MenuDrake: Customizing your Menus

Abstract

In order to help you manage the main menu of your preferred graphical interface, Mandrake Linux provides you with a menu editor that ensures menus from all desktop environments (like KDE or GNOME) are coherent.

This tool allows system administrators to control the menus for all users (the system menu) but can also be used by users to personalize their own menus. You can launch MenuDrake from the Mandrake Control Center or from the Configuration+Other->Menudrake menu entry.

Figure 20.1. Launching MenuDrake in System or User Mode

Launching MenuDrake in System or User Mode

If started by root, MenuDrake can be used in two different modes: either changing menus for all users, or customizing the menus for user root. Click on:

When you launch MenuDrake, it first scans your current menu structure and displays it. The main window (Figure 20.2) is divided in two parts: the menu itself on the left, and on the right a form relative to the highlighted menu item.

Figure 20.2. MenuDrake's Main Window

MenuDrake's Main Window

You can click on the [+] signs of the tree to view the content of the related sub-menus, on [-] to hide it.

Note

In your tree you may see entries which do not appear in your actual menu. These are empty directories which are not displayed but can be used for future installed applications.

Adding a New Menu Entry

This should seldom happen as all Mandrake Linux graphical applications should provide a menu entry. However if you want to add a menu entry for a package you have compiled, or for a console mode program, you may use this function. Let's suppose that you want to open a new message window directly within Mozilla through a menu entry in the Networking menu.

Select the Networking directory, and click on the Add entry on the toolbar. A dialog will appear asking you for the title of the menu entry and the command associated with it.

Figure 20.3. Adding a New Menu Entry

Adding a New Menu Entry

Edit the title (you could insert “Write a new message”) and it will now appear in the menu. Then you need to provide the action to be executed by the system (Command:): /usr/bin/mozilla -compose. Then click on OK and the entry will be added to the menu tree.

You can also choose an icon for your entry from the list you get by clicking on the icon button itself. Please see Figure 20.4.

Figure 20.4. A New Menu Entry with MenuDrake

A New Menu Entry with MenuDrake

Tip

While modifying your menus, you might make a big mess out of them... Remember that you can reload the menus as you last saved them by pressing on the Ctrl-R (or access the File->Reload user config sub-menu). You can also revert to the default menus by accessing the File->Reload system menu sub-menu.

Finally to activate your modifications, click on the Save button and that's it. Congratulations! You can now test your new settings by accessing the real menu.

Note

Depending on the graphical interface you are using, the changes on your menu may not be shown immediately. In some cases, you may need to log out and log in again for the changes to take effect.

Advanced Features

Different Menu Styles

Depending on the experience the user working with your machine has, you may want to provide them with different menu styles. Mandrake Linux provides three template menus which you can eventually customize. Those templates are available through the Menu Style button in the main window.

Figure 20.5. Choosing a Menu Style

Choosing a Menu Style

Choose one of the four options available:

  • Use system administrator settingsIf you started MenuDrake as a simple user, you can choose to set your personal menu style to use the menus system administrator prepared.

  • All applicationsThis is the traditional menu shipped with Mandrake Linux and it contains nearly all the available applications, sorted into functional categories.

  • What to do? Specifically designed by our ergonomics team this menu provides a fast access to most common applications sorted by usage, such as Play a game, Use the Internet, etc.

  • Original menuThese are the plain menus as provided by the KDE or GNOME desktops. This menu probably lacks some applications.

For the second and third styles, note that you can activate a sub-menu by checking the Add link to box. Hence you will be able to access the sub-menu from the main one, thus ensuring all applications remain available.

When you have chosen a menu style and possibly an option, click on OK. You will then be able to see the corresponding menu structure in the main window, and you can now customize it.

About the Environment Menu

The entry we have just added to the menu is now available in all graphical manager menus. It is also possible to make modifications to a specific menu by switching the Environment you are working with. For example, if you wish to add an application that should be available only in the KDE menu, simply switch from environment all to kde.

All entries which only apply to the active graphical environment appear in blue in the tree structure on the left.

Moving and Removing Entries

MenuDrake entries support the drag-and-drop feature. Similarly, you may have noticed that whenever you remove an application from the menu, it appears in the “attic”, that is the Available applications list on the bottom right corner. If you ever wish to add them again, you simply have to drag them again to the desired directory.