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Gnome Shell Extensions for Fedora 15, Open Suse 11.4, Arch Linux

S Ranjith              

Fedora 15 Released. The original Gnome 3 Rocks….!!!!. But you need some tweak to adapt it to your working environment. Calling the overlay mode eveytime is not a very good option when you working on a live environment so gnome extensions will help you to simplyfy your work more easy.

Some Essential commands to Tweak Gnome Shell in Fedora 15

nm-connection-editor – To edit your network devices and set connections.

gnome-session-properties – To set some applicaitons like tomboy notes, avant window navigator in the startup .

The Dconf Editor

Edit the various properties in gnome shell.To install

yum install dconf-editor

To get the Seconds and date in the clock Start the dconf editor and  Change the values in org>gnome>shell>clock.

Also you can tweak other settings.

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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

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 case

And 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.

After install this extension open Nautilus and navigate to ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/[email protected] (.local is a hidden folder so press CTRL + H to see it), open the “extension.js” file and replace the following: “const YAHOO_ID = ‘AUXX0010’;” (it’s on line 48 for me) with the YAHOO weather ID for your city.
To get your city’s Yahoo ID, go to http://weather.yahoo.com/, and enter your city/zip code and when you find it, look for the orange “RSS” icon on the right. Hovering this icon, you’ll see your code – copy it and replace the “AUXX0010” code in the extension.js file.
In the same file (just one line above the Yahoo weather ID) you can also change the temperature units – look for “const UNITS = ‘c’;“.
After you finish editing the extension.js file, save it and reload Gnome Shell or log out and log back in.

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/

.

Even more extensions

GNOME Shell Extensions Repository By fpmurphy

There is a complete set of repository created by fpmurphy. In his blog you can find instructions how to create a gnome shell extension. Most of these extensions are dicussed above. Some great expermental ones are there.

Like Eureka Menu (An all in one extension) will create a menu like applications in the gnome 2. and you will get a favourite applicaitons icons on the panel.

      workspacesmenu.tar.gz                    21-May-2011 14:49  114K  Add workspaces menu to status area
      wolfram.xml                              16-May-2011 08:18  1.8K  Search Provider - Wolfram
      themeselector-0.9.tar.gz                 16-May-2011 08:18  2.1M  Add GUI-based theme selector
      superuser.xml                            16-May-2011 08:18  1.2K  Search Provider - SuperUser
      poweroptions-2.0.tar.gz                  16-May-2011 08:18  1.6K  Add Poweroff and Hibernate options to user menu
      poweroptions-1.0.tar.gz                  16-May-2011 08:18  1.0K  Add Poweroff and Hibernate options to user menu
      placesbookmarks-1.0.tar.gz               16-May-2011 08:18  1.5K  Add Places and Bookmarks menu to panel
      panellaunchers.tar.gz                    16-May-2011 08:18  1.5K  Add launchers for dash favourites to panel
      noa11y.tar.gz                            16-May-2011 08:18  409   Remove AllY status icon from panel status area
      moveclock.tar.gz                         16-May-2011 08:18  1.0K  Move clock/calendar to status ares of panel
      iconplacesbookmarks-1.0.tar.gz           21-May-2011 21:45  344K  Add Places and Bookmarks menu to panel
      helloworld1.tar.gz                       16-May-2011 08:18  1.7K  Hello World example demonstrating message catalog support
      gnote.tar.gz                             16-May-2011 08:18  1.1K  Move gnote menu to panel status area
      gnome_theme_packaging_spec_d2.txt        16-May-2011 08:18  6.7K  Shell Theme Packaging Specification - Draft 2
      gnome_theme_packaging_spec_d1.txt        16-May-2011 08:18  5.2K  Shell Theme Packaging Specification - Draft 1
      gnome-shell-list-extensions              16-May-2011 08:18  2.5K  Python utility to list extensions
      eureka-2.1.tar.gz                        26-May-2011 20:39  3.8K  Eureka-2.0 + iconized Activities button and no A11Y menu
      eureka-2.0.tar.gz                        23-May-2011 17:30  3.5K  Eureka-1.0 + workspaces menu
      eureka-1.0.tar.gz                        21-May-2011 11:26  2.7K  Add integrated applications menu and launchers
      applicationsbutton.tar.gz                16-May-2011 08:18  1.9K  Add Applications menu to top bar
      activitiesbutton.tar.gz                  16-May-2011 08:18  1.3K  Add icon and/or modify Activities button styligng

Gnome Shell extension Crash the Shell.

This is often happen. IF you are testing with some experimental extensions or if you not installed an extension properly the shell crash. Dont Panic

Just delete the corresponding extension from ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions directory and reload the shell. Also you can find extensions on /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/ this directory if you installed the rpms.

More extensions coming… Lot of people working on that . Keep watching Blogs like ,webupd8,fpmurphy.

 

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