KBFX Silk (KBFX 0.4.9.3.1)

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements

Source (link to git-repo or to original if based on someone elses unmodified work): Add the source-code for this project on opencode.net

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Description:

News: ONLY A NEWS UPDATE
========================================
If you are using or used or care about KBFX , We are sure, you are wondering about the progress KBFX. We haven't forgotten you or the project. We will add some most requested features to KBFX
and 100's of bug fixes reported on our bug tracker and release KBFX for KDE3 as soon as we can,

For KDE4 we will use the Raptor-menu Menu engine, the interface nookie has designed this time is really a NextGen, unbeatable and breath taking. so stay tuned for that. so we will fist finish raptor menu engine (http://www.raptor-menu.org) then move on to KBFX for KDE4.

We are also doing PlexyDesk, I'll add a project entry after I make this posting . PlexyDesk is a
modular desktop render. PlexyDesk will introduce a new and an effective way to use your desktop, yet keep the classic metaphor intact.visit us at http://www.plexydesk.org or #plexydesk at
freenode , we would like to hear from you

Thank you.


===========================================================
KBFX is an alternative to the classical K-Menu button and it's menu.
It improves the user experience by enabling the user to set a bigger (and thus more visible) start button and by finally replacing the Win95-like K-Menu.
But if you still want the old menu, because you're used to it, it is still available as an option in KBFX.
We recommend, however, that you give the Spinx bar a try.
===========================================================


===========================================================
Hi all,
KBFX now has been moved to KDE Extragear.
Expect a lot more new features in our next release for KDE3.
In the meantime we are coding KBFX for KDE4 too, so we are a bit busy now.
But that DOES NOT mean that we won't support you and the KDE3 version.
Very soon we will implement the keyboard shortcuts support in KBFX....
Just stay tuned ;)

Love you all ;) :-*

PhobosK and the KBFX Team
===========================================================


"KBFX Silk" (0.4.9.3.1)
===========================================================

Hello everyone,

After a long silence from us now we are happy to announce that finally the
stable release of KBFX is ready.
We made a lot of changes to the KBFX Configurator and to KBFX Menu itself.
However we were not able to implement everything you proposed and everything we
wanted. So some of the features (see the TODO list in the source files)
in "KBFX Silk" (0.4.9.3.1) are still not ready. We are sure that they will
present in the next stable release which will be due just after KDE4 is
released. The menu itself, however, is fully functional.

Thanks to all of you who gave us ideas and who tested the prerelease versions of
KBFX.

When you download and install this version you may report the found bugs at
http://bugs.kbfx.net or in an email to phobosk(at)mail.kbfx.net

We wait for your opinion and reports.

Take a look at the renewed sections "How To?" of kbfx.net:
http://www.kbfx.net/staticpages/index.php?page=20060224123135907

We advise all the KBFX theme authors to have a look at the article "How to
create themes for 0.4.9.3" at http://www.kbfx.net/staticpages/index.php?page=howto0493
in order to transform their themes from the old format to the new one ;)
And look at all the documents in the doc folder of the sources.
For additional help on install see here:
http://websvn.kde.org/branches/extragear/kde3/addons/kbfx/doc/INSTALL?view=markup

All the best from your KBFX Team. :)

P.S. Soon we will release the highest rated on Kde-Look KBFX themes as a package containing 20 themes. We just wait for their authors to transform them into the new theme specs.

Note: Things to be considered before installing "KBFX Silk"
===========================================================

1.) To configure and compile "KBFX Silk" you need Cmake >= 2.4.2 from http://www.cmake.org

2.) To configure, compile and install "KBFX Silk" simply run ./build.sh

3.) Before the install of "KBFX Silk", please unload and uninstall any previous version of KBFX.

4.) After the install of "KBFX Silk" please relogin KDE.

5.) If you need file searching capabilities in KBFX, please download and install Strigi
from http://strigi.sf.net

6.) To enable Strigi support in KBFX, please pass "--strigi" OR "-s" option to build.sh
i.e: ./build.sh --strigi


========DEMO==============
1.) Flash Demo http://www.kbfx.net/kbfx/demo/
2.) User's Guide http://www.kbfx.net/siraj/KBFXslik.pdf
3.) Strigi Install Guide http://www.kbfx.net/siraj/strigi.pdf


************WARNINIG************

The Skin Spec for KBFX Silk has undergone radical changes!
Many of the themes on kde-look.org might not work!
We encourage theme authors to update their skins or make new ones.
For help on that see here:
http://www.kbfx.net/staticpages/index.php?page=howto0493

Thank you.

