Ubuntu
gnome-panel package

How to rename workspaces ?

Asked by Thierry

In previous version of Ubuntu/Gnome, it was possible to rename the workspaces. Instead of Desk1/Desk2/Desk3/... one could give more meaningful titles: Mail/Web/Business/...
Now that I'm running Ubuntu 7.10 (Gnome 2.20), I could not find the way to rename those workspaces.
Any idea ?

Thanks,

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Ubuntu gnome-panel Edit question
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Chris Fox
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Best Chris Fox (robotninja) said : 		#1

Thierry,

Are you currently using Compiz (Desktop Effects)? It appears that this functionality is still available in Metacity (the standard Gnome window manager) but not in Compiz.

To Switch back from Compiz to Metacity, go to System - Preferences - Appearance, select the Visual Effects tab, and select "None".

Regards,

Chris

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Thierry (thierry38) said : 		#2

Hi Chris,
Damned !
Dead loop...

I had another problem (keyboard shortcuts to access appropriate panel), so I had to use Compiz features for that (workaround explanation- https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/+question/16404).

Now, you are telling me that I need to deactivate the Visual Effects at all to get back to Metacity functionalities...
Well...Let's say that life is a question of choice then... :-) Visual effects (and keyboard shortcuts) or desktop titles... Looks like I'm going to play a little while with the desktop effects, and after that, I will deactivate them all (like many people do...)

Thanks for the explanation

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Thierry (thierry38) said : 		#3

Thanks Chris Fox, that solved my question.

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Joshua Yelton (joshua-yelton) said : 		#4

Thierry,
For me, running 8.04 beta, I switched back to Metacity, renamed my workspaces, and then switched back to using Compiz and the new names persisted. Seems strange Compiz can recognize changes but not make them, but there it is.

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Peter Bittner (peter-bittner) said : 		#5

In order to rename the workspaces you can do as follows:

Open a terminal, do 'gconf-editor', then browse to apps/metacity/workspace names, change the names there, restart metacity (login out and in again, or reboot your machine).