18.3 The KDE Control Center

The KDE Control Center contains a number of configuration tools, called modules, that allow you to configure and view information about your system. You can configure the desktop, window behavior and decoration, input devices, and any other important part of your system here.

The Control Center is split into two windows: the left window shows a hierarchical list of installed modules, and the right window displays the modules when they are selected. (You can also run individual Control Center modules by selecting the one you want from the Preferences option on the K menu.) Start the Control Center from the panel button with an icon of a circuit board in front of a terminal, or from the K menu. Many of the modules can also be accessed directly from their applications, by right-clicking on the application icon and selecting Preferences, or by right-clicking on the titlebar of the running application window and selecting Configure.

Context-sensitive help is available for Control Center modules by clicking on the question mark on the titlebar and then on the setting for which you want help. You can get a brief general help message for the currently open module by clicking the Help tab in the left window; each help message also contains a link to the module's manual. Or you can get help by opening the Help Center, selecting Applications Preferences, and then choosing a module.

The middle tab in the left Control Center window lets you search. You can enter a term in the text box at the top to narrow the list of keywords, or scroll through the keywords. When you find the one you want, click on it to highlight it. The Results box at the bottom will display a list of modules for which the term applies; select a module from the list and that module will appear in the right-hand window. For example, selecting the keyword audio displays the results Sound, Sound Server, System Bell, and System Notifications. If you select Sound Server from that list, you can view or change the Sound Server settings.

The following sections describe the modules. The number and type of available Control Center modules vary depending on your Linux distribution and which version of KDE you are running. You may find that some of the modules described here are not on your system, that you have others that we don't describe, or that some of the specifics are different. In general, however, these descriptions should give you a good idea of how to go about configuring your KDE desktop.

18.3.1 File Browsing

The File Browsing modules are used to set file associations and to configure Konqueror's file management features.

18.3.1.1 File Associations

This module associates a filename extension with an application so that clicking on a file with that extension automatically opens the application with the file loaded. The utility divides files into various types based on the MIME standard used for email and the Web. Thus, under the text types you can find the html type. The file extensions .htm, .HTM, .html, and .HTML are associated with the html file type.

The window initially has only a text box where you can enter a filename pattern to search for the matching application and a list of known applications. You can also add and remove types from the list.

When you select an application from the Known Types list, the right side of the window displays options for that file type. The General tab shows the patterns associated with the application; you can add others or select one of the patterns to remove it from the list. Clicking on the icon image opens the Select Icon window for choosing a different icon to use with that file type. Application Preference Order lists the applications associated with that type. You can add applications to the list with the Add button; select an entry to activate the other buttons. You can then move the entry up or down on the list, edit it, or remove it from the list.

On the Embedding tab, the set of radio buttons determines whether a file is viewed in Konqueror or in an application window.

18.3.1.2 File Manager

This module contains configuration settings for the Konqueror file manager. The Behavior tab sets some global options, such as whether opening a directory also opens a new Konqueror window or if you want a dialog box to show the progress of a network file download. On the Appearance tab, you can set your choice of font, font size, and text color. Other options on this tab include whether to wrap or truncate icon text, underline filenames on the desktop, or display the file size in bytes (otherwise kilobytes or megabytes are shown for large files) in tree, detailed list, and text view modes. The Trash tab determines whether you'll be asked for confirmation when moving a file to the trash, deleting it, or shredding it. For every file type checked on the Previews tab, the Konqueror file manager displays a mini-preview of the file contents instead of an icon.

18.3.2 Information

The Information modules allow you to view status information about various system components. There are no configuration settings here, but if you need to see information about your processor or what PCI devices you have installed, use these modules. Information is provided for the following system components:

• Block devices

• Devices

• DMA-Channels

• Interrupts

• IO-Ports

• Memory

• Network interfaces

• Partitions

• PCI

• PCMCIA

• Processor

• Protocols

• Samba status

• SCSI

• Sound

• USB devices

• X-Server

18.3.3 Look & Feel

The Look & Feel modules determine the appearance of the KDE desktop and configure it to work in a way that is comfortable for you.

18.3.3.1 Background

This module sets the desktop background. It allows you to specify a background for each virtual desktop or just one background for all of them. Select the desktop you want to configure from the list, or check the Common Background box.

On the Background tab at the bottom of the window, select whether you want a flat (Solid color) background, a pattern, or one of several gradients from the Mode drop-down box. If you select a pattern, click the Setup box, and the Select Background Pattern window will open. Select a pattern from the choices or add your own, and click OK. For a pattern or gradient, choose colors for Color 1 and Color 2 by clicking on the color bars. For a flat background, choose a color from the Color 1 color bar.

On the Wallpaper tab, you can choose No Wallpaper, Single Wallpaper, or Multiple Wallpaper. If you are using wallpaper, the Mode setting determines how the image file is laid out. You can choose a tiled layout, or various centered or scaled options. If you want to use an image file as wallpaper on the background, select it from the drop-down list, or click the Browse button to look for the image on the filesystem. To use multiple wallpapers, click the Setup Multiple button. Set the time interval that each wallpaper remains on the screen. The Mode button lets you cycle through wallpaper patterns in order or randomly. Choose the wallpapers to use from the list, or click the Add or Remove button to add or remove files from the list. When viewing available wallpapers, right-click the display and choose Thumbnail Previews to see what they'll look like.

The Advanced tab sets a blending pattern for a multicolored background. The choices range from no blending to horizontal or vertical blending to various patterns and intensities.

18.3.3.2 Colors

The Colors module allows you to select the colors for the various window widgets, the components used to build windows. You can select the colors based on a scheme installed on your system. Select one of the available schemes from the list, and click Apply to change the color scheme. You can also set colors for individual components. The top portion of the tab shows sample window components. Click on the component you want to configure, such as the active titlebar or window background, to select it, or select a component from the widget color list. Click the color bar under the list to open the color selector dialog box and choose your color. Other choices are to set the contrast of the component with the Contrast slider and to apply the colors to non-KDE applications.

18.3.3.3 Desktop

The Desktop module sets preferences for the visual display of your environment. You can determine the appearance of your desktop and the number of virtual desktops, the actions taken by mouse buttons, and other options.

On the Desktop tab, select the options you want. Enable Desktop Menu places a copy of the desktop menu as a menubar at the top of the screen. Enable Icons on Desktop lets you place icons on the desktop for easy access. If you also set Show Hidden Files on Desktop, all files in the Desktop directory are displayed, including hidden files. Programs in Desktop Window lets you set a running application such as xearth as your desktop background. From the list of file types under "Show Previews for," select any for which you want a preview displayed on the desktop instead of an icon. Under "Clicks on the desktop," select the action to be taken on a left, right, or middle mouse-button click.

From the Appearance tab, select your preferred font, font size, and text color. You can also select a background color if you want to view the background box of the label. By default, the background is transparent, allowing the desktop background to be visible. Finally, you can choose to have filenames underlined.

The Number of Desktops tab sets the number of virtual desktops you can divide your workspace into. The default is 4, and you can use up to 16. The slider selects the number of desktops. The desktops are listed, numbered 1 through 16. For each enabled desktop, the listing has a usable text box next to it. You can type in a label for each desktop that will be shown in the pager display on the panel. The default labels are Desktop 1 through Desktop 16.

The Paths tab lets you set the path to the desktop, trash, and Autostart directories and to the default path for documents. In most cases, you won't need to change the defaults.

18.3.3.4 Fonts

The Fonts module sets the default fonts used on your display. You can set the font for the following listed selections: General, Fixed Width, Toolbar, Window Title, and Taskbar. Click the Choose button for the font you want to change, and the Select Font window appears. From this, you can select the font you want, choose if you want it to be bold or italic, and select the point size. A sample of the selected font is displayed at the bottom of the window. You can also check the box labeled "Use Anti-Aliasing for fonts" to make the fonts appear smoother on the screen.

18.3.3.5 Icons

This module controls the display and behavior of icons on the desktop. The module has two tabs, Theme and Advanced.

On the Theme tab, select an icon theme. The sample icons at the top are displayed in the current theme. After selecting a theme, select Install New Theme to install it. At the bottom of the window, you can add a new theme to the list by entering the path in the text box or clicking the button at the right to open a File dialog window. You can also remove any theme except the default.

Icons are used for many purposes: in the file manager, on the panel, and so on. The Advanced tab configures icons individually for different uses. First, select the use that you want to configure from the list. For that use, select a size from the Size list, or "Double-sized pixels" to get very large, but somewhat blurry, icons. You can also choose to have the icons animated. The icon images at the bottom show how the icon will appear normally (default), when it is active (i.e., when the cursor is over it), and when it is disabled.

