Xfce4 panel opacity, or transparency...

Hello.
I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but I thought at one point the option was there.
Concerning the Xfce4 panel, I could swear there used to be a slider bar option to change the panel's opacity. Make it "see through" to the desktop's wallpaper. After thoroughly digging in the panel options, and doing an internet search, I don't seem to be able to find an option for this.
Could anyone enlighten me as how to accomplish this, assuming of course it doesn't involve enabling/installing system wide compositing?

The transparency options are only shown if you have some kind of compositing (like compiz or the built-in xfce one) enabled.
[edit] AFAIK the panel doesn't support pseudo-transparency (anymore?).
Quoting one of the xfce devs at http://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?pid=20223#p20223 :
I don't see the point of fake transpaceny, it involves quite a bit of code for IMHO "just not it". You want a transparent panel: enable compositing.
Last edited by Danylo (2012-03-25 16:30:23)

Similar Messages

Xfce4-panel transparent with opaque text/icons

I'm trying to achieve panel transparency with opaque text/icons, I googled around and eventually found a few helpful posts. I'm trying to use the patch guide posted in this topic a few years back:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=71248
when I try to makepkg, "xfce4-panel-4.6.1.tar.bz2" doesn't pass a validity check for the md5sums. Is this patch even up to date? If it isnt where can I find a more up to date one because so far I've been unsuccessful in that regard.
Also, I assume that patching is still the only option for achieving this transparency effect in xfce4 or has something new been developed?

Sorry about my last post. I just thought that if you couldn't get it to work with opaque icons, then you wanted the next best thing. Anyway, maybe it is because the patch is for xfce 4.6.1 .
methuselah wrote:
wankel wrote:
heres the cairo patch for the new panel:
http://www.cooptel.qc.ca/~pggervais/xfc … tch.tar.gz
can anyone give me a step by step on how to apply this patch to my panel?
This is how I patched mine:
place the new 4.6.1 patch, this PKGBUILD, and the xfce4-panel.install files in a folder called ~/xfce4-panel-build:
PKGBUILD file:
# $Id: PKGBUILD 36266 2009-04-20 20:58:18Z andyrtr $
# Maintainer: tobias <tobias funnychar archlinux.org>
pkgname=xfce4-panel
pkgver=4.6.1
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="Panel for the Xfce desktop environment"
arch=('i686' 'x86_64')
license=('GPL2')
url="http://www.xfce.org/"
groups=('xfce4')
depends=("libxfcegui4>=$pkgver" 'exo>=0.3.101' 'libwnck' 'hicolor-icon-theme')
makedepends=('pkgconfig' "xfconf>=$pkgver" 'intltool')
options=('!libtool')
install=${pkgname}.install
source=(http://www.xfce.org/archive/xfce-${pkgver}/src/${pkgname}-${pkgver}.tar.bz2
xfce4-panel-4.6.1.tar.bz2)
md5sums=('73a366b9892152266b465d7d9c35bef4'
'7078dba125570fd952de63a78c477d1c')
build() {
cd ${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}
patch -Np0 -i /home/"your-name"/xfce4-panel-build/xfce4-panel-4.6.1_cairo.patch
./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc --libexecdir=/usr/lib \
--localstatedir=/var --disable-static
make || return 1
make DESTDIR=${pkgdir} install || return 1
xfce4-panel.install file:
post_install() {
gtk-update-icon-cache -q -t -f usr/share/icons/hicolor
post_upgrade() {
post_install $1
post_remove() {
gtk-update-icon-cache -q -t -f usr/share/icons/hicolor
then in the xfce4-panel-build folder run this in a terminal:
makepkg -c
I think this should work for you. Then all you have to do is install it using pacman -U, and then restart the panel using these 2 commands in alt+f2 run program:
killall xfce4-panel
then:
xfce4-panel &
Try changing everything that says xfce 4.6.1 to 4.6.2 because xfce4-session is 4.6.2 . Or maybe change it to 4.6.4 which is the version of the panel. I don't know what to do about the md5sum error. Delete the line maybe? If you are sure it downloaded correctly. Hope that helps.
Last edited by Tux the penguin (2010-11-21 20:14:47)

How to make the panel with scrollpane transparent?

