# The &kcontrolcenter;

The &kcontrolcenter;

The &kcontrolcenter;

The &kcontrolcenter; is the place to go to change any settings that affect the whole of your &kde; environment. You can open it using the Control Center item in the &kmenu;, or with its command-line name, `kcontrol`.

The settings are divided into several major categories, which each contain several pages of settings. To display a settings page, expand the major category by clicking on the + button next to it, and then click on the name of the page you want. The settings page then appears on the right, and you can change settings to your heart's content. No changes take effect until you click on the Apply button. If you decide, after making some changes, that you want to leave the settings as they were, just click on Reset.

If you need more help with a page, visit that page, then click on the Help tab. You might also want to look at the &kcontrolcenter; Handbook, which you can open with the Help&kcontrolcenter; Handbook.

## Appearance & Themes

Here you will find settings that change the way your &kde; desktop and applications look.

Background

- This section controls the color or image that is set as your desktop background. These settings can be applied to all virtual workspaces, or to only a specific one. There are a range of background wallpapers that come with &kde; or you can supply your own.

Colors

- This is where you can modify the colors for your kde applications. There are a variety of color schemes installed with &kde; by default, and you can find others at kde-look.org. You can also create your own. Here you can also modify the contrast and choose whether you want your &kde; colors to be applied to non-kde applications, for a more consistant overall appearance.

Fonts

- Here you can control the various font settings for &kde; applications. You can also modify here anti-aliasing settings, including what range of fonts to exclude from anti-aliasing settings.

Icons

- This section is where you can manage your icon themes and other settings related to icons. New icon themes can be downloaded from kde-look.org, and installed here. Conversely, you can remove icon themes by highlighting them in the list and clicking remove. You can also set icon sizes for various uses in &kde; and effects to apply to icons.

Launch Feedback

- This is where you can modify what kind of cursor and/or taskbar feedback you'd like for launching applications. You can also set the duration of this feedback here. For example, the default setting is for a bouncing cursor with a duration of 30 seconds, or when the application has loaded.

Screen Saver

- Here you can configure options about your screensaver. You can configure the timeout before it starts, and whether it requires a password to unlock the screen.

Splash Screen

- This is where you can install, remove and test the splash screens that display on &kde; startup. More splash screens can be downloaded from http://www.kde-look.org.

Style

- This section allows you to modify your widget style. A variety of styles come with &kde;, and more can be downloaded from http://www.kde-look.org. This is also where you would enable or disable interface options such as transparent menus, showing icons on buttons and tooltips. Some styles have more configuration options than others.

Theme Manager

- This is where you can create and manage themes that are made up of personalized settings. They are a combination of desktop background, colors, &kde; widget styles, icons, fonts and what Screensaver you'd like to display . This allows you to save your favorite looks and apply them with the click of a mouse button.

Window Decorations

- Here you can configure your window decorations. You can modify the style as well as place the buttons in custom positions. Some window decorations will have more configuration options than others.

## Related Information

- If &kcontrolcenter; doesn't have the setting you want, you may need to edit a configuration file manually. See hand-editing-config-files for more information about how to do this.

- If you enjoy modifying the appearance of your &kde; desktop, you can find plenty of themes and styles at kde-look.org.

## Desktop

This is where you will find settings to configure the appearance and behavior of your &kde; desktop.

Behavior

- Here you can configure the behavior of your desktop. This is where you would go to configure options such as showing or hiding desktop icons, showing tooltips and icon layout. You can also specify if you would like to see previews of particular filetypes on the desktop, and which devices you'd like to see icons for.

Multiple Desktops

- This is where you would configure the number of virtual desktops or workspaces you would like to have, and what you would like them to be called. By default &kde; has 4 virtual desktops, and you can configure up to 20. You can also enable switching between virtual desktops using the scroll button on your mouse.

Panels

- Here you can modify options to do with &kicker; and other &kde; panels. Among the options are size, position, length and hiding. You can also modify the appearance of the panel with transparency, background images and icon zooming. This is also where you would configure various menu options including what applications you'd like to show in your &kmenu;.