For each use, you can set special effects. Clicking the Set Effect button displays the Set Default Icon Effect window. From that window, select an effect and move the slider to determine the amount of that effect. For instance, choosing the To Gray effect for Active causes an icon to turn gray when you put the cursor on it. (To Gray is probably more appropriate for Disabled.) If you choose Colorize, the Color option becomes active so you can pick a color.

18.3.3.6 Launch Feedback

The Launch Feedback module has two options to provide visual feedback while an application is starting, so you know something is happening. If you check the box Enable Busy Cursor, a mini-icon appears and tracks the cursor. Under the Enable Busy Cursor option, checking Enable Blinking causes the icon to blink. Enable Taskbar Notification causes the taskbar entry to show a revolving timer while the application starts. Both options let you set a timeout, which has a maximum of 99 seconds. When the timeout period is over, the visual feedback stops, even if the application is not yet fully started.

18.3.3.7 Panel

The panel configuration module controls the panel's appearance, the panel's behavior, and the K menu layout, and it configures any extensions that are enabled.

On the Position tab, you can choose to place the panel at the top, bottom, left side, or right side of the screen by clicking the appropriate radio button. You can set the panel alignment to Left, Center, or Right. Five settings are available to set the size of the panel to either Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, or Custom. In the Length section, you can move the slider to set the amount of the width or height of the desktop that the panel occupies. If you set it to less than 100% and click the "Expand to fit required size" button, the panel will expand to take up as much room as it needs to fit all the icons.

The Hiding tab, shown in Figure 18-7, is divided into sections that provide options for hiding the panel when you want more visible desktop space to use as a work area. The Hide Buttons section contains checkboxes that enable the display of a hide button at one or both sides of the panel. Clicking on a hide button causes the panel to roll up into that side and disappear, leaving only a button you can click to have the panel reappear. Move the slider in the Hide Button Size section to set the size of the hide button. Checking the box in the Manual Hide Animation section enables the panel to use a sliding visual effect when you show or hide it with its side arrow buttons. The slider sets the speed of this animation. You can have the panel autohide (i.e., disappear when not being used) by checking the "Enable automatic hide" button and moving the slider to set the amount of time after the pointer has left the panel that the panel will hide. The panel reappears when you move the mouse over it. Checking the "Show panel when switching desktop" box causes the panel to reappear when you move to a different desktop. It appears on the new desktop and then hides again. You can set "Enable automatic hide animation" and move the slider to set the animation speed.

Figure 18-7. Panel hiding configuration

The Look & Feel tab contains settings for the appearance of the panel and its icons. Each icon is on a tile that by default is transparent, so all you see is the icon. If you set "Enable background tiles," the tiles are shown, and the settings in the middle of the window are enabled so you can enable or disable different tile types and set the background colors individually. The tile types are K-Menu, Quickbrowser, Application Launcher, Legacy Application Launcher, Window List, and Desktop Access.

Also on the Look & Feel tab, the "Enable icon zooming" setting causes icons to zoom large when you pass the mouse over them, so they appear to pop out at you. The "Show tooltips" option displays tooltips when you move the mouse over icons on the panel. To see an image on the panel background, set "Enable background image" and either enter the path to the image or browse to find one.

The Menus tab contains settings for the K menu and other menu layouts. Settings for the K menu include:

Show side image

Show a small image next to each menu entry.

Show "Bookmarks" submenu

Include a Bookmarks menu that shows your Konqueror bookmarks and lets you edit them.

Show "Recent Documents" submenu

Display a list of recently used files. Click the Clear History box to empty the list.

Show "Quick Browser" submenu

Add a browser menu for easy access to files without running the file manager. The top-level entries are Home Directory, Root Directory, and System Configuration to start from the user's home directory, the root directory, and /etc, respectively.

Detailed menu entries

Include a brief description of each menu item. If the box is not checked, only the application name is shown.

Below these settings are two columns, Available Menus and Selected Menus. The first column contains menus that are not in the K menu but can be added. The second column contains those you have selected to add. Highlight an entry in the Available Menus column and click the right-pointing arrow to move it to the Selected Menus column; do the reverse to unselect an entry. Click the Apply button to add the selected menus to the K menu. Once added, they stay in the Selected list.

To have browser menus show hidden files (i.e., dot files), select "Show hidden files in browser menus." Move the slider "Maximum browser menu entries" to change the number of entries a browser menu will display.

The Quick Start section is at the top of the K menu. Its entries consist of either the most recently used or the most frequently used applications, depending on which radio button is selected. Set the maximum number of entries shown in the Quick Start section if you want to change the default, which is 5.

The Extensions tab is active if you have added any extensions, such as a child panel or an external taskbar (by right-clicking on the panel and selecting Add Extension). For each extension, you can locate it to the left, right, top, or bottom of the desktop, set automatic hide options, enable hide buttons, and specify the hide button size.

18.3.3.8 Screensaver

This module sets up your screensaver. A list of available screensavers is shown with a preview window. If you want to use a screensaver, check the Enable Screensaver box and select the screensaver you want to use. The Setup button opens a dialog box that contains specific configuration settings for each screensaver. For a full-screen test of the screensaver, click the Test button.

The Settings section allows you to set the amount of time the system is inactive before the screensaver starts. Type in the number of minutes in the Wait For box to set this time. If you check the Require Password box, the user must supply a password before returning to the desktop. You can also check the box "Show Password as Stars" to display the password text as asterisks instead of leaving the field blank. The Priority control lets you adjust the priority that the screensaver process has when it is run. If you have lots of important server activity, for example, set the priority to low so the performance of other programs does not suffer.

18.3.3.9 Shortcuts

Shortcuts are key combinations that do something to your desktop or application. By default, for example, Alt-F4 closes the current window. That's a global shortcut; there are also shortcuts used in specific applications.

You can choose the scheme used for shortcuts by selecting the KDE defaults or the current scheme if you have customized the shortcuts. The bottom section of the tab allows you to edit the selected keyboard shortcut. You can choose no key for the action, the default key, or a custom key. If you select custom, the Define Shortcut dialog appears. Here you can set or modify the primary or alternate shortcut. Click the X in the box pointing to the current shortcut, then click Multi-Key if you want to use any modifiers (Shift, Ctrl, or Alt). Finally, press the key or key combination on the keyboard that you want to use. Click Apply to save the change to the current scheme, or click New Scheme and then Save to save them as a new scheme.

The Modifier Keys tab shows the modifier keys for the current keyboard. It is not used for configuration, but is there simply to provide information.

18.3.3.10 Style

The Style module contains settings for the display of windows and icons. Choose a style from the Widget Style list on the Style tab. The bottom half of the window previews the selected style. If you check Enable GUI Effects on the Effects tab, you can set effects such as fade or animation for ComboBox, ToolTip, and Menu effects. You can also make menus translucent and specify the type and degree of translucency or opacity. (Note that translucency uses more system resources, so you might not want to use these effects on a slower system.) The Miscellaneous tab offers several toolbar and visual appearance options.

18.3.3.11 Taskbar

The Taskbar module configures the taskbar, both in the panel and on the desktop. It is not used to set where on the desktop the taskbar appears (do that from Panel Extensions). To add or remove the taskbar from the panel, right-click on the panel and select Add or Remove and then Taskbar. To place the taskbar directly on the desktop or to remove it from the desktop, use the Extensions tab in the Panel module.

The Taskbar module settings include the following:

Show windows from all desktops

The taskbar shows all windows, regardless of which desktop they are on. You can then select a task and move directly to that desktop with that window active.

Show window list button

Add a menu button at the left edge of the taskbar that displays, when clicked, a list of all desktops and their windows. This is particularly useful if "Show windows from all desktops" is unchecked, since it lets you select a window on another desktop.

Group similar tasks

Combine multiple instances of any application into a single taskbar entry. The entry shows a small up-arrow. When you click on the arrow, a list of the instances appears and you can select the one you want.

Sort tasks by virtual desktop

Order the taskbar by desktop.

Show application icons

Show the application's icon along with the text on each taskbar entry.

The Actions section sets an action for each of the left, middle, and right mouse buttons. The possible actions for each are Show Task List, Show Operations Menu, Cycle Through Windows, Activate Task, Raise Task, Lower Task, and Minimize Task.

18.3.3.12 Theme Manager

Themes provide an overall visual style to your desktop, so you get an integrated look instead of having to configure items individually. A theme can determine the color scheme of windows, the font styles, icons, background, and even sound events for your desktop. Several themes are installed by default with KDE, and many more are available at http://kde.themes.org for download.

