Effects

There are many options available for the person who wants to customize her Desktop Effects; some of these options are (relatively) easy to find in the Desktop Effects (gnome-xgl-settings) capplet, while some are only changeable from the Configuration Editor (gconf-editor). Thanks to Dan W, we have the following descriptive list of the options available through gconf.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/wobbly/screen0/options/focus_effect and focus_window_types lets you set windows to wobble when they receive the input focus.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/fade/screen0/options/visual_bell: if set, makes the active window flash and fade back to normal when there’s a beep.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/fade/screen0/options/fullscreen_visual_bell: if set along with visual_bell, makes the whole screen flash

• /apps/compiz/plugins/wobbly/screen0/options/visual_bell: if set, makes the active window wobble when there’s a beep

• /apps/compiz/general/screen0/options/lighting: if set (the default),

the cube looks as though there’s a light shining on it from somewhere. If unset, it’s evenly lit.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/cube/screen0/options/color: set color of cube bottom (and top if you turn off the cube-top image)

• /apps/compiz/plugins/cube/screen0/options/images: set the cube-top image. (You can actually set multiple images and then use it to do a slide show if you also turn on /apps/compiz/plugins/rotate/screen0/options/snap_top.)

• /apps/compiz/plugins/cube/screen0/options/in: If set, you are inside the cube rather than outside it, so it looks different when you rotate it.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/cube/screen0/options/skydome: if set, there is sky behind the cube rather than blackness

• /apps/compiz/plugins/cube/screen0/options/skydome_image: an image to display behind the cube rather than blackness

• /apps/compiz/plugins/cube/screen0/options/skydome_animated: if set, the skydome_image rotates opposite the cube as the cube rotates. So if you set the skydome_image to a picture of sky with clouds, or a starscape, then when you rotate the cube, the effect is as though the cube is staying in place and you are moving around it (and so you see a different portion of the sky behind each cube face). This is one of the blingiest options that we don’t have a UI for configuring yet. :)

• /apps/compiz/plugins/decoration/screen0/options/: You can make the window drop shadows more or less prominent

• /apps/compiz/plugins/move/screen0/options/snapoff_maximized: If set (the default), you can unmaximize windows by dragging down on the titlebar, to snap them away from the edge. If you have wobbly windows on, this behaves in a physically plausible manner; if you don’t, it just suddenly shifts from maximized to not.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/scale/screen0/options/: options for the scale plugin, aka “the plugin formerly known as exposé”. You can tweak things like how dark/transparent various parts of it are, whether or not to use icon overlays, etc.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/switcher/screen0/options/: likewise for the switcher plugin (Alt-Tab).

• /apps/compiz/plugins/wobbly/screen0/options/_window_types: lets you enable wobble-on-focus, wobble-on-X-grab (ie, something grabs the mouse, preventing you from interacting with other apps),

wobble-on-map (map == when the window first appears) and wobble-on-move for individual window types.

• /apps/compiz/plugins/wobbly/screen0/options/friction,grid_resolution, min_grid_size, spring_k: lets you change exactly how wobbly the windows are (I have no idea what the numbers mean. Just play around with them...)

1. Modal Dialogs : These present a usability problem because (DOH! Time to go home! i’ll finish un-first-personizing these tomorrow)
2. New Desktop Folders: I get confused when I create a new folder on my desktop but I can’t see it because it is hidden under windows.
3. Launch Feedback: I get confused when I click on an app to start it and nothing seems to happen.
4. Sound-Only Indicators As a person with poor hearing, I get confused when my desktop tries to tell me something using only sound. Die die system bell.
5. Process Completion: I get confused when I don’t know if a particular process is done or not. (This confusion usually manifests itself in questions like “Is Evo done getting my new mail (or sending my outgoing mail)?” , “Have all of my files uploaded to the web yet?”, “Are there any more updates available, or is that all of them?”)
6. Bold Text: I get confused when I can’t figure out which window I want from those in the task list.
7. Lost FocusI get confused when I don’t know where the focus has gone (when the focus is somewhere on the panel or desktop).
8. Missing DownloadsI get confused when I download something and I can’t find it.
9. Confusing Warning DialogsI get confused when I miss or misunderstand a warning dialog and my system gets screwed up.

1. When a modal dialog is open, make it pulse. (Use something like the water effect, but instead of using a point source, use the sides of the modal dialog as wave sources.) I bet it would be easier to spot if it were pulsing!
2. When I make a new folder on my desktop, use the window-folding effect (aka the titlebar peeling effect) to reveal the new folder’s location if it is underneath something else.
3. Use the genie effect when I start an app to show its window gradually moving into view (ie show a windowframe flying up to the spot on the screen where the app will appear - this is what happens for me currently when I raise a minimized window from the tasklist.)
4. Change the color of the drop shadow beneath a window to indicate a problem (supplementing or replacing the system bell).
5. Use the zoom in effect to slightly enlarge the item in the panel or on the desktop which has focus.
6. Use the wobble effect to show me which folder my downloads are going into.
7. When a warning dialog appears, make it pulse.