To conclude this mini series on KDE 4 I'm going to let you on a few tips and tricks I've picked up in the course of my explorations. Note that all comments apply to Kubuntu 9.10 and KDE 4.3. You distro mileage may vary!


Desktop Search
"Pervasive searching" allows you to search the contents of your files in the same way that Google searches the contents of websites but activating Nepomuk and Strigi in System Settings / Advanced / Desktop Search didn't do anything for me, so I searched out the answer and found it here. After a few straightforward tweaks Nepomuk started indexing ...




Task Manager Tweaks
Task Manager isn't just cashew-controlled. Right-clicking on it gives you a even more settings, amongst them the ability to group, sort and stack open tasks so, for example, instead of this ...


you can have this ...





Plasma and Panel Themes
Want to change your Desktop theme? Don't go to System Settings / Advanced / Desktop Theme Details! Yes, yes, I know it's got a button to Get New Themes but it won't do you any good. You can add new themes, you can select them but you simply can't apply them. I wasted ages trying to figure out why Apply stayed greyed before finally discovering the place to go is Desktop Settings under the desktop cashew.

Don't go here ...


Go here!




Krunner Kraziness
Krunner -- invoked by hitting Alt + F2 -- is a quick and useful way to kick off programs but it has a ton of other functions too. You'll start to get the idea if you click on its Settings button ...


Amongst other things you can use it as a calculator ...


... a unit convertor ...


... a website launcher ...


... or simply click the System Activity button to see what's eatiing your CPU.


But wait, there's more! Add the plasma-runners-addons package and you'll get spell-checking, contacts lookup and assorted other goodies.



Zooming Desktops
Linux has had multiple desktops since Adam was a cowboy but under KDE 4 you can have multiple-multiple desktops. Confused? Bear with me ...

Start by setting just one desktop under System Settings / Desktop / Multiple Desktops. Now click on the desktop cashew and choose Zoom Out. You'll get something like this ...



Note how that central menu conveniently covers half the window controls making it impossible to zoom back in! Nice. (Actually, the trick is to click and drag on the background. You can move it around that fixed central menu so you can get back out. Phew!)

On the central menu choose Add Activity. Pow! A new desktop appears.



You can now zoom in and configure this one with whatever settings and widgets you like, completely independent of the first desktop. I find this great for switching to a widget-free workspace but going backwards and forwards via the cashew / Zoom Out / Zoom In route is a pain. And the shortcut (under cashew / Shorcut Settings) doesn't work on Kubuntu either so I configured my own:

• Click the cashew and choose Shortcut Settings.
• Find Next Activity and click the arrow head under the Alternate column.
• Select Custom, click the None button, then hit the keys you want to use. (I chose Meta + RightArrow.)

If you don't like shortcut keys, add the Activity Bar widget (cashew / Add Widget). That'll put a mouse-clickable activity bar on your desktop, but forget to put it on both!

(Of course you don't have to restrict yourself to a single desktop to for this or even a single activity. I've just done so to make this illustration a little clearer.)

That concludes this three-part tour of KDE 4, but if you have a favourite tip or tweak I'd love to hear it. Maybe we could do a Part IV!


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