Preferences
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WPrefs.app is the heart of the configuration process in Window Maker. Present
version is 0.45.
After installing Window Maker and running it for the first time, the WPrefs icon
is already docked. It's the one with the GNUstep logo in the background and a
few tools in the foreground.
Double-clicking on this icon opens the WPrefs.app window.
On top of this window, there is a row of icons, each one corresponding to a
group of setting options. Most of them, if not all, are supposed to work with
desktop environment such as KDE or GNOME, as soon as Window Maker was compiled
with the right configure options. Check the README and INSTALL files.
There is a checkbox for balloon help on the bottom left of the WPrefs.app
window. Most of this writing comes from the content of this powerful help.
Clicking the second icon allows to select the window handling
options.
Clicking on this icon opens a panel allowing to define the defaults
placement and properties of windows in the workspace.
- Window placement:
You can use the sliders around the screen representation to modify the original
placement.
The gadget tells Window Maker the way to order windows on the screen:
random, manual, cascade and smart.
Automatic is the default.
- Edge resistance:
To set the edge resistance and whether it resists or attracts.
According to the selection, windows resist or attract when moved against other
windows or the edges of the screen. The slider defines the threshold.
Some applications may cause the title bar disappearing at the top of the screen,
the window being too high, setting the edge resistance to "0" may solve the
problem.
- Checkbox:
Obviously to open dialogs in same workspace as their owners.
- Opaque move:
Clicking on opaque move icon defines if the window will be moved with its
contents or if only a frame will be displayed.
- When maximizing:
This option allows the window to cover (or not) icons or dock when maximizing.
The first icon, starting from the left hand side, concerns the way windows get
their focus, activating them.
- Input focus mode:
Two choices are available:
Manual : click on the window to set keyboard input focus.
Auto : set keyboard input focus to the window under the mouse pointer.
- Install colormap in the window:
Checking an option, installs the colormap in the window either that has the input focus
or that is under the mouse pointer.
- Automatic window raise delay:
Setting the delay (in msec) for automatic window raising
- Checkboxes:
Choosing if a new window is automatically focused or preventing an application
from receiving the focusing click.
This panel allows to set menu scrolling speed and submenu alignment.
Two checkboxes are used to define:
- if the submenus open inside the screen instead of scrolling
- if off-screen menus scroll when the mouse pointer is moved over them
This is where to set icon or miniwindow handling options.
- Icon positioning:
This area defines the place where a miniwindow or an icon will be
displayed: bottom, top, right, left...
- Checkboxes:
Either to auto-arrange icons or to keep miniwindows
omnipresent in all workspaces.
- Iconification animation:
Miniaturization animation style offer four choices: shrinking/zooming, spinning/
twisting, 3D-flipping or none.
Icon size:
Selects the size of the icons shown when a window is miniaturized or for
application icons. DockApps usually assume a 64x64 tile, so it's probably
a good idea to leave it at that size, unless you won't be using them.
Various types of information are defined in this panel.
- Size display:
A little box informs about position and style of a window when
resizing it. This information is displayed according to your choice, in the
center of the screen, the center of the window...
- Position display:
Same information as above but when moving a window.
- Workspace border:
From version 0.63.0 you can set a small border for the workspace. It allows to
easily access the clip (for instance) when windows are maximized.
- Show balloon text for:
Selecting checkboxes display balloon text for:
incomplete window titles, miniwindow titles, application or dock icons, internal
help.
- Checkbox:
If selected, raises a window when switching focus with keyboard.
This panel is used for adding the paths where to search icons and pixmaps.
The panel to define navigation features within the workspace.
- Workspace navigation:
Selecting the first icon allows switching to first workspace when switching
past the last one and vice-versa.
Selecting the second icon allows window dragging between workspaces.
Selecting the third icon allows creating a new workspace when switching past
the last one.
A fourth icon allows to define where to display the workspace name when opening
it.
- Dock and clip:
It's the place to enable/disable dock and clip.
This panel is the area where to set icon slide speed, shade animation speed,
smooth scaling and titlebar style.
Animations and sound are also defined there.
- Icon slide speed:
Selecting the left icon gives the slowest result, selecting the right one gives
the fastest.
- Shade animation speed:
Same as icon slide
- Smooth scaling:
If selected, neutralizes pixelization effect on background images.
The side-effect is to slow down backgrounds images loading.
- Titlebar style:
To choose a more or less "NeXTish" titlebar.
- Animations and sound:
Selecting animations icon enables animations for window miniaturization,
shading...
Selecting superfluous icon enables ghosting of dock and explosion animation for
undocked icons.
Selecting sounds icon enables support for sound effects played for actions like
shading and closing a window.
- Dithering colormap for 8bpp:
For 8-bit display, it's the place where to enable dithering and to change the
number of colors to reserve either for applications or for Window Maker.
The Default setting often gives the best result.
In this panel the applications menu and the commands to launch them can be
defined.
This panel has been changed in version 0.63.0. It now displays the actual menu
thus allowing direct editing.
This can be done, only if the menu is in property list format.
Menu in plain text format can't be edited in WPrefs.
Check the README file in the Window Maker directory on how to use one or the
other.
Many actions in Window Maker have predefined keyboard shortcuts.
These actions mainly concern windows and workspaces.
Modifying, adding or removing shortcuts can be done in this panel.
Defining a shortcut can be done interactively, capturing the key combination.
This is the area to set mouse speed and double-click delay.
Mouse button bindings are defined there and can be disabled or enabled.
The default setting binds right mouse button to the applications menu, middle button
to window list menu and left button to windows selection.
Of course, with a two buttons mouse, the middle button binding doesn't work.
However, on some OSes pressing both buttons at once gives the same result
as the one obtained with middle button.
Starting from version 0.65.0, the mouse wheel can be used to switch
workspaces.
Mouse grab modifier represents the keyboard shortcut to use for actions like
dragging windows with the mouse or clicking inside the window.
Meta (Alt) is the default.
Windows, menus and icons can have their own background texture.
In this panel, everything related to the appearance of the GUI can be configure.
Texture, color, menu style, title alignment can be fully customized.
Using this panel implies some knowledge.
Seven options are available:
- Disabling miniwindows (useful when using with KDE and GNOME)
- Using or not xset
- Saving session on exit
- Using SaveUnder in different objects
- Using Win style cycling (added from version 0.63.0)
- Disabling confirmation panel for the kill command
- Disabling cycling colors highlighting of icons
If needed, the defaults configuration file found in $(HOME)/GNUstep/Defaults and
called WindowMaker can be edited by hand.
This file is a database with a property list syntax.
When selecting an option in WPrefs.app, it's written down into this file.
When modifying this defaults file, it's very important to follow the syntax.
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