Thanks Camicker for your help, it solves the problem but i got a new problem i.e. i want to make that panel with scrollbar transparent for this i have tried setOpaqe(false) for both scrollpane and panel but it doesn't work. do u have any solution?

I think camickr (not Camicker) already told you to set the opacity of the JScrollPane's viewport.
Spend just a few minutes with the JScrollPane API and you'll find an exploded view showing the components that make up a scroll pane.
db

Xfce4-panel dissapears (segfault)

I'm using xfce4-svn. The latest xfce4-panel-svn, 4.5.0.3svn-r26171, segfaults, leaving me without panels. GDB shows this:
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0xb7ec679d in xfce_arrow_button_set_arrow_type ()
from /usr/lib/libxfce4panel.so.1
Sorry if it was already reported, I searched bugs at xfce bugzilla and arch flyspray and found nothing. Just wanted to confirm if it happens to someone else. Already tried deleting ~/.config and starting xfce using another user, without luck.
Plus, before my panel started sefgaulting, I had the same problem of my xfce menu dissapearing.
I'm the only one?

I had the same problem and after googling for awhile I found a workaround that seems to work to only have one panel on your xfce4 desktop. It seems that you have to go ahead and delete either panel in the desktop manager. It doesn't matter which as both panels (top and bottom) will disappear. Then edit your ~/.config/xfce4/panel/panels.xml file to remove one panel's info from <panel> to <panel>. This is what you're left with:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE config SYSTEM "config.dtd">
<panels>
<panel>
<properties>
<property name="size" value="27"/>
<property name="monitor" value="0"/>
<property name="screen-position" value="10"/>
<property name="fullwidth" value="1"/>
<property name="xoffset" value="0"/>
<property name="yoffset" value="996"/>
<property name="handlestyle" value="0"/>
<property name="autohide" value="0"/>
<property name="transparency" value="25"/>
<property name="activetrans" value="0"/>
</properties>
<items>
<item name="xfce4-menu" id="5"/>
<item name="separator" id="6"/>
<item name="launcher" id="10"/>
<item name="launcher" id="11934103341"/>
<item name="launcher" id="11934284041"/>
<item name="actions" id="12"/>
<item name="separator" id="11934162861"/>
<item name="tasklist" id="11934220980"/>
<item name="datetime" id="11934096510"/>
</items>
</panel>
</panels>
Save the file and logout of xfce4. NOTE: Make sure you don't have the "save session" box checked off when you log out or all is for not. When you log back in, voila, only one panel.

XFCE4 panel Action buttons don't work

Hello,
I'm having multiple problems with Action buttons from XFCE4 panel. I use slim (1.3.3-5) and Xfce (4.10).
1. Suspend and switch user option is greyed out.
2. The 'main button' (which displays user name) appears about 2 minutes after log in. When I try to click on it, it's unresponsive for about another 2 minutes.
3. When I finally get to click on 'Shut Down' it only logs me out to slim.
When I restart dbus (/etc/rc.d/dbus restart) while logged in to XFCE the button appears instantly, and is responsive. Shut down doesn't work though.
[skyer@sig ~]$ cat .xinitrc
#!/bin/sh
# ~/.xinitrc
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
if [ -d /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d ]; then
for f in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/*; do
[ -x "$f" ] && . "$f"
done
unset f
fi
# exec gnome-session
# exec startkde
exec startxfce4
# ...or the Window Manager of your choice
Both dbus daemon and dbus-launch are present all the time.
[skyer@sig ~]$ ps aux|grep dbus
skyer 854 0.0 0.0 17952 536 tty1 S+ 17:05 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session
skyer 855 0.0 0.0 17644 1336 ? Ss 17:05 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session
dbus 969 0.0 0.0 17260 1116 ? Ss 17:05 0:00 dbus-daemon --system
skyer 1061 0.0 0.0 8656 1020 pts/2 S+ 17:12 0:00 grep dbus
One session is started, user 1000 is me.
[skyer@sig ~]$ ck-list-sessions
Session1:
unix-user = '1000'
realname = '(null)'
seat = 'Seat1'
session-type = 'x11'
active = TRUE
x11-display = ':0.0'
x11-display-device = '/dev/tty7'
display-device = ''
remote-host-name = ''
is-local = TRUE
on-since = '2012-06-28T15:17:28.439726Z'
login-session-id = '1'
I did not change slim.conf - its just as it was when freshly installed.
Thanks for help.
Last edited by skyer (2012-06-28 15:19:37)

