Panels disappeared
 

Hi, without my top and bottom panels i feel totally handicapped--all my application launchers, notification icons, clock, etc were in them--the last thing i remember doing was interchange the positions/alignment of the top and bottom panels. I did try surfing for a solution, on this forum and elsewhere, no joy! Would be grateful for a push in the right direction, i am lost here. Have to do a Ctrl+Alt+del even to shutdown, i don't know of many other 'hotkeys' so i am in trouble, aren't i?

Which desktop are you using?

Linux Mint 7 (Gnome)

Installed this xfce panel and dependencies from synaptic, i got one panel all right, but it is nothing like my original mint panel, cannot even get the shutdown applet on it, there's no "add new panel" option even though i have installed the 'xfapplets plugin. It's horrid, it's supposed to be fast and lightweight--hah! i say, what about the ton of dependencies that i had to install, and which still don't give me the functionality of my original panels? I am thinking of doing a reinstall just out of spite and self-loathing.

When you say you lost your panels, did you ever have them on Xfce? Or were you expecting to get Xfce versions of the panels from whatever desktop Mint provides?

I started by installing Xfce 4.4.2 on ubuntu from the ubuntu repositories. Then I switched to an ubuntified 4.6.1 backport (beause of a bug with Xfce windows for the VirtualBox application). There were quite a few differences -- for the better. Which version of Xfce are you using?

If Mint is like ubuntu, Xfce desktop is not just the desktop itself but a whole suite of desktop applications as well. ubuntu's xubuntu-destop (xubuntu is ubuntu with the Xfce desktop) would have installed 354 MB. In the end I installed only xfdesktop4, thunar, mousepad and xfce4-session which required less that 20 MB packages.

Configuring the panels was easier than in Gnome -- more intuitive to do more without having to dig deep) but more manual and hence more time-consuming.

I was able to add another panel by right clicking in the existing panel which displayed the panels properties then changing the drop-down list to Panel 2 and configuring its properties.

Good for you, i never had xfce in the first place, only had to install it under duress, it was xfce4.6 i think. You will never believe this; they came back, yes, by themselves, i swear i did nothing, and it's not the first time since i rebooted after the incident. Gotta be a miracle, or some benevolent egghead of the Linux community fixed it for me, remotely, (when my computer was shut down?) Just look at them, aren't they beautiful? I am not going to mark this as solved unless there's a logical explanation for this.:D

That's minty-fresh with some good-looking panels! :)

Who duressed you? They were very kindly -- after a painful start you will surely (?) come to love the speed and elegance of Xfce.

Regards logical explanations: miracles and benevolent eggheads do exist. Just ask your Fairy Godmother, throw some salt over your left shoulder and spin round three times widdershins with your eyes closed.

Oh, i know i am just an ignoramus, but can you just drag any icon/app from your menu onto your xfce panel and place it there? What about the "hide panel" and "show hide buttons" options, and so many other minor conveniences that go into making a great GUI..i mean if one had to bother with 'intuition' and a learning curve to get around one's computer, why have a GUI in the first place? Not that i do not respect that requirement or that knowledge, but i prefer to go about seeking that expertise at my convenience, not because i have to, in my daily routine.:hattip:

Not as far as I know.
In the panel properties available via "Customize panel" after right clicking anywhere on the panel.