<HTML
><HEAD
><TITLE
>The Main Menu</TITLE
><META
NAME="GENERATOR"
CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.54"><LINK
REL="HOME"
TITLE="GNOME User's Guide"
HREF="index.html"><LINK
REL="UP"
TITLE="Panel"
HREF="panel-chap.html"><LINK
REL="PREVIOUS"
TITLE="Panel Basics"
HREF="panelbasics.html"><LINK
REL="NEXT"
TITLE="Menus"
HREF="menus.html"></HEAD
><BODY
CLASS="SECT1"
BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
TEXT="#000000"
LINK="#0000FF"
VLINK="#840084"
ALINK="#0000FF"
><DIV
CLASS="NAVHEADER"
><TABLE
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
CELLPADDING="0"
CELLSPACING="0"
><TR
><TH
COLSPAN="3"
ALIGN="center"
>GNOME User's Guide</TH
></TR
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="10%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="bottom"
><A
HREF="panelbasics.html"
>&#60;&#60;&#60; Previous</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="80%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="bottom"
>Panel</TD
><TD
WIDTH="10%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="bottom"
><A
HREF="menus.html"
>Next &#62;&#62;&#62;</A
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR
ALIGN="LEFT"
WIDTH="100%"></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="MAINMENU"
>The Main Menu</A
></H1
><P
>      
      The footprint icon seen towards the left end of the example
      <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
> (see <A
HREF="panelbasics.html#EXAMPLEPANELFIG"
>Figure 1 in the section called <I
>Introduction to Panel Objects</I
></A
>) and in
      <A
HREF="mainmenu.html#MAIN-MENU-BUTTON-FIG"
>Figure 4</A
> is the <B
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Main
      Menu</B
> (yes, you guessed right, it is the footprint of a
      gnome). This menu provides access to almost all GNOME features &#8212; all
      the applications, configuration tools, command line prompt,
      <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Logout</B
> and <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Lock
      Screen</B
> commands, and much more.  To access any of these
      items, click on the <B
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Main Menu</B
> button. You should
      release the mouse after pressing the <B
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Main Menu</B
>
      button so that you can take advantage of other mouse-activated features in
      the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
> such as right-click pop-up menus and
      drag-and-drop from the menu to the desktop or
      <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
>.
    </P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="MAIN-MENU-BUTTON-FIG"
></A
><P
><IMG
SRC="./figs/mm-button.png"></P
><P
><B
>Figure 4. The Main Menu Button</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>   
      You can  have several <B
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Main
      Menu</B
> buttons on different
      <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panels</SPAN
>; all of them can be configured
      independently.
    </P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="GLOBALMENU"
>Global menu</A
></H2
><P
>	In addition to the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
> which you get by
	clicking on the foot icon, GNOME also provides a <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Global
	Menu</B
>, which contains the same commands but is not linked to
	any button. To access the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Global Menu</B
>, right-click on
	any empty place on the <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
>. You can also access
	the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Global Menu</B
> by pressing Alt-F1. (You can change
	the default key for activating the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Global Menu</B
> in the
	<A
HREF="globalpanelprefs.html#MISCTAB"
><TT
CLASS="GUILABEL"
><B
>Miscellaneous</B
></TT
></A
> tab of
	the <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
><A
HREF="globalpanelprefs.html"
>Global Panel
	Preferences</A
> dialog</SPAN
>.)
      </P
><P
>	Note that the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Global Menu</B
> is configured independently
	from the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
>, by using the
	<TT
CLASS="GUILABEL"
><B
>Menu</B
></TT
> tab in the <A
HREF="globalpanelprefs.html"
><SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Global Panel
	Preferences</SPAN
></A
> dialog.
      </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="SUBMENUS"
>Components of the Main Menu</A
></H2
><P
>	The primary component of the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
> is the
	<B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Programs</B
> submenu, which contains a list of
	preconfigured submenus and menu items. Here you will find all the GNOME
	applications, from the <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Gnumeric</TT
> spreadsheet
	to the <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Free Cell</TT
> game, as well as quite a few
	non-GNOME ones, such as the <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Netscape</TT
> web
	browser and the <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>emacs</TT
> text editor.  In
	addition, the <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Programs</B
> submenu also contains
	the following commands:
      </P
><P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>File Manager</B
> &#8212;  launches the
	    GNOME graphical file manager.
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Help system</B
> &#8212; launches the
	    <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>GNOME Help Browser</TT
>. The
	    <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>GNOME Help Browser</TT
> gives you access
	    to most of the documentation installed on your system &#8212;
	    not only GNOME documentation (the GNOME User's Guide,
	    application manuals, &#8230;), but also other types of
	    documentation (man pages, info pages, &#8230;).
