Setting Panel Properties
You can change the properties of each panel, such as the position of
the panel, the hide behavior, and the visual appearance.
To modify the properties of a panel, right-click a vacant space on the
panel, and then choose Properties. The Panel Properties dialog contains two
tabs, General and Background.
About the General Properties Tab
In the General tab, you can modify panel size, position, and hiding
properties. The following table describes the dialog elements in the General
tab.
Table 5 General Tab Dialog Elements | |
|---|
Orientation
| Selects the position of the panel on the screen. Click the required
position for the panel.
|
Size
| Specifies the size of the panel.
|
Expand
| By default, a panel expands to the full length of the edge of the screen
where it is located. A panel that does not expand can be moved away from the
screen edges to any part of the screen.
|
Autohide
| Makes the panel fully visible only when the mouse pointer is over it.
The panel hides off-screen along its longest edge, leaving a narrow part visible
along the edge of the desktop. Moving the mouse pointer over the visible part
of the panel moves it back into view.
|
Show hide buttons
| Displays the hide buttons at each end of the panel. Clicking a hide
button moves the panel vertically, hiding it off-screen except for the hide
button at the opposite end. Clicking this hide button restores the panel to
being fully visible.
|
Arrows and hide buttons
| Displays arrows on the hide buttons, if the hide button is enabled.
|
|
About the Background Properties Tab
You can choose the type of background for the panel in the Background
tab. The following table describes the dialog elements in the Background tab.
Table 6 Background Tab Dialog Elements | |
|---|
None (use system theme)
| Select this option to have the panel use the settings in the Appearance
preference tool. This setting keeps the panel's background similar to the
desktop and applications.
|
Solid Color
| Specifies a single color for the panel background. Click the Color button
and choose a color from Color Selector dialog. Use the Style slider to specify the degree of transparency or opaqueness
for the color. For example, to make the panel transparent, move the slider
towards the end.
|
Background image
| Specifies an image for the panel background. Click Browse to browse
for an image file. Click OK after selecting the file.
|
|
You can also drag a color or image on to a panel to set the color or
image as the background. You can drag a color or image from many applications.
For example:
You can drag a color from any color selector dialog.
You can drag an image file from the file manager to set it
as the background of the panel.
You can drag a color or a pattern from the Backgrounds and
Emblems dialog in the file manager to a panel to set it as the background.