********************************

Help: http://www.kbfx.net/forum
#kbfx irc channel on freenode
siraj at kbfx.net
phobosk at kbfx.net
Last changelog:

13 years ago

0.4.9.3.1
=========
- CHANGED layout and font configfile specs
- UPDATED help documentation
- ADDED fade transition effect on the KBFX Button
- ADDED install guides for using checkinstall
- ADDED Hungarian translation (thanks to Ferenc Stelcz for it)
- ADDED option to watch for KDE global changes like new installed applications
- ADDED option for Theme Info
- ADDED resizable configuration dialogs
- ADDED drag&drop hover, pressed and normal images over the KBFX button
- ADDED tooltip support for the KBFX button
- ADDED switch between KBFX and K Menu
- ADDED new two panel skin - "2panels"
- ADDED configurable middle background - middleboxbg.png
- ADDED fonts support in every part of the menu
- ADDED layout support in the KBFX Configurator
- ADDED support for the new versions of strigi
- ADDED support for use of strigi in Gentoo
- ADDED support for SVN version in Gentoo
- ADDED support for PCLinuxOS rpm build (thanks to @PaGal and @tom777 for the testing)
- ADDED support for future KDE4 (part 1)
- ADDED uninstall option for "build.sh" script
- FIXED cmake uninstall
- FIXED RPM .la issues
- FIXED some major bugs
- REMOVED Water effect (too much CPU time consuming and not a favorite one for our users)

613 comments
Comments/Ratings

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lucher

14 years ago

When having inputlines/comboboxes which are not rectangular, e.g. in styles like Baghira there seems a bug to occur in KBFX.
The background is not transferred to the widget, wherefore a black area appears behind.

Possible workarounds:
(1) It is a baghira specific bug (unlikely?)
(2) Set the background pixmap of the widget appropriately.

Anyway, good work - I use Polyester style until the next release.

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stonewolf

14 years ago

Hey, you at KBFX.

I love this application, it's very nice and shows a great evolution compared to kmeu.
Just a week ago, I had kbfx built and installed but after a head crash of my hd everything had gone with the wind! Unfortunately I can't rebuild it. I can't even build it out of a SPEC.

Is it possible to get a srcrpm for Fedora Core 5? Maybe this could lead to a building success!

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sirajr

14 years ago

Oh..no :-(..I'm very sorry about the accident you had..I know how it feels when your
HDD crashes like that..

yes..we can build some rpms..and srpms.
I will try to talk with PhobosK tonight
he is out package manager....

ways to contact
me: siraj at mail.kbfx.org
Phobosk phobosk at mail.kbfx.org


thanks for the note...

bye.!

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spacepenguin

14 years ago

1. Once there was a user configurable right click menu. It would be nice to have it again. Really nice would be the option to have three menus on the button: one on the right mouse button, one on the left and one on the middle button. And the user should be able to decide *if* he/she wants one, two or three menus and which menu should show on which click. I would use the default kmenu with the left mouse button, the spinx (whatever that is) menu with the middle and an own menu with the programs most important to me via the right mouse button. This way it also would be easy to compare and decide which menu is the best for my needs because a change is just a click away :)

2. Also there once was the option to configure kbfx *not* to adjust the kicker height to the button height. As it is now the kicker automatically is resized - what I don't like at all. Please re-enable that option.

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spacepenguin

14 years ago

IMHO empty groups shouldn't be shown.

And I do expect that I can "shade" the sub groups when I double click on the sub group title to make all sub groups visible. This way it would be easier to instantly find a sub group that might otherwise be "hidden" at the end of the long scroll list.

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spacepenguin

14 years ago

After a long time now I gave kbfx another chance - that button thingy still is nice but that menu still is horrible...

1. Changing the configuration does not work via the kbfx configurator (tried via kcontrol and separate). Does not work in this case means: nothing changes, even if I log out and back again. Yes, I clicked on apply and I clicked on save. I tried changing the buttons but after hitting apply the fields are clear again. I tried changing from ugly menu to kmenu - no way. I tried to disable the annoying tooltip - still is there.

Dragging pictures to the button works, the menu button changes instantly.

2. The default menu itself:
- Boy, it's damn small (I use display resolutions of 1600x1200 and 1920x1600 and my kmenu (the real one) nearly goes up to the top of the screen with icons in 32x32)! It even is so small that not all application groups are visible. How do I scoll the menu without wheel? Also it would be nice to make the menu bigger just by dragging the edges and to have *all* entries in a group (and all groups!) visible without scolling (what I don't see I don't use because I forget that it is available).

