• From: SP, Brasil
  • Registered: 2008-12-01
  • Posts: 115

Topic: Set wallpaper with thunar.

As much as I love nitrogen to show my wallpapers, It is a pain to find a proper wallpaper since I have a lot of them, then looking at the manual I found a way to set my wallpaper using thunar, just like when using feh.


Create a custom action with this command.

nitrogen --save --set-best %f

you can use any of this
    --set-best
        Sets the background to the given file (best-fit)
    --set-centered
        Sets the background to the given file (centered)
    --set-scaled
        Sets the background to the given file (scaled)
    --set-tiled
        Sets the background to the given file (tiled)

On conditions of course select only images. Now just pick a nice icon and you are ready to go, everytime you right click a image you will have the option to set it as the wallpaper.


Too bad thunar doesn't support sub menus to actions. Then we could put all these actions and just use the best one with the wallpaper ^^

Last edited by razienwolf (2008-12-15 15:34:40)

  • From: Eastbourne UK
  • Registered: 2008-11-29
  • Posts: 25

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

nice one... works well

registered linux user #413097 | _/\o_ | CHANT: Hare Krishna, Hare Rama... AND BE HAPPY
  • From: Lincoln, UK
  • Registered: 2008-11-20
  • Posts: 4,427

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Great tip! Thank you razienwolf. smile

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  • sheri
  • #! CrunchBanger
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2008-11-26
  • Posts: 117

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Thanks for the tip. smile

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  • From: SP, Brasil
  • Registered: 2008-12-01
  • Posts: 115

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

You welcome guys XD

  • From: U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2009-01-28
  • Posts: 531

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

razienwolf wrote:

You welcome guys XD

The Thunar wiki http://thunar.xfce.org/pwiki/documentat … om_actions wiki says this is possible without Nitrogen. However, I have not been able to get this custom action to work:

Setting an image as the desktop background

    *
      Name: Set as desktop background
    *
      Command:

      echo '# xfce backdrop list\n%f' > $HOME/.config/xfce4/desktop/backdrops.list; killall -USR1 xfdesktop

    *
      File pattern: *
    *
      Appears if selection contains: Image Files

Note: xfdesktop --reload should also work instead of killall. You can find details, and a randomizing wallpaper script which works with XFCE in this blog post.

#! 10 “Statler” r20110207 32-bit & Openbox
  • From: California, USA
  • Registered: 2008-11-29
  • Posts: 8,647

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

So you installed xfdesktop4 and its not working?

Note: ** Please read before posting **

BTW if you wish to contact me, send me an e-mail instead of a PM.
  • From: U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2009-01-28
  • Posts: 531

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

anonymous wrote:

So you installed xfdesktop4 and its not working?

How do I check if I have xfdesktop4 installed? I can't find it using Xfce4 Appfinder.

#! 10 “Statler” r20110207 32-bit & Openbox
  • From: California, USA
  • Registered: 2008-11-29
  • Posts: 8,647

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Open up Synaptic and search for xfdesktop4. If its not installed, then install it.

Note: ** Please read before posting **

BTW if you wish to contact me, send me an e-mail instead of a PM.
  • From: U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2009-01-28
  • Posts: 531

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

anonymous wrote:

Open up Synaptic and search for xfdesktop4. If its not installed, then install it.

What is the difference between xfdesktop4 and Nitrogen memory wise?

#! 10 “Statler” r20110207 32-bit & Openbox
  • From: California, USA
  • Registered: 2008-11-29
  • Posts: 8,647

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

I dont know, but its worth noting that xfdesktop isnt just for setting wallpaper.

Note: ** Please read before posting **

BTW if you wish to contact me, send me an e-mail instead of a PM.
  • From: U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2009-01-28
  • Posts: 531

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

anonymous wrote:

I dont know, but its worth noting that xfdesktop isnt just for setting wallpaper.

hmmm..I think I will stay with Nitrogen. Thanks.

#! 10 “Statler” r20110207 32-bit & Openbox
  • Registered: 2008-12-26
  • Posts: 70

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Wow, this is brilliant. I wish I had thought of this. I was using the set background thingy, and it was a complete pain, because it only lists the files in one directory that is owned by root. So I was switching to root to copy the image to the folder, then restarting the background setting app, and setting it. This is much faster.

  • From: chapel hill, nc
  • Registered: 2009-03-15
  • Posts: 31

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Awesome.

Added to http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/howto_pages

--
e.m.fields
chapel hill, nc

e.m.fields's Website

  • Registered: 2011-06-07
  • Posts: 3

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Sorry to bump an old thread (I obviously found this from the how-to page) but I figured it was better to revive an old one than start a new one. Setting up this custom action was super useful and worked flawlessly for me. Much more convenient than opening Nitrogen every time.

However - in my context menu for images, I now have two options -

"Set image as wallpaper" (my custom action)
"Set as wallpaper" (not sure where this came from, or if it was always there and I just forgot)

The latter of these actions is completely inert and does nothing when I select it. It's kind of just in my way. It's also not present in the custom actions menu, so I can't delete it from there. Does anyone have any idea how I can get rid of this?

I imagine maybe there's a file I can edit somewhere, but I'm still a bit new to linux in general. Thanks in advance!

  • Registered: 2011-06-07
  • Posts: 3

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Bleurgh, wouldn't you know it, been trying to figure this out for days and discover a solution right after I finally break down and post.

In case anyone else comes looking, this thread seems to hold the key. I've never compiled a package before - looks like it's time to learn a new skill.

  • From: Athens, Greece
  • Registered: 2009-10-22
  • Posts: 600

Re: Set wallpaper with thunar.

Thunar without wallpaper plug-in  would be a nice new package for statler repository...