XFCE Global Menu Plugin Gets a PPA

By , Published November 15, 2011

Xubuntu 11.04 and 11.10 users wanting to add Ubuntu’s “App Menu” (also known as a ‘global menu’) can now do so with ease.

The developer behind the XFCE-tweaked version has put the plugin in a PPA for easy installation and upgrading.

To add the PPA you will need to open a new Terminal window (Menu > Accessories > Terminal Emulator) and enter the following commands carefully: -

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:the-warl0ck-1989/xfce-appmenu-plugin

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install xfce4-appmenu-plugin indicator-appmenu appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt

How to add App Menu to the XFCE panel

Once everything has successfully installed you’ll need to add the plugin to the top panel on your desktop.

  • Right-click on an empty part of the top XFCE panel
  • Choose ‘Panel > ‘Add New Items’ > ‘App Menu plugin’
  • Move/place the plugin to the right of the ‘Xubuntu menu’ logo
Adding the applet in Xubuntu 11.10

Related posts:

  1. [How To] Enable Ubuntu’s Global Menu in Xubuntu 11.10
  2. Xfce to launch ‘Xfce Foundation’
  3. Install XFCE 4.8 in Ubuntu 10.10
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  • Albert Cutrona

    I’ve got an error when I try to install, seems that “install” package is missed

  • https://launchpad.net/~mpt mpt

    This is my favorite piece of software in Ubuntu right now. Thanks to Aaron for implementing it!

  • http://profiles.google.com/solancing Srinivas SolancGowda

    Unity inspiring XFCE is sign of progress and global acceptance.

    • Ms. Polly

      You’re right – since Unity, Xubuntu has gained so much progress and global acceptance now. I don’t like global menu, but I’m glad it will be available in XFCE for those who want it.

    • Ms. Polly

      By the way, you may have to remove any separators in the panel to move items beyond them. You can always add the separators back.

    • Austin Holbrook

      Not really. This is someone developing a plugin for XFCE. The XFCE developers didn’t make this. And it seems very unlikely that they would officially develop something like this.

      Still, it’s nice to see XFCE getting more attention.

  • Anonymous

    When the guys from the KDE will do the same? It would be fantastic!

    • Anonymous

      If only I can remove this comment…

      • Anonymous

        Yes, but you can’t! I didn’t know that they already done it, and I was just wondering that it would be awesome, it’s nothing SO OFFENSIVE right?!

    • https://launchpad.net/~cxl Chen Xiao-Long
      • Anonymous

        Question about Kubuntu (if you use it): On stock Ubuntu, with KDE installed from repo, KDE makes my laptop fan run much more than Unity or Xfce. Does going with Kubuntu instead offer any better power usage for KDE?

      • http://twitter.com/heikkiket Heikki Ketoharju

        In fact I think there was a global menu for KDE 3.5 five years ago… I installed it, but didn’t really use much. A good example about flexibility of Linux, however :)

    • Kyle Robair

       Kubuntu has a global menu. It may be preinstalled, but I know it was easy for me to get it running.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4LXTMAC7KVMD7JBKWBCCBU4HSU inner_turbulence

      They already did it man, there’s xbar and dbus-menu something.

      • Anonymous

        Thanks for the help! =)

    • Anonymous

      Thanks for the help guys! =)

  • Gabriel Rousseau

    Someday LXDE will have that… Someday….

    • Subhadip Ghosh

      I like LXDE, simple and so less resource hungry, good if you need things to work just to get your work done :)

  • http://about.me/joanjimenez Joan Jimenez

    So I installed it. Remove the window list from the panel. Installed Docky and now i have this. How can I setup it to have the indicators on the left? http://ubuntuone.com/6Zfpc6utafKWlG3cyX9KXP

    • Ms. Polly

      try right-click, then choose move

    • Ms. Polly

      By the way, you may have to remove any separators in the panel to move items beyond them. You can always add the separators back.

      • http://about.me/joanjimenez Joan Jimenez

        Thanks, the @3rp3:disqus tip solved it. :)

        • Ms. Polly

          Glad it worked out for you. That is why I love XFCE – you can configure it the way you want most of the time. :)

    • Anonymous

      Add separator between indicators and global menu and then go to separator settings and expand it.

