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[SOLVED] -- No Global/Contextual File/Menu bars

7vincent7black7

Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:27:54 pm

Operating System: Zorin 12.2 Ultimate 64-Bit

So, I've successfully installed 12.2 ultimate, and one of the things I find most jarring is the lack of Menu bars on Chromium, the "Files" program that's installed by default, or ANY other window for that matter. When I go into my Dropbox directory to choose a new wallpaper, I'd like to have a "View" dropdown menu on the toolbar where I can choose a larger size view of the picture icons. This wouldn't be a problem if I could easily figure out how to do the things that the dropdown Menu bars in windows accomplished, such as filtering whats displayed, showing/hiding hidden files, showing large/small icons, etc. All those countless little settings you didn't know you'd miss until you switch to Linux. :3

I like having my File, Edit, View, etc menus, and there doesn't seem to be a gnome extension that adds this to the global UI for Zorin 12. Anyone have any advice on this? I can't seem to right-click and enable a menu bar for Chromium, even.

Swarfendor437

Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:12:59 pm

A lot of browsers (sadly) appear to be moving away from traditional Menu items as you have described. See what happens when you install Firefox, then open it and press F10 - F10 key, if a Toolbar is present, will be shown - works regardless of browser, or platform (Windows/Linux) - once in view, go to 'View' and check mark 'Toolbar'. You have given me some food for thought for more items to go into the unofficial manual [http://zoringroup.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13614]. You may want to also take a look at 'Thunar File Manager'. ;) :D

7vincent7black7

Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:35:07 pm

Thanks for the reply! :D I might have to check out that File Manager then after all.

Update: I might append this with a second question then. Nautilus' deviation from having a menu bar is a feature that sought to alleviate some of the awkwardness of application'specific settings appearing in the menu bar as its window. The feature now chooses to shift some of those context-specific functions to the "global menu bar", which would be the Menu Bar that Zorin would perpetually have across the top of the desktop, which would layer on top of all other windows if it had one. Thus, I'm at an impasse, because Zorin has no Global Menu Bar, and Nautilus doesn't have any apparent way to access these settings except maybe through some elusive keyboard shortcuts that I don't know about.

So, is there a way to install a Global Menu Bar, so I can see the functions that are no longer being handled by Nautilus' deprecated menu bar?

Swarfendor437

Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:29:51 pm

I am going to do some 'delving'! ;)

Swarfendor437

Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:47:46 pm

OK, all I can find that are relevant are these two separate articles:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/762137/ ... m-menu-bar

https://popey.com/blog/posts/my-ubuntu- ... setup.html

To get what you desire you may need to install Unity which is not present in the fork of Zorin. I don't want to bork my Zorin as I like the look and feel of what I have at present, but agree it would be nice to have those 'File ...' etc options present. It would be good if Devs took the time to consult users instead of going down the path of 'I think this would look great' and alienate the very people they are trying to attract.

Now as to browsers I checked my F10 trick - in Firefox and Chromium, all it does is 'flash'/highlight the 'three bar' button. You may want to give Vivaldi a try - this too does not have the menu bar by default but if you click on the settings cog on the bottom left you can get it showing as you want to:

Vivaldi Menu Position.jpg


Note that you will have to scroll down the page that opens for the Appearance tab to see what you see in the screenshot. ;) :D

Here is a screenshot of Thunar File Manager:

Thunar File Manager.jpg


Also, Thunar comes with its own 'built-in' bulk renamer:

http://www.webupd8.org/2016/03/quickly- ... linux.html

Screenshot from my machine:

Thunar bulk rename.jpg


;) :D

Swarfendor437

Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:19:00 pm

Forgot another browser alternative which has a 'Global Menu' by default - GNU Ice Cat (formerly Ice Weasel):

GNU IceCat Start Page - GNU IceCat_187.jpg


Basically, a stripped out/down version of Firefox to ensure privacy. ;) :D

Swarfendor437

Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:02:03 pm

zorinantwerp wrote:noted question/remedy with interest.

from time to time a situation occurs where I am in desktop without icons , menus or bottom panel so no possibility to exit.
well a hard reset always helps to solve the nuisance. :)
+++


Ctrl+ Alt+ Del should bring you the logout options.

Ctrl+ Alt+ T to open Terminal and enter:

Code:
gnome-tweak-tool


so you can bring all icons (Desktop) and Panels (Extensiond) back.

Please start a new thread!

Swarfendor437

Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:27:24 am

Before I forget, Thunar should be added as an alternative to Nautilus and NOT a replacement. Nautilus is heavily integrated into Gnome so if you remove it you will break your system.

7vincent7black7

Fri Jan 19, 2018 6:15:31 pm

Thank you for all your hard work. Sorry I haven't responded lately, the start of my College Semester has led to a surge of obligations, so I haven't implemented any of your solutions. That being said, the fact that they exist as such means I'll probably mark this thread as solved, if not so that others can find this thread in the future and know there are viable options, then only to help categorize it as a closed/finished thread, apart from the newer threads ever popping up. :)

Swarfendor437

Fri Jan 19, 2018 8:46:43 pm

No worries. Wishing you well at the start of your new College Semester. ;) :D