Arranging task bar with multiple monitors (works but why)

[Paul Johnson]

Hi Dex:

I see your question generated a lot of excitement here.

If you still want a suggestion,  Look in the GUI for Panel Preferences
(right click on a panel, choose bottom "Panel" item.  If you do that, you
see a widget "Panel Preferences" and in there we have a button "Span
monitors".


I have a TOP panel, which is "Panel 1" in that widget's Title,  bottom
panel called "Panel-2". In there, you see "Span monitors".   I think I'd
poke at that widget, figure out which files it alters. If you look at
xfconf configs, you see they are text files that can be altered either by
program "xfconf-query" or the "xfce4-settings-editor".

https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfconf/start

Run this

$ xfconf-query  -l -c "xfce4-panel"

to see all the settings in your channel. We can/should find same saved in
an XML config file.

I'd play around with Panel Preferences to see the changes your xfconf
script.  I wonder if the "Panel Preferences" change as they are supposed to
when you run xfconf-query


Study how your xfconf-query works.  I see:

$ xfconf-query -l
Channels:
  thunar-volman
  xsettings
  xfce4-settings-manager
  xfce4-notifyd
  xfce4-screenshooter
  xfce4-power-manager
  xfce4-taskmanager
  xfce4-settings-editor
  xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts
  xfce4-panel
  thunar
  xfwm4
  displays
  xfce4-session
  pointers
  xfce4-desktop
  keyboards
  xfce4-screensaver

Your code finds the channel "xfce4-panel" and the property to be set is
" /panels/panel-1/output-name".  So you tell it to Set the value that
follows -s.

I am pretty sure your comment is incorrect: "while this one works, first
telling the system to place panel 1 on hdmi-1, then on -2.".  The second
one changes the same channel/property to HDMI-2, overriding the previous
xfconf.
You can check that for me.

Anyway, in my xfconf-query output, I don't see a property with name you
mentioned.

I do, however see:

/panels/panel-1/span-monitors. You can look at that in XFCE Settings Editor

[image: image.png]

Another idea: Restoring a suspended account with panels and so forth is
handled by session management.  If you log out, you usually see a question
to save the Session.  I wonder if yours is saving correctly.


On Thu, Sep 18, 2025 at 6:13 AM Dexter Filmore <Dexter.Filmore at gmx.de>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I suspend this xfce machine usually, and when waking the machine the
> monitors
> come up in different orders, so I wrote me a little script that places
> monitors where they physically are and taskbars where they belong.
>
> Question: why did this not work, leaving the second bar untouched:
>
> #!/bin/sh
> xrandr --output HDMI-1 --mode 1920x1200 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output
> \
> HDMI-2 --mode 1920x1200 --pos -1920x0 --rotate normal --output \
> HDMI-3 --off --output DP-1 --off
> xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /panels/panel-1/output-name -s HDMI-2
>
> ...while this one works, first telling the system to place panel 1 on
> hdmi-1,
> then on -2.
>
> #!/bin/sh
> xrandr --output HDMI-1 --mode 1920x1200 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output
> \
> HDMI-2 --mode 1920x1200 --pos -1920x0 --rotate normal --output \
> HDMI-3 --off --output DP-1 --off
> xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /panels/panel-1/output-name -s HDMI-1
> xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /panels/panel-1/output-name -s HDMI-2
>
> Curious,
>
> Dex
> _______________________________________________
> Xfce mailing list
> Xfce at xfce.org
> https://mail.xfce.org/mailman/listinfo/xfce
> http://www.xfce.org
>


-- 
Paul E. Johnson   http://pj.freefaculty.org
Director, Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis http://crmda.ku.edu

To write to me directly, please address me at pauljohn at ku.edu.
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