Startup applications
i3 has a very straight forward system tray. Let's use it. If we execute nm-applet in a terminal,
we'll see our familiar network icon in i3's system tray.
The same can be done for pnmixer and parcellite.
To run them or any other app on i3's startup add them to the end of i3's config file like so,
## start up
# clipboard manager
exec --no-startup-id parcellite
# network tray
exec --no-startup-id nm-applet
# volume applet
exec --no-startup-id pnmixer
# fancy window shadows and fading effects
exec --no-startup-id compton -cCGb --backend glx --vsync opengl
# wallpaper
exec --no-startup-id nitrogen --restore
the --no-startup-id helps with this.
To tile or not to tile
Some app windows are better viewed in floating mode. A personal favourite of mine, is the
tool called lxappearance which helps in changing gtk-themes. We make a rule in i3's config to
allow windows having the class "lxappearance" to open in floating mode.
To find the class of a window, execute xprop in a terminal and click on the window we want
info about. The line WM_CLASS(STRING) is what we're after.
Add the rules to i3 config for all the applications we want in floating mode like so
# open certain windows in floating mode
for_window [class="(?i)lxappearance"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)xcalc"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)xfontsel"] floating enable
for_window [window_role="(?i)pop-up"] floating enable #pop-up windows as floats
Window decorations
i3 by default has title bars for windows. I'd rather have no titlebars but I love some fat borders. Add the following to our config to get that
# no window borders
new_window pixel 2
new_float pixel 2
Custom shortcuts
i3 allows us to open up apps or do actions with keyboard shortcuts. To make a
keyboard shortcut for an application, say google-chrome, we add to the config file,
# keybinds for applications
bindsym $mod+Shift+w exec --no-startup-id google-chrome
Care should be taken to find whether the new keybind is already being used. In that case, assign something else for the existing action and then add the new keybind.
Rofi
Pressing $mod + d brings an app called dmenu, with which we can launch other applications.
Just type in the name of application and press Enter.
Rofi is a replacement for dmenu. Let's just say it's a bit more pretty and has a little more "oomph" than dmenu.
rofi's colors can be set via the universal .Xresources file in our $HOME. Open it and add the following
# monochromatic colors for rofi
rofi.color-enabled: true
rofi.separator-style: none
rofi.color-window: #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000
rofi.color-normal: #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000
rofi.color-active: #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000
rofi.color-urgent: #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000, #aaaaaa, #000000
Apply the changes by executing in a terminal xrdb ~/.Xresources. If in a terminal,
we execute rofi like rofi -show run -width 30 -lines 5 -font "Liberation Mono 15",
we'll see a run dialog like dmenu. BTW I'm a big fan of the
Liberation series of fonts.
The package is fonts-liberation in ubuntu. If we execute a
rofi -show window -width 60 -font "Liberation Mono 15" , we'll see a list of open apps.
Call them with keybinds by editing the config like so,
#bindsym $mod+d exec dmenu_run
bindsym $mod+d exec rofi -show run -width 30 -lines 5 -font "Liberation Mono 15"
bindsym $mod+Tab exec rofi -show window -width 60 -font "Liberation Mono 15"
Since dmenu was using $mod + d, I commented out that line and replaced it with an entry for rofi.
GTK-theming
gnome-look is a great resource for gtk themes. Find one that strikes your fancy and
extract it's archive to either $HOME/.themes (local install) or /usr/share/themes (global install).
Then open up lxappearance and apply the new theme.
Some themes require newer versions of gtk installed. To find version of gtk
we're using, run in a terminal dpkg -l libgtk* | grep -e '^i' | grep -e 'libgtk-*[0-9]'.
We get something like
ii libgtk-3-0:amd64 3.20.9-1ubuntu2 amd64
ii libgtk-3-common 3.20.9-1ubuntu2 all
...
ii libgtk2.0-0:amd64 2.24.30-4ubuntu2 amd64
ii libgtk2.0-common 2.24.30-4ubuntu2 all
3.20 is our gtk-3 version and 2.24 is our gtk-2 version. Always use themes from authors
that make use of a gtk-version <= our-gtk-version.
Exit menu
To get an exit dialog on a keypress, we need to get somethings up and running.
In our $HOME/.config/.i3/, create a directory called bin. In that create 2 files
called poweroff.sh and reboot.sh. The contents of them are
$ cat ~/.config/.i3/bin/reboot.sh
#!/bin/sh
sudo /sbin/reboot
exit 0
$ cat ~/.config/i3/bin/poweroff.sh
#!/bin/sh
sudo /sbin/poweroff
exit 0
We may place these files anywhere, but this way it's organized. Make sure these files / scripts are executable.
$ chmod +x ~/.config/.i3/bin/*.sh
Now we give ourselves permission to execute these scripts with sudo,
without the need for providing a password. Execute sudo visudo in a terminal and
add the following at the end
# shutdown, reboot for i3
akts ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /home/akts/.config/i3/bin/poweroff.sh
akts ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /home/akts/.config/i3/bin/reboot.sh
Next, we make an exit dialog in i3bar, by adding the following to our i3 config.
# exit dialogue
set $conf_dir "/home/akts/.config/i3"
set $mode_system System (e) xit, (r) eboot, (p) oweroff
mode "$mode_system" {
bindsym e exec --no-startup-id i3-msg exit, mode "default"
bindsym r exec --no-startup-id sudo $conf_dir/bin/reboot.sh, mode "default"
bindsym p exec --no-startup-id sudo $conf_dir/bin/poweroff.sh, mode "default"
# back to normal: Enter or Escape
bindsym Return mode "default"
bindsym Escape mode "default"
}
bindsym $mod+Shift+x mode "$mode_system"
Press e to exit i3, p to power down and r to reboot.
Screen lock
Install i3lock and go here for a good
sceenlock script.
Multimedia keyboard keys
Adding the following to i3 config solved this for me.
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id /usr/local/bin/vlow.sh
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id /usr/local/bin/vhigh.sh
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id /usr/local/bin/vmute.sh
The contents of these scripts are as follows. Make sure these are executables.
$ cat /usr/local/bin/vlow.sh
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ '-5%'
exit 0
$ cat /usr/local/bin/vhigh.sh
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ '-5%'
exit 0
$ cat /usr/local/bin/vmute.sh
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ 0
exit 0