The Installer tab, shown in Figure 18-8, lists the themes you have installed on your system. These include global themes, which are stored in $KDEDIR/share/apps/kthememgr/Themes, and local themes, which you have installed or customized and stored in ~/.kde/share/apps/kthememgr/Themes. You can edit and save local themes. Global themes cannot be altered by individual users.

Figure 18-8. Theme Manager Installer tab

If you select a theme from the list, a sample desktop image using the theme is displayed on the tab with a short text description. To apply a new theme, select from the list and click the Apply button. The selected theme is copied to your theme manager work directory (~/.kde/share/apps/kthememgr/Work).

You can also manage installed themes on the Installer tab. To install a new theme that you have downloaded, click the Add button. Specify the filename and location of the theme's .tgz file in the pop-up dialog box and click OK. The Save As button saves the currently configured theme as a separate local package without altering the original theme. The Create button works similarly, allowing you to copy your current working theme as a new local theme package. The Remove button deletes a local theme or inactivates a global theme.

The Contents tab shows the components that are configured by a theme. A theme may not have settings available for all the listed components. If a theme configures a specific component, it is listed as available. Otherwise, the component is listed as empty. Use the checkboxes to select which theme components you want to use. If you choose not to activate a specific component, information on that component from a previous theme will be used if its information is still in the theme manager work directory. If you don't want this to happen, activate the component even if it is listed as empty, and default settings will be used.

18.3.3.13 Window Behavior

The modules in the Window Behavior module allow you to set the look and functionality of window titlebars, mouse button actions, and focus and placement policy.

On the Focus tab, the Focus Policy section sets the policy for giving a window keyboard focus and an active titlebar. The drop-down list contains four focus styles:

Click to Focus

This default focus policy requires a mouse click in a window to give it focus and raise it (bring it to the foreground).

Focus Follows Mouse

This setting causes a window to receive focus when the mouse pointer enters it. It does not come to the foreground unless the Auto Raise button is checked. The window maintains focus until the pointer enters another window.

Focus Under Mouse

This setting is similar to the Focus Follows Mouse setting, except that the window loses focus when the mouse pointer moves out of it. If the pointer is not in a window, no window has focus.

Focus Strictly Under Mouse

This setting is similar to Focus Under Mouse, but is stricter in interpreting when the mouse leaves the window.

For all the focus policies except Click to Focus, the Auto Raise and Click Raise boxes are available. One of these must be checked to be able to raise windows to the foreground. Auto Raise raises a window after a short delay, which you can set with the Delay slider.

The Keyboard section determines behavior when you use the keyboard to switch windows or desktops. In KDE mode, a box appears showing the window you are about to switch to. In CDE mode, no box appears. Check "Traverse windows on all desktops" if you want to move through all windows on all desktops. (CDE is an older desktop distributed with some commercial Unix systems.)

The Actions tab (Figure 18-9) configures the actions of mouse buttons on the various window components. Drop-down lists contain several options, such as raise or lower, for the left, middle, and right buttons. For each of the components, you can choose what happens when a mouse button is clicked. For instance, by default, right-clicking in a titlebar brings up an Operations menu.

Figure 18-9. Windows Behavior Actions tab

The Moving tab sets window and snap zone options. The Windows section of the tab has the following settings:

Display Content in Moving Windows

Enable the display of window contents when the window is moved.

Display Content in Resizing Window

Enable the display of window contents when the window is resized.

Animate Minimize and Restore

Enable animation and activate the slider, which controls the animation speed.

Allow Moving and Resizing of Maximized Windows

Allow the use of the border on a maximized window to move or resize the window.

Placement

Choose Smart, Cascade, or Random window placement from the drop-down list to determine the initial placement of new windows on the desktop. Smart placement attempts to keep windows as uncluttered as possible. Cascade attempts to place windows in a cascaded pattern, so at least an edge of each window is visible. Random placement puts each new window randomly on the desktop.

The Snap Zones section sets the width of the zone within which a window will snap to the desktop border at the edge of the screen ("Border snap zone") or to another window ("Window snap zone"). Both zones are set with sliders and default to 10 pixels.

The Advanced tab sets options for configuring window shading, the use of Xinerama, and active desktop borders. In the Shading section, check Animate to animate window shading and unshading, and check Enable Hover to cause a shaded window to unshade if the mouse pointer remains over the titlebar for the number of milliseconds determined by moving the Delay slider.

Xinerama is a feature of XFree86 that allows multiple monitors to be treated as one big monitor. KDE supports Xinerama; the Xinerama section is available only if Xinerama support was compiled into KDE.^[1] The following checkboxes configure the use of Xinerama:

^[1] The screens also need to be configured in /etc/X11/XF86Config.

Enable Xinerama Support

Enable the use of Xinerama with KDE.

Enable Window Resistance Support

Provide some resistance when a window moves to the edge of one monitor screen so that it doesn't accidentally move onto the next.

Enable Window Placement Support

Provide support for positioning windows on any portion of the logical desktop, regardless of which monitor it falls on. If window placement support is enabled, a new window appears on the screen where the mouse pointer is.

Enable Window Maximize Support

Permit windows to be maximized across multiple monitors.

Active desktop borders enable you to switch between desktops by moving the mouse pointer to an adjacent screen edge. In the Active Desktop Borders section, the choices are:

Disabled

Turn off active desktop borders.

Only When Moving Windows

Enable active borders only when moving windows across the edge, not when moving the mouse across.

Always Enabled

Active borders are enabled both for moving windows and for moving the mouse across the edge to another desktop.

The Desktop switch-delay slider sets a delay time for the switch to the adjacent desktop. Set this time to a comfortable setting that doesn't cause an unwanted desktop switch every time you move the pointer to the screen edge. The slider is active unless active borders have been disabled.

18.3.3.14 Window Decoration

The Window Decoration module sets preferences for the appearance of KDE windows. There are three tabs: General, Buttons, and Configure.

The Buttons tab configures the layout of buttons that appear on the titlebars of windows. It is available only if you check "Use custom titlebar button positions" on the General tab. There are five buttons: minimize (dot), maximize (square), sticky (pushpin), close (X), and menu (dash or application-specified icon). Each button has three placement options, specified by radio buttons: left, right, or off. You can place no more than three buttons on one side of the titlebar.

The options available on the Configure tab vary according to the window decoration style selected on the General tab. Depending on the style, they affect the appearance of the titlebar and buttons, and the width of the window frame. The tab itself shows the name of the current style. For some styles, no configuration options are available.

18.3.4 Network

The Network modules configure a number of networking features on your system. These modules don't configure the network itself, but set your personal preferences and configuration options. The primary networking modules in the Control Center include Email, Preferences, SOCKS, and Window Shares. These modules are described here. Depending on your Linux distribution and what applications you have installed, you may also see modules such as Kisdndock, which configures ISDN docking options; LAN Browsing to configure LISa, the LAN Information Server, which provides a TCP/IP-based "network neighborhood" for your network; and News Ticker, which is a news ticker applet that runs on the panel and provides running access to current news from sites you specify.

18.3.4.1 Email

The Email module provides a place for you to specify some basic pieces of information that KDE may use for email-related purposes. In the User Information section, you can specify your Full Name, Organization, Email Address, and Reply-To Address. In the Preferred Email Client section, enter the name of the email client you want KDE to use on your behalf. The default client is KDE's KMail, but you can enter another client or click the Browse button to find available clients. Check the Run in Terminal box if you use a text-based email client such as Pine.

18.3.4.2 Preferences

The Preferences module sets timeout values for "Socket read," "Proxy connect," "Server connect," and "Server response." If your connection is slow and you find that you are getting frequent timeouts, you might want to increase the values. This module also has an FTP Options section where you can check "Enable passive mode (PASV)" if you want to permit passive FTP transfers because you are behind a firewall, and you can check "Mark partially uploaded files" so that they appear in a directory listing with a .part extension until the transfer is complete.

18.3.4.3 SOCKS

The SOCKS module enables SOCKS support in KDE applications. SOCKS is a protocol that executes proxy requests on behalf of a client. If you have SOCKS installed and working, you can check the box "Enable SOCKS support." At that point, additional options become available. Click "Auto detect" to have KDE try to determine which SOCKS implementation you are using, or click NEC SOCKS or Dante if you are using one of those. Finally, if KDE can't detect your SOCKS implementation, you can enter one or more paths in the "Additional library search paths" section for KDE to search. Click the Test button to test your SOCKS support.

