\fBfluxbox(1)\fR is a window manager\&. As such it provides configurable window decorations, a root menu to launch applications and a toolbar that shows the current workspace name, a set of application names and the current time\&. There is also a workspace menu to add or remove workspaces\&.
Fluxbox can iconify (or minimize) windows to the toolbar One click and they reappear\&. A double\-click on the titlebar of the window will \fIshade\fR it; i\&.e\&. the window will disappear, and only the titlebar will remain visible\&.
There are also two areas commonly used by small applets: the `slit\' can be used to dock small applications; e\&.g\&. most of the \(lqbbtools\(rq and \(lqWindow Maker dockapps\(rq can use the slit, and the `systray\' which lives in the toolbar supports standard system tray icons provided by some applications\&.
Fluxbox uses its own graphics class to render its images on the fly\&. By using style files, you can determine in great detail how your desktop looks\&. fluxbox styles are compatible with those of Blackbox 0\&.65 or earlier versions, so users migrating can still use their current favourite themes\&.
.sp
Most of the default keyboard and mouse button actions mentioned in this manual can be changed and configured in the `keys\' file\&. This powerful configuration file can also be used to automate almost any action you may want to perform, from launching applications to moving windows around the screen\&. See \fBfluxbox\-keys(5)\fR for details\&.
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Fluxbox can also remember certain attributes of individual application windows and restore these settings the next time the window opens\&. See the \fBfluxbox\-apps(5)\fR for details\&.
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Fluxbox supports the majority of the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification, as well as numerous other Window Hinting standards\&. This allows all compliant window managers to provide a common interface to standard features used by applications and desktop utilities\&.
\fBfluxbox(1)\fR comes with a program called \fBstartfluxbox(8)\fR usually located wherever you installed fluxbox\&. This script provides you with many options and variables that can be set when starting fluxbox\&. To actually call fluxbox and begin using it, you should place \(lqexec startfluxbox\(rq in your \fB~/\&.xinitrc\fR as the last executed command\&. This is assuming that the location of \fBfluxbox(1)\fR and \fBstartfluxbox(8)\fR are in your shell\'s $PATH\&. Also note that you may need to create the \fB~/\&.xinitrc\fR file or your setup may use \fB~/\&.xsession\fR instead, depending on your X setup\&. Some X login managers like \fBgdm(1)\fR or \fBkdm(1)\fR may simply provide a \(lqFluxbox\(rq session for you without having to alter any settings\&.
By using fluxbox \-i you\'ll see the defaults used by \fBfluxbox(1)\fR\&. These are what fluxbox looks for upon startup\&. In the list of \(lqDefaults:\(rq you\'ll see a menu file location, this is where you can provide a system\-wide menu file for your users\&.
On exit or restart, fluxbox will save user defaults in the file \fB~/\&.fluxbox/init\fR\&. Resources in this file can also be edited by hand, see the \fBRESOURCES\fR section for more details\&. \fBfluxbox(1)\fR also has many tools to edit these; look through the main menu once fluxbox has started to find different ways of managing your session\&.
When using fluxbox for the first time, users who are more accustomed to full desktop environments such as KDE or Gnome may be a little surprised by the minimal screen content\&. fluxbox is designed to be fast and powerful, so it may take a bit of getting used to \(em however, the rewards are worthwhile\&.
In this section, we\'ll give a quick summary of the common things\&. However, we recommend that you consult the referenced sections of this manual to further develop your understanding of what you can do with fluxbox\&.
Looking at the fluxbox desktop immediately after startup you\'ll generally see only one thing: the toolbar\&. If you right\-click (mouse button 3) somewhere on the desktop, you can access the Root Menu\&. A middle\-click (mouse button 2) on the desktop shows you the Workspace Menu\&.
From the RootMenu you can launch applications and configure fluxbox\&. The WorkspaceMenu shows all windows and on which workspaces they are\&. See section \fBMENUS\fR on how to customize these menus\&.
Initially you won\'t be able to see the slit\&. It is there, but it isn\'t being used yet, which confuses some people initially\&. Think of it as a dock where you can place smaller programs\&. If you\'ve looked at any screenshots on the official fluxbox web site, you will have noticed some small programs on the edge of some of the screens\&. These were more than likely docked programs in the slit\&. To learn more about the slit, we have an entire \fBSLIT\fR section below that goes into detail about the options you have\&.
Windows on a higher layer will always appear above those on a lower one\&. These layers can be used on application windows, the slit or the toolbar\&. You can assign applications to a certain layer by specifying it in the `apps\' file or through the WindowMenu\&. We discuss the `apps\' file in \fBfluxbox\-apps(5)\fR\&. We discuss the WindowMenu in the \fBMENUS\fR section\&. We discuss layers in more detail in the \fBLAYERS\fR section\&.
The window that has the focus is the one that receives key and mouse events\&. The focus model is selectable via the Configuration menu located in the root menu\&. We\'ll discuss the different types of focus below in the \fBFOCUS MODEL\fR section\&.
