This chapter describes how to use the GNOME Desktop Menubar. menus introduction menus Menu Bar Menu Bar Menu Bar introduction The menubar at the top of the GNOME Desktop, in the Top Edge Panel, is your main point of access to GNOME. Use the Applications menu to launch applications, the Places to open locations on your computer or network, and the Desktop to customize your system, get help with GNOME, and log out of GNOME or shut down your computer. The following sections describe these three menus. The menubar is in fact a panel object: you can move the menubar to another panel, or have more than one instance of the menubar in your panels. For more on this, see .

menus Applications menu The Applications menu contains a hierarchy of submenus, from which you can start the applications that are installed on your system. Each submenu correponds to a category. For example, in the Sound & Video submenu, you will find applications for playing CDs and recording sound. To launch an application, perform the following steps: Open the Applications menu by clicking on it. Move the mouse down the menu to the category the application you want is in. Each submenu opens as your mouse passes over the category. Click the menu item for the application. When you install a new application, it is automatically added to the Applications menu in a suitable category. For example, if you install an instant messenger application, a VoIP application, or an FTP client, you will find it in the Internet submenu.

Places menu The Places menu is a quick way to go to various locations on your computer and your local network. The Places menu allows you to open the following items: Your Home folderAdd link! The Desktop folder, which corresponds to the items displays in the desktop. The items in your Nautilus bookmarks. For more on this, see . Your computer, which shows all your drives. The Nautilus CD/DVD Creator. For more on this, see . The local network. For more on this, see . The last three items on the menu perform actions rather than open locations. Connect to Server lets you choose a server on your network. For more on this, see . Search for Files lets you search for files on your computer. For more on this, see the Search for Files Manual. The Recent Documents submenu lists the documents you have recently opened. The last entry in the submenu clears the list.

Desktop Menu The Desktop menu allows you to set your preferences for the GNOME Desktop, get help with using GNOME, and log out or shut down. The Administration submenu contains tools to manage your computer. These all require your system's password. The Preferences submenu contains all the preference tools. With these you can configure your GNOME Desktop. For more on preference tools, see . The Help item launches the Help Browser. The About GNOME item has a brief introduction to GNOME, links to the GNOME website, and credits. The Lock Screen command starts your screensaver, and requires your password to return to the desktop. For more on this, see . Choose Log Out to log out of GNOME, or to switch user. Choose Shut Down to end your GNOME session and turn off your computer, or restart it. For more on logging out and shutting down, see .

menus customizing You can modify the contents of the following menus: Applications menu Desktop Preferences menu You use the following GNOME Desktop components to customize menus: Menus on panels Nautilus file manager When you use panels to customize your menus, you use the menu item popup menu. For more information, see . When you use the file manager to customize your menus, you must access the Applications menu or the Desktop Preferences menu from within the file manager. To access the Applications menu or the Desktop Preferences menu, open a file manager window. To access menus in the file manager, access one of the following URIs in the file manager: Menu Enter this URI Applications menu applications:/// Desktop Preferences menu preferences:/// For more information on the file manager, see Nautilus File Manager.

menus adding To add a menu, perform the following steps: In a file manager window, access the location where you want to add the menu. For example, if you want to add a menu to the Applications menu, enter applications:/// URI. Choose FileCreate Folder. An untitled folder is added to the menu. The name of the folder is selected. Type a name for the folder, then press Return. The next time that you log out then log in again, the menu is in the assigned location.

menus adding launchers to To add a launcher to a menu, perform the following steps: Right-click on any item in the menu to which you want to add the launcher. Choose Entire menuAdd new item to this menu. A Create Launcher dialog is displayed. Enter the properties of the launcher in the Create Launcher dialog. For more information on the elements in the Create Launcher dialog, see Working With Panels. Click OK.

To add a launcher to an empty menu, perform the following steps: In a file manager window, access the menu where you want to add the launcher. Choose FileCreate Launcher. A Create Launcher dialog is displayed. Enter the properties of the launcher in the Create Launcher dialog. For more information on the elements in the Create Launcher dialog, see Working With Panels. Click OK.

menus copying launchers to To copy an existing launcher to a menu, perform the following steps: In a file manager window, access the location from which you want to copy the launcher. For example, if you want to copy a launcher from the Applications menu, enter applications:/// URI. Select the launcher that you want to copy, then choose EditCopy File. In a file manager window, access the location to which you want to copy the launcher. Choose EditPaste Files. The launcher is added to the new location. Alternatively, you can drag the launcher from one location to another. The next time that you log out then log in again, the launcher is in the new menu location.

menus editing properties To edit the properties of a menu, perform the following steps: Right-click on any item in the menu that you want to edit. Choose Entire menuProperties. A Launcher Properties dialog is displayed. Modify the properties of the menu in the Launcher Properties dialog. For more information on the elements in the Launcher Properties dialog, see Working With Panels. Click OK.

menus editing menu items To edit a menu item, perform the following steps: Right-click on the item that you want to edit. Choose Properties. A Launcher Properties dialog is displayed. Modify the properties of the launcher in the Launcher Properties dialog. For more information on the elements in the Launcher Properties dialog, see Working With Panels. Click OK.

menus deleting menu items To delete an item from a menu, use the menu item popup menu. To delete an item from a menu, perform the following steps: Right-click on the item that you want to delete. Choose Remove this item.