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<td width="20%">[[Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels|Previous]]<td align="center">[[Ubuntu Desktop Essentials|Table of Contents]]<td width="20%" align="right">[[Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets|Next]]</td>
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<td width="20%">Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels<td align="center"><td width="20%" align="right">Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets</td>
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The Ubuntu GNOME desktop is initially configured with ''Application'', ''Places'' and ''System'' menus located in the panel running across the top of the desktop area. As new software packages are added additional options will be added to the menus (typically the ''Applications'' menu).
Aside from adding new software packages, the desktop menus may also be fully customized by the user in terms of adding new menu items, adding new menus, and changing the order of items in the menu.
== Customizing an Ubuntu Desktop Menu ==
To customize a menu right click over the menu name in the panel and select ''Edit menu''. The ''Main Menu'' dialog will subsequently appear as follows:
[[Image:ubuntu_gnome_menu_edit.jpg|Editing GNOME Desktop Menus]]
The left hand panel lists the main top level menus together with the ''sub menus'' for each menu (for example ''Accessories'' is a sub menu of the ''Applications'' menu). Selecting an entry in the ''Menus'' list causes a list of items in that menu to appear in the right hand panel.
== Moving Menu Items ==
The position of existing item in a menu may be moved up or down or down to a new location simply selecting the item in the list and pressing the ''Move Up'' and ''Move Down'' buttons respectively.
== Adding and Deleting a Menu Item ==
A new item may be added to a menu by selecting the menu in the left hand ''Menus'' list and clicking the ''Add Item'' button. This will display the ''Create Launcher'' dialog:
[[Image:ubuntu_desktop_create_launcher.jpg|Adding new item to an Ubuntu desktop menu]]
In the ''Name'' field, enter the name to be displayed in the menu. Next enter the path and name of the command to be launched when the menu item is selected into the ''Command'' field. If you are unsure of the full path to the tool, use the ''Browse'' option to navigate the file system to find the application executable. For example, we might want to add a menu option to launch the ''gedit'' editing tool. To do so we would enter ''GEdit'' into the ''Name'' field and ''gedit'' into the ''Command'' field. The ''Comment'' field provides a place to enter optional descriptive text which will be displayed if the mouse pointer hovers over the menu option.
A menu item may be hidden or deleted entirely. Hide a menu item simply by turning off the toggle next to the item in the menu configuration dialog. Delete an item by right clicking it in the menu configuration dialog and selecting ''Delete'' from the popup menu.
<hr>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<td width="20%">[[Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels|Previous]]<td align="center">[[Ubuntu Desktop Essentials|Table of Contents]]<td width="20%" align="right">[[Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets|Next]]</td>
<tr>
<td width="20%">Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels<td align="center"><td width="20%" align="right">Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets</td>
</table>
<hr>
<tr>
<td width="20%">[[Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels|Previous]]<td align="center">[[Ubuntu Desktop Essentials|Table of Contents]]<td width="20%" align="right">[[Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets|Next]]</td>
<tr>
<td width="20%">Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels<td align="center"><td width="20%" align="right">Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets</td>
</table>
<hr>
The Ubuntu GNOME desktop is initially configured with ''Application'', ''Places'' and ''System'' menus located in the panel running across the top of the desktop area. As new software packages are added additional options will be added to the menus (typically the ''Applications'' menu).
Aside from adding new software packages, the desktop menus may also be fully customized by the user in terms of adding new menu items, adding new menus, and changing the order of items in the menu.
== Customizing an Ubuntu Desktop Menu ==
To customize a menu right click over the menu name in the panel and select ''Edit menu''. The ''Main Menu'' dialog will subsequently appear as follows:
[[Image:ubuntu_gnome_menu_edit.jpg|Editing GNOME Desktop Menus]]
The left hand panel lists the main top level menus together with the ''sub menus'' for each menu (for example ''Accessories'' is a sub menu of the ''Applications'' menu). Selecting an entry in the ''Menus'' list causes a list of items in that menu to appear in the right hand panel.
== Moving Menu Items ==
The position of existing item in a menu may be moved up or down or down to a new location simply selecting the item in the list and pressing the ''Move Up'' and ''Move Down'' buttons respectively.
== Adding and Deleting a Menu Item ==
A new item may be added to a menu by selecting the menu in the left hand ''Menus'' list and clicking the ''Add Item'' button. This will display the ''Create Launcher'' dialog:
[[Image:ubuntu_desktop_create_launcher.jpg|Adding new item to an Ubuntu desktop menu]]
In the ''Name'' field, enter the name to be displayed in the menu. Next enter the path and name of the command to be launched when the menu item is selected into the ''Command'' field. If you are unsure of the full path to the tool, use the ''Browse'' option to navigate the file system to find the application executable. For example, we might want to add a menu option to launch the ''gedit'' editing tool. To do so we would enter ''GEdit'' into the ''Name'' field and ''gedit'' into the ''Command'' field. The ''Comment'' field provides a place to enter optional descriptive text which will be displayed if the mouse pointer hovers over the menu option.
A menu item may be hidden or deleted entirely. Hide a menu item simply by turning off the toggle next to the item in the menu configuration dialog. Delete an item by right clicking it in the menu configuration dialog and selecting ''Delete'' from the popup menu.
<hr>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<td width="20%">[[Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels|Previous]]<td align="center">[[Ubuntu Desktop Essentials|Table of Contents]]<td width="20%" align="right">[[Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets|Next]]</td>
<tr>
<td width="20%">Configuring the Ubuntu Desktop Panels<td align="center"><td width="20%" align="right">Enhance your Ubuntu Desktop with gDesklets</td>
</table>
<hr>