- How can I make the font bigger? It is so small I cannot read anything on the buttons (and the tooltip).

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spacepenguin

14 years ago

Making changes work when I use the reload button after apply and save. I didn't realize there is a reload button because the icons (all three) don't mirror the meaning of the buttons and the text isn't very good readable on higher display resolutions.

But why does reload work and not logging out and in? Does kbfx really need a triple save?

And other icons and another menu font (!) - preferably the one used by all other kcontrol modules - for the configurator really would be helpful.

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T3rm1n4t0r

14 years ago

I used 0.4.9.1 because newer just crash on my archlinux and it did compiled and install succesfully. Still I dont believe it have features I said, Sorry.

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sirajr

14 years ago

if it crashed then I think you can help
us by sending the trace and telling us
what went wrong? so that we can fix.
please let us know what happned so that we can fixit..

tell us about
1.) the distribution
2.) when it crashed.
3.) how to recreate the problem
4.) any compilation errors you had..

thanks.
bye.
sj

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T3rm1n4t0r

14 years ago

ok, am using arch linux, www.archlinux.org, but while this distro use pacman and package tree, there wasnt kbfx so I had to download and compile. Problem occurs when I want to ADD kbfx kicker via: taskbar->add_applet, I can see it actually add it(get kbfx start icon), then after about 1s it crash and I get kde crash dialog. It also remove whole taskbar from screen. That happen always. I did compiled and installed without any problem, I even changed to --prefix=/opt/kde as I saw in archlinux forum for 0.4.9.1 how-to(Please go on archlinux page and its forum, then search for "kbfx", there u'll find one howto for 0.4.9.1. There are other things that u'll maybe like to see and consider on this howto). That version worked, but any never not. I didnt tried never than 0.4.9.2_2 or so... I tried using build.sh - modified (for prefix) and unmodified as well as classic make way too. Actually in control center I can see kbfx and its settings so it probably installed well.
Btw that option in control center for switching between kbfx and classic kicker is useless as I can simply taskbar->add_applet->kde_menu and/or taskbar->remove_applet->kbfx. Also, If I use kbfx option instead of way I said here, am still left with kbfx start icon on the taskbar - it dont change back to previous k-menu icon. To get it right, kbfx have great potential and am also aware that this is still not 1.0 final. Just concentrate on important stuff and dont kill your time with useless "double-funcionality" like kicker-type-switching, it probably took quite lot of your time to implement it.

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T3rm1n4t0r

14 years ago

Its indeed Very good looking kicker, but it is as unpractical as it is nice, sorry.
While it save me from mouse moving, it actually require A-LOT-OF mouse wheeling and clicking!
I must click on start, then (click again, not just mouse hover!!) on category, then wheeeeeeeeeel mouse for app I need, not to mention that I see very few apps at once because entries have a little much of height so kicker show just very few AND I cannot change height of whole kicker so it could show more...(it simply have bad "overview"), then just because it "auto-sort" on decision of most used apps I cannot relly on remembered fixed position and relative positions of other entries as well so I must really search and not let to use my instinct etc.... To add to it, I cannot change colors and by default, while pretty good, absolutly doesnt fit into my desktop. If I could change some behavior like height of entries, height of whole kicker, sorting mechanism, colors, be able to open category on hovering mouse on it(even open kicker by hovering on start button), then it would be my choice. Until then, I'll stuck with "Windows" kicker, which is to me much more practical right now. Btw, start button dont even fit well to taskbar with normal height set! Btw2, what takes longer and is more iritating on navigating lot of items?:just move mouse few pixels to submenu or scroll 10+ times a wheel, not to mention more clicking

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sirajr

14 years ago

hmm..nice comment , I agree with most of your ideas. and I will try to fix some of those errors in the redesign process.

I'm really happy that we got a long review after a long time..we needed taht..and we give the promiss of fixing.
I have written a color composing function which I will try to include to the older code base so that u can change the color of the menu for a given theme. but the dynamic size change needs us to restructure the code
of kbfx..and this is what we are doing in cvs....

thanks.m8.

