Hi,
i am a newbie when it goes about the activities. The the idea to use several activities at same time is kind of cool. I also like possibility that you can configure an own wallpaper for other activities.
The thing i find quite disappointing to me is that i was not able to have different icons on the other activity, although i think it’s technically not a big thing to realize. I mean we have a desktop-directory for the items on desktop, so it would be easy to make a second one for icons for a second activity for example, if you understand what i mean.
Is it possible that i have just not found the configuration for this, or is it not implemented because of some special reasons or do no one ever had this idea before ?
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Activities are basically virtual desktops, so you just switch between them. If anything Activities and Virtual Desktops need to be merged and one or the other dropped. There is no legitimate reason to have both Activities and Virtual Desktops when all features that are in one that are not in the other can be added to the other.
You can think of Plasma Activities as being Desktops in another dimension –
- Each Plasma Desktop can use Activities as an extension to whatever is being executed on that Desktop.
I tend to use Activities during schooling sessions –
- The slides for the schooling session run on Desktop and, Konsole sessions demonstrating CLI usage are running in parallel in a Activity – switch between Activities with [ Meta + Tab ] or,
in the other direction [ Meta + Shift + Tab ]
Another – more than 10 years old – view of Plasma Activities is here: <https://www.linux.com/training-tutorials/kde4-activities-fast-efficient-workflow/>
The KDE team view is here: <https://community.kde.org/KDE_Visual_Design_Group/Plasma_Activities>.
The KDE Handbook view is here: <https://docs.kde.org/stable5/en/plasma-desktop/plasma-desktop/activities-interface.html>
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Why not? It is already implemented. If you use folder view as desktop, simply change location of icon came to desktop. If you use normal desktop, simply create another icon set.
Got to say - I really never understood why people use virtual desktops in the first place. I just use my taskbar to stay organized, but I always seem people talking about virtual desktops. Are they really such a popular feature?
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Same! that’s why I have never used them, because I didn’t get the use of it since I manage my windows by minimizing and maximizing them. And that’s also why I never used Activities until very recently, because I didn’t quite get what was the difference. I now know that activities can have different widgets in them, and wallpapers, but what convinced me to use them was that I could “stop” them, like turning them off and on again when needed. I don’t know if that is a feature that Virtual Desktops have, and I find it super useful. I think that helps with the use of resources, and I hope they do, but I couldn’t find information that confirms this.
I tried playing with activities, but in the end I didn’t get much utility out of it as I just don’t really use widgets on the desktop. The one non-basic widget of genuine utility to me is the color picker, but that lives on a panel rather than the desktop. I suppose if you wanted to optimize for one very specific workflow, some of the default widgets could maybe make you a little faster, but I never could personally understand the appeal of having a bunch of widgets on the desktop.
Maybe I have a limited imagination - I genuinely feel like I’m missing out on something!
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While that’s true to an extent, it’s possible to add multiple Virtual Desktops inside an activity. I did this for awhile, but found that Activities are just too buggy.
I do agree that it’s best in the long-run to merge these features.
Why not? It is already implemented.
I think you didn’t understand what i mean.
If you use folder view as desktop, simply change location of icon came to desktop.
I know you can move icons around, but i meant to have different icons on each activity. You must use the folder view, that is true because otherwise you have no icons at all, only mini-programs/widgets.
If you use normal desktop, simply create another icon set.
There is the problem. When you create, edit or delete icons in one activity, the changes are always global to all activities. It is easy to checkup if you don’t believe me.
It is even similar to the virtual desktops, but i think they should make it possible to use different icons at least in other activities or in both activities and virtual desktops.
I just have had the wish that you should be able to have own icons on every activity. I don’t know if the change or in the next Plasma version, but i hope so.
And they (KDE-programmers) catch some ideas direct from users more people would use activities, which is in my eyes actually one of the arguments to use Plasma at all. It’s just logical the more you can configure Plasma, the more people find it useful and more people will use Plasma.
This link is interesting i followed it and what i wonder is, on the pictures the settings-windows of activities have two or three tabs, with resources and sometimes even with privacy. I just have the general tab. How can it be?
On my PC, everything just works. See: https://youtu.be/Q0b63VgXsY4 .
As I said, simply change on desktop properties directory folder view points to. If you do not use folder view instead of normal desktop, then just create different icon set for each activity. On second activity, I use folder view (but plasmoid, not as/instead of desktop) and desktop icons.
OK, thanks for the video.
It inspired me to look into settings again. Then i actually found the solution by myself.
For everyone who wants to know.
