topic title: Suggestions to Tidy the Main Menu
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#1
All suggestions relate to ~/.icewm/menu


Section Tools
Sub-section Editors
prog"Ted" /usr/local/Ted/Ted.png /usr/local/bin/Ted
This is not displayed and seems to be a redundant entry as there is a .desktop file that places an entry in"Applications-->Office-->Ted rtf text processor"


Section Tools
Sub-section Editors
As this will hold a console editor, this sub-section may be better located as a sub-section of"Terminal Apps"
Example

Code: Select all

menu"Terminal Apps" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png {
    menu"Editors" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/accessories-text-editor.png {
        prog"Nano" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png roxterm -e nano
    }
}


Section Tools
Sub-section"Shells"
Is there a need for this sub-section? Are the apps in it widely used? In view of the technical name ("Shells") are users more likely to use the main menu terminal entries in Applications-->Accessories and Applications-->System Tools? If the sub-section is retained, as the apps it holds are all CLI, this entire sub-section may be better located as a sub-section of"Terminal Apps"
Example

Code: Select all

menu"Terminal Apps" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png {
    menu"Shells" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/categories/applications-system.png {
        prog"Bash" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png urxvt -e bash --login
        prog"Urxvt" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png urxvt -tr -sh 65 -fg white
        prog"Urxvt Tabs" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png urxvt -pe tabbed
    }
}


Section Tools
Sub-section"Programming"
Is there a need for this sub-section? Are the apps in it widely used? If they are retained, as they all open in a CLI terminal, this entire sub-section may be better located as a sub-section of"Terminal Apps"
Example

Code: Select all

menu"Terminal Apps" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/utilities-terminal.png {
    menu"Programming" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/categories/applications-development.png {
        prog"Python" python.xpm roxterm -e python2.7
        prog"Tclsh8.5" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/glines.png roxterm -e tclsh8.5
        prog"TkWish8.5" /usr/share/icons/gTangish-2.0a1/32x32/apps/gnect.png roxterm -e wish8.5
    }
}


If any of the above are adopted there is another suggestion. Within Sections"Terminal Apps" and"Tools", the sub-sections (and apps within them) be listed in alphbetical order.
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#2
Thanks for removing the redundant entry for"Ted" in 13.1. Hopefully the other ideas might be adopted in a future release.
anticapitalista
Posts: 5,956
Site Admin
Joined: 11 Sep 2007
#3
Anyone else has suggestions how to tidy the main menu (icewm/fluxbox/jwm in full or base)?
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#4
Posting this one again here to keep the menu tidy ideas in one topic
(Originally 1st part of suggestion-re-control-center-and-its-applications-t4382.html)

In JWM+ROX there is an entry in the spine of the main"Start Menu" to launch the Control Center. This is very useful and and is an obvious location for it. A similar entry would be beneficial in IceWM+ROX.
Posts: 765
rust collector
Joined: 27 Dec 2011
#5
I like the idea of having cli apps in its own submenu...
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#6
Posting this one again here to keep the menu tidy ideas in one topic
(Originally 2nd part of suggestion-re-control-center-and-its-applications-t4382.html)

There are lots of entries in Applications-->Preferences-->...
that duplicate the entries provided in Control Centre. There are so many they overspill the screen here. The only way to see some of them is by scrolling the menu. The attached screen shot illustrates my point.

I would guess that most of them are"home-grown" and not created by app installers. Most of these could be could be removed, reducing the cluttered look and the repeated generic icons. The update WM menu entries might also be redundant (In IceWM there is Desktop-->IceWM-->Update Menu (Auto).

It might be possible to reduce the total number of entries to approximately 3 or 4.

One incidental benefit of removing these entries is that it will also begin clearing the surplus entries in Applications-->Other...
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#7
In Applications-->Accessories...
The entry for metapackage-installer seems misplaced here.

In Applications-->Internet...
The entry for exoodles seems misplaced here.


It might be better if they were in the same sub-menu as synaptic, thereby grouping the installers together in one place. As the .desktop file are in /usr/share/applications/antix I am guessing that they are"home-grown" and thereby easy to move.

The following .desktop file displays metapackage-installer in Applications-->Preferences

Code: Select all

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=gksu install-meta
Icon=metapackage-installer
Name=Metapackage Installer
Name[de]=metapackage-installer
Name[pt]=instalar pacotes meta
Name[pt_BR]=instalar pacotes meta
Name[ru]=Мета-инсталлятор
Categories=Settings;


The following .desktop file displays exoodles in Applications-->Preferences

Code: Select all

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=exoodles
Exec=roxterm -e su -c exoodles
Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/exoodles.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Settings;
A resized/renamed icon was obtained from
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://findicons.com/icon/441765/system_software_installer?id=442235"
linktext was:"http://findicons.com/icon/441765/system ... ?id=442235"
====================================
. This should be placed in /usr/share/pixmaps.
Posts: 2,238
dolphin_oracle
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
#8
Put an antixcc on the icewm root menu, similar to how it appears in fluxbox.
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#9
dolphin_oracle wrote:Put an antixcc on the icewm root menu, similar to how it appears in fluxbox.
Good idea. Have a look four posts up, I have just suggested it again. Glad to see we both think its wanted.
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#10
In Applications-->Accessories...
The entry for Root Terminal seems misplaced here.

