• From: North Carolina, USA
  • Registered: 2010-03-17
  • Posts: 68

Topic: [SOLVED] Switch source of desktop icons

I switched from Openbox to Xfce for my DE.  I configured my Xfce for desktop icons, but it is showing icons from my /home directory.  I want to change this to have my desktop icons showing from my /home/desktop directory.  I have researched and cannot find any answers.  Is there someone in the know whom can offer some advise?

Last edited by groovydaddy (2010-08-30 15:03:47)

"Love should not fear or be feared."  --Josh Senic

Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit, switching back to #! 64-bit very soon
HP Probook Laptop, i3 (first gen), 8GB RAM
  • Registered: 2009-08-05
  • Posts: 69

Re: [SOLVED] Switch source of desktop icons

groovydaddy wrote:

I switched from Openbox to Xfce for my DE.  I configured my Xfce for desktop icons, but it is showing icons from my /home directory.  I want to change this to have my desktop icons showing from my /home/desktop directory.  I have researched and cannot find any answers.  Is there someone in the know whom can offer some advise?

Terminal

mkdir Desktop
nano ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs

change  

XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME"

to  

XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"

You may need to logout and login again for this to take effect.  If you are using your favorite file manager and editor this is a hidden file in your home directory.

Last edited by kukibird1 (2010-08-30 13:26:10)

  • From: North Carolina, USA
  • Registered: 2010-03-17
  • Posts: 68

Re: [SOLVED] Switch source of desktop icons

Thanks kukibird1.  I did as you suggested, and I'm still having no luck.  I still have all of my /home folders on my desktop, and I fear that selecting all of the and deleting them will cause me to lose them.  What would you recommend I do from here?

"Love should not fear or be feared."  --Josh Senic

Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit, switching back to #! 64-bit very soon
HP Probook Laptop, i3 (first gen), 8GB RAM
  • From: California, USA
  • Registered: 2008-11-29
  • Posts: 8,647

Re: [SOLVED] Switch source of desktop icons

Did you logout/login? Maybe restart?

Also make sure your desktop folder has a capital letter "D".

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  • From: North Carolina, USA
  • Registered: 2010-03-17
  • Posts: 68

Re: [SOLVED] Switch source of desktop icons

anonymous wrote:

Did you logout/login? Maybe restart?

Also make sure your desktop folder has a capital letter "D".

Shut down, turned computer back on.  Used "D" in "Desktop."

If it makes a difference, the "mkdir Desktop" command created the "Desktop" directory in my /home directory.  This is what was supposed to happen, right?

Should I have done simple logout/login opposed to shutdown?  Would that have made a difference?

Last edited by groovydaddy (2010-08-30 14:57:15)

"Love should not fear or be feared."  --Josh Senic

Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit, switching back to #! 64-bit very soon
HP Probook Laptop, i3 (first gen), 8GB RAM
  • From: North Carolina, USA
  • Registered: 2010-03-17
  • Posts: 68

Re: [SOLVED] Switch source of desktop icons

I went to double check the file in Thunar, and the changes done in the terminal did not save.  I edited the file from there, saved it, and now its working.

Thank you both for your help.  big_smile

"Love should not fear or be feared."  --Josh Senic

Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit, switching back to #! 64-bit very soon
HP Probook Laptop, i3 (first gen), 8GB RAM