You can enter the Configuration of Wallpaper by rightclicking on desktop, then go to tabs locations and choose last possibility own path. There you can actually create a directory or choose an existing directory with files and folders and can do this seperatly for every activity, just what i wanted.
Btw, can anyone explain how to mark this Topic as Solved ?
I think you should edit topic, by clicking pencil on first thread header. Simple add “[Solved]” at beginning. Community maybe accept this, but I am not sure (this topic is in brainstorm category).
Actually it’s EXTREMELY EASY to understand. I have my main desktop for my APPLICATIONS except for video/audio editing. A second desktop for Internet (browsers/email). A third desktop for Dolphin which I keep two Dolphin windows open with various tabs in each window. I do my video and audio editing on this desktop. A fourth desktop called Spare that I launch Deluge, my Solitaire game on, Chromium that’s only used for two social media sites and Emby. The Taskbar is not for organizing anything. As for Activities/Virtual Desktops being popular YES.
As for the one comment about resources neither Activities nor Virtual Desktops eat ANY resources til you actually go to switch them.
You’ve explained how you use them, but my question was why.
That’s pretty obvious cause it’s quicker to go to the pager and select which desktop I need. I will say this whatever works for you is fine just don’t act like it’s the only way to do something and others are wrong.
I think you should edit topic, by clicking pencil on first thread header. Simple add “[Solved]” at beginning.
That is not possible.
Community maybe accept this, but I am not sure (this topic is in brainstorm category).
I think that’s the point, we are just brainstorming.
You’ve explained how you use them, but my question was why.
I am interested in SkyBorg’s explanations. We are just sharing experience about activities, so that one or another may be inspired by it or not. The whole activities-thing is optional. It’s also not activated by default, so everybody can do what he wants.
I found how to use different icons, taskbar-icons, wallpaper, start-menu-entries for example. I am just missing feature that whole taskbars should be associated to a specific activity as well. Maybe this will be implemented in Plasma 6 in February 2024 as i hope.
Agreed – with a typical Laptop machine, the screen space is somewhat limited – mostly less than the last 21 inch video display unit (VDU) I used (the terminals which had a cathode-ray tube to drive the screen).
Currently, I normally use a 32 inch LED 4K monitor which despite it’s size, is something where I prefer to have uncluttered desktops – the thing easily handles a DIN A4 page at 100 % magnification (210 mm wide – 297 mm high) bordered with the complete text application window with all it’s controls and information for the given page – and then, 3 pages simultaneously side-by-side.
My Konsole terminal windows are set to 120 columns and 40 lines with an 11 point OpenType medium font.
- Even with this “luxury” screen size, the desktop can quite quickly become cluttered.
Therefore, virtual desktops – currently “only” 4 – plus, occasionally, activities.
don’t act like it’s the only way to do something and others are wrong.
@SkyBorg I didn’t intend to give that impression; I’m discussing in good faith. I understand how they can be used; I have just never personally found it any easier than simply using the taskbar. That’s the perspective I’ve been trying to work out: why it is faster / better / more efficient to use the pager instead of the task bar, assuming you have a normal amount of applications running at any given time?
I am interested in SkyBorg’s explanations. We are just sharing experience about activities, so that one or another may be inspired by it or not. The whole activities-thing is optional. It’s also not activated by default, so everybody can do what he wants.
@Oliver_M So am I (I have no idea how people are getting the impression that I wasn’t!); I’m just trying to understand why this workflow is better.
I gave activities another spin the other day - one thing that might make it useful for the way I work is different widgets on panels per activity, and different system tray icons per activity. That way, when I’m doing design work, I could have a color picker and the nextcloud system tray icon visible on my top panel, but neither would need to clutter my default workspace when I don’t need to use them. Likewise, I could hide the Discover update icon on my design workspace, and attend to that on my default workspace. I’m one of those people who hates a cluttered workspace, so widgets all over the desktop just irritate me - limiting the utility of activities in their present state for me.
I’m new to KDE and Activities is one of its features I find most mind-blowing and also possibly under-appreciated. I see some discussion about merging activities with desktops but I don’t understand this, since activities can have desktops within them (wow). This is useful if one works in different modes or capacities on one computer (as I do).
Switching activities means I can quickly get to an entire set of desktops that I use for work, for example, and then switch to another set of desktops (with different pinned apps) for personal stuff. This is amazing.
I think a lot of the confusion around “activities” might come from the vague name. I think it would be better to call this feature “spaces”, “rooms”, or “desks” – something that the desktops reside within. Or they could be called “super desktops”, “modes”, or even “levels” (since activities could be thought of running along a vertical axis whereas desktops run along a horizontal one.)
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