It could be an issue with your session environment not being set correctly. I use the following script to start my session (using lightdm, not slim, but this should be ok for your xinitrc)
#!/bin/sh
# Load profile
for file in "/etc/profile" "$HOME/.profile" "/etc/xprofile" "$HOME/.xprofile"; do
if [ -f "$file" ]; then
echo "Loading profile from $file";
. "$file"
fi
done
# Load resources
for file in "/etc/X11/Xresources" "$HOME/.Xresources"; do
if [ -f "$file" ]; then
echo "Loading resource: $file"
xrdb -nocpp -merge "$file"
fi,,,,,,,
done
# Load keymaps
for file in "/etc/X11/Xkbmap" "$HOME/.Xkbmap"; do
if [ -f "$file" ]; then
echo "Loading keymap: $file"
setxkbmap `cat "$file"`
XKB_IN_USE=yes
fi
done
# Load xmodmap if not using XKB
if [ -z "$XKB_IN_USE" ]; then
for file in "/etc/X11/Xmodmap" "$HOME/.Xmodmap"; do
if [ -f "$file" ]; then
echo "Loading modmap: $file"
xmodmap "$file"
fi
done
fi
unset XKB_IN_USE
# Run all system xinitrc shell scripts.
xinitdir="/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d"
if [ -d "$xinitdir" ]; then
for script in $xinitdir/*; do
echo "Loading xinit script $script"
if [ -x "$script" -a ! -d "$script" ]; then
. "$script"
fi
done
fi
# Load Xsession scripts
xsessionddir="/etc/X11/Xsession.d"
if [ -d "$xsessionddir" ]; then
for i in `ls $xsessionddir`; do
script="$xsessionddir/$i"
echo "Loading X session script $script"
if [ -r "$script" -a -f "$script" ] && expr "$i" : '^[[:alnum:]_-]\+$' > /dev/null; then
. "$script"
fi
done
fi
echo "X session wrapper complete, running session $@"
exec $@
Also, you may need to wrap consolekit around your session as per the wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xfce
Cheers.

[solved] xfce4-panel plugins keep crashing after update

I've been having problems with xfce4-panel after some recent updates. Several plugins for it, like the Action Buttons, CPU graph and Notification Area keep crashing right after being added to the panel. The error message isn't very helpful, just saying the plugin in question "unexpectedly left the panel". Any ideas on how to debug this?
Last edited by vox.cogitatio (2012-06-12 15:36:38)

I found the problem. I was running the panel without the rest of xfce4. I thought this was doable, but apparently some applets assume you have the base packages of xfce4 installed, as the problems ceased when I installed them.