      • http://about.me/joanjimenez Joan Jimenez

        Thanks! This tip solved it :)

        • Anonymous

          You’re welcome! :D

        • http://twitter.com/EpikEthan Ethan Smith

          Another good tip is that if you don’t want to see the separator, right click, go to style, and choose transparent.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MYAJNDJSMUGGZ6AU2RKEHZFPYY Awegweagg

    never understood why woud one needs global menu anyway.

    • Anonymous

      Never really understood why people need a computer at all. I mean pen and paper do fine for some people.

      I mean yes, a large number of people find a computer useful, but wtf, let’s ignore this fact and just state that there is no need for a computer at all.

  • Freddi

    What me often wonders is, whether the implementation of the application menu in Ubuntu really is the ideal way to do it?
    I mean, applications load the menu into their window, then the menu is exported via dbus, then hidden in the window and displayed in the panel. Still it *does* sometimes (=too often!) happen that the menu remains in an application, or there is a delay and users see the menu pop up and hide in the application window. It rather looks like a hack. Shouldn’t it be loaded directly into the menu?  Shouldn’t a global menu be implemented in the toolkit rather than having on top of all an extra process? I don’t know the technical reasons, I’m only wondering.
    How did other OS solve this (MacOS, Amiga…)?

    • http://grvrulz.wordpress.com/ Gaurav

      Well the correct way to do it will be something called gmenu(they’re bringing that in gtk). It’ll be a proper solution IMHO rather than exporting the menus via Dbus.

  • Anonymous

    Part of the reason I moved from Ubuntu to Xubuntu was the global menu. Thanks, but no thanks.

  • Anonymous

    Last time I tried it, it wasn’t very usable. I couldn’t open one menu and then just slide the mouse over others to open them. I had to open each one separately and that’s not productive.

  • Anonymous

    best part of this is: its an option!  I wish I could turn off global menus in unity.

    • Joseph Braddock

      sudo apt-get remove appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt

      • Anonymous

        thanks. but that still keeps the minimize and maximize buttons in the global menu area (when maximized).  I need a real full solution.

        • Kevin Hardy

          Gnome Shell? I tried all of the current window managers/desktop enviornments (KDE, Gnome classic, gnome shell, Unity, XFCE, LXDE, and enlightenment [could be favorite but glitcy]) and out of all of them, Gnome Shell is my favorite. It has a Unity-like interface, but it hides everything perfectly. All you do is press command or swing your mouse to the top-left corner and you’ll have your Unity-like menu, Dock and all, but with amazing window management features, and easy access to your apps. Try it, you may like it. If not, you can still use Unity.

          • Anonymous

            I still use gnome-shell, I wish it was an option in unity – I would probably switch if it were not for that one irritation.

  • Alex Carranza

    I moved to Xfce to escape nonsense like this. 

    • http://profiles.google.com/martinolsendk Martin Olsen

      luckily you still have the option to leave it like, well most the things for Linux.. But I read you, you don’t hope this will be standard xfce..

    • Anonymous

      I was expecting to see this comment, didn’t have to go very far to find it.

      This is not being force upon you. If you aren’t interesting in a global menu, why did you bother wasting your time reading an article about it.

      Global menu’s are very popular with many people. Why should there not be a plugin for these people. Why should the plugins developers write be specially tailors to your opinions.

  • Anonymous

    Loving me some Xubuntu right now.  I’ve been playing with a lot of distros, Mint LXDE, Mint 11, Mint 12, Lubuntu, Ubuntu, Puppy.  I like Xubuntu for now.  I have a powerful enough Netbook to run anything but I like the ease, familiarity and customizability of the XFCE desktop.  Good job guys and girls.

  • Anonymous

    “I moved to Xfce to escape nonsense like this.”
    So do I.  Thanks, but no thanks. Don`t want to have a complexe about having no mac Os

  • Yasith Vidanaarachchi

    Is there any way to get the close/restore/minimize buttons to the panel when a window is maximized ?

  • http://www.redtube.com ActionParsnip

    Common UI is always good :)

  • Spark Dark

    Can anyone port this to archlinux?or to give me a link for downloading the source?Thank you!

  • Phil Landry

    AH come on… Keep XFCE Task Centric! No app-crap please

  • Anonymous

    I use XFCE and I think I will try this. I actually like the global menu bar idea, one of the few things I did like with OS X.

  • Jesse Nazario

    where can I get the tar ball? I do not use Ubuntu

 
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