Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

Devastator · 2009-01-16 21:19:46

Just a simple question - is there a possibility to switch desktop with use of the mouse wheel on the desktop background? I know it is possible in XFCE, but how about KDE or GNOME?
Why it is important to me - I have simplified changing desktops by setting a 5 pixel margin on the bottom and the right of the screen, so there is always desktop background visible. To switch desktop I simply move mouse to the edge of the screen and scroll - simple, fast and efficient. And funny - this is the main thing that binds me to XFCE, even though my computer is fast enough to handle KDE4 .

Some time ago I have installed GNOME, and later KDE4.1, and tried to find such feature, but I did not succeed unfortunately, even though I spend some time over the documentation and the settings panels. Currently with the introducing KDE4.2 and nvidia-180 driver, which improves 2D graphics somewhat (i.eg. gtkperf gives now 6.5 sec instead of 9.5 that it used to be before upgrade) I'm interested in switching to KDE. Can anyone help me?

P.S. Sorry fo my english

Last edited by Devastator (2009-01-17 11:16:10)

dav7 · 2009-01-17 06:13:36

No offense intended, but I think you mean "desktop" instead of "pulpit".

Devastator · 2009-01-17 11:18:13

dav7 wrote:

No offense intended, but I think you mean "desktop" instead of "pulpit".

Yup, absolutely right. English is not my native language, and I have non-english locale set in my system, so I even could not check that. Hope now it's better .

karoshi · 2009-01-17 11:42:56

Switching desktops with the mouse wheel on background or the on pagerplasmoid is the default behaviour of kde4.

defrysk · 2009-01-17 16:29:45

Switching work spaces in gnome with mouse wheel can be done with the cursor on the workspace switcher in the panel.

Diaz · 2009-01-17 17:23:25

but switching with scroll over the pager is not the same as on desktop. i actually also hate gnome for the lack of such option. xfce and openbox are the ones i know of, that has the feature.

Lord Illidan · 2009-01-17 17:47:53

Perhaps Compiz can do such a thing?

Mogger · 2009-01-17 17:57:25

Works for me in KDE 4.x trunk if I use the default desktop type (not Folderview). I don't think there's any configuration for it though like in KDE 3.5.x, it 'just works'.

.:B:. · 2009-01-17 18:08:08

Diaz wrote:

xfce and openbox are the ones i know of, that has the feature.

+1

Also, most DEs and a lot of WMs have keybinding support. I have alt+scroll wheel set to change desktops. No need to have an empty desktop, your screen can be filled, just alt+scroll (or even alt+left/right arrow I guess). Could very well be these are already Openbox default settings.

blampars · 2009-01-18 02:47:23

I use gnome, along with compiz and i believe I have what you are describing. i dont know that you can do it without compiz..

in compiz settings manager, check the viewport switcher option, go to desktop-based viewport switching tab

for Move Next i have set as button 5
for Move Prev i have set as button 4

with my pointer on my desktop background I can use the scroll wheel down to cycle from desktop 1, 2, 3.. or scroll wheel up to cycle 3, 2, 1...

hope this helps

Devastator · 2009-01-19 12:49:57

Sure, with compiz you can do a lot more than this . I've installed KDE4 again, but cannot get it to switch desktops the way I wanted. Scroll over pager works on every DE, though it requires precise mouse aiming over the pager. In XFCE I don't have to aim - just move the mouse to the side of the screen (where I have margin set, so desktop is available there) and scroll.

Alt+scroll requires additional movement, which is annoying when for example I do things, that don't require keyboard use (like composing the playlist, browsing the web, changing the GTK2 themes and so on ). I like minimizing things to do to achieve the goal. Therefore I also use cairo-dock, which removed additional mouse click (for raising the menu) when opening the most used applications...

A funny and I think useful feature I found in KDE4 is action bound to scroll over the window titlebar - it moves the window and the user to the next desktop .

Last edited by Devastator (2009-01-19 12:50:07)

moljac024 · 2009-01-19 12:56:13

Every window manager in existence can do this. Except Metacity. You can also use Openbox instead of Metacity in GNOME.

Devastator wrote:

A funny and I think useful feature I found in KDE4 is action bound to scroll over the window titlebar - it moves the window and the user to the next desktop .

I also set that up for my Openbox setup

eazy · 2009-08-11 12:43:05

Sorry for bumping up this old thread, but I have the opposite problem:
How do I configure KDE4 not to change desktop on mouse wheel?

It seems to be the default in 4.2 and 4.3, and I couldn't find a way to disable this behavior.

Chole · 2009-12-03 18:19:11

eazy wrote:

Sorry for bumping up this old thread, but I have the opposite problem:
How do I configure KDE4 not to change desktop on mouse wheel?
It seems to be the default in 4.2 and 4.3, and I couldn't find a way to disable this behavior.

Sorry about Yet Another Bump, but possibly helpful: I did some research on this at the request of one of the employees where I work. It turns out that the ability to turn this feature off will appear in KDE 4.4. I did find a workaround that works for my machine, which is running KDE 4.3.2:

Right-click on the desktop and choose Desktop Settings. Under Desktop Activity, change the Type from "Desktop" to "Folder View". On my machine here, when I do this, desktop switching no longer occurs when I scroll on the background.

Doing this makes the icons in "${HOME}/Desktop" appear, and this might bug you. If so, then you can modify the Folder View settings in the exact same settings window. The quickest way is to go to the Filter tab, change "Show All Files" to "Show Files Matching", and changing the File name pattern from "*" to some random string of characters that don't match anything in your Desktop folder (I use blarg).

trelevn · 2010-01-07 06:37:15

Thanks for the info and workarounds, with 12 desktops and a free-spinning mouse you fixed a big problem for me.

thedude85 · 2011-03-06 17:47:18

How do i disable the option of switching desktops (1st and 2nd desktop) with the mouse wheel or the wheel in the touchpad? (using OpenBox with touchpad synaptics)

jasonwryan · 2011-03-06 18:49:19

thedude85 - please don't necrobump: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … Bumping.27

Closing

Arch Linux

#1 2009-01-16 21:19:46

Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#2 2009-01-17 06:13:36

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#3 2009-01-17 11:18:13

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#4 2009-01-17 11:42:56

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#5 2009-01-17 16:29:45

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#6 2009-01-17 17:23:25

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#7 2009-01-17 17:47:53

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#8 2009-01-17 17:57:25

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#9 2009-01-17 18:08:08

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#10 2009-01-18 02:47:23

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#11 2009-01-19 12:49:57

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#12 2009-01-19 12:56:13

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#13 2009-08-11 12:43:05

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#14 2009-12-03 18:19:11

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#15 2010-01-07 06:37:15

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#16 2011-03-06 17:47:18

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

#17 2011-03-06 18:49:19

Re: Switch between desktops using mouse wheel

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