KDE 4 offers an alternative to the traditional icons scattered all over the desktop with a Plasma widget called Shelf. Just like a shelf in a library, the shelf widget keeps files, folders, devices, and applications in order and easily accessible.

Creating a Shelf

There are several ways to create a shelf in KDE 4, providing maximum convenience and fluidity (Before beginning, make sure your widgets are unlocked – right click on the desktop and click “Unlock Widgets).

Add Widgets Dialog – The most basic way to add a shelf is to right click on the desktop and click “Add Widgets”. Next, type “shelf” in the search box. Finally, drag it to the desktop.

Using this method, the shelf will be empty by default, so click “Configure…” and then click “Add…” A menu will show you a list of various types of shelves available:

• favorites
• applications category
• places
• folder
• removable devices
• fixed devices
• system tools
• new documents
• open documents
• recent documents
• online contacts
• unread messages

After you select one and click “OK”, you are finished. The shelf will be populated with the icons you chose.

Add to Panel

To add a shelf to the panel, you can drag a desktop shelf to it, which creates an icon and accompanying menu. Alternatively, you can create a shelf directly by right clicking anywhere on the panel, navigating to “Panel Options”, and clicking “Add Widgets”.

Drag and Drog

Yet another easy way to create a shelf is to drag any folder to the desktop or panel. A menu will appear giving you three options: Folder View, Shelf, and Icon. Choose “Shelf”, and a shelf showing the contents of the folder will instantly appear, with no further configuration necessary.

Lancelot Menu

If you use the Lancelot menu widget, you can drag any one of its sections directly onto the desktop or panel to create a shelf.

Shelf inside a Shelf

Any shelf can also hold other shelves. For example, if you wanted to have your “Places” shelf and your “Removable Devices” shelf in the same widget, simply drag one onto the other. You can also drag a new shelf onto any existing one, or add multiple shelves within “Shelf Settings”. The new shelf will be appended to the current one, allowing you to navigate through them.

To remove a shelf from a widget containing more than one, right click on the title and click “Remove This”.

Additional Options

By default, the shelf widget has a “no click” feature, which is displayed in the form of a tiny “extender” icon on the right hand side of each shelf item. Move your mouse over the icon, and the shelf item will open without clicking. If you prefer good old-fashioned clicking:

1. Click the settings wrench icon
2. Click the “Advanced” side tab
3. Choose “Click to activate items”

KDE Plasma widgets also have shortcuts. For example, if you have a documents shelf icon on your panel, you can activate the menu using a shortcut. To use a shortcut, open the shelf settings and do the following:

1. Click the “Keyboard Shortcut” side tab
2. Click the button with the wrench icon that says “None”
3. Enter a key combination (such as Meta+D)

Now, anytime you press that keyboard shortcut, the shelf menu will open.

Another useful feature is the “search box”, which essentially gives you the functionality of your application menu search feature inside of your shelf. In Shelf Settings, check “Show the search box”.

The KDE Plasma Shelf widget is a versatile tool that will hopefully bring some order to your chaotic life. At the very least, it will give your desktop the appearance of organization, and that will put you step ahead of most others.

Setup

Lancelot is now part of KDE and should be available for installation in any KDE-based distribution (or distributions with the option for full KDE installation). To enable it:

1. Right click on the desktop or panel and click “Unlock Widgets”.
2. Right click on your current menu and click “Remove…”
3. Right click on the desktop and click “Add Widgets”.
4. Drag the Lancelot widget onto the panel.

You will see another widget called “Lancelot Part”, but leave that one alone for now. Like most panel widgets, you can configure it by right-clicking on the icon and clicking “Lancelot Launcher Settings”. “Show categories…” will display a button for each Lancelot category. “Show only menu launcher icon” does just what it says.

One unique feature of Lancelot is the “No-click activation”, which allows you to navigate through the menu without clicking the mouse button. It is in the settings under “Menu” and the “General” tab. To activate an item, move your mouse pointer over the little arrow that appears when you highlight it. In my case, there is apparently something about clicking that feels more manly, so I disabled the “No-click”.

Categories

There are four Lancelot categories: Applications, Computer, Contacts, and Documents. In “Applications”, you can add your favorite menu items to the favorites column simply by right-clicking on the icon and clicking “Add to Favorites”. When you navigate through each column, Lancelot stays there even if you close the menu, which is handy if you intend to open several applications within that section. It also produces a breadcrumb trail at the top so that you can track back to any spot.

“Computer” will show you the standard “Places” items that you have setup in Dolphin, “System” items, which you can edit, and a list of removable and fixed drives. “Contacts” displays new email messages (through Kmail and Kontact) and online Kopete contacts.   “Documents” shows your most recent documents in various formats. Early versions of Lancelot did not allow the user to clear the “recent documents”, but that feature has now been added.

Lancelot Part

I had a very good reason for telling you to leave the Lancelot Part alone. If you were to drag it from the “Add Widgets” dialog, you would find that it does nothing. Any section within a Lancelot category can become a widget, utilizing Lancelot Part. For example, make sure that your widgets are unlocked, and then try dragging the “Places” section from the “Computer” category onto an open area of your desktop. You will now have a handy shortcut menu for all of your bookmarked places.

You can do the same with any of the Lancelot categories. You can also add multiple sections to one Lancelot Part. Just drag a second section onto the current one you just made. It is resizeable and has some configuration settings. In addition, any folder can be made into a Lancelot Part simply by dragging it to the desktop.

Lancelot Search

Lancelot is integrated with Krunner. That means anything the user can search for in Krunner can also be found in Lancelot. That includes applications, nepomuk tags, indexed documents, contacts, bookmarks, and file folders. It will also perform numerous Krunner functions such as the calculator and unit convertor.

Lancelot works very well for those users who like a lot of functionality, and it delievers on its promises. If you are the type who prefers simplicity, however, Lancelot is not for you. The myriad of categories and menu columns can be daunting. Furthermore, I have noticed a slight delay in opening the menu on slower machines, so those of you on netbooks and low-powered desktops will probably prefer a more minimal menu. On my desktop, I enjoy Lancelot in its full glory, and it integrates nicely with KDE’s “Air” Plasma theme. I recommend you give it a try.