18.3.4.4 Windows Shares

The Windows Shares module configures your Samba client if you are running Samba on your network to communicate with Windows systems. This module configures the client, not the Samba server, so that Konqueror can access shared Windows filesystems from other computers.

Enter your default username, default password, and workgroup in the three text boxes at the top of the window. Check the box "Show hidden shares" if you want to see shares whose names end with a dollar sign ($).

Note that entering your password and having KDE store it on the system is a security risk. If you don't enter your name or password and they are required to access the shared Windows system, you will be prompted for them. That's less convenient, but safer.

18.3.5 Password

The Password module is available in some distributions, including Red Hat 8 with Bluecurve, allowing you to change your login password. This module prompts you for your current password and new password, and then asks you to re-enter the new password.

18.3.6 Peripherals

The modules here control the configuration of the keyboard and mouse. These settings affect only your use of KDE; they don't modify the global X server settings. Some distributions may include other modules in this section, such as a Digital Camera module that lets you add and configure one or more digital cameras.

18.3.6.1 Keyboard

This module configures your primary keyboard layout and any additional layouts (if you work in more than one language, for example). Use it also to configure other keyboard options.

The Layout tab determines your keyboard layouts if you check "Enable keyboard layouts." In the Configuration section, three drop-down lists are available to set your keyboard model, primary country and language layout, and a primary variant. The options on the variant drop-down list vary depending on which primary layout you select, but generally include different keymaps for the same language.

In the "Additional layouts" section, select any other layouts you may want to use. You can also select a variant for each. The additional layouts include variations such as the Dvorak keyboard layout, in addition to language layouts. The list of layouts shows a flag image for each layout. When you enable layouts, a button is added to the system tray in the panel that allows you to switch between your selected layouts. The button contains the flag for the current layout. Click the flag to cycle through the layouts.

The Options tab sets the Switching Policy to one of Global, Window Class, or Window. The policy determines whether a layout switch happens globally, by window class, or on a window-by-window basis. The Xkb Options section sets Xkb (X keyboard) options; you can check the box Reset Old Options to reset your options to the defaults as defined in your /etc/X11/XF86Config file. The rest of this section consists of five drop-down lists used to set the behavior of certain keys.^[2] Each can be left blank or set to one of the listed options. The drop-down lists are:

^[2] Depending on your Linux distribution, you may not see all the lists described here.

CapsLock Key Behavior

Sets whether the Caps Lock key uses internal capitalization or acts as a shift lock key, in each case with or without canceling caps.

Third-Level Choosers

Sets the key or keys that can be used as an ISO 9995 third-level chooser. ISO 9995 is a multipart ISO standard that specifies keyboard layouts for text and office systems. The choices are Any of the Win-keys, Left Win-key, Right Control, Right Win-key, or Menu key.

Control Key Position

Determines the position of the Control key. The choices are Control Key at Bottom Left, Control Key at Left of "A", Make CapsLock an Additional Control, or Swap Control and CapsLock.

Use keyboard LED to show alternative group

Sets one of Scroll_Lock LED, Caps_Lock LED, or Num_Lock LED to show an alternative group as defined by ISO 9995.

Group Shift/Lock behavior

Determines what key is used to switch groups. Some of the options change the group until it is changed again, while others change the group only while the key is pressed. The choices are: Left Win-key changes group, Both Win-keys switch group while pressed, R-Alt switches group while pressed, Both Shift keys together change group, Right Win-key changes group, Left Win-key switches group while pressed, Caps Lock key changes group, Right Alt key changes group, or Alt+Shift changes group.

The Advanced tab configures the keyboard repeat (i.e., holding a key down repeats the character until you release the key). Check the "Keyboard repeat" box to enable keyboard repeat, and use the slider to set the keyclick volume. If you don't want to hear keyclicks, set the slider to 0. Note that your keyboard may not support changing the keyclick volume. The section "NumLock on KDE startup" determines the state of the NumLock key when KDE starts. Click Turn on, Turn off, or Leave unchanged.

18.3.6.2 Mouse

This module configures the movement and button layout of your mouse.

On the General tab, the Button Mapping section sets the mouse to be right-handed or left-handed. In the Icons section, select either "Single-click to open files and folders" or "Double-click to open files and folders." If you select single-click, you also have the option to check "Change pointer shape over icons" and "Automatically select icons." If you select "Automatically select icons," move the slider to determine how long the pointer can remain over the icon before it is selected. If you select double-click to open, then a single click selects an icon. Check "Visual feedback on activation" or "Large cursor" to select either of those options.

On the Advanced tab, the Pointer Acceleration slider determines how fast the pointer moves on your screen when you move your mouse. Lower values move the pointer more slowly for small mouse movements, giving you finer control. Higher values let you cross the screen more quickly. The Pointer Threshold slider sets the distance (in pixels) that the mouse must move before pointer movement occurs. The Double Click Interval slider sets the maximum time that can pass between two clicks and still be considered a double-click. The Drag Start Time slider sets the amount of time that has to pass after you click a button and start to move the mouse before it is considered a drag operation. The Drag Start Distance slider sets the distance (in pixels) that the mouse must move with a button clicked before it is considered a drag operation. The Mouse Wheel Scrolls By slider determines how many lines are scrolled for one mouse wheel movement.

18.3.7 Personalization

The Personalization modules cover configuration options that don't fit neatly into any of the other categories.

18.3.7.1 Accessibility

The Accessibility module sets configuration options to make the system more accessible. The Bell tab sets the audible bell to one of "Use System bell" or "Use customized bell." If you choose a customized bell, use the text box to enter the path to the sound you want, or select Browse. You can set a visible "bell" by checking "Use visible bell" and then either "Invert screen" or "Flash screen." Select a color by clicking the color button and use the slider to set the duration of the inversion or flashing.

The Keyboard tab has three settings to make the keyboard easier to use:

Use sticky keys

Pressing one of the Ctrl, Alt, or Shift keys and then releasing it to press another key is treated as a multi-key combination for the next keypress. For example, to enter Ctrl-Tab with sticky keys enabled, press Ctrl, release it, and then press Tab. You can also check "Lock sticky keys." In that case, pressing Ctrl, Alt, or Shift once behaves the same as "Use sticky keys"; pressing the key twice leaves it in the modified mode until you press it again to release it.

Use slow keys

Each key must be held down for the amount of time specified by the Delay slider to be recognized as a key press. This protects you from accidental keystrokes.

Use bounce keys

The amount of time specified by the Delay slider must pass between two key presses for the second one to be recognized. This protects you from accidentally hitting multiple keys if you type fast.

The Mouse tab sets values for using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad to move the mouse pointer instead of having to use a mouse, trackball, or other device. The possible settings are Acceleration Delay, Repeat Interval, Acceleration Time, Maximum Speed, and Acceleration Profile. If you don't have a numeric keypad (e.g., on a laptop computer), the numeric keypad keys are usually available on the keyboard, accessed with a function (fn) key.

18.3.7.2 Country & Language

The Country & Language module sets the preferred locale settings for your programs. The Locale tab has a drop-down list for selecting your country. When you select a country, the language or languages generally used in that country appear in the Languages box. You can add a language to the list from the Add Language drop-down list, or select a language and click Remove Language to remove one from the list. The bottom portion of the tab shows the default appearance of numbers, money, dates, and time for that country and language. Use the remaining tabs to change these defaults. As you change the settings, the examples at the bottom of the window (which are shown on all the tabs) also change, so you can see how they will look with the new settings.

The Numbers tab lets you set the character used for the decimal symbol, thousands separator, positive sign, and negative sign.

The Money tab lets you set the character to be used for the currency symbol, decimal symbol, thousands separator, and fract (fractional) digits, i.e., the number of digits after the decimal point. In the sections positive and negative, check the "Prefix currency symbol" box to have the currency symbol appear before the positive or negative sign, and then select where the sign should be placed from the drop-down list. The possible positions are:

Parentheses around

Display the value in parentheses. For example, you might select this option to display negative numbers in parentheses rather than showing a minus sign.

Before quantity money

Display the sign after the currency symbol and before the value.

After quantity money

Display the sign after the value and before the currency symbol.

Before money

Display the sign before both the value and the currency symbol.

After money

Display the sign after both the value and the currency symbol.

The Time & Dates tab has the following settings: Time format, Date format, Short date format, and Start week on Monday. Select the time and date formats from drop-down lists or enter a format into the appropriate text box. Check the "Start week on Monday" box if you want Monday rather than Sunday to start a new week. The time and date formats are specified with the following codes; the table shows the time codes first, then the date codes.

