MX Linux Forum

Posted: **Sat Oct 30, 2021 6:44 am**

I thought it might be useful and fun to run a thread on small and handy tips and tricks that are not in the documentation.

Posted: **Sat Oct 30, 2021 6:50 am**

So here's what made me think of this: I often want to turn off the monitor but leave everything else running. A web search quickly gave me code that works:

Code: Select all

sleep 1 ; xset dpms force off

I mapped it to a free Fn key like this in the keys file:

Code: Select all

# turn off monitor
none F12 :Exec sleep 1 ; xset dpms force off

To restore the monitor: press Esc, move the mouse or tap the touchpad.

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:04 am**

What if you like to use the standard window decorations, but to remove only the titlebar from apps that have their own minimize/maximize/close buttons?

Here's my tip for Firefox:
Right click on the toolbar and select Customize toolbar
Uncheck the Title Bar checkbox.

Edit your ~/.fluxbox/apps file.
Under:

Code: Select all

[app] (class=Firefox)

add the line:

Code: Select all

[Deco]	{0x6}

And now you've got this - Firefox with borders, grip and handle on the bottom, but without the titlebar.

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:59 am**

Great thread, @Jerry3904 !!

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 7:10 am**

Hi @Paul.., thanks! Have you had a chance to look at MX-21 Fluxbox? I'd be interested in your reaction, if yes.

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 7:17 am**

Not yet, @Jerry3904 ...will get a moment during this coming week...I was a big fan of crunchbang#!...they also had a wonderfully helpful forum (while it lasted).

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:22 am**

I already shared this on the forum, but here it goes:
A on-liner script that displays the current weather in your location, in your language:

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geoip="$(wget -O- -q http://geoip.ubuntu.com/lookup)" ; area="$(sed -r 's/.*<RegionName>(.*?)<\/RegionName>.*/\1/g' <<< $geoip)"; corrected_area=$(echo "${area// /_}"); langu=$(locale | grep LANG | cut -d= -f2 | cut -d. -f1); l1=$(echo $langu |cut -d_ -f1); curl http://wttr.in/$corrected_area?lang=$l1

@kobaian
-great tip, any for users that have netbooks with tiny screens!

P.

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 2:34 pm**

PPC wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:22 am @kobaian
-great tip, any for users that have netbooks with tiny screens!

Thanks!
So if we are talking about the low-screen-resolution netbooks, why not get rid off the titlebar for all applications and move the minimize/maximize/close buttons to the panel?

All you need is just to add to the tint2-panel buttons with the following commands:
fluxbox-remote minimize
fluxbox-remote maximize
fluxbox-remote close

Here are the buttons I have added to the top tint2-panel on my own EEEPC-netbook:

Code: Select all

#-------------------------------------
# Button 2
button = new
button_icon = /usr/share/icons/Papirus-Dark/16x16/actions/xfce-wm-minimize.svg
button_text = 
button_tooltip = Minimize
button_lclick_command = fluxbox-remote minimize
button_rclick_command = 
button_mclick_command = 
button_uwheel_command = 
button_dwheel_command = 
button_font_color = #000000 100
button_padding = 0 0
button_background_id = 0
button_centered = 0
button_max_icon_size = 16

#-------------------------------------
# Button 3
button = new
button_icon = /usr/share/icons/Papirus-Dark/16x16/actions/xfce-wm-maximize.svg
button_text = 
button_tooltip = Maximize
button_lclick_command = fluxbox-remote maximize
button_rclick_command = 
button_mclick_command = 
button_uwheel_command = 
button_dwheel_command = 
button_font_color = #000000 100
button_padding = 0 0
button_background_id = 0
button_centered = 0
button_max_icon_size = 16

#-------------------------------------
# Button 4
button = new
button_icon = /usr/share/icons/Papirus-Dark/16x16/actions/xfce-wm-close.svg
button_text = 
button_tooltip = Close
button_lclick_command = fluxbox-remote close
button_rclick_command =
button_mclick_command =
button_uwheel_command = 
button_dwheel_command = 
button_font_color = #ffffff 100
button_padding = 0 0
button_background_id = 0
button_centered = 0
button_max_icon_size = 16

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:06 pm**

Interesting, let's look at that!

