Customization of System menu in Taskbar

Hello everybody,

I am a new Zorin user coming from Windows and I decided for Zorin Core as my first Linux Distro.
So far it was very ameable new learning experience, but I have encountered some hurdles.

My question is:
1.) Is it possible to modify System menu (display of battery state, sound, wifi, etc.) in the Taskbar beyond what is offered in Taskbar settings?

On my screen (in the attachment), I would want to display battery percentage left to battery icon, and also display Wifi and Sound icon next to each other (i.e. sound and wifi Icon to its left).

That way, it would save some taskbar space and would be more efficiently using my taskbar width.

2.) I would like to propose for some essential features to be present out of the box instead of having to install external extensions to be able to set/modify them. Where can i do that?

Thanks for answers.

I would check https://extensions.gnome.org for extra stuff to system menu.

1 Like

Okay, thanks, and where I can make suggestions for future features for Zorin?

1.) I checked the extensions.gnome.org page, but none of the programs thereof could do what I described. So I wasn´t able to solve it.

It is not a big problem though, just a minor specific things.

2.) Since I didn´t get an answer for question number 2, I posted the findings here.

Apologies for such a Sluggish Support.
Yes, You can add extra stuff, Can you please describe what you will be needing?
Answers for second question, replied here,

Hi,

Well, precisely what I described in the original post:

On my screen (in the attachment), I would want to display battery percentage left to battery icon, and also display Wifi and Sound icon next to each other (i.e. sound and wifi Icon to its left).

That way, it would save some taskbar space and would be more efficiently using my taskbar width.

It is quite possible this can´t be done and would need an update in UI/new option, which is not there yet.
If it would be possible - prefect, please, let me know how.

If not - not a big deal.

Okay, What you are asking for is quite simple,
Go to Panel Preferences by right clicking on the taskbar, Panel < Panel Preferences. Then you can go to items and arrange the items the way you want by using the up and down arrow. This should solve your problem for :-

For Battery Percentage, Double Click on Power manager Plugin and select the percentage label in the pop up that appears.

Ah, but you didn't understand me correctly:
I meant literally next to each other, from left to right :slight_smile:

I repainted the former picture to show exactly what I mean precisely
03
and after tinkering with Zorin, I don´t think this is possible.

I actually did not understand it, either. In hindsight, your wording seems quite clear.
I think the reason it was harder to understand is that what you are asking for is a bit unusual.
You see, on the panel, the plugins are aligned to discrete blocks. That is hardcoded into the shell.
You are seeking to reorganize and resize those blocks.
I am sorry, but there is no shell extension that can perform that action.

In order to have two unrelated plugins aligned, on a vertical panel no-less... in the space of one block, you would need to resize one block by 1/2. Then realign the other block. Then nest the reduced block within the aligned portion of the other block.
Doing this with Wifi and sound would be near impossible, as the scalable icon sizing would be thrown off and if you moved a plugin location, your gnome-shell would crash.
But doing this with the battery percentage becomes worse, since the percentage value changes size. In one normal sized padded block, that is fine but in the restricted 1/2 size block, fine turns into a nightmare.
I agree with your assessment that it is not possible. Aside from that you would need to adjust, then recompile the gnome-shell from source just to get to the nightmare stage in the first place.

Thanks for taking time to explain my why it is not possible.

It is alright, I do understand I was probably asking too much and it is not a big deal at all.

It is an interesting thing since it could also allow for exploring alternative ideas that may introduce you to something new. Like using conky for some actions or in a way you had not considered before.

On thing I have done on XFCE is create a new panel, size it as a large Square, and position it upper left. Then planted a custom Plugin into it with HUD that I could reference, thus using the panel for a purpose entirely different from which it was designed. I also rendered the panel background transparent.
This was a second "panel" on the desktop, with the standard panel in use at the bottom.
So even if you find a door jammed shut, you may look around to find doors you didn't know were there.

I see your point, but I´d rather not tinker with the UI beyond what´s officially possible, as to not break it.

I don´t need this functionality THAT much, that I would be willing to go to such lengths.

if the need would arise in the future, it is good thing that I know it is possible to add/modify some buttons on the HUD with some special purpose, as you described.

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