Code	Replaced by
HH	The two-digit hour on a 24-hour clock.
hH	The hour on a 24-hour clock, using one or two digits as appropriate.
PH	The two-digit hour on a 12-hour clock.
pH	The hour on a 12-hour clock, using one or two digits as appropriate.
MM	The minute, using two digits.
SS	The second, using two digits.
AMPM	Replaced with either "am" or "pm" as appropriate; primarily for use with a 12-hour clock setting.
YYYY	The four-digit year.
YY	The two-digit year.
MM	The two-digit month.
mM	The month, using one or two digits as appropriate.
MONTH	The full name of the month.
SHORTMONTH	The abbreviated name of the month.
DD	The two-digit day of the month.
dD	The day of the month, using one or two digits as appropriate.
WEEKDAY	The full day of the week.
SHORTWEEKDAY	The abbreviated day of the week.

18.3.7.3 Crypto

The Crypto module controls the configuration of the OpenSSL implementation of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) network protocols. Use this module to configure SSL for use with KDE applications, and to manage your personal certificates and known certificate authorities. The module has six tabs: SSL, OpenSSL, Your Certificates, Authentication, Peer SSL Certificates, and SSL Signers.

If you do not have OpenSSL installed, each of the tabs displays the message "SSL ciphers cannot be configured because this module was not linked with OpenSSL." If you do have OpenSSL installed, you probably still should not make any configuration changes unless you are familiar with SSL and know what you are doing. For more information on using and configuring OpenSSL, see the O'Reilly book Network Security with Open SSL.

At the bottom of the SSL tab are some checkboxes. If OpenSSL is installed, you'll see five checkboxes; if it is not installed, only the last three are shown and available. The checkboxes are:

Use EGD

Use the entropy-gathering daemon (EGD) to initialize the pseudo-random number generator. Entropy is basically a measure of randomness; SSL requires random numbers for such functions as creating public and private keys, and EGD is a Perl script that gathers entropy.

Use entropy file

Use the file whose path you specify in the text box or by browsing as the source of entropy for the pseudo-random number generator.

Warn on leaving SSL mode

See a warning when you leave an SSL-enabled site.

Warn on sending unencrypted data

See a warning when you are about to send unencrypted data over the network with a web browser.

At the top of the SSL tab are three checkboxes that enable TLS support (if it's available), SSL v2 support, and SSL v3 support. These options are followed by two columns containing a list of SSL v2 and SSL v3 ciphers. You can check or uncheck the ciphers individually to select the ones you want to use, or use the buttons below the lists to select them in groups: Most Compatible, US Ciphers Only, Export Ciphers Only, or Enable All.

The OpenSSL tab lets you specify the path to your SSL libraries or use the Browse button to locate them. Then click on the Test button to test your settings.

The Your Certificates tab shows a list of certificates that KDE knows about and lets you manage them with a set of buttons on the right-hand side. The buttons are Import, Export, Remove, Unlock, Verify, and Change Password.

The Authentication tab lets you specify a default certificate from the drop-down button and a default action or policy. The possible policies are Send, Prompt, and Don't Send. You can also add or remove hosts and host certificates, and set one of the same three actions for each.

The Peer SSL Certificates tab lets you Export, Remove, or Verify peer organizations, and set a policy of Accept, Reject, or Prompt for each.

The SSL Signers tab lets you Import, Remove, or Restore organizations to a list of signing organizations, and determine whether to accept for site signing, accept for email signing, or accept for code signing.

18.3.7.4 Konsole

The Konsole module configures the Konsole terminal emulator. It has four tabs: General, Schema, Session, and Write Daemon.

The General tab has settings to determine general Konsole behavior:

Use Konsole as default terminal application

Set Konsole as your default terminal.

Show Terminal Size when Resizing

Display the number of characters and lines as you resize the terminal. The display changes as you change the size, showing the current dimensions.

Show Frame

Put a frame around the terminal window. If the frame is turned on, a narrow edge appears inside the Konsole window around the portion that represents the terminal itself. This option does not affect the border around the entire Konsole window.

Warn for Open Sessions on Quit

Konsole warns you if you still have open sessions when you quit out of Konsole.

Blinking Cursor

The cursor blinks inside the Konsole window, making the cursor easier to find.

Require Ctrl key for drag and drop

Require the use of the Ctrl key for dragging and dropping text. Konsole allows you to drag text and drop it into other applications.

Line Spacing

Use the up or down arrows to set the line spacing. The default value is Normal, which is single-spacing.

Double Click

The text box shows a default set of characters (besides letters and digits) that are treated as part of a word when you double-click to select a word. You can add or remove characters from this set.

The Schema tab sets up the appearance of the Konsole window. The Schema box in the center of the tab shows the available schemas with the current one highlighted. The current schema also is shown in the Title box at the top. Check the box under the list of schemas to set the highlighted one as the default or click the Remove Schema button to remove it from the list. You can also set up a color scheme and add a background image to your Konsole sessions.

The Session tab lets you set properties for the different types of Konsole sessions. Pick the session type from the list in the Session section of the tab, and then enter or change the name, the command to execute, and the default directory in the General section. You can select an icon by clicking on the image of the current icon, pick a font size from the Font drop-down menu, enter or change the setting of the TERM environment variable, set the keyboard type (e.g., Linux console, VT100, or XTerm), and set the color schema for that session type.

The Write Daemon tab has a single checkbox, whose effect is to start the write daemon when KDE starts up. You should generally leave this box checked.

18.3.7.5 Passwords

The Passwords module has three settings that determine how passwords are treated when you run privileged operations. Note that there are security implications to these settings. If you are not in a secure location, be careful of setting options that may make things easier for you but may also open security holes. The settings are:

Echo characters as

Determines if and how your password is echoed on the screen as you enter it. Each character can be shown as one star, three stars, or not at all.

Remember passwords

KDE will remember passwords so they don't have to be entered each time.

Timeout

If "Remember passwords" is checked, this option becomes available to set the period of time for the passwords to be remembered. For example, you might set a timeout period of an hour if you are temporarily doing work that requires superuser privileges.

18.3.7.6 Session Manager

The Session Manager module controls the configuration of your KDE sessions. Check the "Confirm logout" box if you want KDE to ask for confirmation before logging you out. The confirmation box lets you change your mind and cancel the logout, or proceed to log out, with or without saving your current session information. If you check the "Save session for future logins" box, the logout confirmation box will also have that option checked by default; you can uncheck it when you log out to have your next session revert to the previously saved session.

The section "Default action after logout" has three options that control what action takes place by default when you log out. Check one of: Login as Different User, Turn Off Computer, and Restart Computer. The default action applies only if you logged in through the kdm display manager. You can always choose a different option if you let the system prompt you for confirmation.

18.3.7.7 Spell Checking

The Spell Checking module configures the KDE spell checker, KSpell. You can check either or both of "Create root/affix combinations not in dictionary" and "Consider run-together words as spelling errors." Select a dictionary from the drop-down list of dictionaries available on your system; also select the language encoding to use from another drop-down list, and whether to use international ISpell or ASpell as the underlying spell-checking client program. International ISpell is an interactive spell-checking program that understands many European languages. ASpell is similar to ISpell, but it is smarter about suggesting alternative spellings.

18.3.8 Power Control

The Power Control modules configure the energy-saving and battery settings for your system. The Energy module applies to all systems that have a monitor with energy-saving capabilities; the remaining modules apply to laptop or other battery-powered systems using the Linux Advanced Power Management (APM) or Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) features.

The Laptop Power Control module is available only if your system supports APM and you set the setuid bit for the APM binary file. (Do this as root with the command chmod u+s /usr/bin/apm. But be aware that there are security issues with turning on the setuid bit.) In addition, both the Low Battery Critical and Low Battery Warning modules add Suspend and Standby to the possible options if this file is setuid. Suspend mode is designed for times when you want to stop working (especially on a laptop), but want to be able to restart where you left off. Open applications are preserved in memory, the CPU remains active at a low level, and the hard drive is shut down. Standby mode shuts the computer down almost completely, but continues to draw a small amount of power so that it wakes up quickly when you restart it. Nothing is saved in memory.

18.3.8.1 Battery Monitor

Check the Show Battery Monitor box in the Battery Monitor module to turn on the visual display of the battery's status. Then you can set the frequency with which the status should be checked. You can also change the icons that appear when there is no battery, the battery is not charging, or the battery is plugged in and charging by clicking on the icon that you want to change and selecting a new one.

18.3.8.2 Energy

If your hardware supports power management, you can enable it by checking the Enable Display Energy Saving box in the Energy module. Then use the sliders to set the amount of idle time before the system goes to standby mode, then to suspend mode, and finally turns off.

