Folder View +, 11.2

English Applications
#1

Hi,

Have been trying to find a situation already described that matches what I see here on this desktop.

A new user. By default, I get the “Desktop” shown as a “Folder” containing the icons for things like Firefox.

I right-click to bring up Desktop settings and I click “Folder View”. Apply and The icons appear outside the “Folder” similar to KDE3 under 10.2.

The “Folder”, however, is still displayed along with the separate icons. On the “Folder”, I can release a little side-bar. There is an “X” on it. I click it and the “Folder” goes away.

Now… The separate Icons are not good given the picture I put there as background so I want to go back to the default and put them back in the “Folder”.

If I right-click etc and then select “Default”, icons go away but no “Folder” appears.

Elsewhere, I saw advice to rm plasma-appletsrc plasma-desktop-appletsrc plasma-desktoprc in ~/.kde4/share/config, logout and login again.

Voila! The “Folder” re-appears. This behaviour seems to be a bug no?

Also, there was by default in KDE3/10.3 desktop a nice “Trash” icon and facility that’s not there in KDE4/11.2. How to get that back?

Also, what happened to “kjobviewer” so that I can keep track of my printjob?

Cheers

#2

You can add both Trashcan and Folder view, by right clicking on your desktop and selectin Add Widgets. From there look for and add any widget that you like.

#3

Right click add widget, add folder view
config folder to desktop
lock widgets

#4

Hmmmm…

Well, I tried these as written and they didn’t work out.

Different “failures” occurred but I eventually got the effect I was after.

This business of using the term “Folder View” for what gives two distinctly different affects is counter-intuitive to me.

When applied to the “right-click on the Desktop”, selecting “Folder View” gives me the icons associated with the “XXX.Desktop” files in ~/Desktop.

If I want to see those same items but displayed within a “Folder”, I have to add a widget called “Folder View” and tell it to display the contents of ~/Desktop.

So now, I have two “Folders” showing. The first is some of the contents of the home dir the other, shows the ~/Desktop dir.

If I now right-click, Desktop Settings/Folder View settings (depending on what the current setting is) - it is currently “Desktop” - and select “Folder View”, my icons reappear (I expect that) but the “Folder” that was displaying the ~/Desktop stuff is still there but is now empty and has the title “home”.

Right click and select “Folder View” settings and select “Desktop”, the icons disappear and the “Folder” that was empty and labled “Home” now contains some of the contents of the home dir.

The Wastebin widget that was added and then dragged into the ~/Desktop “Folder” is now floating around on its own.

Clearly, the role of ~/Desktop is more than meets the eye. The the default configuration is “Desktop” with a “Folder View” widget displaying the contents of ~/Desktop. I can go to “Folder View” (via right click) and have those icons appear standalone on the desktop but cannot reverse that behaviour simply by selecting what it was by default, ie “Desktop”.

I can get back to it by selecting “Desktop” (again via right click) then adding the “Folder View” widget and pointing that widget to ~/Desktop. See above for what happens if I select “Folder View” again.

#5

If using the folder view widget you should be using the Default Containment Desktop Activity

If you want the Desktop to be like the Desktop of old, you should use the Folder View Activity

Quite simple really.

#6

OK. Point taken. I still find it somewhat counter-intuitive but there you go.

Shortly after my previous post, I was experimenting some more and the whole thing crashed. I’ve sent a bug report.

Yeps. If I want my ~/Desktop as Icons on the desktop, use “Folder View” on the Desktop space. I can still have “Folder View(s)” of other places by adding a “Folder View” widget and they seem happy to co-reside on the desktop.

As I mentioned before, I realise that the ~/Desktop concept has more relevance than first meets the eye. well, more mine at least.

Intuitively, I would expect that when I add a “Folder View” widget, it would allow me to tell it which folder I wanted it to be a view of. Instead, it defaults to the home dir and I then have to change it, as an extra task, to point to where I want it to go.

Not knowing that that second step was mandatory led me to some of the confusion. If I had not tried a right-click inside the “Folder View”, I would never have seen the option to tell it which directory to use.

I see no point in using that option to “browse” since I have something like Dolphin that is much more useful. No, I would use it to give quick access to apps and stuff in particular directories so I can’t see why I’m not given the option of where I want it to point to when I create it.

Of course, being the greedy bugger I am, I also want to be able to change its target after the fact! :slight_smile:

It would also be nice to be able to control the size of the “Folder View” widget. It seems to have a default minimum regardless of how much is actually being displayed. On my screen, I can get only four of them on the whole desktop.

Post wishes to the KDE folks I guess.

Thanks again for taking the interest. You have helped me realise a crucial conceptual element of the KDE 4 environment.

#7

You can change the folder size no problem. Unlock widgets
Hover to the right or left side of the folder until you get the actions handle pop out. It has a X to delete the folder - a resize and a options spanner.

Target location for the folder is easily changed too.

I struggling to see your issue being anything other than lack of experience here.:slight_smile: