Description: NameBar puts the name list of the top-most maximized or the focused window in the gnome-panel so that it doesn't take up precious space elsewhere. It's meant to be used with maximus from ubuntu netbook remix, that removes the window border (alternatively you can just fiddle around with compiz decorating settings). Together with DockBar it works as an alternative to ubuntu netbook remix's window picker.
Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Matias Särs Namebar is licenced under GPL 3.0 or later.
Dust-ish theme is made from images taken from metacity theme Dust by Rico Sta. Cruz and Kido Mariano. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/DustTheme New Wave-ish theme is made from images taken from metacity theme New Wave by Anton Kerezov and. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/New_Wave Human-ish theme is made from images taken from Ubuntu's theme Human.
INSTALL - install python-gnome2-desktop $ sudo apt-get install python-gnome2-desktop - copy namebar.py to /usr/bin/ and GNOME_NameBarApplet.server to /usr/lib/bonobo/servers $ sudo cp namebar.py /usr/bin $ sudo cp GNOME_NameBarApplet.server /usr/lib/bonobo/servers - copy the content of themes/ to /usr/share/namebar/themes (or alternatively copy them to ~/.namebar/themes) $ sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/namebar/themes $ sudo cp themes/* /usr/share/namebar/themes - restart the gnome-panel $ killall gnome-panel - add Namebar applet to panel
You can run it in window (meant for debugging purposes): namebar.py run-in-window
Ubuntu packages: Scott Barnes (reeve) is kind enough to maintain deb packages for NameBar, though they are occasionally out of date. They are available in his repository. https://launchpad.net/~nekoreeve/+archive/ppa
FAQ Q: Why are the name of the program in a undreadable white color? A: You should change the color to something darker if you use a bright panel. Go to namebar's preference dialog and change the preference.
Q: How do I get to namebar's preference dialog? A: Right-click on namebar's handle (that's the dots or lines on the left of namebar). Choose preference from the menu. Sometimes you have to double-right-click the handle to get the menu, don't ask me why.
0.5 - Namebar now supports themes for the maximize/minimize/close buttons. - Three themes are included: Dust-ish, Human-ish and New Wave-ish - The buttons change depending on the state of the window shown in namebar (focused or unfocused and maxmimized or unmaxmimized). - Namebar can be customised to have different colored text if the window shown in namebar are focused or unfocused. The text can be normal or bold. - You can now bring up the window by clicking on namebar. - Lots of bugfixes!
0.3 - If NameBar is set to only show itself with maximized windows, then if there are one or more maximized windows on that screen, it shows the topmost of the maximized window, even if a non maximized window is on top of it. - Added option not to show minimize/maximize/close buttons. - Button layout are set according to metacity settings (gconf /apps/metacity/general/button_layout). - Preference dialog should work with gtk older than 2.14 (Hardy) now.
0.2 - It's possible to set the width of NameBar Applet from the preference dialog - Every change made in the preference dialog are supposed to take effect immediately now
I'm sorry, I've stopped working on NameBar. I have too little time for both NameBar and DockbarX, the interest for NameBar is low and Window Applets seems to do everything NameBar does anyway (and does some things better).
Aw man, that sucks :( I really think namebar is great. In combo with maximus and DockbarX it can't be beat for maximizing screenspace while maintaining usability.
I just tried upgrading to 10.10 with namebar and it stopped working.
Window Applets *is not* the same, I don't get the minimize/maximize buttons. :(
Anyone know of another replacement?
I really like dockbarx, global menu, and namebar.
I hope someday my panel will look like this:
Main Menu
DockbarX
Namebar (just the left side)
Global Menu (with all apps working like kde apps, firefox, etc.)
Namebar (just the right side) > System Tray (and/or Important App menus like Canocial is proposing)
a comprehensive system monitor menu (not yet developed)
Comprehensive Weather menu (not yet developed)
Date / Time (linked to the app of my choosing [ie. google calendar])
There might be a show desktop in there too even though I don't use it :)
Thank you so much. This is what I've been looking for.
One problem that seems to happen to me, when I uncheck 'Show minimize/maximize/close buttons', the name of the program also disappears. The name comes back only when I check show buttons.
Except this, everything is wonderful :)
Hello,
First, thank you for the wonderful idea and implementation. It does save a lot of space.
If it makes any difference, I am running ubuntu 9.10.
My problem (and the thing that eventually caused me to remove it from the panel) is that when switching workspaces (and therefore changing which program has focus), the panel does not change to reflect the new focus.
For example, I have firefox open on one virtual desktop, and a terminal opened on the other. When I switch from the 'firefox' desktop to the 'terminal' desktop using the compiz desktop cube, the panel still shows firefox. This makes it very hard to close things.
I don't know if this issue also appears when using the default virtual desktops (accessed by a button on the bottom panel).
Well, I'm not much of a programmer, so I can't offer any hard solutions. But I assume what you want is for the namebar panel to refresh when the desktop cube is rotated.
Thanks for all your help!
(P.S., if I didn't make this clear: this is a feature request, not a demand!)
-Chad Oliver
Could you adapt NameBar so that it works with xmonad? Currently the NameBar is always empty.
See this blog post on setting up xmonad with GNOME: http://versia.com/2009/10/18/xmonad-metacity-gnome/
Thanks!
Alex
Do you have any details about this? I couldn't find anything regarding libwnck in xmonad's mailing list or on the bug tracker. I would appreciate any pointers, thanks!
The applet works fine!Thanks!
(gnome 2.28,Ubuntu 9.10 beta)
However i'm missing something,I guess you all know.How do I remove the top bar of the window that contains title and min/max/close buttons?Namebar also contains all these so no need to have the same information at the top of every window.
Hope my question is clear.Any help?
Two ways:
- If you use compiz, open compiz settings manager and go to decorations. Change decoration windows from "any" to "!state=maxvert". That should do it. If you want all windows to be without borders and not just maximized windows, use "none" instead.
- Second option: Install maximus. It should be in the repository, I think.If you don't want all windows maximized all the time there's a gconf setting for that. I don't remember the specifics right now but google is your friend.
Problem solved!
Thanks!
Btw there is another applet that gives a similar functionality here:
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Window+Applets?content=103732
Hey there, I'm using this wonderful little applet in Arch Linux and I've found a tiny little bug... Under certain circumstances, when you choose the "topmost maximized window" option, you'll notice that the namebar will hold the topmost window, but may change when the currently focused window changes its titlebar.
What happens: namebar displays the title of the focused window when it should be displaying the title of the topmost maximized window
Reproduce steps:
Namebar installed,
Maximus installed,
set the "Show window title of topmost maximized window" radio option,
maximize Firefox. Open a pidgin window with at least 2 people. Change the person you're talking to by switching between the two tabs. Notice that, even though namebar shows the firefox icon, namebar reflects the title of the pidgin window. The controls of namebar still affect the maximized firefox window.
Otherwise, namebar ROCKS, and I will be using it on my notebook :)
Thank you for developing this.
Well, I've got an addition to this bug that I just discovered. It's probably the same bug manifesting itself differently.
Even if you have "show window title for active window", namebar can still change, if a background window changes its title.
Reproduction steps:
Firefox open,
banshee open & playing songs (and it's actually in dockbarx),
If you're looking at a web page and banshee changes songs, banshee's window title shows up in namebar.
Keep in mind that if you have banshee running as an icon in the notification area (and not in the taskbar/dockbarx) it will not change the namebar...
I'm not sure if I understand your question, but I'll try to answer anyway.
In the video you see netbook remix's window picker. The left part of the window picker (the part with buttons) are not as good as DockBar(X). Most important difference: Window picker doesn't group applications. If you open three firefox windows you get three buttons in window picker, while you get one in DockBar(X). Namebar was made to give dockbar the one killer feature window picker had that dockbar didn't, the right half, the title and close button.
So to answer what I guess was the question: Yes. Dockbar+namebar is quite similar to Ubuntu netbook-remix's window picker. It just has some more features in the dockbar(x) part of the combo than you'll find in the left half of window picker.
Or still more plainly expressed: Dockbar+namebar is meant to be a replacement for Ubuntu netbook-remix's window picker.
Ratings & Comments
39 Comments
no title is displayed when "show buttons" isn't selected namebar applet 0.5 ubuntu 10.04
I'm sorry, I've stopped working on NameBar. I have too little time for both NameBar and DockbarX, the interest for NameBar is low and Window Applets seems to do everything NameBar does anyway (and does some things better).
ok, thanks for the tip, Window Applets works
Aw man, that sucks :( I really think namebar is great. In combo with maximus and DockbarX it can't be beat for maximizing screenspace while maintaining usability. I just tried upgrading to 10.10 with namebar and it stopped working. Window Applets *is not* the same, I don't get the minimize/maximize buttons. :( Anyone know of another replacement?
forget my comments regarding WindowApplets. I installed on Maverick using the Lucid build and it does work well. Now installing on my Lucid box :)
I really like dockbarx, global menu, and namebar. I hope someday my panel will look like this: Main Menu DockbarX Namebar (just the left side) Global Menu (with all apps working like kde apps, firefox, etc.) Namebar (just the right side) > System Tray (and/or Important App menus like Canocial is proposing) a comprehensive system monitor menu (not yet developed) Comprehensive Weather menu (not yet developed) Date / Time (linked to the app of my choosing [ie. google calendar]) There might be a show desktop in there too even though I don't use it :)
Thank you so much. This is what I've been looking for. One problem that seems to happen to me, when I uncheck 'Show minimize/maximize/close buttons', the name of the program also disappears. The name comes back only when I check show buttons. Except this, everything is wonderful :)
Hello, First, thank you for the wonderful idea and implementation. It does save a lot of space. If it makes any difference, I am running ubuntu 9.10. My problem (and the thing that eventually caused me to remove it from the panel) is that when switching workspaces (and therefore changing which program has focus), the panel does not change to reflect the new focus. For example, I have firefox open on one virtual desktop, and a terminal opened on the other. When I switch from the 'firefox' desktop to the 'terminal' desktop using the compiz desktop cube, the panel still shows firefox. This makes it very hard to close things. I don't know if this issue also appears when using the default virtual desktops (accessed by a button on the bottom panel). Well, I'm not much of a programmer, so I can't offer any hard solutions. But I assume what you want is for the namebar panel to refresh when the desktop cube is rotated. Thanks for all your help! (P.S., if I didn't make this clear: this is a feature request, not a demand!) -Chad Oliver
You're right. Thanks for reporting the bug. I'll look into it.
Could you adapt NameBar so that it works with xmonad? Currently the NameBar is always empty. See this blog post on setting up xmonad with GNOME: http://versia.com/2009/10/18/xmonad-metacity-gnome/ Thanks! Alex
Namebar relies heavily on wnck and wnck seems not to work with xmonad. I don't think there's anything I can do here, sorry.
Do you have any details about this? I couldn't find anything regarding libwnck in xmonad's mailing list or on the bug tracker. I would appreciate any pointers, thanks!
Not really, no. This is all I'm basing my statment on. https://bugs.launchpad.net/gwibber/+bug/370799
Thanks, that was helpful! It seems wnck_screen_get_active_window() always returns NULL with xmonad. I'll check what can be done...
great applet but is there a way to hide the application icon?
I could add that to the next version
Hmm, I forgot this one, sorry. It'll be in the version, I promise (and I will update more frequently I hope).
The applet works fine!Thanks! (gnome 2.28,Ubuntu 9.10 beta) However i'm missing something,I guess you all know.How do I remove the top bar of the window that contains title and min/max/close buttons?Namebar also contains all these so no need to have the same information at the top of every window. Hope my question is clear.Any help?
Two ways: - If you use compiz, open compiz settings manager and go to decorations. Change decoration windows from "any" to "!state=maxvert". That should do it. If you want all windows to be without borders and not just maximized windows, use "none" instead. - Second option: Install maximus. It should be in the repository, I think.If you don't want all windows maximized all the time there's a gconf setting for that. I don't remember the specifics right now but google is your friend.
Problem solved! Thanks! Btw there is another applet that gives a similar functionality here: http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Window+Applets?content=103732
Hey there, I'm using this wonderful little applet in Arch Linux and I've found a tiny little bug... Under certain circumstances, when you choose the "topmost maximized window" option, you'll notice that the namebar will hold the topmost window, but may change when the currently focused window changes its titlebar. What happens: namebar displays the title of the focused window when it should be displaying the title of the topmost maximized window Reproduce steps: Namebar installed, Maximus installed, set the "Show window title of topmost maximized window" radio option, maximize Firefox. Open a pidgin window with at least 2 people. Change the person you're talking to by switching between the two tabs. Notice that, even though namebar shows the firefox icon, namebar reflects the title of the pidgin window. The controls of namebar still affect the maximized firefox window. Otherwise, namebar ROCKS, and I will be using it on my notebook :) Thank you for developing this.
Thanks for the bug report. It's not every day I get one that well written! I will look into it.
Well, I've got an addition to this bug that I just discovered. It's probably the same bug manifesting itself differently. Even if you have "show window title for active window", namebar can still change, if a background window changes its title. Reproduction steps: Firefox open, banshee open & playing songs (and it's actually in dockbarx), If you're looking at a web page and banshee changes songs, banshee's window title shows up in namebar. Keep in mind that if you have banshee running as an icon in the notification area (and not in the taskbar/dockbarx) it will not change the namebar...
isn't ubuntu-remix using something like that? or is that dockbar+namebar? http://www.canonical.com/files/video/netbook-screencast.mp4
I'm not sure if I understand your question, but I'll try to answer anyway. In the video you see netbook remix's window picker. The left part of the window picker (the part with buttons) are not as good as DockBar(X). Most important difference: Window picker doesn't group applications. If you open three firefox windows you get three buttons in window picker, while you get one in DockBar(X). Namebar was made to give dockbar the one killer feature window picker had that dockbar didn't, the right half, the title and close button. So to answer what I guess was the question: Yes. Dockbar+namebar is quite similar to Ubuntu netbook-remix's window picker. It just has some more features in the dockbar(x) part of the combo than you'll find in the left half of window picker. Or still more plainly expressed: Dockbar+namebar is meant to be a replacement for Ubuntu netbook-remix's window picker.