XFCE4 without panels

[pa...@quillandmouse.com]

Folks:

I'm trying to run XFCE4 with no (XFCE4) panels. I prefer polybar and
tint2. I've searched the internet high and low, and all the advice I
can find is old and doesn't work for the current (Debian 12) version.
Settings > Session and Startup etc. doesn't provide a way, and the
XFCE4 panel app won't allow you to delete the last (only) panel.

Anyone know how to start XFCE4 without the panels?

Paul

--
Paul M. Foster
Personal Blog: http://noferblatz.com
Company Site: http://quillandmouse.com
Software Projects: https://gitlab.com/paulmfoster

[Mike Castle]

I just tried this in a VM and it seemed to work.

>From a command line:
xfce4-panel -q
find ~/.config | grep panel

Remove the xfce4-panel.xml (I also removed the empty directory just
named panel.)

The lack of panels seems to have survived a reboot.

I don't know if it is sufficient for every variation involving saving
session state or what not. But might get you started in the right
direction.

If worst comes to pass, you might be able to put the xfce4-panel -q
command in a shell script that automatically launches when you log in.

Good luck!
mrc

[Roland Mueller]

XFCE4 panel ca be manually recreated by (as far as I remember) right-clicking into empty desktop space and then opening settings.

Other option is mentioned here: https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/getting-started:

Quote: "The panel will usually be started automatically as part of your Xfce session when you start the Xfce Desktop Environment. 

To manually start the panel, you can run xfce4-panel in a terminal."

After starting the new panel you should able to add items and these should appear the next time you start XFCE desktop.

[Joe]

Is this a matter of principle for the OP, or does the panel interfere
with something else? I have three panels, and for me they are the main
point of running a DE rather than just a window manager. But one of
them contains an analogue clock and nothing else (because I want it
wider than the other two panels), and if the OP just wants to get rid of
the program launchers and other widgets in the usual panel(s), this
could be done to satisfy the 'at least one panel' requirement. Or a CPU
monitor or something else useful if the clock isn't wanted. And it can
be set to auto-hide so you don't even see it unless you deliberately
tickle it.

--
Joe

[pa...@quillandmouse.com]

On Tue, 3 Oct 2023 17:20:01 +0100
Joe <j...@jretrading.com> wrote:

> Is this a matter of principle for the OP, or does the panel interfere
> with something else? I have three panels, and for me they are the main
> point of running a DE rather than just a window manager. But one of
> them contains an analogue clock and nothing else (because I want it
> wider than the other two panels), and if the OP just wants to get rid
> of the program launchers and other widgets in the usual panel(s), this
> could be done to satisfy the 'at least one panel' requirement. Or a
> CPU monitor or something else useful if the clock isn't wanted. And
> it can be set to auto-hide so you don't even see it unless you
> deliberately tickle it.

Motivation: I came from i3, where I had a "status bar" at the bottom
of the screen. I want that back, and I can use polybar for that. Since
I have a 1920x1080 monitor, and I want icons for my frequently used
apps on the left, vertically. Tint2 will do that. I use XFCE4 for two
reasons: 1) it is one of the least memory hungry window
managers/desktops environments, 2) it has a path toward Wayland, which I
would like to switch to some day.

I believe The XFCE panel will go vertical, but it doesn't work right. I
just want a row of icons, period. But I can't figure out how to make
that happen; I get huge spaces between the icons. If you know how
that's done, let me know.

[Joe]

I use the Third Option, the deskbar, which gives vertical panels at the
side and as far as I can see, no spaces between anything, unless you
actually place a separator. I use 36 pixels for the launcher panel and
44 pixels, on the other side, for open applications and notifications.
The Applications icon has to be renamed to no more than four letters,
as the text is horizontal in 36 pixels width, I call mine 'Main'. The
panels can be set to a fixed size or to autosize, and I keep the
right-hand one down a bit from the top. Some applications don't know to
keep the panel area clear, and if it's right at the top, I lose the
close widget as the panel stays on top of the application. The panels
can be set to autohide, but I prefer to keep them open all the time.

The analogue clock is 60 pixels wide to make it useful, and I leave it
unlocked. Wherever it is placed it will obscure something at some time,
so I leave it movable.

See if something like that works for you.

--
Joe

[pa...@quillandmouse.com]

On Tue, 3 Oct 2023 21:53:36 +0100
Joe <j...@jretrading.com> wrote:


> I use the Third Option, the deskbar, which gives vertical panels at
> the side and as far as I can see, no spaces between anything, unless
> you actually place a separator. I use 36 pixels for the launcher
> panel and 44 pixels, on the other side, for open applications and
> notifications. The Applications icon has to be renamed to no more
> than four letters, as the text is horizontal in 36 pixels width, I
> call mine 'Main'. The panels can be set to a fixed size or to
> autosize, and I keep the right-hand one down a bit from the top. Some
> applications don't know to keep the panel area clear, and if it's
> right at the top, I lose the close widget as the panel stays on top
> of the application. The panels can be set to autohide, but I prefer
> to keep them open all the time.
>
> The analogue clock is 60 pixels wide to make it useful, and I leave it
> unlocked. Wherever it is placed it will obscure something at some
> time, so I leave it movable.

Not sure what the "deskbar" is. However, I tried one last time to get
XFCE's panel to act right vertically on the left, it looks fine. So I
added polybar, and it's pretty much what I was looking for.

[Dan Ritter]

Rightclick on the panel, choose Panel Settings, turn off
automatic expansion.

-dsr-

[Joe]

On Tue, 3 Oct 2023 17:25:09 -0400
<pa...@quillandmouse.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Oct 2023 21:53:36 +0100
> Joe <j...@jretrading.com> wrote:
>
>
> > I use the Third Option, the deskbar, which gives vertical panels at
> > the side and as far as I can see, no spaces between anything, unless
> > you actually place a separator. I use 36 pixels for the launcher
> > panel and 44 pixels, on the other side, for open applications and
> > notifications. The Applications icon has to be renamed to no more
> > than four letters, as the text is horizontal in 36 pixels width, I
> > call mine 'Main'. The panels can be set to a fixed size or to
> > autosize, and I keep the right-hand one down a bit from the top.
> > Some applications don't know to keep the panel area clear, and if
> > it's right at the top, I lose the close widget as the panel stays
> > on top of the application. The panels can be set to autohide, but I
> > prefer to keep them open all the time.
> >
> > The analogue clock is 60 pixels wide to make it useful, and I leave
> > it unlocked. Wherever it is placed it will obscure something at some
> > time, so I leave it movable.
>
> Not sure what the "deskbar" is. However, I tried one last time to get
> XFCE's panel to act right vertically on the left, it looks fine. So I
> added polybar, and it's pretty much what I was looking for.
>

Good. On the panel dialog box, there is a dropdown which chooses
between vertical, horizontal or deskbar. Vertical and deskbar behave
slightly differently.

--
Joe