Toolbar

The DesktopPlus toolbar can be used to switch between Virtual Desktops and also to invoke the Arrange Dialog and the Options Dialog. The toolbar is highly configurable, enabling it to be customised to suit its user. It can also be removed entirely, should this be desired.

The DesktopPlus toolbar

Showing and Hiding the Toolbar
Configuring the Toolbar
Using the Toolbar

Showing and Hiding the Toolbar

The toolbar can be removed in a number of ways:

From the toolbar context menu
Select Hide Toolbar from the context menu. When the toolbar is hidden, one of the two methods described below can be used to make it visible again.

The toolbar context menu

From the tray icon context menu

Click a DesktopPlus tray icon with the right mouse button to invoke the context menu. Select Show Toolbar to make the Toolbar visible, or Hide Toolbar to remove it.

The tray icon context menu

From the Options Dialog

Check the Show Toolbar option to make the toolbar visible, or remove the check to remove the toolbar.

Toolbar options in the Options Dialog

Configuring the Toolbar

The toolbar can be configured by a number of options which are available from the context menu or Options Dialog (see above).

The options are as follows:

Show Text / Show Button Text

By default, the buttons on the toolbar are accompanied by the text describing the function of that button. The text on the Virtual Desktop buttons (the first 5 buttons in the screenshot above), is the title of the corresponding Desktop, as defined in the Options Dialog. Un-checking this option removes the text from the toolbar, which results in the buttons becoming smaller and the overall footprint of the toolbar being smaller, as the screenshot below demonstrates:

The toolbar, with button text removed

Show titlebar

The toolbars titlebar can also be removed, by un-checking the Show Titlebar option. This further reduces the size of the toolbar:

The toolbar, with button text and titlebar removed.

Always on top

When this option is selected, it ensures that the toolbar is always visible over all other windows.
Fix layout/position (Fix position for all desktops)

When this option is selected, the same toolbar horizontal/vertical arrangement (see below) and position is used for all Virtual Desktops. Repositioning the toolbar on one Desktop will result in that position also being used on other Desktops. When this option is unchecked, each Virtual Desktop records its own position and layout for the toolbar.
Transparent

This option is only applicable to Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows. When selected, this option causes the toolbar to become transparent, so that any window beneath it will be visible.
Compact controls / Extended controls

When this option is enabled, the toolbar will be reduced to a compact set of controls, consisting of a button representing the current Desktop, which provides access to the Arrange Dialog and the Desktops Options. Two arrows allow switching to the next or previous Virtual Desktop. The title of these Desktops is shown beneath the arrows. To switch back to a full compliment of buttons, select the Extended controls option from the toolbar context menu, or de-select the Compact controls checkbox in the Options Dialog.

The toolbar in compact mode

Layout toolbar vertically/horizontally

This option, which is only available from the toolbars context menu, allows the orientation of the toolbar to modified such that the buttons are laid out either horizontally or vertically. The screenshot below shows the vertical orientation:

The toolbar, laid out vertically

Using the Toolbar

As can be seen above, in Extended Mode, the toolbar contains one button for each Virtual Desktop that has been configured (the number of Desktops can be configured from the Options Dialog). It also contains a button for invoking the Arrange Dialog.

In Compact Mode, the toolbar contains only three buttons; the middle button indicates the current desktop and is used to invoke the Arrange Dialog, whilst the other two buttons are used for switching up and down between Virtual Desktops.

The text beneath each button is the name of the desktop which that button corresponds to (except for the Arrange button). This name can be changed from the corresponding branch of the Options Dialog.