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T3rm1n4t0r

14 years ago

By saying dynamic height, U probably mean that kicker would change height run-time as new entries would be added. While thats not bad too, for now I mean (and prefer) static height, but customizable in control center. I simple need to set permanent heigh > current. Such option is probably most necessary for me now, nothing else matters. And in control center, maybe consider to put "kbfx" option to "Desktop" subsection, instead of "Appearance & Themes". Because this is not just kicker theme, its whole new kicker with different funcionality. Also U can see "Panels" and "Taskbar" in "Desktop" section, therefore I was logicaly expected "kbfx" there as well. But this is not so important now. Last thing, that someone already mentioned is that tooltip with butterfly that appear on mouse hover, either remove or put option to remove or better put option to change somehow, at least that butterfly animated icon. Without butterfly its pretty nice tooltip. Also consider to change start menu icon to be at least compatible with normal height of taskbar set, and its texture to be more quadratic and fit well to default taskbar theme. I believe u use customized taskbar and custom bitmap on it. This and missing height option are 2 most important things that prevent me from using kbfx. Am really looking forward for changes, and using kbfx.

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spacepenguin

14 years ago

> And in control center, maybe consider to put "kbfx" option to "Desktop" subsection,

I think it very well goes with the "Appearance" group because it still *is* kicker and just changes the look of the start button and the look of the menu (if you want to). No, I wouldn't expect it and I wouldn't search for it in the "Desktop" group. I want to change look & feel so I go to the "Appearance" group.

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linux3114a

14 years ago

If I use the parameter EXECUTE UNDER A DIFFERENT USER , This parameter is not taken in consideration by KBFX

Sample Yast Application

Run under a Suse 10.1 KDE 3.5.3

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sirajr

14 years ago

hmm? not very clear? I did add some fixes for ur previous comment..
can u give me more details? we have no one to test kbfx on SUSE and depend on people like u for now.
thanks for the feed back..and
if u find more problems let us know.
bye,
'

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linux3114a

14 years ago

If I use the parameter EXECUTE UNDER A DIFFERENT USER for one application entry in a kde menu, This parameter is not taken in consideration by KBFX

example Yast is executed as root and I start this application with the classic KDE menu I receive the panel to enter the password . The same application with KBFX , I never receive this panel and this application is tarted with the session user authority.

You can reproduce with other linux system using KDE as mandrive redhat kunbuntu....

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bagofchickens

14 years ago

Wow, KBFX has become even cooler. Nice work!

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GuSArg

14 years ago

I readed the how to disable this... but doesn't work.. the tooltip is there...
I added "EnableToolTip=false" in [ToolTip] section, but still the same thing.
I am using 0.4.9.2rc1.

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sirajr

14 years ago

u need the cvs snapshot..rc1 dose not work.!( rc1 dose not have any option to disable? and I added that on ur request).
bye.

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GuSArg

14 years ago

I will post again... It is possible to disable the tooltip that appears when you hover the menu button? I mean, to show nothing or at Least to show the tooltip by default of the system (in my case, Kubuntu...)
Thanks.

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AussieJohn

14 years ago

Hello sirijar.
Your work looks fine.
In the third image I see near the bottom that you used the word choosed.
The word you need here is CHOSE.
Not nit-picking because it is not your native language. I wish I was as capable at speaking more than just English.

Cheers. John.

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sirajr

14 years ago

yeah..we are working on this..
and with 0.4.9.3.we will fix this.
thankx..
and KBFX team is working hard to get the translations done.
thanks
.

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AussieJohn

14 years ago

See, I couldn't get your name spelling correct. My apologies.

John

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GuSArg

14 years ago

It is possible to disable tooltip on the kbfx menu? i want it to show nothing...
By the way, great app!

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13 years ago

0.4.9.3.1
=========
- CHANGED layout and font configfile specs
- UPDATED help documentation
- ADDED fade transition effect on the KBFX Button
- ADDED install guides for using checkinstall
- ADDED Hungarian translation (thanks to Ferenc Stelcz for it)
- ADDED option to watch for KDE global changes like new installed applications
- ADDED option for Theme Info
- ADDED resizable configuration dialogs
- ADDED drag&drop hover, pressed and normal images over the KBFX button
- ADDED tooltip support for the KBFX button
- ADDED switch between KBFX and K Menu
- ADDED new two panel skin - "2panels"
- ADDED configurable middle background - middleboxbg.png
- ADDED fonts support in every part of the menu
- ADDED layout support in the KBFX Configurator
- ADDED support for the new versions of strigi
- ADDED support for use of strigi in Gentoo
- ADDED support for SVN version in Gentoo
- ADDED support for PCLinuxOS rpm build (thanks to @PaGal and @tom777 for the testing)
- ADDED support for future KDE4 (part 1)
- ADDED uninstall option for "build.sh" script
- FIXED cmake uninstall
- FIXED RPM .la issues
- FIXED some major bugs
- REMOVED Water effect (too much CPU time consuming and not a favorite one for our users)

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KBFX Silk (KBFX 0.4.9.3.1) is part of KDE Themes and Extensions, which is supported by the following people:
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