Ubuntu – Does XFCE allow transitions for panels and/or icons

customizationiconsxfcexubuntu

I want to know if XFCE can be configured to allow zooming/scaling of icons when the user hovers over them, similar to the effect(s) shown on a Mac dock.

Also, I wonder if my left panel (of course it is automatically hidden) could be set to show/hide a bit more gradually, such as how jQuery slide animation works?

I hear tell of config files for the DE, but I haven't delved into them just yet. I haven't run an XFCE desktop in a couple of years; I usually prefer WM-only, using Openbox + xdm, but I'm converting back for the moment. I'm just a humble web developer and I miss the quick productivity (and undue clutter) of icons all over the place. Anyway, I still want them to look pretty!

Note: I don't know why Tux looks like a monkey on my wallpaper, but I really like that grey. Eh!

Hey, it looks like Unity, but is much faster and less spy-y!

Best Answer

Mostly no. To this answered date, Xfce has limited to no transitions for panels and icons. Nothing fancy, besides minimizing active applications window to the panel in Xfce.

Xfce allows delay

Delay is a transition or pseudo-animation in Xfce that I have tried before. This is documented as part of theming Xfce panel in this page of Xfce Docs.

XfcePanelWindow

The normal panel window.

.gtkrc-2.0

style "xfce-panel-window-style"
{
  # Time in miliseconds before the panel will unhide on an enter event
  XfcePanelWindow::popup-delay = 225

  # Time in miliseconds before the panel will hide on a leave event
  XfcePanelWindow::popdown-delay = 350

  # Size of autohide window in pixels
  XfcePanelWindow::autohide-size = 3
}
class "XfcePanelWindow" style "xfce-panel-window-style"

Requirement: Xfce must enable the option to automatically hide the panel. In Xfce 4.12, delay will work for the hide option Always but will not work for Intelligently.

Following the requirement, do these steps:

  1. Create a file at $HOME/.gtkrc-2.0, then copy and paste the provided code (as quoted).
  2. Change the respective values for popup-delay, popdown-delay and autohide-size.
  3. Restart the panel by running xfce4-panel --restart to take effect.

Xfce allows opacity

Opacity is another transition that can be applied to Xfce panel.

Requirement: Xfce must enable compositing for opacity to work. In Settings > Window Manager Tweaks > Compositor, ensure that "Enable display compositing" is checked.

Following the requirement, do these steps:

  1. In Panel Preferences, look under Appearance > Opacity.
  2. Adjust the slider for "Enter:" or "Leave:" to your liking.
  3. Click Close to finish.

The screenshot below shows the panel becomes less opaque when the mouse cursor leaves the panel (left) and becomes fully opaque when the mouse cursor enters the panel.

Xfce panel with different opacity

Besides delay and opacity for Xfce panel, I am not aware of other options to customize transitions and animations in Xfce. To make up for the missing features in Xfce, install plank. Plank is a simple dock, which has both features of hiding animation and icon zoom transition that you want.

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