18.3.8.3 Laptop Power Control

This module configures how and when the automatic power-down feature takes effect. You can set the behavior separately for Not Powered, when the computer is running off the battery, and Powered, when it is plugged into a power supply. For each case you can set it to suspend, go into standby mode, or turn off. Then set the amount of idle time before the power management takes effect. It's common to set a shorter delay for battery power to save the battery.

18.3.8.4 Low Battery Critical

The Low Battery Critical module sets a trigger time for notifying you that your battery is almost out of power. The time tells you how many minutes are left before the battery runs out of power. The remaining options determine what happens when that threshold is reached. The first two choices are Run Command and Play Sound. Each has a text box where you can enter the path to the command or the sound. The remaining options are System Beep, Notify, Suspend, and Standby. Suspend and standby are available only if /usr/bin/apm has the setuid bit on.

18.3.8.5 Low Battery Warning

The Low Battery Warning module is like the Low Battery Critical module, except that it notifies you sooner when the battery is running low. The trigger time is set to a higher number, so if both warnings are set, you will first get a warning that the power is getting low, and then the power-critical warning when it is about to run out. The other options are the same.

18.3.9 Sound

The modules contained in this section configure the keyboard bell and other system sounds. The basic modules described here are Midi, Sound Server, System Bell, and System Notifications. You may also have other Sound modules, such as Audio CD IO-Slave, which configures the program that lets you make .wav, .mp3, or Ogg Vorbis files from audio CDs or DVDs, or Mixer, which configures a sound mixer.

18.3.9.1 Midi

The Midi module sets the Midi device to use. Select the device you want from the list, and if you want to use a Midi map, check Use Midi Mapper and enter the path to the map file or click the Browse button to search for it.

18.3.9.2 Sound Server

The Sound Server module configures the aRts sound server, which is a simulation of an analog real-time synthesizer used by KDE for multimedia support. On the General tab, check "Start aRts soundserver on KDE startup" to enable the aRts server. This makes the rest of the checkboxes available:

Enable network transparency

Allow the server to respond to sound requests that come in over the network. Uncheck if you want the server to respond only to local requests.

Exchange security

Check this box if you also checked the "Enable network transparency" box. It allows security information to be exchanged across the network.

Run soundserver with realtime priority

If your system supports real-time scheduling, check this box to have the sound server run at a high priority. Note that you may need root privileges for this option to take effect.

Autosuspend if idle

The sound server will suspend itself if it has been idle for the number of seconds that you specify in the combination box. Having the server suspend itself frees the sound card for other applications.

Display messages using

Specify the application that will display aRts messages and enter the application to change it from the default artsmessage.

Whether or not you enable the sound server, you can set the level of messages to be displayed from the Message Display drop-down list. The choices are Errors, Warnings, Informational, and Debug. Messages at the selected level or higher are displayed.

The Sound I/O tab configures the sound itself if the sound server is enabled. Choose the Sound I/O method from the drop-down list. The choices are Autodetect, Threaded Open Sound System, No Audio Input/Output, and Open Sound System. The default Autodetect is usually fine. Similarly, you can set the Sound quality to Autodetect, 16 bits (high), or 8 bits (low). Between the two drop-down lists are four checkboxes: "Enable full duplex operation," "Use custom sound device," "Use custom sampling rate," and "Other custom options." Select full-duplex operation if you need to record and play sound at the same time. Use the custom options if you have particular requirements that make the defaults unsuitable. See the context-sensitive help to determine if you should check one of these boxes. The slider at the bottom of the tab labeled "Audio buffer size (response time)" determines how responsive the sound is. Moving the slider to the left speeds up response time, while moving it to the right slows it down. Faster response time has a cost, though, as it uses more of the CPU.

18.3.9.3 System Bell

This module configures the system bell. Checking "Use System Bell instead of System Notification" enables the other options, which you can set with sliders or directly in the combination boxes. Volume sets the volume of the bell, measured as a percentage of the maximum possible volume; Pitch sets the tone of the slider in Hz; and Duration determines how long the beep lasts, in milliseconds. To listen to your settings, click the Test button.

18.3.9.4 System Notifications

This module allows you to enable and configure sound events for different applications. Most of the window is taken up with a tree listing of applications and events. For each event, you can select among four choices for how you want to be notified:

Log to file

Log the event to a file, specified in the Filename text box below.

Play sound

Play the sound contained in the file specified in the Filename text box below. You can also check the box "Use external player" to use a particular media player and enter the path to the player in the text box.

Show messagebox

Display the notification in a message box displayed in the program's window.

Standard error output

Write the message to the standard error output.

You can select more than one option. For example, you might want to hear a sound and also have the event logged to a file.

The volume slider lets you determine the sound volume, and the long button at the bottom of the window switches between "Enable all sounds" and "Disable all sounds" to turn sound on or off for all applications at once.

18.3.10 System

The system modules set configuration options that have a systemwide effect. For that reason, most of them require you to enter the root password before you can make changes. Other modules, like the Font Installer module, let you make changes in your home directory without the root password, but require it for global changes. To enter the root password, click the Administrator Mode button in the lower-right corner of the window and enter the password in the window that appears. A red border appears around the module window to indicate that you are in administrator mode. Administrator mode does not carry over across modules. You must enter the root password for each module you want to use in administrator mode.

In addition to the modules described here, other modules that you might find depending on your distribution and KDE version include Boot Manager (LILO), Linux Kernel Configurator, Alarm Daemon, and XML RPC Daemon.

18.3.10.1 Date & Time

The Date & Time module lets you set the system date and time. The window has a calendar in the upper left corner of the window, and a clock in the upper right. Set the date by selecting a month from the drop-down list and setting the year in the combination box. Then select the correct date from the calendar. Set the time by entering the correct hour, minutes, and seconds in the boxes under the clock. The current time zone is displayed under the clock; you can choose a new time zone by selecting a location from the drop-down list and click Apply to see the new time zone displayed.

18.3.10.2 Font Installer

The Font Installer module installs new fonts onto the system. If you want to install a font globally, click the Administrator Mode button and enter the root password; otherwise the font will be installed in your home directory. The two columns on the Fonts tab show the directory from which the font will be installed on the left and the directory to which it will be installed on the right. To install the font from a different location, click the Change Folder button and select a new location. If you highlight a font in one of the columns, a preview appears in the box at the bottom of the window. To install a font, select it from the first column and click the Install button.

The Anti-Alias tab lets you set up options for antialiasing with the XRender Extension. If your system is not capable of using this extension, the checkboxes under the Configuration File text box are grayed out. If they are available, you can check "Exclude range" and enter the end points of the range to exclude certain point sizes from antialiasing, and check "Use sub-pixel hinting."

If you are in administrator mode, you can click the Advanced button to set up rules for matching font families and establish any desired include directives specifying additional font files. The Include Directives tab has two sections. Any files listed in the top section, Include, must be available. Files in the bottom section, Include If, are included if they are found, but aren't required.

The Settings tab has customization settings for five aspects of font installation:

Appearance

The Appearance settings customize the look and operation of the Font Installer module. The settings are:

Mode

Select Advanced or Basic mode. In advanced mode, the full font directory and file hierarchy are shown in the columns on the Fonts tab, and you can install Speedo and bitmap fonts in addition to TrueType and Type 1. In basic mode, only the font files are shown in the columns on the Fonts tab, and you can install only TrueType and Type 1 fonts.

Font Lists

Select whether to display the fonts on the Fonts tab in left and right columns or top and bottom columns.

Custom preview string

Check this box and enter the string if you want to see characters other than the alphabet for the font preview on the Fonts tab.

Folder & Files

When you select the Font Installer module, it searches for the correct folders (directories) and files. Use these settings to make any changes or add any missing entries for the fonts folder, the font configuration file, and the encodings folder. You can also check the Ghostscript, Fontmap file box and set the path to the file to enable configuration of Ghostscript. Check the CUPS folder box and set the path if you are using CUPS (the Common Unix Print System) and want to enable its configuration.

Install/Uninstall

To configure font install and uninstall operations, check "Fix TrueType Postscript names table" to automatically fix the names table when you install TrueType fonts; this corrects any problems that sometimes occur with TrueType fonts. You can also specify a file to which fonts should be moved when they are uninstalled.

StarOffice

Check the box to configure fonts for StarOffice, and specify a folder and a printer file. These options need to be set only for versions of StarOffice before Version 6. OpenOffice and later versions of StarOffice don't need this section.

X System

This section sets some X Window System font configuration options:

Configure X to only use ... encoding

Check this box and select an encoding from the drop-down list to specify an encoding for X to use.

