Conky Tips and Tricks 'n more

[Tink]

I'm posting this to help anyone struggling with Conky. I plan to add to this. But if you have any fixes, tips or tricks you've found useful, pls share here!

Note: If you need help with your Conky issue, pls start a separate post, this is strictly an informational thread.

So to start....

FIX TRANSPARENCY

own_window = true,
own_window_transparent = 'true',
own_window_type = 'Conky',
own_window_argb_visual = 'true',
own_window_class = 'override',

THEN, comment out own_window_colour To do this add 2 dashes before it. Eg.
-- own_window_colour
If you don't, often the background color continues to show through.

Check your config carefully, as many conky config files I've seen have:

own_window_type = 'normal', not 'Conky',
own_window_class = 'Conky', not 'override',

Also, adding own_window_class = 'override', seems to be the key vs using own_window_type = 'override',

There are 2 drawbacks with this config.

1. Semi-transparency (adjusting the own_window_argb_value) has no effect.
2. In Gnome, you cannot use black text or images. When color isn't set as x11 filters it into the transparent background making all black text/images invisible.

Here is an example. Conky is on right + config file

Which leads me to...

CONKY SEMI-TRANSPARENCY

Gnome doesn't play nice with this setting. You'll have to fiddle with it. But it's worth it once you have it working.

1. To obtain this, use the above settings but change...
   own_window_transparent = 'false',

2. Then set the color value in the own_window_colour.

• See notes below on background color.

3. Change the value to the own_window_argb_value
   The number ranges between 0-255. The lower the value the more transparent. It should look something like...
   own_window_argb_value = 30,

• See notes below on background color.
  
  

In Gnome, certain colors appear more transparent/opaque against different desktop backgrounds. So you'll need to test it out.

CONKY BACKGROUND COLOR
If you are stuck with a black background regardless of the color value you write, the fix is simple (and laughable).

Bet you are using own_window_color in your config, right?

Yeah.... nope.

Use own_window_colour Then it works like a charm. Conky only accepts the British spelling of the word 'colour', not 'color'.

In Gnome, certain colors appear more transparent/opaque against different desktop backgrounds. So you'll need to test it out.

If you like this and want more, pls let me know by hitting the love button.

Note: If you need help with Conky, pls start a separate post, this is strictly an informational thread.

[Aravisian]

@Tink

Use own_window_colour Then it works like a charm. Conky only accepts the British spelling of the word 'colour', not 'color'.

This is interesting since color works everywhere else. For example:
${color1}
I bet that is a typo (Someone spelled it British style) in just that one line in the code.

[Tink]

@Aravisian

This is interesting since color works everywhere else. For example:
${color1}
I bet that is a typo (Someone spelled it British style) in just that one line in the code.

Right?! Pretty funny... but not. It took me almost a week to find the fix for this issue.

[Tink]

Here is a sample conkyrc file. If you are having transparency issues, create a new conkyrc file in a text editor and paste this code. Place it in your ~/.conky folder then enable it through Conky Manager.

conky.config = {
    alignment = 'top_left',
	background = false,
	border_inner_margin = 100,
	imlib_cache_size = 0,
	border_width = 5,
	double_buffer = true,
	draw_borders = false,
	draw_graph_borders = false,
	draw_outline = false,
	draw_shades = false,
	gap_x = 30,
	gap_y = 60,
	maximum_width = 550,
	double_buffer = true,
	override_utf8_locale = true,
    own_window = true,
    own_window_class = 'override',
    own_window_type = 'Conky',
	own_window_transparent = true,
	--own_window_colour = 'grey',
	own_window_hints = 'undecorated,below,skip_taskbar,skip_pager,sticky',
	own_window_argb_visual = true,
	own_window_argb_value = 0,
	text_buffer_size = 1,
	total_run_times = 0,
	update_interval = 1,
	uppercase = false,
	use_xft = true,
	xftalpha = 1,
	short_units = false,
	font = 'Ubuntu:weight=Regular:pixelsize=20',
	default_color = 'B03E3E',
}
conky.text = [[
${color}${font Ubuntu:weight=Regular:size=40}${alignc}Testing transparency!
]];

Happy Conky-ing!!