Linux Mint Desklets: How To Easily Manage It On Your Family PC

​Desklets are small Python programs that run inside gDesklets. What they are intended for is to get your focus-on-work and rely on the information the Desklet accesses [for you]. You get to finish your chores faster than ever and leave your computer satisfied as you shut it off for the next cycle.

So you have a clean wallpaper set-up and with no desklet(s).Right click your mouse and select “Add Desklets”.

​Right click “Launcher desklet” and select “Add to desktop”.

​Tada! You get this icon-like desklet on your screen.

​All you have to do is right click that desklet again and select “Edit launcher”.

​For instance, you wish to have gimp as your desklet; type in “gimp” and it is configured for you automatically.

​How simple was that! Now moving on to next level.

​Oops! I don’t mean medium sized desklet. This is somewhat similar to what was done above and looks (yes will always be) the same as the final output. The only thing that will bother you is why then again? Ahem! Because they are not “normal” and will never configure by itself, it calls on you to reference their paths specifically just to get the final “normal” icon-like desklet on the screen as before. One great example is Libreoffice family.Get on the rail and let me reel you to the amazing solution.

You could add another new desklet like before. On to right clicking–selecting then right clicking–and–selecting. WAIT, that’s totally boring! What if you could do it the other way? Remember about the previous desklet options when you right clicked and there was on the top “Add new launcher”? Good for you if you did.

It’d be a good time to right click that gimp desklet and select the encircled option.

​Type in “Writer” or whatever you wish. “Document creator” as well might suit you.Click on Application and select Custom Application.

You’d notice “Title, Program & Icon Name” becomes active.

Let us fill it up;

under Title type in “Writer” (in case you are following me) or your own choosing
Then fill in the Program with “lowriter”
And the Icon Name with “/usr/share/app-install/icons/libreoffice-writer.svg”

​Cool right? Some would be wondering what is lowriter?
​
That is the executable file name for LibreOffice writer. Another trick is to open the program this way “libreoffice –writer” which has more relaxed meaning than the one above but lazy typers won’t prefer that.And for the Icon Name /usr/share/… that’s the directory where literally all types of icons can be found. You could browse to that directory using Nemo and be amazed to find more than you can imagine. Use it to your advantage.

But again what if icon directory you’re choosing is different and has spacing? There are two ways to overcome that remedy:
​
Quote the directory… as in:
“/home/my icon/”

Tell your computer it’s a special character but doesn’t quote it as in:
/home/my\ icon/

On to next level.

​This gotta be the hardest level I dare say, Aye! Guess what, if you want more flexibility you’ve got it! Probably, you’ve already seen the first screenshot when you read the title of my post. And clearly, my intention was to make your family owned PC more benefiting for each of your family members.That screenshot is ordered as shown below:

​That looks beautiful, simple and fluid. And I’ve taught you about setting up Desklet for Primary Programs but what about Family Members?Well there are two things you need to consider before you head up for that:

1. Icon file for each member and
2. Their directory

Good thing, you have graphic editing software like GIMP & LibreOffice Draw pre-installed on your Mint. Use them to design cool icons for your family members. If you are bad (like me :P) at art do what I did. Fancy initial letter names.

Directory is not to worry about. Simply create a folder and all is well.

Now, for instance, you have a family member “Raj Kumar Jha”. Follow the pictures to make a desklet profile of him:

​That’s it. Click OK and it’s done.

​That was fun suffice to say it’s easy now to configure your family PC on your own. You will get new ideas to decorate desklets and it entirely depends on your creativity. Well, it’d be a challenge if you have more than 10 members.