[solved] Building xfce4-panel-git

Hello.
I've satisfied all depps for xfce4-panel-git. However, I have a problem:
Build Configuration:
* Debug Support: yes
* GNU Visibility: yes
* Documentation: no
make all-recursive
make[1]: Entering folder `/tmp/yaourt-tmp-kant/aur-xfce4-panel-git/xfce4-panel-git/src/xfce4-panel-build'
Making all in libxfce4panel
make[2]: Entering folder `/tmp/yaourt-tmp-kant/aur-xfce4-panel-git/xfce4-panel-git/src/xfce4-panel-build/libxfce4panel'
make all-am
make[3]: Entering folder `/tmp/yaourt-tmp-kant/aur-xfce4-panel-git/xfce4-panel-git/src/xfce4-panel-build/libxfce4panel'
make[3]: *** No rules for making object `libxfce4panel-aliasdef.c', required by `libxfce4panel_1_0_la-libxfce4panel-aliasdef.lo'. Stop.
make[3]: Leaving folder `/tmp/yaourt-tmp-kant/aur-xfce4-panel-git/xfce4-panel-git/src/xfce4-panel-build/libxfce4panel'
make[2]: *** [all] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving folder `/tmp/yaourt-tmp-kant/aur-xfce4-panel-git/xfce4-panel-git/src/xfce4-panel-build/libxfce4panel'
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving folder `/tmp/yaourt-tmp-kant/aur-xfce4-panel-git/xfce4-panel-git/src/xfce4-panel-build'
make: *** [all] Error 2
NOTE:English messages were translated from polish language.
What am I doing wrong?
EDIT: It's easier to install from repo:
[xfce4-git]
Server = http://mail.kazgrid.kz/repo/i686/xfce4-git-latest
^^
Last edited by weakhead (2010-05-25 20:47:31)

s3vv4 wrote:
When I open asian sites (like http://www.youku.com/ ), for some reason my xfce4-panel crashes. Probably any site that has asian symbols would crash the panel.
I started xfce4-panel in a terminal, and it prints the following when it crashes:
xfce4-panel: cairo-scaled-font.c:459: _cairo_scaled_glyph_page_destroy: Assertion `!scaled_font->cache_frozen' failed.
fish: Job 1, “xfce4-panel &” terminated by signal SIGABRT (Abort)
Is this some problem with my fonts? Because I get alot of squares instead of asian symbols.
This was happening to me too, but I think it was because of Russian characters.. I've now installed all of the ttf fonts and I hope xfce4-panel stops crashing

[SOLVED] Xfce 4.8, "no running instance of xfce4-panel has been found"

Hello fellow Archers!
I just upgraded my Xfce installation to version 4.8, but I have a weird problem with xfce4-panel. After upgrading the system via pacman I've rebooted, and after logging in I couldn't see the Xfce's panel anymore! Moreover, a dialog box pops up saying that "no running instance of xfce4-panel has been found". I've tried to fix this issue by launching xfce4-panel through a terminal, and then saving the session before logging out. Now when I log in, I can finally see the panel, but the pop up window keeps coming out every single time. Do you have any suggestions on what could be the issue?
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by Tudhalyas (2011-01-18 12:15:03)

Behemot you'd better start a different thread. May be a different issue as this one is solved.
isn't it supposed to start from /etc/xdg/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-session.xml ? Here's what's in mine:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<channel name="xfce4-session" version="1.0">
<property name="general" type="empty">
<property name="FailsafeSessionName" type="string" value="Failsafe"/>
</property>
<property name="sessions" type="empty">
<property name="Failsafe" type="empty">
<property name="IsFailsafe" type="bool" value="true"/>
<property name="Count" type="int" value="5"/>
<property name="Client0_Command" type="array">
<value type="string" value="xfwm4"/>
</property>
<property name="Client0_PerScreen" type="bool" value="false"/>
<property name="Client1_Command" type="array">
<value type="string" value="xfce4-panel"/>
</property>
<property name="Client1_PerScreen" type="bool" value="false"/>
<property name="Client2_Command" type="array">
<value type="string" value="Thunar"/>
<value type="string" value="--daemon"/>
</property>
<property name="Client2_PerScreen" type="bool" value="false"/>
<property name="Client3_Command" type="array">
<value type="string" value="xfdesktop"/>
</property>
<property name="Client3_PerScreen" type="bool" value="false"/>
<property name="Client4_Command" type="array">
<value type="string" value="xfce4-settings-helper"/>
</property>
<property name="Client4_PerScreen" type="bool" value="false"/>
</property>
</property>
<property name="splash" type="empty">
<property name="Engine" type="string" value=""/>
</property>
</channel>
Last edited by rwd (2011-04-23 07:32:04)