Generate AFMs, with ... encoding

Check this box and select an encoding from the drop-down list to generate the Adobe Font Metric (AFM) files used by programs such as StarOffice to display font sizes correctly.

Command to Refresh X's Font List

This section lets you select the command to use after adding or removing fonts to refresh the internal font list. The choices are:

• xset fp rehash: This command resets the font path, which causes the font server to reread its database.

• /etc/rc.d/init.d/xfs restart: This command restarts the X font server. You must be in administrator mode to use this command.

• Custom: Check this box to use a command of your own choosing, and enter the command in the text box.

18.3.10.3 Login Manager

The KDE login manager, kdm (KDE display manager), is the program that controls the graphical login screen. This module lets you configure the graphical style of the login screen and set some default display options, such as prelisted users and available session environments.

The Appearance tab lets you edit the greeting string displayed on the login screen. Certain special characters, such as %s and %n in the default greeting string, can be used; they are replaced as follows:

Sequence	Replaced by
%d	The current display
%h	The host name
%m	The machine (hardware) type
%n	The node name
%r	The operating system version
%s	The operating system
%%	A single %

You can choose a logo if you want one, or select Show Clock to display a clock instead of a logo. To select a logo other than the default KDE logo, click the logo image and select another image file. A drop-down list offers you a choice of GUI styles for the login screen. Use the Echo Mode drop-down list to choose whether to replace each character of the password with a single star, three stars, or no echo. The Language option lets you select the default character encoding for kdm.

The Fonts tab lets you choose the font style and size for the Greeting, Fail, and Standard screen messages. Select which type you want to configure from the drop-down list and click the Change Font button. The pop-up window shows a list of available fonts and lets you set the point size. Click the OK button to close the pop-up window. The font you have chosen is displayed in the Example area of the tab.

The Background tab lets you select the background for the login screen. See the earlier description of the Background module in the Look & Feel section for a detailed description of the options on this tab.

The Sessions tab configures session settings. There are two drop-down lists at the top that set who is allowed to shut down the system from the console and remotely. The choices for both are Everybody, Only root, and Nobody. The default for the console is Everybody; the default for remote shutdown is Only root.

The Commands section allows you to set the commands used for shutdown and restart. In the Lilo section, check "Show boot options" to enable the LILO boot options to be displayed in the Shutdown menu. The Session Types section configures the list of session types available to the user from the login screen. The Default list contains the various environments that are installed on your system, such as KDE and GNOME. You can add a new type or remove a type from the listing.

The Users tab lets you show a list of users on the login screen. The users are listed by username with a logo displayed for each user. To log in, you can simply click your logo to automatically enter your name into the login box, but you still must supply your password. The tab contains listings labeled "Remaining users," "Selected users," and "No-show users." You can select names from the lists and use the arrow buttons to move them from one box to another. Two options are available for who to display on the login screen. You can place names in the "Selected users" list and click the "Show only selected users" button, or you can click the "All but no-show" button to display users in both the "Remaining users" and "Selected users" lists. No-show users are user IDs that are used to control access-restricted system resources (e.g., root, news, and nobody). They are never displayed on the login screen. You can add the names of other users to the no-show list. Check the "Sort users" box to display the images in alphabetical order.

You can select a different default image by clicking on the image button and choosing another image file. You can also select a unique image for each user by highlighting the user in one of the lists and selecting an image file for that user.

Users whose image is not shown on the login screen can still log in; the only difference is that they have to enter their login name as well as their password.

The Convenience tab offers options that make logging in easier and more automatic. The drawback to the convenience options is that they are potential security risks, because they make it easy for someone without a valid login ID to access the system. Therefore, conveneince options should be used only on a system that is in a secure environment. The sections on the Convenience tab are:

Automatic login

If you check the box "Enable auto-login" in this section, you log in normally to KDE, but if you then use Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to kill the X server, kdm will log you in automatically when it comes up again. If you check the box "Truly automatic login" and select a username from the drop-down box, kdm will automatically log you in to that account when it comes up.

Preselect User

kdm can be configured to start up with a username already entered in the Name field. Select None if you do not want this option, Previous to have the previously logged-in user preselected, or Specify to choose a user from the drop-down list. Check the Focus password box to leave the cursor in the password field after preselecting the user. The alternative is to leave it in the user box so you can select a different username.

Password-less login

Check the "Enable password-less logins" box if you want users to be able to log in without entering a password. Then move users from the "Password required" list to the "Skip password" list, to identify users who can log in without entering their password.

Miscellaneous

Check the box "Automatically log in again after X server crash" to have kdm log you in automatically when X restarts after a crash.

18.3.10.4 Printing Manager

The Printing Manager module configures the KDE print manager, KDEPrint. KDEPrint is a frontend to your system's printing subsystem that provides an interface layer between KDE applications and the printing subsystem. Therefore, the details for using the Printing Manager module may vary depending on the printing subsystem in use.

Any application can use KDEPrint by printing to $KDEDIR/bin/kprinter instead of /usr/bin/lpr. KDEPrint supports all the usual Linux printing subsystems, with an emphasis on CUPS.

The configuration window has a row of icons on the top. If you select Administrator Mode for this module, all the icons are available except for features you don't have installed. Otherwise, you can select only certain icons. From left to right, the icons are:

• Add printer/class

• Add special (pseudo) printer

• Start/Stop printer

• Enable/Disable job spooling

• Set as local default

• Set as user default

• Remove

• Configure

• Test printer

• Printer tools

• Restart server

• Configure server

• Configure manager

• Refresh view

• Show/Hide printer details

• View

• Orientation

• Toggle printer filtering

Below the icons is a large window that lists all available printers or pseudo-printers. A pseudo-printer lets you send print output somewhere other than to a printer, such as a file or a fax. At the bottom of the window is a drop-down list of print systems that shows the print system in use. Below that is a window with four tabs. The tabs provide detailed information for the printer currently highlighted in the printer list. The Information tab shows information such as the type, state, and location of the printer. The Jobs tab lists current jobs and their status. The Properties tab displays current property settings and lets you change them. The Instances tab shows individual printers and lets you configure them.

18.3.11 Web Browsing

The Web Browsing modules let you configure the Konqueror web browser.

18.3.11.1 Cache

The Cache module controls the use of a local cache to save copies of web pages you have visited. Using a cache lets Konqueror display pages without going back to the remote web site, which saves time and Internet access at the cost of using disk space and not always seeing the current version of a page. If you use the cache, you can always press Konqueror's Reload button to get the latest version.

The Use Cache button is checked by default. Uncheck it if you do not want any pages stored in a cache on your system. The Policy section controls how up to date the cache is kept and whether to read first from the cache or the Web. Check one of these options:

Keep cache in sync

Before displaying a page from the cache, verify that it is still valid and, if not, reread it from the remote site.

Use cache if possible

Display a page from the cache if it is there, otherwise read it from the remote site.

Offline browsing mode

Display a page from the cache if it is there, otherwise do not display it. Do not attempt to reread the page from the remote site.

In the "Disk cache size" box, enter the cache size you want. Click the Clear Cache button at any time to empty the cache.

18.3.11.2 Cookies

The Cookies module sets Konqueror's cookie policy and lets you manage individual cookies. This module has two tabs: Policy and Management.

On the Policy tab, check the Enable Cookies box to enable web sites to store cookies on your system. Then check one of the options in the Default Policy section:

Ask for confirmation before accepting cookies

Konqueror asks you to confirm your acceptance of every cookie. Each time a web site wants to store a cookie, a window pops up asking if you want to accept the cookie. At that time, you can choose to apply your response to just that cookie, all cookies from the domain, or all cookies.

Accept all cookies by default

Konqueror accepts and stores all cookies. If you select this policy, you will never be asked for confirmation. You can go to the Management tab later to remove cookies you don't want.

Reject all cookies by default

Konqueror refuses to accept any cookies. Selecting this policy can result in your not being able to use certain web sites that require you to accept their cookies. You can change this policy later for all cookies or for a particular domain.

The Domain Specific Policy section lets you override the default policy for cookies from certain domains. This section lists domains for which you have specifically chosen to accept or reject cookies. Click the New button to add a domain. Click on a domain in the list to change the policy for that domain or to delete it from the list. The Delete All button deletes the entire list. The possible policies are Accept, Reject, and Ask.

The Management tab lets you manage cookies stored by Konqueror. The top portion lists the cookies hierarchically by domain and host. Select a domain and click Delete to delete all cookies from that domain, or select an individual cookie from the Host column and click Delete to delete just that cookie. If an individual cookie is selected, the Cookie Details portion of the tab shows the content, expiration date, and other information for that cookie. The Delete All button deletes all cookies stored by Konqueror, and the Reload List button reloads the list of stored cookies if more have been saved since you selected this module.

