Common Tasks

When common tasks feel strange

If you are new to the Plasma Workspace it's likely that many common tasks will feel strange. Some things are completely new concepts, and other things are just done differently. There are screencasts of how to perform many plasma tasks at this How-To page.

How do I install additional KDE software?

Installing software on your computer, whether with KDE SC or GNOME, largely depends on your distribution's software management system. Please consult with your distribution for more information.

How do I install drivers for wifi/video/other hardware?

Installing hardware drivers for networking or video is a task that most distributions take care of. Different distributions use different tools for configuring hardware. Please consult with your distribution first for more information.

File Management on Steroids

Dolphin is your new file manager, but it looks and feels very different from older file managers. Learn how to enable previews, give yourself quick access to the directories you use most, and choose how much detail you see about your files. All this and more in this File Management tutorial

Using a more traditional file manager

Konqueror is primarily a web interface, but it can also function as a traditional file manager. If this is your preference, in System Settings, go to the Advanced tab and click on File Associations. In the list of Known Types, go to the inode/directory type. In the General tab at the right side of the window, select Konqueror in the Application Preference Order and click on the Up button until it is at the top. Click on Apply to save the changes.

Renaming Multiple Files

There are times when you need to rename a large number of files or folders at the same time. This is often referred to as "batch renaming," and can be accomplished a number of ways in KDE.

With Dolphin

Dolphin has a ability to rename multiple files by numbering them, though the functionality is currently limited and only useful in certain situations. One useful application would be renaming a set of photos. Here's how it's done

With KRename

KRename has the ability to rename large numbers of files based on many different criteria, including search and replace, file properties, mp3 & ogg metadata, and many others.

KRename can be found in the Kickoff menu in the Utilities section. It may be called Bulk Rename.

Configuration Help

Workspace

• Tweak your Desktop

Full KDE on Small Screens (e.g. Netbooks

• The Plasma Netbook Interface is customised to make the most of the available space, but if you wish to use the full Desktop interface you will need to tweak KWin to maximise your screen space.
• KWin's page has hints for slimming down window decorations, making fonts smaller, and disabling tooltips in KMail.

Internet

• Tweak your Browser's appearance

Where did my Favourite Application go?

• Finding your Application Some applications have changed names when ported to the new KDE platforms. You may find your favourite on this page.