Desktop Project: Cybersphere

Here is a manual that will show you how i created this desktop theme. For this i used awn (avant window navigator) and a-desk. I will explain how to install awn and setup the multiple docks (configuration and applets). I also show you how to install the GTK+ themes, icons, and font set, i added the download links to all the files i used. I named this project after the video i used for the desktop background


To make use of the multiple docks you need to install awn using the awn trunk ppa. If you have awn installed remove it using the following steps. Open a Terminal window (Applications -Accessories -> Terminal) and copy+paste the following line:

sudo apt-get remove avant-window-navigator avant-window-navigator-data awn-settings awn-applets-c-core libawn1 vala-awn && sudo apt-get autoremove

To install awn copy+paste the following lines:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:awn-testing/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-trunk avant-window-navigator-data-trunk python-awn-trunk awn-settings-trunk awn-applets-python-core-trunk python-awn-extras-trunk awn-applets-python-extras-trunk awn-applets-c-core-trunk awn-applets-c-extras-trunk

You also need Dockmanager for the Helpers. This package is also available in the Avant Window Navigator trunk PPA:

sudo apt-get install dockmanager-daemon dockmanager

When installed you can find awn under Applications -> Accessories -> Avant Window Navigator. A dock (panel) will be shown at the bottom of your screen. As you can see you now have 1 bottom panel and the awn dock, Click with your right mouse button on the panel and select Delete This Panel to remove the panel. If you don’t want to remove the panel you can also enable the Show hide buttons option. You can do this by selecting Properties instead of Delete This Panel. At the General tab mark Show hide buttons and an arrow will appear on each side of the panel. Click on the arrows to slide the panel to the right or left side of your screen.

If you want to add a second dock click on the Avant Window Navigator icon and click on Dock Preferences and click on the Add dock button. To place the new dock on the left side of your screen change the Orientation from Bottom to Left. And if you want to add a third dock to the right of your screen click on Add dock button and change orientation to Right.

If you want to use a dock at the top of your screen you need to remove the top panel. This doesn’t go as easy as removing the bottom panel. You can always enable the show/hide option but when you log in to Ubuntu you need to hide the panel manually. So the best to do is to remove the panel.

To remove the top panel:

Open a Terminal window (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and copy+paste the following line:

gconf-editor

Now Navigate to Desktop -> Gnome -> Session. On the right side it should say: “required_components_list” double click on it and select panel. Click on the Remove button followed by the OK button. Now log out and back in and the top panel is gone. To restore the panel click with your right mouse button on required_component_list and select Unset Key. Log out and back in and the top panel is restored.



To configure the docks open the Dock Prefences and click on the Preferences icon.

My dock configurations:

Dock:	Right	Bottom	Top
Orientation:	Right	Bottom	Top
Style:	None	None	Lucido
Behaviour:	Always visible	Window dodge	Window dodge
Icon effects:	3D Turn	3D Turn	3D Turn
Position on screen	Left	Right	Left

Adding an applet is simple… Click on the green Applets icon then select the applet you want to add and drag it down into the Active Applets section.

My applets:

Right dock	Bottom dock	Top dock
Digital Clock	Shiny Switcher	Indicator applet
AWN Terminal	Separator	Notification Area
AWN Menu	Quit-Log-Out Applet	Separator
File Browser Launcher		Launcher/Taskmanager

When you are done adding the docks and applets it’s time to change your theme, icons and font set. For my desktop i used the following files:

Font: Zero Threes
Extract the ZEROTHRE.TTF file on your desktop

Icons: LaGaDesk-BlueNight 1.3.5
Extract the LaGaDesk-BlueNight.tar.gz on your desktop

Pointer: Oxygen Neon   0.2
Copy the downloaded file to your desktop

Theme: Silent Night II and LaGaDesk-N12-B
Extract LaGaDesk-N12.tar.bz2 and the Silent Night II dark.tar.gz on your desktop

Background: A-Desk
Extract the a-desk folder to your desktop

Video: Cybersphere
Extract the video in any folder you like

To install them watch the video 🙂