After only one day using Cairo Dock I was totally amazed by the jaw dropping effects. I am sure anyone looking for a change will never consider looking back.
About Cairo Dock
But as always I will try to show everyone an in depth look at the majority of features offered with Cairo Dock, and hopefully I can convince many people to switch like I did. So enjoy all of the cool Cairo Dock screenshots with some of the elegant new Xubuntu and Xfce wallpapers.
Enable Compositing
If you experience problems when launching Cairo Dock simply ensure that your visual effects and compositing are enabled. You can choose to start Cairo Dock with or without OpenGL if you happen to experience video card problems.
Installing Cairo dock is no trouble at all, and there are many ways to do so. If you are using one of the more popular versions of Linux you should be able to find Cairo Dock in the repositories using the suggested package manager for your distribution.
Ubuntu Installation
Try Cairo Dock and see if your current dock even is even comparable. Here are a few commands to help people that want to install Cairo dock from the command line on your Ubuntu system.
$ sudo apt-get install cairo-dock
After installing Cairo Dock the launcher can usually be found in your applications menu, usually inside the accessories section. Additionally there are also a few ways of launching Cairo Dock from the command line, or having Cairo Dock run automatically when you login to your desktop environment. Simply follow the commands below to run Cairo Dock from the command line with the options you find necessary.
Launch With No Backend
This will launch Cairo Dock without using a backend.
$ cairo-dock
Launch With Cairo Backend
Use this to launch Cairo Dock using the Cairo backend.
$ cairo-dock -c
Launch With OpenGL Backend
Use the command below to l aunch Cairo Dock using OpenGL backend.
$ cairo-dock -o
When you first start Cairo Dock the default theme will be enabled which is fairly simple but still quite elegant. Each theme will offer a truly different experience. New themes will use alternative icons, effects, viewing style, and much more.
Customize Your Dock
To customize, switch, or save your themes you can simply right click somewhere on your dock. Inside the pop-up menu open the Cairo Dock tab, then click configure, or manage themes. Your themes options can always be found inside the themes tab of the Cairo Dock configuration window. You can sort themes by rating or sobriety to help find the ones you prefer.
If you want to change the background behind your dock you can, and there are a few different options so you can be a bit creative. To adjust the background first open your Cairo Dock configuration window again and turn your settings to advanced mode, then click on the background category from the left panel. Here you can select an image to use for your background, or you can choose two colors to use as a gradient.
Background Options
If you choose to use an image they can be stretched or tiled. Dock edges and corners can also be adjust for thickness, color, etc.
To adjust your icons look in the icons category of your Cairo Dock preferences window. Cairo Dock offers the ability to use the current themes icon set, your system icons, or you can specify icon images for each dock item manually. You can also zoom icons to the level your prefer, or change their order in your dock. Even adjust the font, color, and size of your icon labels.
If by chance you have more than one dock, each dock can have different views, icons, and effects applied to it. There are a variety of cool icon effects available to choose from, storm, fire, stars, rain, storm, snow, and fireworks. Icons can also bounce, rotate, blink, and pulse. The available views for your docks are panel, curve, slide, rainbow, parabolic, or 3D plane. These views can also be applied to sub-panels as well.
The list of available applets in Cairo Dock is quite extensive, and they serve many purposes. Applets can be added to interact with many of your favorite applications, and there are several others which are simply helpful. Here are a few of the ones I found useful, an application menu, folders, mail, netspeed, Pidgin, terminal, weather, and many more.
Inside the configuration settings window you will find an enormous amount of options, I will try to point out some of my favorites. Your configuration options can be arranged in simple mode or advanced mode using a button on the bottom left of the configuration options screen.
Simple Or Adnvanced Settings
When using simple mode the categories will be listed in tabs along the top of the window. When using advanced mode all settings categories will be listed in the panel along the left side of the window. Advanced mode does show some additional hidden settings so try that if you can’t find what you are looking for. Advanced mode will also give you a little more control over effects and behaviors when interacting with your dock
What Links Here
Helpful Links
Tags: Cairo Dock, compiz, desktop, effects, panel | Posted in Applications
