Tweaking gnome 3.2 gnome-shell is essential for everyday computing. Need Desktop Icons, Need all buttons, install themes, change wallpapers frequently etc. are essential needs. For new users the overlay mode of gnome shell, dash is little bit confusing first time. Also need the Alt+Tab, Weather extension, System Monitor, Calendar integration, Places menu, Applicaitons menu are must needed extensions for gnome shell.
There is a fantastic developer called fpmurphy developed lot of great gnome extensions You can read his blog for development of custom extensions.
There is another fantastic blog called Webupd8 They are collecting all type of gnome shell extensions.
The Gnome tweak tool on Fedora 16
This is a great tool to change the interface,fonts,themes and some other settings in Gnome Shell. To install Gnome tweak tool in Fedora 15 just type
su -
yum install gnome-tweak-tool
in the terminal as root. Then after install start the tool by just Alt+F2 and type gnome-tweak-tool .you will get the screenshots and various options in the tool website. This is a must software for gnome shell and gnome 3.
Gnome Shell Extensions
In the fedora repository there are a set of extensions.For that first install the Common files .
yum install gnome-extensions-common
Gnome Shell extension Alternate Tab Behaviour
Lets you use classic Alt+Tab (window-based instead of app-based) in GNOME Shell. GNOME Shell groups multiple instances of the same application together. This extension disables grouping.
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-alternate-tab
Gnome Shell extension Alternative Status Menu
For those who want a power off item visible at all the time, replaces GNOME Shell status menu with one featuring separate Suspend and Power Off. Adds the ability to hibernate as well.
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-alternative-status-menu
Gnome Shell extension Auto move Windows
Lets you manage your workspaces more easily, assigning a specific workspace to each application as soon as it creates a window, in a manner configurable with a GSettings key.
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-auto-move-windows
Gnome Shell extension Dock for minize windows
This extension Shows a dock-style task switcher on the right side of the screen permanently. But it has a drawback it will reside on the side permenent. No auto hide feature
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-dock
Gnome Shell extension Drive Menu
Adds a menu in the system status area that tracks removable disk devices attached and offers to browse them and eject/unmount them.
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-drive-menu
.
Gnome Shell extension Native Window Placement
This extension employs an algorithm (taken from KDE) for layouting the thumbnails in the overview that more closely reflects the positions and relative sizes of the actual windows, instead of using a fixed grid.
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-native-window-placement
.
Gnome Shell extension Place Menu
This extension Adds a menu in the system status area that resembles the Places menu from GNOME 2.x
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-place-menu
.
Gnome Shell extension Theme Selector
Gnome shell user theme selector with preview. You will get a tab called themes in the overlay mode [Press the Window Key]. the themes in the directory ~/.themes .You can download lot of gnome 3 themes from deviant art. Or you can download the theme pack from here. And extract all the themes to ~/.themes
themeselector-0.9.tar.gz 16-May-2011 08:18 2.1M Add GUI-based theme selector
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-theme-selector yum install gnome-shell-extensions-user-theme
.
Gnome Shell extension Windows Navigator
Allow keyboard selection of windows and work-spaces in overlay mode in GNOME Shell. Switch to overview mode (press the windows or alt+f1 key) and press the alt key to show numbers over windows. Press any number to switch to the corresponding window.
Install
yum install gnome-shell-extensions-windowsNavigator
.
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Install Gnome shell Extensions Manually
More extensions are available But you want to download them or clone from git and put them into the folder
~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions
If this folder is not exist just create this folder by
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions #just in caseAnd reload the shell to activate these extensions. To just reload press Alt+F2 and type ‘r’ press enter. But in Fedora 15 the shell crash often when you reload the shell more than one. So then you want to logout and log back in again to get the extension working.
Gnome Shell Extension MediaPlayer
A shell extension to controll rythembox from gnome shell. You can get the play, pause, shuffle buttons etc..
cd && git clone https://github.com/horazont/gnome-shell-extensions-mediaplayer mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/ scp -r gnome-shell-extensions-mediaplayer/[email protected] ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/.
Gnome Shell Extension Weather.
This extension will display the current weather status from yahoo weather api. On the drop down box it will display Current situation and today, tomorrows forecast. This is a great tool to keep your local weather.
cd git clone https://github.com/simon04/gnome-shell-extension-weather.git scp -r gnome-shell-extension-weather/[email protected] ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/ This will create a folder caled gnome-shell-extension-weather in your home folder. you can keep it for futre use or just delete it.
Gnome Shell Extension System Monitor Applet
This extension will show the system monitor (CPU Load, Memmory Load, Swap usage, Network usage) in the top panel of gnome 3. On the drop downlist you will get option to enable disable the display and current status summery. A great usefull extension for gnome 3.
To Install
mkdir ~/git_projects cd ~/git_projects git clone git://github.com/paradoxxxzero/gnome-shell-system-monitor-applet.git scp -r~/git_projects/gnome-shell-system-monitor-applet/[email protected]~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions
Then install the schema (important) replace /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas with /usr/local/share/glib-2.0/schemas if your prefix is /usr/local
sudo cp ~/git_projects/gnome-shell-system-monitor-applet/org.gnome.shell.extensions.system-monitor.gschema.xml /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas cd /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas sudo glib-compile-schemas . # Don't forget the dot!And restart gnome-shell (Alt + F2 -> r) or logout and log back in.
Gnome Shell Extension Work Space Indicator
This extension will create an indicator in the gnome shell panel. This indicator will show the workspace number currently you are working.
install Workspace Indicator GNOME Shell extension, run the following commands:
cd && git clone https://github.com/erick2red/shell-extensions.git cd shell-extensions scp -r [email protected]/ ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/.
More gnome shell extensions for fedora 16 are included in the default repository itself. Just go Applicaitons > System Tool > Add or Remove Software and search gnome-shell in it you will get a great list. You can directly install them from there. And use the gnome-tweak-tool to enable or disable the extensions.
The installed extensions are stored in the directory
/usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/
