Customization of Your Computer
From ArkWiki
So you've managed to install Ark and do some important tasks. But things probably aren't setup exactly to your liking. You are probably used to double-clicking (remember, our default Ark Linux settings use single clicks), and might want to set up a desktop background (known as a wallpaper) that is more pleasing to your eyes. You may even want to set up a different screen saver (the animation that comes on if you leave your computer unused for too long).
You might want to adjust the size of your panel. What is the panel? Windows users will relate this to their taskbar, and Macintosh users might relate this to their desktop menubar. Basically, it's the bar with the Kmenu that shows all your open programs. Right click in any empty part of your panel and click on Configure Panel:
You will now see the Configure Panel window:
Size will adjust the height of the panel-the larger the setting, the higher up on your screen the top border will be. The length adjusts how long the panel will be. Position will affect where on your screen will appear. Feel free to experiment with these settings. To confirm a change and see it happen to your panel, click Apply. When you're satisfied, click OK.
Next step is to adjust the applications that show on your panel. Right click on it and point to Remove From Panel, then point to Application. Here you can remove applications that you feel you don't need frequently enough to be there. If you remove something by mistake, don't worry, you can always put it back. Right click on your panel and point to Add Application to Panel. You can browse all the programs on your Kmenu to add anything you like to your panel. When you're done adding applications, you can put your arrow on one, hold down the mouse (or touchpad) button, and drag the application around on your panel to put it where you want. When you find the right spot, release the mouse (or touchpad) button to drop the application there.
Right click the panel again, and this time choose Add Applet to Panel. You now now see the Add Applet screen:
Browse through these applets. Double click one that you find interesting. If you don't want it later, or you add one by accident, you can remove it by right-clicking on an empty spot in your panel, pointing to Remove From Panel, and choosing Applet.
Now it is time for us to change the background and screen saver. Right click on an empty space on your desktop and choose Configure Desktop. On the first screen we see, we can change our background picture:
You can choose from a variety of backgrounds that you may like. If you can't find one, you can install more through Kynaptic (see Installing/Updating Software for details). Once you find one you like, click Apply.
Next we can adjust how many virtual desktops we have (not discussed in this walkthrough; I will consider this for the next version). Click on Multiple Desktops:
You can name your virtual desktops, and can adjust how many you need.
Next, we can change our screen saver. Click on Screen Saver and browse through the available screen savers. Once again, if you don't find one you like, you can install more-just look up xscreensaver in Kynaptic (see Installing/Updating Software for details).
You can set how long the computer will wait after you last use the computer before it turns on the screen saver, and even set it to require a password (we will set a password in another section of this walkthrough).
You can also set these things from Mission Control, and can rerun the setup wizard from when we first boot into Ark. Click Kmenu>Mission Control:
Click Desktop & Appearance. You will see a page with several options:
The things here that we have used already are Background, Screen Saver, Panel, and Settings Wizard. You can explore the other options here, but they don't do as much. Probably the only other thing of interest here is Themes, but that won't be covered until a later version of Ark Linux.
The next place we will go is the KDE Control Center. Click Kmenu>KDE Control Center:
You will now see the KDE Control Center:
Click the Plus sign (+) next to Appearance and Themes and choose Style:
Click Widget Style and choose the one you like the most, then click Apply (you can stay with the one you're already using if you want). Now click the minus sign (-) next to Appearance and Themes and click the plus sign next to KDE Components. Choose Session Manager:
Here we can set Restore Previous Session (when you shut down, Ark will remember what you have open and will open those things back up when you turn your computer back on), Restore Manually Saved Session (you must save your session on your own for it to restore your open programs on next boot), or Start With An Empty Session (it will not remember any open programs when you reboot your computer). Choose wisely based on what you want. You can adjust the other settings here if you wish. When you're done here, click the minus sign next to KDE Components and click the plus sign next to Peripherals, then click Mouse:
Here you can specify whether you're right handed (default) or left handed. If you specify left handed, you will left click when I say "right click", and you will right click when I say "click" or "left click". This will, however, make using your mouse easier if you are left handed and you choose left hand. You can also specify whether you will need to single click or double click to open files from your desktop. When you are done here, click Apply, then OK.
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