Posted: **Mon Nov 08, 2021 3:38 am**

autohide the tint2 panel:
https://darknetmatrix.blogspot.com/2021 ... panel.html

Posted: **Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:02 pm**

I made this one available over at the antiX forum:

If you want to read internationa news headlines (with clickable links to the news):

Code: Select all

curl getnews.tech | sed -e '1,2d' | sed 's/getnews.tech/http:\/\/getnews.tech/g'

For more details (and code to a yad GUI script to access news, and how to get local news), you may want to check out the OP over at https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic ... nd-applet/

P.

Posted: **Mon Feb 28, 2022 8:15 pm**

So I realized the other day that I always open 3 apps when I log in: browser, email and file manager. It seemed to me that I should automate that to save myself a bunch of keystrokes. After snooping around, I found success by using the apps file.

--file manager(for me thunar), I moved it to W-3 and right-clicked the titlebar > Remember > workspace. That added this in the appropriate stanza in apps:

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[workspace] {3}

--email (thunderbird), same thing only putting it in W-2 with result in apps file:

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[workspace] {2}

--browser (vivaldi): this browser has swallowed up the titlebar, but by putting it last in the list of the three autostart apps, it automatically gets placed in the remaining empty workspace (I read that somewhere). In startup"

Code: Select all

# start basic apps
thunderbird &
thunar &
vivaldi &

Very cool: I login, wait a second picking my teeth and--voilà! Ready to go:

Posted: **Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:14 am**

I use gkrellm for system info instead of (big loud) conky, but still don't like it interfering with most of my wallpapers (exception posted below with invisible theme not in standard collection). Went through the man gkrellm and found exactly what I wanted:

1) change the launch command to

Code: Select all

gkrellm -w

2) change the location of the "slit" in ~/.fluxbox/init to upper right corner (or anywhere else you like):

Code: Select all

session.screen0.slit.placement:	RightTop

Now when I want to see system info I only need to move the cursor to where the slit is.
-----
This will not work if using the MXFB dock, which itself is located in the slit. If you try to do that, you will end up seeing the dock and gkrellm side-by-side--not a pretty sight!.

Switch to another dock (tint2, plank, etc.) or no dock at all (my preference).
-----

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:11 am**

Do you know, that there is another trick that helps forcing your Rofi in MX-Fluxbox to act more like a menu form the other DE's?
Just put in your config.rasi file into the configuration{} brackets the following lines:

Code: Select all

    me-select-entry:	"MouseSecondary";
    me-accept-entry:	"MousePrimary";
    hover-select: 	true;

Now moving mouse over a list item is hovering it, and you can choose and accept the item with the one click.
If you want not only to launch Rofi with your Super-Key but also to abandon it the same way add also this line:

Code: Select all

    kb-cancel: "Escape,Super_L";

And after that your Rofi behaves exactly like any other Start Menu you know from the other systems and Linux-DE's.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:53 am**

Neat idea, thanks!

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:18 am**

Thanks for bringing this feature to our attention.
The 'me-accept-entry' does not work well in rofi-theme-selector - or at least, not on my system. The theme-selector window simply disappears on leftmouse click, so unable to confirm theme change by alt+a keybind. And sofar couldnt find out what 'me-select-entry' rightclick action brings...
The 'hover-select' setting + the usual 'enter' hit remains a sweet and proven combination.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:28 am**

ceeslans wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:18 am Thanks for bringing this feature to our attention.
The 'me-accept-entry' does not work well in rofi-theme-selector - or at least, not on my system. The theme-selector window simply disappears on leftmouse click, so unable to confirm theme change by alt+a keybind. And sofar couldnt find out what 'me-select-entry' rightclick action brings...

Ok. For rofi-theme-selector I just use my keyboard arrows and I don't touch the mouse at all. And probably after MX-Rofi-Manager was published I wouldn't have to use this tool any more at all. And if I even would, It is only a configuration tool, not the main tool, that's why I can tolerate its strange behavior.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:23 am**

ceeslans wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:18 am The 'hover-select' setting + the usual 'enter' hit remains a sweet and proven combination.

And what about accepting by double-click?