[SOLVED] xfce4-panel: Window buttons w/ Compiz

Hi, I've successfully done the seemingly daunting task of getting Compiz to work with XFCE. Everything appears to be set up, got my keyboard shortcuts in order, etc., however I don't like how the xfce4-panel's Window Buttons behave when running with Compiz. I have specifically set it to show only windows visible on the current desktop (or as Compiz calls it, viewports), but it looks like it still shows all windows from all viewports, as if like it treats all of them as one big desktop. I know this is a problem with xfce4-panel still thinking that it's communicating with xfwm, but I do like to resolve this annoying pet peeve. Are there any workarounds/fixes/patches for this that could help? Thanks in advance.
Last edited by qtcaroline22 (2012-05-17 01:53:05)

I made Compiz autostart with XFCE using the first method with the Fusion icon as described in Compiz's Arch Wiki article. Perhaps it is related to Xfwm and Compiz running together? I'll try the other methods and see if the problem persists.
EDIT: I fixed it, I just followed the solution on this thread and everything works perfectly now. Seems like Googling with the right keywords will almost always point me to the solution.
Last edited by qtcaroline22 (2012-05-17 01:52:14)

Why wont my xfce4-panel remember its settings?

I'm using xfce4-panel in Compiz Standalone, so there is no xfce-session manager or anything.
I put the clock plugin on it and changed the display to digital, but it just wont remember its settings when I close and reopen it.

If you are exiting the panel via ending your Compiz/X session, then Xfce Panel will not save its settings because Compiz does not gracefully end its process before it terminates and the panel crashes.
You will need to exit the panel from its Exit menu in order for Xfce Panel to save its settings, then re-launch it.

No running xfce4-panel

Hey,
I've encountered a strange problem, all of a sudden my xfce4 won't start properly, when launching, it
tells me that it cannot detect a running instance of xfce4-panel, which is odd, because it is showing
the panel in the buttom of the screen.
Anyway, it works when you hit the "execute" option it provides, but is there a way to make it start by itself?
I tried adding it to applications and startup, from the settings menu.
Just for information:
my PC has an i7, 4gb RAM, GT540M
Arcd Linux with Awesome3 and xfce4. (a lot of xfce4 is stripped away to bring down "weight".)
I hope you can help, thanks!
//Martin

Have you tried https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 05#p879805 ?

Xfce4 panel doesn't show system tray

I've installed whole xfce4 group. I tried to go to panel properties and insert the system tray plugin, but there is no system tray! What package am I missing?

The systray plugin comes with the panel (xfce4-panel) so it should be there, but it's called "Notification Area" under the "Add New Items" list

Compiz as stand-alone + xfce4-panel : a few questions

After some months with gnome 3 I decided to go back to compiz, as I used to use that with gnome 2.xx and appreciated it quite a bit. I ran into a few problems when trying to set it up properly.
First, is there some way to enable session management with compiz? I would like to be able to have a button or menu that offers to sleep, reboot or shutdown the computer. Not that I mind using 'pm-suspend' and other commands like that, but my girlfriend also uses the computer sometimes so it needs to be more user-friendly than that. I noticed there is an actions button by default in the xfce panel but it doesn't work in compiz and just says 'session management is disabled, do you want to exit X' or something like that.
Second, I need some sort of run prompt when I hit alt-f2. The 'gnome compatibility' option in ccsm doesn't seem to work in standalone mode.
Third, I want the computer to automatically sleep when I flip the lid. In gnome 3, it does that without any special configuration, but this doesn't work with compiz as a stand-alone. I suspect I need to configure it to pick up the 'lid is flipped' event somehow?
Fourth, I need a volume control option that will display a volume icon in my xfce4 panel notification area and most importantly I need that volume control icon to respond accurately to the input from my 'mute' and volume 'up' and 'down' buttons. It's a thinkpad x220 laptop. I bring it to school often, so being able to know whether my volume is on or off is important when in class. This works fine in gnome3 but I have tried other DE's such as LXDE and found that the volume icon stayed the same as I used the volume buttons on the keyboard (the buttons did work, so it could be muted but still displaying that it's at full volume). To check if it was muted or not, I had to open a terminal and use alsamixer.
Of course, I don't NEED to be using xfce4-panel. What I need is a menu, and automatic menu generation is nice because it's easier to configure. So I picked that one because I've used it in the past. If there is a better alternative, please recommend it. Or perhaps it would be best if I simply ran gnome fallback and compiz as the WM?