Taskbar

- The Taskbar module allows you to configure options related to your taskbar. You can configure whether to show windows from all desktops, grouping of similar tasks and what actions you would like to assign to your mouse buttons.

Window Behavior

- This is where you would configure options related to the behavior of &kde;'s window manager, &kwin;. &kwin; is extremely configurable and has advanced features such as focus stealing prevention and different focus policies such as focus follows mouse. You can also configure what actions you would like to bind to certain keys and mouse events.

Window-Specific Settings

- This is an advanced configuration dialog where you can set options for the behavior of specific windows. There are many options here for the fine tuning of your window layout, including what position on the screen you would like certain windows to open to, and whether they should be shown on the taskbar or pager. You can select windows by application, or even by their specific role within an application.

## Internet & Network

This section is where you would configure settings to do with internet and networking under &kde;.

Connection Preferences

- Here you can set advanced networking options such as timeout values for server connects. Usually you would leave these options at the defaults unless you really knew what you were doing.

Desktop Sharing

- Desktop Sharing allows you to invite someone to share your session with you, or can enable you to log in remotely to your machine from another location. You would then use a VNC client like &kde;'s Remote Desktop Connection application to control your desktop over the network. This is extremely useful if you want someone to help you perform a task.

  Here you can create and manage invitations as well as set your security policy for uninvited connections. You can also configure whether to show a background image and which port for the service to 'listen' on.

File Sharing

- File sharing allows you to configure Samba (&Microsoft; &Windows;) and NFS (&UNIX;) file sharing. To make changes in this module you need to have the root or administrator password. This is where you would set up whether users are allowed to share files without knowing the root password, and which users are allowed to do so. You can also configure which folders you're like to be shared, using which type of sharing and who is allowed to view these shares.

Local Network Browsing

- Here you can configure options related to browsing network shares in &konqueror;. &konqueror; is able to browse a variety of network shares and manipulate remote files as though they were on your local machine. You can configure it to remember your preferred username and password for connecting to &Windows; shares (Samba). You can also set what types of network shares you would like to be able to browse, including &FTP;, NFS and SMB.

Local Network Chat

- This module allows you to configure options relating to the &UNIX; `talk` daemon. It is a very simple network chat program that runs in a terminal, designed for chatting over a local area network. Some of its features are being able to set up an 'answering machine' that will email to you messages left for you, and being able to forward messages to another location.

Proxy

- This is where you would configure &kde; to connect to a proxy server rather than directly to the internet. Once again you would generally leave these options at their defaults unless you really knew what you were doing. If you do use a proxy server your network administrator will be able to tell you what details to fill in here.

Samba

- The Samba Configuration module requires the `root` or administrator password. It is an advanced configuration tool that allows you to control Samba's security, shares, users and printers in an intuitive graphical interface. This is a very powerful tool with support for configuring everything from simple file and printer sharing, to using your Samba server as a &Windows; NT Domain Controller.

Service Discovery

- You can set up services browsing with ZeroConf. You can for example browse your local network using multicast DNS.

Web Browser

- This module is where you would configure options relating to &konqueror; as a web browser. The usual options you would expect from a web browser, such as cookie configuration, cache and history can be found here as well as sections to modify keyboard shortcuts, plugins and fonts.

Wireless Network

- Here you can set up different profiles for your Wireless card, to be able to quickly switch settings if you connect to multiple networks. You can select a profile to be loaded on &kde; startup.

## &kde; Components

This section is where you can modify advanced &kde; options such as file associations and default applications.

Component Chooser

- The component chooser allows you to select the default applications you would like to use for various services. Here you can define what Email Client, Embedded Text Editor, Instant Messenger, Terminal Emulator, File Manager and Web Browser to use. If you prefer to use Xterm, Vim or Mozilla, this is the place to specify those preferences.

