MX Linux Forum

This is not a request to solve any problem. This is an expression of my great appreciation . I am a huge fan of the vertical panel on the left and the decision to make this the default solution. Congratulations to whoever designed this panel in MX Linux with XFCE !

I can't imagine using anything with a horizontal panel. Given that monitors available at normal prices usually have a 16:9 aspect ratio, and anything with a different aspect ratio is much more expensive, I can't imagine continuing to lose horizontal space.

I put my panels horizontal to the top on all my PCs for ergonomical reasons. Most programs have their UI and most of their options in the top bar, so that just makes sense to me.

MX's vertical default is pretty nice, too, though. Poor Windows 11 users don't even get to choose anymore by default

That was Jerry3904's idea and design from the very first MX 14 release.

I'm sure he appreciates the compliment!

It was, I do.

Agreed, it seems a much more natural movement of the hand/mouse...to the left and right(to/from the panel), than up and down.

Wirtualny wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2024 11:21 am I can't imagine using anything with a horizontal panel.

I have had the opposite experience. I can't imagine ever going vertical.

Panel > Add New Items...
I tried to add Network Monitor to a vertical panel. and the results were not satisfactory compared to the horizontal panel. Similar story with some others. It's easier to run out of icon space quicker when vertical too (shorter dimension). My conclusion was that Information is not shown as well vertically. I moved to horizontal soon after. I spent ages (days) trying to work out how to make a bottom horizontal bar, but the details escape me now. All I remember is the friendlyness of the customisation procedure could be drastically improved (all I wanted was a bottom horizontal bar, and it was unnecessarily difficult).

I think if MX-Linux ever made horizontal the default, it would satisfy more users, more of the time.

user101 wrote: Sun Nov 17, 2024 8:04 pm
I think if MX-Linux ever made horizontal the default, it would satisfy more users, more of the time.

Lol, them's fightin' words!



The thing is, there is such strong logic for almost any layout that debating it is pretty much futile.. I've tried vertical left, wasn't my thing but I agree with the logic. I find being right-handed that a bottom panel and right side Dock feels natural but certainly not 'better' than anything else..

I used to have title of the application on the icon in the panel, that would not work with the vertical panel, in the meantime I mostly switched to only icons so the reason keeping me from using the vertical panel disappeared.

I put my panels horizontal to the top on all my PCs for ergonomical reasons. Most programs have their UI and most of their options in the top bar, so that just makes sense to me.

That would *definitely* not work for me. I have my browser tabs on the top, when I move the mouse quickly to the top it goes and rests right on the tab, if there was another menu there I would need to hunt for the tab. Basically now I just move the mouse all the way up and then left-right to select a tab, if there was another menu on top I would have to hunt for vertical location of the tabs too, there's nothing ergonomical about that.

user101 wrote: Sun Nov 17, 2024 8:04 pm I spent ages (days) trying to work out how to make a bottom horizontal bar

@user101 No doubt you learned a heap, that's a good thing to learn, but ......

I hope you've discovered since then that we have a homegrown tool built for that very purpose, and we provide a direct link to it for all first-time account logins. It's called the the Welcome screen and the 2 bottom items would have nearly taken you directly to the very thing you needed which only requires a few clicks to make it happen

user101 wrote: Sun Nov 17, 2024 8:04 pm .... I moved to horizontal soon after. I spent ages (days) trying to work out how to make a bottom horizontal bar, but the details escape me now. All I remember is the friendlyness of the customisation procedure could be drastically improved (all I wanted was a bottom horizontal bar, and it was unnecessarily difficult).

I think if MX-Linux ever made horizontal the default, it would satisfy more users, more of the time.

The Tool is MX-Tweak. You can choose to switch between horiz and vert panel with 2 clicks. Not difficult at all.

As m_pav has said, the Welcome Screen shows you how.

Also, the MX FAQ shortcut that is ON YOUR DESKTOP will have the answer.