Code: Select all

 me-accept-entry:	"MouseDPrimary";

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 10:40 am**

kobaian wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:23 am
ceeslans wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:18 am The 'hover-select' setting + the usual 'enter' hit remains a sweet and proven combination.
And what about accepting by double-click?
Code: Select all
 me-accept-entry:	"MouseDPrimary";

hover-select + MouseDPrimary works fine in rofi, but not in rofi-theme-selector...
But I prefer the 'enter' hit action, it's quick&easy - that I'm familiar with anyway

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 11:00 am**

Jerry3904 wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 6:50 am So here's what made me think of this: I often want to turn off the monitor but leave everything else running. A web search quickly gave me code that works:
Code: Select all
sleep 1 ; xset dpms force off
I mapped it to a free Fn key like this in the keys file:
Code: Select all
# turn off monitor
none F12 :Exec sleep 1 ; xset dpms force off
To restore the monitor: press Esc, move the mouse or tap the touchpad.

Excellent tip. When I'm away from the computer, I leave it on but turn of the LED's on the keyboard (fn+F5) but have to reach around the back of the monitor for the power button (thanks HP for it's location). This makes it easier to just select F12 instead.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 11:09 am**

I prefer the look of an icon/action button free window title bar, so here's my trick.

In the init file, remove these entry values:

for the action buttons on the left (stick) and right (minimize, maximize, close)

Code: Select all

session.screen0.titlebar.left:	
session.screen0.titlebar.right:

for the program icon on the left side change this value to false

Code: Select all

session.screen0.tabs.usePixmap:	false

You can then use the keybindings to minimize, maximize, close any window. If you want to stick a window, then right click on the window's title bar and select stick from there. (I've never used this feature but I'm sure there's a keybinding you could create)
I prefer to mouse over the program on the toolbar (tint2) and either left click to minimize the window or right click to close it.

and as a bonus tip, if you want to move the title bars text from it's center position, open your overlay file and add this entry. (values are left, center or right)

Code: Select all

window.justify: Right

*note, this overrides any style you select, so if you only want to change it for the style your currently using, then edit that styles theme.cfg file and go to the window section.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:00 pm**

siamhie wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 11:09 am I prefer the look of an icon/action button free window title bar, so here's my tip.

Your tip is interesting, but rather not for me.
I think the window title is the least needed function of titlebar and it does nothing to me more than using space on my screen. It seems even more useless, when you consider the fact, that the window name you've got also on your tint2- or fluxbox-panel. So its main function is to double the information you already know. So without the buttons the title-bar looses any sense for me.
I love Fluxbox, but there are a couple of things i don't like about it. And the one is, that the titlebar buttons have to be squares. I didn't managed them to be flat but wide rectangles that will allow me to have a very thin titlebar without the title, but with some still clickable buttons like that from this one xfwm4 theme: https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1016255. But the problem iwith Fluxbox is that by decreasing the height of the titlebar you also decrease the width of the buttons. It is a pity for me, because Fluxbox, as very lightweight window manager, works very good on old netbooks and laptops with low-resolution screen, where every pixel of space counts. But the design of the titlebar is made worse for old netbooks than XFCE.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:26 pm**

kobaian wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:00 pm
siamhie wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 11:09 am I prefer the look of an icon/action button free window title bar, so here's my tip.
Your tip is interesting, but rather not for me.
I think the window title is the least needed function of titlebar and it does nothing to me more than using space on my screen. It seems even more useless, when you consider the fact, that the window name you've got also on your tint2- or fluxbox-panel. So its main function is to double the information you already know. So without the buttons the title-bar looses any sense for me.

I changed it from tip to trick but basically I wanted to have a clean looking title bar. I'm still searching on how to remove the text from within the title bar.

Posted: **Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:48 pm**

siamhie wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:26 pm I changed it from tip to trick but basically I wanted to have a clean looking title bar. I'm still searching on how to remove the text from within the title bar.

I don't know. As I tried doing something like that some time ago, I just put the same color on the titlebar and the title font.

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:29 am**

kobaian wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:48 pm
siamhie wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:26 pm I changed it from tip to trick but basically I wanted to have a clean looking title bar. I'm still searching on how to remove the text from within the title bar.
I don't know. As I tried doing something like that some time ago, I just put the same color on the titlebar and the title font.

