Hello All,
I just joined today. Yesterday, I stumbled into a way to declutter my desktop. I had webpage links (to radio stations, my public libraries, youtube pages, and pages) cluttering up my desktop. It was quite unsightly and it always bothered me. I ended up finding that you could add a drawer to the top panel. I figured out how to use the drawer (put things in it, open and close it, move it around, pin it in place on the panel, etc.) I realized that I could add a panel (it showed up on the right -- vertically). This was good because I didn't want to take up space on the bottom and top panels. So, I have the right vertical panel dedicated to my drawers and a sticky note pad. I have 4 drawers. I found that I could put these things in drawers, weblinks, applications, application launchers and drawers themselves. Well this was convenient because I use a main drawer as container for a main category for the contents. I use other drawers, as needed, to make subcategory containers. I have 4 main category drawers.
One main category drawer is for my freelance weblinks and the installed applications I use for freelancing (like Audacity).
Another main category drawer holds my entertainment links -- YouTube music for study (a drawer as a subcategory ), 5, 10, 30 min an d a 1 hour timer from YouTube (a drawer as a subcategory ), a drawer holding my games (a drawer as a subcategory ), and a drawer as a subcategory holding the YouTube videos I want to watch later. Once I watch a YouTube video, I remove it from the drawer. The main drawer is my go to place for downtime, but it also is put together to help me with efficiency. The music - mainly Baroque classical music -- is to help me work more efficiently. I play it in the background while working. The other stuff is mainly to help me manage myself while taking breaks from work. For example, I use the timers to time the naps I want to take. I also use them to tell me when I am off break. Of course the drawer of games and videos are available for downtime entertainment.
I have what I will call a Jobs and Social media drawer. There I have the sites I use to search for freelance jobs. I have my links to Facebook and Instagram in this drawer as well.
In the last drawer of the 4 I have drawer containing links to my local public library sites. I manage my library accounts here. I renew books, check to see if they are due, look for new books, etc. I get a large amount of audiobooks from the library and other learning material. I don't sleep on the use of public libraries and they are such a nice place to be now since they have modernized. I have joined libraries in 4 counties. I also have a drawer within the main drawer that holds my links to the radio stations I frequent. I mainly like talk radio. It' not necessary, but I have a link to Firefox in this drawer as well. I laucher Firefox via a launcher which I added to a subcategory drawer. Maybe I might add other browsers in the drawer, but frankly, I don't use them.
To add a panel
Right-click on the top panel and select "New Panel"
To add a drawer to a panel
Right-click on the panel of choice
Select "Add to Panel..."
Select "Drawer"
Select "Add"
and a drawer will be added to the panel
To change the properties of a drawer
Right-click on the drawer
Select "Properties"
I changed my size to 30 for all my drawers
I went to the background tab and color coordinated the lining of my drawers that are grouped together. To do this I selected "Solid Color" Then I clicked in the "Color" box to select the color I wanted.
To open and close a drawer
Click on a drawer to open it.
Click on the triangle at the end of the drawer to close it.
To add a drawer to a drawer
Right-click on the drawer in question. And select and add the drawer icon similar to above.
To add an installed application to a drawer
Right-click the drawer you want
Select "Application Launcher"
A list of the installed applications will deploy
Select the application from the list
To add a web application or file
Right-click the drawer you want
Select "Custom Application Launcher"
Select "Location" from the "Type" pull-down on the dialog that appears
Complete the rest of the dialog, placing the URL in the location for a website or use "Browse..." to locate a file you want to launch.
You can also drag a file into the drawer, that you have on your desktop.
To add a webpage to a drawer
Highlight the URL of the webpage
Select and hold the highlighted URL
Drag it to the drawer that you want to place it in.
To move or lock the drawer to the panel
Right-click on the drawer
toggle on or off -- the "Lock to Panel" command
Once the draw is no longer locked to the panel, then right-click and select "Move"
You can move a drawer to any other drawer or panel.
Be sure to lock it in place again.
When you see the list of things you can add to a panel, you will know that there is so much more that is possible and yet you still can keep your desktop looking neat -- holding only a few essentials. With this drawer system, you can put in all of the applications and files that you use on a regular basis to complete a task. If you couple it with the "Workspace" system, you can have a workspace easily set up for any given task that you have for the day. You can move between workspaces. It would be equivalent to relocating to a new desk with its own drawer contents for a given task. So these two system together can increase your productivity and help you to focus in a clutter free environment. I suppose that that's why these apps were created.