(Welcome to the friendly desktop Kubuntu 19.04!)
Here's once again traditional article to help new users use Kubuntu 19.04 for their first time. This article suggests you some stuffs after you have installed Kubuntu successfully. I divided the materials into 3 parts, about file manager, System Settings, and workspace. You will find here quick guides to setup Dolphin as you wish, create new shortcut keys, and rearrange desktop to your needs, and more. In the end, I added short workaround to lock your folders safely using Kubuntu built-in Plasma Vault. Have fun with Kubuntu. Happy working!
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1. Your File Manager
- Ctrl+M menubar
- Sorting & Grouping
- Tooltip preview
- Global setup
- Add folder shortcuts
(Dolphin with sort by type, grouping, list view, globally for all folders)
Show menubar: simply press Ctrl+M. Press it again to hide menubar.
Sorting & grouping: for example, to sort by type and group them, select menubar View > Sort by > Type, and then select menubar View > Show in groups.
Tooltip preview: you may like tooltips just like on Windows Explorer, and you have it on Dolphin as well. Go to menubar Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Behavior > Miscellaneous > enable Show tooltips > OK. See.
(Tooltip really helps)
Global setup: to make above sorting & grouping applied to all folders, go to menubar Settings > Configure Dolphin > General > Behavior > select Use common properties for all folders > OK.
Quick access: for example, you love your Downloads folder, so drag that folder and drop it under Home shortcut on left panel. Another example, you access Pictures folder often, so drag and drop it under Home on left panel.
2. Your System Settings
- Startup applications
- Show desktop Super+D
- Rectangular Shift+Printscreen
- Single Click and Double Click
- Disable Effects and Compositing
(How to change shortcut keys)
Startup applications: go to System Settings > Workspace > Startup and shutdown > Add program > type the name of program, e.g. KMail > select and OK > repeat for other programs you wish to run automatically every start.
Super+D: or you may spell it Win+D, make Show Desktop function
Shift+Printscreen: go to System Settings > Workspace > Shortcuts > Custom Shortcuts > Screenshots > Rectangular Region > there by default you will see Meta+Shift+Printscreen > change it into Shift+Printscreen > Apply > Reassign > OK.
Single-click and double-click: recent Kubuntu places double-click to open file, unlike old Kubuntu did. If you prefer single-click (yes, I also prefer this), go to System Settings > Workspace > Desktop Behavior > Workspace > Click Behaviour > select Single-click > OK.
Disable top-left corner effect: go to System Settings > Workspace > Desktop behavior > Screen edges > Kubuntu places corner by default on top-left, so right-click the top-left box there > select No Action > OK. Now when you push mouse cursor to top-left of screen, no window will "fly" anymore.
Disable compositing: if you wish to disable all animations, drop shadows, and translucency, go to System Settings > Hardware > Display and monitor > Compositor > unmark Enable compositor at startup > OK.
3. Your Workspace
- Dark theme and Light theme
- Menu list style
- Icons on desktop
- Icons on panel
- Language
- Speed monitor panel
- Holidays on calendar
- KNotes
(Kubuntu workspace with icons on desktop, clock widget, and speed monitor panel)
Switch theme from Dark to Light: go to System Settings > Workspace Theme > Desktop Theme > choose Breeze (the light one) > OK.
List-style menu: right-click start menu > Alternatives > Application Menu > Switch.
Icons on desktop: simply drag-and-drop one application to desktop area and choose Link Here and repeat for another application.
Icons on panel: just like above, but put it on area between start menu and task manager.
Language: go to System Settings > Regional Settings > Language > Add languages... > select a language from the choices, e.g. Indonesia > click Add > language added > logout > login > now your user interface should changed into language you selected.
Speed monitor panel: simply create a new empty panel on top > add Network Monitor to it > make it auto-hide.
Holidays on calendar: right-click clock > Configure Digital Clock > Calendar > enable Holidays > now Holidays appeared as new menu > show Holidays > select region (country) you wish, e.g. Indonesia > OK > logout > login > now your calendar should show holidays correctly according to country selected. For example, if you follow this, you should find 17 August to be Indonesian Independence Day ("Hari Proklamasi Kemerdekaan").
(This is interesting, right?)
Bonus: Lock Your Folders!
Do you know you can lock folders with password on Kubuntu? See a Lock icon on system tray? That's Plasma Vault for you. The system is simple: create a new Vault folder > place files and folders you want to lock in there > lock it > now everything you put in there is locked and hidden unless you enter the Vault password.
This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.