Organize Desktop by type

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chlowden007
Posts: 72
Joined: 2020/01/29 07:42:36

Organize Desktop by type

Post by chlowden007 » 2020/01/29 07:47:22

Hello
Does anyone know if there a way to organise Desktop elements by Type?
Thank you

desertcat
Posts: 843
Joined: 2014/08/07 02:17:29
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by desertcat » 2020/01/30 01:45:57

chlowden007 wrote:
2020/01/29 07:47:22
Hello
Does anyone know if there a way to organise Desktop elements by Type?
Thank you

?????????? Could you please explain what you mean by "Desktop Elements" and "Type"? It might also be interesting to understand why you want to "Organize" them. If you are talking about Desktop Environments -- KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, Xface, Mate, LXQt, etc. that would be one thing, but as posed while your question might make sense to someone, it makes no sense to me. Sorry

chlowden007
Posts: 72
Joined: 2020/01/29 07:42:36

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by chlowden007 » 2020/01/30 08:12:14

You are right to ask for precise information. sorry
Type = Folder, file, server, hard drive etc. I can arrange data by type on Mac or PC desktops or folder content.

I am using GNOME Version 3.28.2. Thank you

desertcat
Posts: 843
Joined: 2014/08/07 02:17:29
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by desertcat » 2020/02/01 09:59:24

Hello
Does anyone know if there a way to organise Desktop elements by Type?
Thank you
chlowden007 wrote:
2020/01/30 08:12:14
You are right to ask for precise information. sorry
Type = Folder, file, server, hard drive etc. I can arrange data by type on Mac or PC desktops or folder content.

I am using GNOME Version 3.28.2. Thank you
This makes a little more sense to me... *maybe*. Correct me if I am wrong -- I *probably* am -- but let me see if I am in the ballpark: You want to organize the Folders, Files, Hard Drives, etc., that appear on the Desktop?!? Am I close?!? If I am "close" , the answer would be easy to answer -- well sort of -- if you were using KDE. I am fairly proficient in KDE, but not at all in GNOME. Sorry.

One thing you might *try* doing -- I know you can do it it in KDE -- is to group related things and put them in their own Virtual Desktop. As an example all my browsers -- Firefox, Chrome, etc. -- have their own virtual Desktop; all my Office applications have their own Virtual Desktop; I have 2 Virtual Desktops each has its own terminal; I have another Virtual Desktop that shows system monitoring, etc. Each Virtual Desktop has its own Wall Paper, and own set of "widgets". I know GNOME allows you to have Virtual Desktops. So this might be one way to organize your Desktop.

Even if you can not do the above, and all your Virtual Desktops have the same set of "widgets", dedicate a separate Virtual Desktop by major Activity ie. one Virtual Desktop has Firefox open, another has your #1 Office app open (in my case that would be Libre Office Writter); another has Terminal Open; another has Skype open, etc. This way you can multitask by a simple click of the mouse on the relevant Virtual Desktop that appears on your taskbar. Check and answer email; write reports; engage in Skye calls; etc. Everything is a simple mouse click away. If you get interrupted, stop what you are doing, switch over to whatever, when that is done, switch back to whatever you were doing and carry on.

Not sure if that is what you meant by "organize" your Desktop by "Type". It is just a guess. But the key to productivity is the use of those Virtual Desktops. My sister OTOH is a Windows 7 Refusenik, and she has never grasped the beauty of the Virtual Desktop. She has now gamely entered the realm of Windows 10, as her beloved Windows 7 is no longer supported. She wants only *1* Desktop -- PERIOD!!! Thus she can only do *1* thing at a time. That said, in defense of my sister, all she does is surf the net, and answer email, and once a month pays bills etc. The difference between a "PC" and a Research Grade Workstation.

Not sure if this has answered your question but someone who knows GNOME will probably be better to help you with your question.

chlowden007
Posts: 72
Joined: 2020/01/29 07:42:36

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by chlowden007 » 2020/02/01 10:44:10

Thank you so much for your reply. In GNOME, if you right click on the desktop, it offers to sort contents alphabetically, so I figured it might be able to sort by other metadata, like type.

As for virtual desktops, I completely understand your sister. I have never understood how to use virtual desktops but then again, my computer is very specific.

I figure that gnome does not have what I am looking but hoped that there was maybe a plugin somewhere.

sml
Posts: 305
Joined: 2020/01/17 09:01:44

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by sml » 2020/02/01 16:52:42

I'm not sure if it works, but at least you can try. Open the terminal and issue the following command:

Code: Select all

gio set $(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP) metadata::nautilus-icon-view-sort-by type
Another attribute to try:

Code: Select all

gio set ~/Desktop metadata::nautilus-list-view-sort-column type
$(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP) should be the same as ~/Desktop in an English language locale.

Check that the attributes are set:

Code: Select all

gio info -a metadata::\* $(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP)
Now, see what happens.

chlowden007
Posts: 72
Joined: 2020/01/29 07:42:36

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by chlowden007 » 2020/02/02 06:55:31

Thank you the code.
Below are the returns from the Terminal. All looks promising, but sadly, it does not change anything on my desktop.

Code: Select all

[admin@centoslow-localdomain ~]$ gio set ~/Desktop metadata::nautilus-icon-view-sort-by type
[admin@centoslow-localdomain ~]$ gio info -a metadata::\* ~/Desktop
uri: file:///home/admin/Desktop
attributes:
  metadata::nautilus-icon-view-sort-by: type
  metadata::nautilus-list-view-sort-column: type
  metadata::nautilus-list-view-sort-reversed: false
  
  
[admin@centoslow-localdomain ~]$ gio set ~/Desktop metadata::nautilus-list-view-sort-column type
[admin@centoslow-localdomain ~]$ gio info -a metadata::\* ~/Desktop
uri: file:///home/admin/Desktop
attributes:
  metadata::nautilus-icon-view-sort-by: type
  metadata::nautilus-list-view-sort-column: type
  metadata::nautilus-list-view-sort-reversed: false

chlowden007
Posts: 72
Joined: 2020/01/29 07:42:36

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by chlowden007 » 2020/02/03 07:39:24

On the restart, the desktop disappeared as did access some apps. In the end, I reinstalled the GNOME and everything came back.
Maybe I am asking too much

chlowden007
Posts: 72
Joined: 2020/01/29 07:42:36

Re: Organize Desktop by type

Post by chlowden007 » 2022/05/13 08:52:52

I have found this function in Rocky 8.5

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