Thanks guys for the tips.

historical reference:
I think my 'learning' procedure was like this:

* I had turned off the welcome screen early on. Probably first startup.
* I developed a dislike for vertical bar/panel after I discovered its shortcomings, weeks or months later, or even a year later: I'm not exactly sure.
* I found out that right-clicking on different parts of the panel resulted in different results, many of which were useless and not what I was looking for. Confusing. Now if I check the panel, if I click on the very left-end or very right-end of it I can see Panel Preferences... Here the only options are vertical, horizontal and deskbar. Back when I did this, I remember it did horizontal but the horizontal ended up being on the top of the screen, and I wanted it on the bottom (like Windows). I don't know why it was so hard. If I check MX-Tweak now it gives you a choice of Horizontal Bottom, but not here in this context menu (why?), and it's not obvious to go looking for MX-Tweak to begin with. I thought I could just drag it without all the fuss, and now I can see that you can, after you unlock it, but I remember things differently. It was not as friendly as Windows, even though I would sooner ingest poison than go back to Windows now.

This could be my fault, or maybe MX-LInux was different back then. I think I may have started at 18 or 19, I don't remember.

Long story short: I did not find it obvious or friendly as Windows (ugh, I hate to say it). Similar issues with clock adjustment, etc. The UI itself doesn't seem to allow easy direct access...you have to search for it elsewhere. I can sort of understand why: various parts of Linux are made by so many different people and integration and cohesion is not always the best.

MX Tweak was created because some things are not so easy from the native XFCE settings. We can't change XFCE's own context menus.

That's why this panel orientation question is in the FAQ which is displayed on your desktop.

Unfortunately many users just don't read instructions even when they are readily at hand. Welcome screen has been there since (I think) MX15 or 16 16 or 17.

I just changed to the default (vertical to the left) the other day. I had to add a 2nd panel horizontally for the items like clock, cpu, network etc. just so the vertical panel wouldn't constantly jump around when the network values change. Strange but true.

davidy wrote: Mon Nov 18, 2024 6:28 am I just changed to the default (vertical to the left) the other day.

I think my very first MX install back in the 18.2 era ended up with my moving the panel horizontally out of habit. At some point around an install of either 19 or 21 I decided to leave the panel vertical on a temporary machine and I discovered it made running remote protocols like VNC and RDP so much better. Displays tend to be wider these days and a lot of online content is skinnier than it used to be, which the kids these days call "optimized for viewing on smartphones". This means that top and bottom real estate is a lot more valuable to me than anything on the far left or far right of the screen.

Hence, the MX vertical panel is in a great place to get out of the way of whatever I'm trying to display on the rest of the screen.

The left vertical panel is also great for KDE Plasma, Linux Mint, Linux ..., Windows ... I could go on forever.

For Gnome, I'm used to the left vertical "dock" as well.

@user101
I think that the panel is generally fairly self-explanatory with the exception that it's recommended (stability?) to use MX-Tweak when moving the panel.

Also, three (3) methods (AFIK) to modify the panel:
1 - Whisker Menu → Panel [which opens Panel Preferences]
2 - MX-Tweak → Panel and or - - Panel again. [Again use when moving the panel]
3 - R-Click on the panel → Panel → Panel Preferences
["Add Items" can be selected, but I usually use "Panel Preferences" out of habit.]

I found out that right-clicking on different parts of the panel resulted in different results, many of which were useless and not what I was looking for. Confusing.

You may find # 1, or # 3 easier because you may have been occasionally R-Clicking on a Panel Item, Separator, Launcher, Docklike Taskbar, Action Button, or something else that was added to the panel, e.g. a Whisker Menu Item, and selecting Properties.

I check the panel, if I click on the very left-end or very right-end of it I can see Panel Preferences.

I'm probably incorrect about this, but I thought that previously if you R-Clicked on a "Panel Item" (or similar), that the "Panel Preferences" were not available, and that you had to move the cursor between the Panel Items, so that you could R-Click on the Panel and not the Panel Items. Maybe there were changes to this? Anyway.

You probably know this now, but you can:

In Panel Preferences → Display – Uncheck "Lock panel" and drag.
Although it should be moved with MX-Tweak.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the insightful discussion & tips.

My main problem with vertical is simply less room & the inability to show things like Network Monitor properly. I think I may have had other issues with it that I don't remember, but that one sticks out for me. I gave it a fair go but it wasn't for me.

MXRobo, I noticed my panel is unlocked (I'm not sure why, heh). When unlocked it allows right-clicking on the leftmost or rightmost part of the panel (the 'grab handles'?), which shows Panel Preferences.... If the panel is locked, you are correct that getting to Panel Preferences will not work.