of the item.
None	Choose this option to display no information for the item.

To Set Side Pane Preferences

To set your preferences for the side pane, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Side Panes from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–12 lists the side pane settings that you can modify.

Table 7–12 Side Pane Preferences

Option	Description
History	Select this option to display the History tab in the side pane.
Notes	Select this option to display the Notes tab in the side pane.
Tree	Select this option to display the Tree tab in the side pane.
Show folders only	Select this option to display only folders in the Tree tabbed pane.

To Set Performance Preferences

Some Nautilus features can affect the speed with which Nautilus responds to your requests. You can modify the behavior of some of these features to improve the speed of Nautilus. For each performance preference, you can select one of the options described in the following table:

Option	Description
Always	Performs the action for both local files, and files on other file systems.
Local File Only	Performs the action for local files only.
Never	Never performs the action.

To set your performance preferences, choose Edit -> Preferences. Choose Performance from the Preferences dialog.

Table 7–13 lists the performance settings that you can modify.

Table 7–13 Performance Preferences

Dialog Element	Description
Show Text in Icons	Select an option to specify when to preview the content of text files in the icon that represents the file.
Show Number of Items in Folders	Select an option to specify when to show the number of items in folders.
Show Thumbnails for Image Files	Select an option to specify when to show thumbnails of image files. Nautilus stores the thumbnail files for each folder in a .thumbnails directory that is one level below the folder. Do not make thumbnails for files larger than: Specify the maximum file size for files for which Nautilus creates a thumbnail.
Preview Sound Files	Select an option to specify when to preview sound files.

Changing Backgrounds

Nautilus includes backgrounds that you can use to change the look-and-feel of the following screen components:

• Nautilus desktop

• Side pane

• View pane

• Panels, except for the Menu Panel

To change the background of a screen component perform the following steps:

1. Choose Edit -> Backgrounds and Emblems. The Backgrounds and Emblems dialog is displayed.

2. To display a list of patterns that you can use on the background, click on the Patterns button. To display a list of the colors that you can use on the background, click on the Colors button.

3. To change the background to a pattern, drag the pattern to the screen component. To change the background to a color, drag the color to the screen component.

4. Click Close to close the dialog.

Alternatively, you can right-click on the background of the side pane and the view pane, then choose Change Background. The Backgrounds and Emblems dialog is displayed. To reset the pane background to the default background, right-click on the background of the pane, then choose Use Default Background.

When you change the background of the side pane or the view pane of a particular folder, Nautilus remembers the background that you chose. The next time that you display the folder, the background that you selected is displayed. In other words, when you change the background of a folder, you customize the folder to display the background.

To Add a Pattern

To add a pattern to the patterns that you can use on your screen components, choose Edit -> Backgrounds and Emblems. Click on the Patterns button, then click on the Add New Pattern button. A dialog is displayed. Use the dialog to find the new pattern. Click OK to add the new pattern to the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog.

To Add a Color

To add a color to the colors that you can use on your screen components, choose Edit -> Backgrounds and Emblems. Click on the Colors button, then click on the Add New Color button. A color selector dialog is displayed. Use the color wheel or the sliders to choose the color. Click OK to add the new color to the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog.

To Show and Hide Window Components

You can show and hide Nautilus window components as follows:

• To hide the side pane, choose View -> Side Pane. To display the side pane again, choose View -> Side Pane again.

• To hide the toolbar, choose View -> Toolbar. To display the toolbar again, choose View -> Toolbar again.

• To hide the location bar, choose View -> Location Bar. To display the location bar again, choose View -> Location Bar again.

• To hide the statusbar, choose View -> Statusbar. To display the statusbar again, choose View -> Statusbar again.

• To remove a tab from the side pane, right-click in the side pane. Choose the tab that you want to remove from the popup menu. To add the tab to the side pane again, choose the tab from the popup menu again.