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.
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.
Related articles
- GNOME-Shell ‘Ubuntu Ambiance’ theme is striking (omgubuntu.co.uk)
- How to Move the Close Button in Gnome-Shell to the Left Like Ubuntu? (geekum.wordpress.com)
- Gnome 3 – Gnome Shell – Pros and Cons – Problems to be Solved (ranjith.zfs.in)
- Fedora 15 – Bringing You The Latest In Linux (makeuseof.com)
- Fedora 15: More than just a pretty interface (go.theregister.com)
- Fedora 15’s five best features (zdnet.com)
- Fedora 15 “Lovelock” Has Been Released (techie-buzz.com)