	  </P
></LI
></UL
><P
> 
	In addition to the <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Programs</B
> submenu, the
	<B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
> also contains a number of other submenus
	and useful commands. Depending on your configuration, you may not see
	all of these. Also, some of them may be shown as submenus, and others
	included as part of the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
>, separated by
	horizontal lines from the other parts. These additional submenus and
	commands are:
      </P
><P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Favorites</B
>. This submenu, which is
	    originally empty, is a place where you can put your favorite
	    applications for quick access. You can edit this menu using the
	    <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Menu Editor</TT
>, which can be accessed from
	    the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
> by choosing
	    <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Settings</B
>-&gt;<B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Menu
	    editor</B
>. You can also add any item from
	    any other menu (in particular, from the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Programs</B
>
	    menu) to the <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Favorites</B
> menu by clicking on
	    the item with the right mouse button and selecting <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Add
	    this to Favorites menu</B
>.
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Applets</B
>. This submenu contains all the
	    applets installed on your system. Selecting an applet will add it to
	    your <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
>.
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>KDE menus</B
>. This shows the menus of the K
	    Desktop Environment (KDE) if you have it installed on your system.
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>AnotherLevel menus</B
> and <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Debian
	    menus</B
>. These submenus show the default application
	    menus for Red Hat Linux and Debian GNU/Linux, respectively. These
	    will only appear for users of the particular distributions.
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Panel</B
>. This submenu can be used to change
	    <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
> properties (both for <A
HREF="panelproperties.html"
> <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>individual
	    Panels</SPAN
></A
> and <A
HREF="globalpanelprefs.html"
>global</A
>, i.e. for all
	    <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panels</SPAN
>), <A
HREF="appletadd.html#ADD"
>add an
	    object</A
> to the <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
>, <A
HREF="panelmove.html#PANELREMOVING"
>remove the whole
	    <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
></A
>, <A
HREF="panelmove.html#PANELADD"
>create
	    a new <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Panel</SPAN
></A
>, or view the
	    <I
CLASS="CITETITLE"
>Panel Manual</I
>.
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Desktop</B
>&#8212; This submenu contains
	    <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Log out</B
>, which ends your GNOME session
	    (see <A
HREF="panelbasics.html#LOGGINGOUT"
>the section called <I
>Logging Out</I
></A
>), and <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Lock
	    screen</B
> (see <A
HREF="panelbasics.html#LOCKSCREEN"
>the section called <I
>Locking the Screen</I
></A
>).
	  </P
></LI
><LI
><A
NAME="RUNCOMMAND"
></A
><P
>	    <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Run &#8230;</B
> &#8212; This menu item opens
	    the <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Run Program</SPAN
> dialog for executing shell
	    commands (see <A
HREF="specialobjects.html#RUNBUTTON"
>the section called <I
>The Run Button</I
></A
>).
	  </P
></LI
></UL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="MAINMENUCONFIG"
>Configuring the Main Menu</A
></H2
><P
>	To change the configuration of the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
>,
	right-click on the <B
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Main Menu</B
> button (shown in
	<A
HREF="mainmenu.html#MAIN-MENU-BUTTON-FIG"
>Figure 4 in the section called <I
>The Main Menu</I
></A
>) and select
	<B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Properties &#8230;</B
> from the pop-up
	menu. This will show the <SPAN
CLASS="INTERFACE"
>Menu Properties</SPAN
>
	dialog. In this dialog, for each of the submenus of the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main
	Menu</B
> listed above (<B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Programs</B
>,
	<B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Favorites</B
>, &#8230;) you can choose whether you
	want it to be shown as part of the <B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
>, as a
	submenu, or not at all.
      </P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><P
><IMG
SRC="./figs/mainmenu_properties.png"></P
><P
><B
>Figure 5. Menu Properties Dialog</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>	You can also edit the contents of the <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Favorites</B
>
	submenu (or, if you are the system administrator, also of the
	<B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Programs</B
> submenu) using the <TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>GNOME
	Menu Editor</TT
>. To start it, right-click on the
	<B
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Main Menu</B
> button and select <B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Edit
	Menus &#8230;</B
>. Alternatively, you can start
	<TT
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>GNOME Menu Editor</TT
> by selecting <B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Programs</B
>-&gt;<B
CLASS="GUISUBMENU"
>Settings</B
>-&gt;<B
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Menu editor</B
> from the
	<B
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Main Menu</B
> itself.
      </P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
><HR
ALIGN="LEFT"
WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
CELLPADDING="0"
CELLSPACING="0"
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="panelbasics.html"
>&#60;&#60;&#60; Previous</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="34%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="index.html"
>Home</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="menus.html"
>Next &#62;&#62;&#62;</A
></TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
>Panel Basics</TD
><TD
WIDTH="34%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="panel-chap.html"
>Up</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
>Menus</TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
></BODY
></HTML
>