Pimp up XFCE 4.10 in Fedora 17

The default look of the XFCE desktop in Fedora 17, is a little boring, but this post, show how to pimp it up to look really great.

I started with a standard XFCE 4.8 Fedora installation and upgraded to XFCE 4.10 using

http://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/kevin/xfce-4.10/

I have setup a single panel in the top of the screen there looks like this:

Start the pimping

Install some new icons

sudo yum install faenza-icon-theme

Install a new theme

sudo yum install zukitwo-\*-theme

Make Icons and theme active

• Select Settings -> Apperance  from main menu

• Set Style to Zukitwo
• Set Icons to Faenza

• Select Settings -> Windows Manager

• Set Style to Zukitwo

Setup the top panel

• Right-Click on top panel and select Panel -> Panel Preferences

• Select the Apperance tab.
• Set Alpha to 25
  
  
• Select Items tab
• Select each separator and set the style to Transparent
  
  
• Select the Window Buttons settings.
• Uncheck Show button labels
• Check Show flat buttons
• Uncheck Show Handle
  

Change the wallpaper

yum install verne-backgrounds-extras-xfce

• Select Settings -> Desktop
• Select verne-skye.jpg  as background

Add a dock to the left side of the screen

• Right-Click on the top panel and select Panel -> Panel Settings
• Click on the big + to make a new panel.
• Set Mode to Deskbar
• Set Lenght to 20%
• Check Automatically increase the length
  
  
• Select the Apperance tab
• Set Alpha to 25.
  
  
• Drag the panel  it to the right side of the screen.
• Add lauchers by dragging them from the main menu in the top panel
  
  
• After adding launchers, open the Panel Settings
• Check Lock Panel
• Check Automatically show and hide the panel.
  
  

The Result