The panel

KDE Frequently Asked Questions
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# Chapter 5. The panel

5.1. How do I add applications to the panel?
5.2. Why is the panel clock showing the wrong time?
5.3. Is it possible to run kpanel in a non-KDE-compliant window manager?
5.4. Is it possible to change the K button of the panel to another picture?
5.5. How do I get a taskbar external to the panel in KDE 2?

5.1. How do I add applications to the panel?

There are several ways to add an application to the panel:

Using the panel menu

  Perhaps the easiest method is to use the entry Panel->Add application in the panel menu (the menu that appears when pressing the K button on the panel). The menu shows all installed KDE applications. To add a button to the menu, simply click on the application.

Using the file manager

  You can also simply drag a `.desktop` file from a window of the file manager to the panel.

5.2. Why is the panel clock showing the wrong time?

On some Red Hat® systems, the clock in the panel always shows the time in GMT. This is a bug in the Red Hat® setup. To solve it, just create this symbolic link: ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo /usr/lib/zoneinfo.

5.3. Is it possible to run kpanel in a non-KDE-compliant window manager?

Yes. Try starting it with something like this: kpanel `-no-KDE-compliant-window-manager`.

5.4. Is it possible to change the K button of the panel to another picture?

KDE 1.x

  Look for `$`HOME`/.kde/share/apps/kpanel/pics/go.xpm` and `$`HOME`/.kde/share/apps/kpanel/pics/mini/go.xpm` and replace them. Do not forget to flatten the replacements to one layer, or else you will not see anything. Create the directories if they do not already exist. Then restart kpanel.

KDE 2

  Look for `$`HOME`/.kde/share/apps/kicker/pics/go.png` and `$`HOME`/.kde/share/apps/kicker/pics/mini/go.png` and replace them. Do not forget to flatten the replacements to one layer, or else you will not see anything. Create the directories if they do not already exist. Then restart Kicker.

5.5. How do I get a taskbar external to the panel in KDE 2?

You can't if you are using KDE 2 final. It is now implemented in the current CVS snapshot, though. Read more about it at http://dot.kde.org/972916165.

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