Thanks @kobaian

. That worked out perfect on this style. I copied the same hex value from the focused and unfocused title bar value for the text.

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2022 5:41 pm**

kobaian wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:00 pm ...I love Fluxbox, but there are a couple of things i don't like about it. And the one is, that the titlebar buttons have to be squares. I didn't managed them to be flat but wide rectangles that will allow me to have a very thin titlebar without the title, but with some still clickable buttons like that from this one xfwm4 theme: https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1016255...

@kobaian
I was fiddling around and discovered by accident that fluxbox allows the same window button to appear multiple times.
Editing the init file to this

Code: Select all

session.screen0.titlebar.right:	Minimize Minimize Minimize Maximize Maximize Maximize Close Close Close

allowed me to pack 3 minimise, maximise and close buttons next to each other and make a thin title bar with "long buttons" like this

thin-title.png

I know it's clunky and inelegant and not exactly what you were looking for, but anyway...

Posted: **Thu Dec 22, 2022 11:23 am**

Melber wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 5:41 pm
kobaian wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:00 pm ...I love Fluxbox, but there are a couple of things i don't like about it. And the one is, that the titlebar buttons have to be squares. I didn't managed them to be flat but wide rectangles that will allow me to have a very thin titlebar without the title, but with some still clickable buttons like that from this one xfwm4 theme: https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1016255...
@kobaian
I was fiddling around and discovered by accident that fluxbox allows the same window button to appear multiple times.
Editing the init file to this
Code: Select all
session.screen0.titlebar.right:	Minimize Minimize Minimize Maximize Maximize Maximize Close Close Close
allowed me to pack 3 minimise, maximise and close buttons next to each other and make a thin title bar with "long buttons" like this
thin-title.png

I know it's clunky and inelegant and not exactly what you were looking for, but anyway...

That's a good idea! I'll try it out.
I've got an ASUS EEEPC netbook with only 1024x600px resolution screen. I'd like to preserve the minimize maximize and close buttons, but I'd like to have the titlebar as slim as possible. But 2 or 3px squares are unclickable for me.
Because it is not my main machine or even not my main mobile laptop it doesn't have to be very elegant.

Posted: **Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:11 am**

For the few people who use gkrellm, which for me is default on MXFB:

I installed the plugins gkrellm-reminder and gkrellmoon. The second was just for fun, but the first is actually very compact and useful. In this capture it is located near the bottom where the cursor is pointing:

gkrellm-reminder.png

A right-click opens the config window:

reminder_setup.png

On the settings tab, I found that selecting the Popup reminder worked best for me, and I could position the small window right next to the plugin location.

Very small, very easy and very effective.

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:23 am**

I want now and then to check the monitors but usually don't want to be seeing it all the time. Solution for me is to use a toggle:

Code: Select all

#check monitors
Ctrl m :Exec toggle-mx gkrellm

Now I can easily look at them when I have a reason to check (e.g., wondering about battery level).

Posted: **Sat Jan 21, 2023 7:36 am**

I use some of the mxfb-goodies every day, so put it in the rootMenu:

Code: Select all

    [submenu] (Goodies)
    	[exec] (Weather) {weather_cli}
    	[exec] (Xkcd) {bl-xkcd}
    [end]

Other ideas have been proposed elsewhere in this FB Forum, I seem to remember, but this is good for me because it's simple to enable.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:56 am**

OSX "3 dots style" Window Manager theme ( _mx-debian-blue-rounded ) - this style is common for KDE but I had to modify one of the MX21 themes for Fluxbox.

~/.fluxbox/styles/ -- ( https://1-DOT.com/tech/3dots-wm-theme.zip )

https://i.imgur.com/t0etVlY.jpeg

I also modified the MX Fluxbox default WM theme (MX-Comfort-Dark) but this 3-dots mod needs to be fixed because it puts an unacceptable white border around the Fluxbox Dock. If you want to fix it, here is a download link:

~/.fluxbox/styles/ -- ( https://1-DOT.com/tech/3dots-wm-theme2.zip )

Moderator: image changed to link, please read the forum rules.

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