It might be better if it in the same sub-menu as ROXTerm, thereby grouping them together in one place.

The current Root Terminal entry runs x-terminal-emulator. This opens a very small window with extremely tiny text and no obvious way to change the defaults. It is uncomfortable and difficult to use like this. For casual command line users it is not user friendly. It would be preferable to open ROXTerm as root. Changing its defaults is both obvious and easy. This leads to a more comfortable, consistent experience for casual command line users.

The following .desktop file displays ROXTerm (root) in Applications-->System Tools. It should be named roxterm-root.desktop and gksu.desktop should be deleted.

Code: Select all

[Desktop Entry]
Name=ROXTerm (root)
Comment=Opens a terminal as the root user, using gksu to ask for the password
Exec=gksu roxterm
Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/gksu-root-terminal.png
Type=Application
Categories=Application;System;

Edit
Changed"Name=ROXTerm (Root)" to"Name=ROXTerm (root)"
Last edited by SamK on 27 Jun 2013, 07:05, edited 2 times in total.
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#11
In Applications-->Accessories...
The entry for live-usb might be dispensed with.

The reasoning here is similar to those given for removing entries in the Preferences menu i.e. it is already available via the Control Center. It seems consistent to remove the live usb .desktop entry from the Accessories menu.
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#12
In Applications-->Games...



The entry for njam does not display an icon.
njam.desktop points to an invalid icon. A couple of ideas to deal with this...

Edit the .desktop file to directly point to the valid icon in situ

Code: Select all

...
Icon=/usr/share/games/njam/pixmaps/njamicon.xpm
...
Or

Copy the valid icon /usr/share/games/njam/pixmaps/njamicon.xpm to /usr/share/pixmaps/
Edit the .desktop file to use it

Code: Select all

...
Icon=njamicon
...



The entry for xmahjongg does not display an icon.

xmahjongg.desktop points to an empty icon value.
An icon was obtained from Gnome Games
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/gnome-games/2.31/"
linktext was:"http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/ ... ames/2.31/"
====================================

and renamed xmahjongg.png.

Copy the icon to /usr/share/pixmaps/
Edit the .desktop file to use it

Code: Select all

...
Icon=xmahjongg
...
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#13
In Applications-->Graphics...

The entry for Presentations does not display an icon.

xsw.desktop points to an empty icon value.
An icon was obtained from Puppy
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?search_id=248921172&t=40914"
linktext was:"http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 72&t=40914"
====================================

and resized/renamed xsw.png. This seems to be the graphic image included in the xsw package that is displayed on the title bar of some WMs.

Copy the icon to /usr/share/pixmaps/
Edit the .desktop file to use it

Code: Select all

...
Icon=xsw
...
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#14
In Applications-->Internet...

The entry for smbc does not display an icon.

smbc.desktop points to an empty icon value.
An icon was obtained from
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://www.clker.com/clipart-244404.html"
linktext was:"http://www.clker.com/clipart-244404.html"
====================================

and resized/renamed smbc.png.

Copy the icon to /usr/share/pixmaps/

Is the Internet menu the appropriate place for this app? It is essentially a file manger. Might it be better place it in the same area as Midnight Commander, ROX-Filer and SpaceFM i.e. System Tools?

smbc.desktop to create an entry in System Tools

Code: Select all

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Samba Commander
Exec=roxterm -e smbc
Icon=smbc
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=System;

Alternative suggestion

As smbc is an interative CLI app might it be suited to moving from Applications-->Internet (or System) to Terminal Apps-->Network? If so the .desktop file may be deleted and an entry added to ~/.icewm/menu

Code: Select all

...
prog"Samba Commander" /usr/share/pixmaps/smbc.png roxterm -e smbc
...
Posts: 1,028
SamK
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
#15
In Applications-->Office...

The entry for Phonebook does not display an icon.

phonebook.desktop points to an empty icon value.
An icon was obtained
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://www.iconspedia.com/icon/phone-book-icon-27821.html"
linktext was:"http://www.iconspedia.com/icon/phone-bo ... 27821.html"
====================================

and altered/resized/renamed phonebook.png.

Copy the icon to /usr/share/pixmaps/

The .desktop file currently displays the text for the menu entry as"antix-phonebook.desktop". The following displays it as"Phonebook".

phonebook.desktop

Code: Select all

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Phonebook
Exec=phonebookantix.sh
Icon=phonebook
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Office;