File Associations

- This is where you configure everything to do with file associations. Here you can select a filetype, and choose what applications you would like to be able to open it with. You can also select which icon you would like to represent each filetype, and whether to show it in an embedded or a separate viewer.

File Manager

- Here you can configure the behavior of &konqueror; in file manager mode. Among the options are fonts and font sizes, previews over various network protocols and context menus. &konqueror; is an extremely powerful and configurable file management tool with a plethora of options. For more information, consult the &konqueror; handbook.

KDE Performance

- Here are settings related to the memory usage of &konqueror;. Minimize Memory Usage allows you to control whether separate instances of &konqueror; will open or whether all new &konqueror; windows connect to the same instance. This has the effect of reducing memory usage. You can also select whether to pre-load &konqueror; after &kde; startup, to reduce start times.

KDE Resources Configuration

Service Manager

- The Service Manager module displays a static list of services that are started on demand, and a second list of services that can be manipulated by the user. The services in the first list cannot be modified or changed. The services in the second list you can enable or disable a service loading at start up, and manually start and stop services.

Session Manager

- Here you can configure how you would like &kde; to handle sessions. You can configure &kde; to remember your previous session and restore the applications you were using the next time you log in. You can also specify individual applications to exclude from being restored, or disable restoring sessions on login entirely.

Spell Checker

- This module allows you to configure the &kde; Spell checker. It allows you to modify what spell checker to use, what types of error to check for and also what default dictionary to use. &kde; supports the use of both ASpell and ISpell.

Vim Component Configuration

- This module allows you to configure the use of Vim as an embeddable component. You need to have a recent version of Gvim or Kvim installed for this. You can configure the appearance of the editor as well as which `vim` binary to use.

## Peripherals

This section is where you would change settings related to peripheral devices such as keyboards and joysticks.

Display

- Here you can modify settings to do with the size, orientation and refresh rate of your display, and whether you would like these settings to be applied on &kde; startup. On the Power Control tab, you can configure your power management options for this screen such as blanking.

Joystick

- This section allows you to configure your joystick and test that it is working properly. You can also calibrate your joystick here, and manually specify the joystick device if it is not autodetected correctly.

Keyboard

- This module allows you to configure basic keyboard settings. These include keyboard repeat delay and rate, and what state you would prefer numlock to be on KDE startup.

Mouse

- Here is where you can configure settings to do with your mouse device. You can switch the button order, reverse the scroll direction or modify the behaviour of clickable icons. You may also preview, install and select cursor themes. The Advanced tab allows you to fine tune your mouse settings further.

Printers

- This dialog allows you to configure printers using a variety of print systems. You can add local and remote printers, check current jobs and look at printer properties.

## Power Control

This section has a single module, Laptop Battery. Here you can configure the appearance and behaviour of the Klaptopdaemon battery monitor. You can select battery icons to represent different power states, and set up notification of certain events. In the case that your battery runs down to a critical level, you can configure the daemon to suspend or shutdown your laptop, to save you from losing data.

## Regional & Accessibility

This section is where you can configure options to do with region and locale, and also acessibility related options for disabled persons.

Accessibility

- Here is where you can configure options for users who have difficulty hearing system sounds or using a keyboard. You can configure the system bell to use a visual signal, such as flashing the screen or inverting screen colors. You can also configure keyboard accessibility options such as sticky keys and slow keys.

Country/Region & Language

- This module allows you to configure options that are specific to your location such as language, currency and date format. To make available more languages, install the kde-i18n packages for your distribution.

Input Actions

- Here is where you would configure input actions, such as mouse gestures and keyboard shotcuts for launching applications and running commands.

Keyboard Layout

- This module is where you would configure Kxkb, a keyboard layout switching utility that uses the &X-Window; xkb extension. It allows you to switch between different layouts using a tray indicator or a keyboard shortcut. You can enable/disable keyboard layouts through this dialog, and add more. Some of the more powerful features are the ability to configure switching of layouts globally, per application or per window.