18.3.11.3 Enhanced Browsing

The Enhanced Browsing module controls the use of Internet keywords and web shortcuts by Konqueror—two features designed to make web browsing easier. Click the Enable Internet Keywords box to enable the use of Internet keywords. This lets you enter words such as company names without having to enter a full URL. For example, the use of Internet keywords would let you enter oreilly instead of the full URL http://www.oreilly.com. If you enable Internet keywords, you can also use the Fallback Search Engine drop-down list to pick the search engine to use if what you entered isn't found as an Internet keyword.

Check the Enable Web Shortcuts box to enable the use of web shortcuts. These are shortcuts that are not known Internet keywords, but have much the same purpose. A predefined list of shortcuts is provided. For example, gg is a shortcut for Google. This means that you can enter gg:KDE anywhere a URL is expected, and KDE searches Google for references to KDE. You can add your own shortcuts by clicking Add, or select an entry in the list and click Change to change its associated shortcuts or Delete to remove it from the list. The character sequence \{@} in a shortcut causes the shortcut to prompt the user for a string (such as a term in a query) and to plug the user's string into the shortcut at that point.

18.3.11.4 Konqueror Browser

This module configures settings used for Konqueror's web browsing functionality. It has five tabs: HTML, Appearance, Java, JavaScript, and Plugins.

On the HTML tab, checking the box "Enable completion of forms" causes Konqueror to store your responses as you fill in forms and automatically fill in the same information in other forms. Move the "Maximum completions" slider to set the maximum number of responses Konqueror will remember. Check the box "Change cursor over links" to have Konqueror display a different cursor when the pointer is over a link. The link cursor is a hand with a finger pointing to the link. If you check the box "Right click goes back in history," right-clicking on a web page acts like the Back button and takes you back a page. Check the box "Automatically load images" to have Konqueror load embedded images as it loads a web page. Check the box "Allow automatic delayed reloading/redirecting" to allow Konqueror to honor reload or redirect requests from the remote host. Choose an option from the Underline Links drop-down box to determine if and when links should be underlined. Select Enable to always underline links, Disable to never underline them, or Only on Hover to underline links only when the mouse pointer is directly over the link. Finally, you can enable or disable animations, or set them to be shown only once.

The Appearance tab sets fonts, font sizes, and the default encoding. Use the top slider to set the minimum font size and the lower slider to set the medium font size. Then specify your preferred fonts. The text boxes let you set standard, fixed, serif, sans serif, cursive, and fantasy fonts. Use the Default Encoding drop-down box to set the default language encoding. Just above this box, you can set a font size adjustment for the encoding.

The Java tab controls whether you will permit web pages to run Java applets. This tab lets you turn Java on globally, or set a policy on a host- or domain-specific basis. You can also turn Java on globally and then selectively turn it off for certain hosts or domains. To set policy by domain, click the Add button to specify a domain. A dialog box appears for you to enter the host or domain name and specify a policy of Reject or Accept. If you change your mind, you can click the Change or Delete button to change the policy or delete the entry. If you enable Java globally, you can also set the following Java Runtime Settings.

Show Java Console

Open a Java console window for the use of Java applets.

Use Security Manager

Run a security manager that prevents Java applets from accessing your filesystem or perfoming other insecure actions. Normally, you should leave this box checked to protect your system.

Shutdown Applet Server when inactive

Shut down the Java Applet Server when no Java applet is running. This frees up resources when no applet is running, but causes a new applet to take slightly longer to start. If you choose this option, you can also move the Applet Server Timeout slider to set the number of seconds with no applet activity before the server shuts down.

Path to java executable, or "java"

Enter the path to the Java executable in the text box, or java to have Konqueror find Java in your path.

Additional Java Arguments

Enter any arguments for the Java virtual machine in this text box.

KDE does not implement any Java functionality itself; it relies on an external Java virtual machine. Therefore, you must already have Java installed on your system in order for these settings to have any effect.

The JavaScript tab controls whether you will permit web pages to run JavaScript code. Check the box to enable JavaScript globally, or set a policy on a host- or domain-specific basis, as you did for Java. As with Java, you can turn JavaScript on globally and off selectively for certain hosts or domains. Finally, set the policy you want for JavaScript web pop-ups. The possible policies are:

Allow

Allow all JavaScript pop-ups.

Ask

Ask for permission before displaying a JavaScript pop-up.

Deny

Don't allow any JavaScript pop-ups.

Smart

Allow only JavaScript pop-ups that have been activated by the user with a mouse click or keyboard operation.

On the Plugins tab, check Enable Plugins Globally to allow the use of plug-ins.

18.3.11.5 Netscape Plugins

The Konqueror browser can use Netscape plug-ins to display various types of web content. The Netscape Plugins module lets you tell Konqueror where to find the plug-ins on the system.

The Scan tab contains a list of directories for Konqueror to scan when looking for Netscape plug-ins. Initially, it contains a list of directories where plug-ins are typically found. You can add or delete entries from the list with the New and Remove buttons, or move around in the list with the Up and Down buttons. Or you can simply click on the entry you want with the first mouse button. Click the Scan for New Plugins button to have Konqueror rescan the directories in the list. You can also check the box labeled "Scan for new plugins at KDE startup" to run the scan each time KDE starts.

The Plugins tab contains a list of plug-ins that Konqueror found when it scanned the directories listed on the Scan tab. Check the box labeled "Use artsdsp to pipe plugin sound through aRts" if you want to use the analog real-time synthesizer to play sound.

18.3.11.6 Proxy

If your system is behind a firewall, you may need to use a proxy server for HTTP and FTP services. The Proxy module lets you enable the use of a proxy and configure it. Check the Use Proxy box to enable the use of a proxy server. The remaining options are:

Automatically detected script file

Konqueror will automatically find the setup configuration script file.

Specified script file

Specify the location of the script file, and enter the path to the file in the Location text box.

Preset environment variables

Check this box if your system has preset environment variables such as $HTTP_PROXY for graphical and nongraphical applications to share proxy configuration information, and click the Setup button to provide the environment variable names.

Manually specified settings

Provide the proxy server locations manually, and click the Setup button to provide the information.

Prompt as needed

Konqueror will prompt as needed for login information.

Use automatic login

Check this box if you have login information set up for your proxy server in the file $KDEHOME/share/config/kionetrc.

18.3.11.7 Stylesheets

The Stylesheets module contains settings for the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) in Konqueror. On the General tab, choose the stylesheet. Check "Use default stylesheet" to use the Konqueror default; check "Use user-defined stylesheet" to specify a different stylesheet, and enter the path to the stylesheet in the text box. Or check "Use accessibility stylesheet defined in `Customize' tab" and go to the Customize tab to define the stylesheet.

On the Customize tab, select a font family and check the box if you want to use that family for all text, overriding custom font settings. Select a base font size and check the box if you want to use that font size for all elements, overriding custom font size settings. Select a color scheme: Black on White, White on Black, or Custom. If you select Custom, also select a background and foreground color by clicking on the Background and Foreground color buttons. You can use the same color for all text, overriding any custom color settings. Check the box "Suppress images" if you don't want any images automatically displayed, "Suppress background images" to prevent display of background images. Click the Preview button to see the effect of your choices.

18.3.11.8 User Agent

The User Agent module allows you to specify the user-agent string reported by the browser for sites that may not recognize Konqueror, or anything that's not a major commercial web browser. Check the box "Send browser identification" to send information about your browser; it is recommended that you leave this checked for the use of host sites that customize the page they send depending on the browser. The user-agent string contains the name and version number of the client program making the request. The default for Konqueror at the time of this writing is "Mozilla/5.0(compatible;Konqueror/3)". Check the boxes below the default identification to customize the information sent; the example is updated to reflect your choices. The options are:

Add operating system name

Adds the name of your operating system to the identification; e.g., Linux.

Add operating system version

If you checked the box to add the operating system name, you can also check this box to add the version.

Add platform name

Adds the name of your platform; e.g., X11.

Add machine (processor) type

Adds information about your processor; e.g., i586.

Add your language setting

Adds your language; e.g., en_US.

You can set the identification string individually for certain hosts or domains by clicking the New button. Enter the host or domain name in the dialog box that opens, and select the identity from the drop-down box. A description appears in the Alias box. Click the OK button to add the entry to the list. The Update list box updates the list of identities that are shown in the drop-down list. You can also change and delete individual entries in the list, or delete all of them at once with the Delete All button.