I'm using compiz standalone, so here's how i solved that stuff.
You can use obshutdown for session management, it's in AUR, look in its config file, slap a launcher in the corner of you panel, set the icon for prettyness and it works pretty well.
I use gmrun as a launcher, set alt+f2 to call it. It's pretty simple which is what i like. You can also use synapse, or gnome-do, they have more functionality like searching your bookmarks, your files, your loved one's medical history, you name it.
For volume control, you can use pnmixer from aur, it sits in your system tray, and you can set it's hotkeys, but you can also use CCSM to set your hotkeys for volume management.
I think laptop-tools(check the wiki) can be used to put your computer to sleep, and general powersaving. You should check the article named laptop in the wiki for other laptop-related stuff too. I think i used xfce4-power-manager for power management as well a while ago.
I used xfce4-panel for a while but i didn't really like it as much as i liked the old gnome-panel, so i installed mate-panel(which is the old gnome-panel). You can find it in AUR, or you can check it's wiki article for repos you can add for mate(if you want to install it from aur, it will pull some aur dependancies, and i didn't feel like compiling everything).

[SOLVED] xfce4-panel/workspace with compiz/xfwm4

Its the weird problem:
in compiz (ccsm/general option Desktop Size)
* Horizontal Virtual Size = 4
* Vertical Virtual Size = 1
* Number of Desktops =1
in xfce (setting/workspace)
* No of Workspace=1
# Problem 1
It seem `xfce's no workspace` == `compiz's no of Desktop` is hard linked
compiz ==> xfce4 : no of workspace changes from 1 to 4
xfce4 ==> compiz : no of workspace changes from 4 to 1
# Problem 2
if you change compiz's
* Number of Desktops = 4
The Problem 1 is solved BUT
.. xfce4-panel starts acting weird!
showing all the workspace windows in one panel
Last edited by rhoit (2013-01-18 16:34:13)

GOT # reply form IRC
(10:13:36 PM) soreau:
Number of Desktops should always be one. Compiz is unique from other window managers in that it uses (GL) viewports instead of desktops. (multiple desktop functionality was never actually implemented). Most DE components only support desktops, not viewports, even though it's part of the EWMH spec.

Pekwm + xfce4 panel [SOLVED]

Hi all
After reading in the forum about pekwm I decided to give it a shoot.
I just love the "tabed" window funktion
Now to the problem
The trouble i have is that when I'm using mplayer or gmplayer in fullscreen mode the panel and iconbox is in the foreground.
Conky and all other windows stays in the background
Is there a way to alter this behaivior.
My .xinitrc
xfce4-iconbox &
xfdesktop &
xfce4-panel &
conky &
exec pekwm
Many thanks
Clanman

Dusty wrote:
I don't know the specifics, but I suspect you can use autoproperties for each window that sets them to a lower layer somehow
Dusty
Hi Dusty
After your tip I dug into Pekwm and found the autoproperties
~/.pekwm/autoproperties
I added this
Property = "^xfce4-panel,^Xfce4-panel" {
ApplyOn = "Start"
Layer = "Harbour"
Property = "^MPlayer,^MPlayer" {
ApplyOn = "Start New"
Layer = "Menu"
Now my mplayer gets the top window placement.
Tanks for the tip
//Clanman

Xfce4 panel opacity, or transparency...

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