Version: (using KDE 4.2.0) OS: Linux Installed from: Fedora RPMs Until KDE 4.1.4, task bar buttons in vertical plasma panel had variable size. When there were just a few buttons, they were made big and would shrink each time a new application was opened. In KDE 4.2, all buttons have fixed size, no matter how many of them there are in the task bar. The previous behaviour was better in my opinion, as it used more efficiently the available space in the task bar. Now the buttons are all piled up in a narrow space and their texts are unnecessarily truncated even if there are only two or three applications opened, with plenty of unused free space available.
Created attachment 31067 [details] Task bar in vertical plasma panel
A quick search gave me 6 copies of this bug, but I can't mark them as duplicates. It seems a lot of people have this problem. Duplicates: bug 168579, bug 173949, bug 182193, bug 167132, bug 187767
Bug 168579: Request to put icons next to each other in vertical panels. Not a dupe. Bug 173949: Many bugs in one, marked as dupe of Bug 193015. Bug 182193: Requests that individual widget sizes be configurable. Note exactly a dupe. Bug 167132: Complains that some plasmoids are specifically too big. Not a dupe. Bug 187767: Dupe of 182193.
After careful rereading, I am marking as a dupe of bug 168579, which is a request to put icons next to each other in vertical panels. This is the line that gave it away: "Now the buttons are all piled up in a narrow space and their texts are unnecessarily truncated even if there are only two or three applications opened, with plenty of unused free space available." If the OP meant for a different solution, then please mention it. Thanks. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 168579 ***
Created attachment 35025 [details] The old behavior: buttons are big if there is space available in the taskbar This bug has nothing to do with bug 168579. Bug 168579 is about plasmoids which are drawn too big in vertical panels. This one is about the taskbar plasmoid specifically. Take a look at the screenshot I've posted when I reported the bug and compare with this one and you will see what is this bug about. This one is a screenshot of the taskbar as it used to behave in KDE 4.1.x. The one I've posted when I reported the bug shows how the taskbar behaves in KDE 4.2.x Please do not mark this as duplicate of bug 168579, they are different.
Ah, yes, sorry about that. It's quite easy to misread the description if you're looking for duplicates. I would also like this problem solved, but I don't think it's as pressing as the plasmoid problem.
Marcelo, I had thought that you were incorrectly referring to plasmoids as taskbaar buttons. For some, the whole panel is "the taskbar" and a plasmoid might just be a button. I didn't even think for a second that you just might be using the correct terminology, after reading so many plasmoid bugs! Removing the dupe marker and I apologize for the mistake.
Dotan, no problem, I understand. Piemonkey, I also think the other problem is a more pressing one, as it wastes valuable space in the panel. But I think this one is much easier to fix. Not only it's a much simpler problem, but it is a regression. It was already working before 4.2.x.
It was deliberately changed from the 4.1 behaviour to more closely mimic the 3.x behaviour. On vertical panels in 3.x each taskbar button was one line tall, and the eye only had to cover very little space to find the required button. In 4.1 the eye had to go looking for the buttons all over the panel. There could literally be 250 pixels between lines of text. I personally hope that Aaron codes us the ability to limit the taskbar button to one line of text like in KDE 3.x. That is in direct opposition to the request of this bug, but I understand that each user has a different preference.
Please, wouldn't it be possible at least to make this a configurable option in the taskbar plasmoid? I think it is really frustrating to use a taskbar like the one shown in the attachment in comment #1 instead of having it like the one shown in comment #5, specially when this was already coded in KDE 4.1. Why truncate the buttons descriptions while wasting so much space for nothing?
Hello! This feature request was filed for KDE Plasma 4, which reached end-of-support status in August 2015. KDE Plasma 5's desktop shell has been almost completely rewritten for better performance and usability, so it is likely that this feature request is already implemented in Plasma 5, or is no longer applicable. Accordingly, we hope you understand why we must close this feature request. If the requested feature is still desired but not implemented in KDE Plasma 5.12 or later, please feel free to open a new ticket in the "plasmashell" product after reading https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved/Bug_Reporting If you would like to get involved in KDE's bug triaging effort so that future mass bug closes like this are less likely, please read https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved#Bug_Triaging Thanks for your understanding! Nate Graham