Keyboard Shortcuts

- Here you can configure global &kde; keyboard shortcuts. There are several predefined shortcut schemes you can use if you are more used to another windowing environment, like &Windows; or &MacOS;. If you prefer, you can customise your own scheme and modifier keys.

## Security & Privacy

This section is where you can configure options related to security and privacy such as the use of cryptography, enabling the KDE wallet, setting your identity and managing caches.

Crypto

- This module allows you to configure SSl for use with most KDE applications, as well as manage your personal certificates and the known certificate authorities.

KDE Wallet

- Here you can change your KDE Wallet Manager settings.

  KDE Wallet aims to provide secure storage for passwords and web form data. You can group different passwords in different wallets, and each one will only be opened with a master password (which you should never forget!). The default wallet is named "kdewallet", and you can either create a new wallet for your local passwords or accept the default wallet for all data in the "Automatic Wallet Selection" section.

  KDE programs like Konqueror, Kmail and Kopete are fully compatible with the KDE Wallet Manager. All of them will ask at least once for permission to access to actual wallet. You can give different access levels, such as "always allow", "allow once", etc. If you want to change that access level, you can do it from the "Access Control" tab by deleting the program entry and selecting a new preference the next time that application requests access to the wallet.

  Wallet Preferences

- To enable the KDE wallet subsystem, check the Enable the KDE wallet subsystem box. Unchecking this box will disable the KDE Wallet on your system.

  By default, KDE Wallet Manager is kept opened until the user session is closed, but you can change that in the Close Wallet section to close it when unused for a time, when a screen saver starts or when the last application stops using it.

  As you can have several wallets, Automatic Wallet Selection allows you start KDE with a given wallet.

  KDE Wallet will appear in your system tray by default, but you can hide it. Uncheck Show manager in the system tray to keep it always hidden, or check Hide system tray icon when last wallet closes to hide it only when all wallets are closed. These items are in the Wallet Manager section.

Access Control

- You can set here what policy you want for your KDE applications, regarding to the wallet use.

Password & User Account

- You can change here your personal information which will be used in mail programs and word processors. You can change your login password by clicking the Change Password... button.

Privacy

- This module allows you to erase traces which KDE leaves on your system such as command histories or browser caches.

## System Administration

This module allows you to configure aspects of your system such as the bootloader, the kernel and helps you perform essential system tasks. Most of these sections will require the root or Administrator password to effect changes.

Boot Manager (LILO)

- If you use the popular bootloader LILO this section will allow you to configure it. You can configure the location to install the bootloader to, set the timeout on the LILO boot screen as well as add or modify kernel images for the boot list.

Date & Time

- This configuration module allows you to configure the system date and time settings. You can set the date, time, and also the current time zone. These settings will be applied system-wide.

Font Installer

- Here is where you would configure both personal and system-wide fonts. This dialog allows you to install new fonts, delete old ones and preview the fonts you have installed. By default, it displays personal fonts. To modify system-wide fonts click the Administrator Mode button.

IBM Thinkpad Laptop

- This configuration module allows you to configure the special keys on an IBM thinkpad laptop. You will need the nvram module to use these features.

Linux Kernel

- If you run &kde; on &Linux; there is a &kcontrol; module to create or modify configuration files for a &Linux; kernel. This configurator is compatible with kernels previous to 2.5.

Login Manager

- This module allows you to configure the &kde; login manager, &kdm;. &kdm; is a powerful login manager with a large range of options. It supports user switching, remote graphical logins and has a fully customizable appearance. For more information, see the &kdm; handbook.

Paths

- This dialog allows you to configure the default locations where certain important files are kept. The Desktop directory contains all the files on your desktop. The Autostart directory contains files or links to files that you want run when &kde; starts, and the Documents directory is the default location &kde; applications will open or save documents to.

Sony Vaio Laptop

- This configuration module allows you to configure features specific to Sony Vaio laptops. If you have a Sony Vaio, you will have to install the sonypi driver to use this section.