A left\-click (mouse button 1) on any part of the window\'s border will raise it\&. Dragging then moves the window to another part of the desktop\&. A right click and drag on the border resizes the window\&. Dragging the resize grips at the left and right bottom corners also will resize the window\&. Middle clicking on a border or titlebar will immediately lower the window\&. Right clicking on the titlebar opens the Window menu\&. The commands unique to this menu are discussed in detail in the \fBWindow Menu\fR section\&.
fluxbox allows windows to be `grouped\' by middle clicking and holding on a window\'s tab and dragging it onto another window\&. This `tabbing\' allows you to put multiple applications in one location on the desktop and do several operations (for example, moving or resizing) to all windows in the group\&. By default, tabs are located just above the window, but they may be embedded in the titlebar or moved to other locations on the outside of the window\&. Configuration is discussed in TAB OPTIONS section\&.
There are a number of key bindings set up by default, which can be configured and extended to just about anything you can imagine with the keyboard\&. See \fBfluxbox\-keys(5)\fR for details on how to do this\&.
When a menu is open, you can click on items with the mouse to activate them\&. Some special menu items react slightly differently depending on the mouse button you use, but normally you will want to use a left\-click (button 1)\&.
You can also use the the keyboard arrow key to navigate, or even type the first few letters of the item\'s label to select it, and \(lqenter\(rq to activate the item\&.
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Normally activating a menu item should close the menu\&. You can also right\-click the title are of a menu or press \(lqesc\(rq to close it without activating an item\&.
.SS"Root Menu"
.sp
The root menu is where you can launch commonly\-used applications and change different aspects of fluxbox by simply clicking on a menu item\&. By default it is opened by a right\-click on the empty area of the desktop\&.
.sp
The contents of this menu can be configured, see \fBfluxbox\-menu(5)\fR for details\&.
.sp
The default menu, which is created by the \(lqfluxbox\-generate_menu\(rq command, contains menus for installed applications, as well as a special \(lqFluxbox menu\(rq item with the items detailed below:
This is where the standard styles are listed\&. You can select one of these by clicking on it, and it will be applied immediately\&. System styles are located in
\fB@pkgdatadir@/styles/\fR
upon a default install\&. Remember that you can confirm this with fluxbox \-i\&.
Restart the whole darn thing\&. This starts a completely new fluxbox process, rereads files and redraws all graphical elements\&. Running applications will remain open, however, and restored to the same workspaces they were previously in once fluxbox returns\&.
This menu offers the opportunity to set up fluxbox\&. It contains many options which can be altered manually in the `init\' file, but this is an easier and faster way to change the most common settings\&.
Normally, a maximized window will not overlap the toolbar, slit, or any docked windows (like panels)\&. Enabling this option allows maximized windows to be as large as the actual screen resolution\&.
Normally, terminal windows specify a \(lqresize increment\(rq which mean fluxbox will only resize the window to an even multiple of the character size\&. Enabling this option will ignore this specification when maximizing\&.
This sets the default transparency for a focused windows, unfocused window and the menu\&. Use the left mouse button to decrease and the right mouse button to increase the value\&. 0 is invisible, 255 is not transparent at all\&.
option will force fluxbox to ignore the xcomposite extension and use pseudo\-transparency instead of true transparency\&. Note: When pseudo\-transparency is on, the transparency values here only affect titlebars, not window contents\&.
Send window to another workspace\&. When you select the workspace with a middle click, fluxbox will send you along with the application to the selected workspace\&.
(Un)Maximize window\&. Depending on your toolbar and slit configuration, maximize may cover them\&. You can use the different mouse buttons for different aspects of maximize function\&.
Iconify (or minimize) a window\&. The `icon\' can be found in the Icons submenu of the workspace menu as well as in the toolbar (if a Toolbar mode showing Icons is selected)\&.
is selected, fluxbox will jump to the appropriate workspace when this window is opened there\&. If not selected, the window will open in the background\&.
The workspace menu can be found, by default, by middle\-clicking on the background\&. This menu contains entries to explore the currently defined workspaces, windows, and add/remove/rename workspaces\&.
The next section provides one submenu per workspace\&. Middle\-clicking on a workspace name will take you to that workspace\&. The submenu contains a list of all open windows on that workspace\&. Clicking on a window name will take you to that window and raise it, changing the active workspace if necessary\&.
The toolbar is a small area to display information like a clock, workspace name, a system tray or a taskbar (iconbar) that can contain the running programs\&. The color, look, font etc\&. is defined in the \fBSTYLE\fR\&.
.sp
The tools in the toolbar can be enabled/disabled in the `init\' file with the \fBsession\&.screen0\&.toolbar\&.tools\fR resource\&. See the \fBRESOURCES\fR section for details on how to alter this value\&.
This is the area that contains all windows (all running applications, all minimized windows or maybe no window, all depending on the Toolbar Settings)\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBSystemtray\fR:
.RS4
The Systemtray can hold applications that are made to use it\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBWorkspaceName\fR:
.RS4
This displays the name of the current workspace\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBPrevWorkspace\fR:
.RS4
This displays an arrow that allows to switch to the workspace left of the current one\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBNextWorkspace\fR:
.RS4
This displays an arrow that allows to switch to the workspace right of the current one\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBPrevWindow\fR:
.RS4
This displays an arrow that switches focus to the previous visible window on the current workspace\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBNextWindow\fR:
.RS4
This displays an arrow that switches focus to the next visible window on the current workspace\&.
Other aspects of the toolbar can be configured in two ways: through the toolbar menu, which is accessable in the Configuration part of the RootMenu or with a right click on the edge the toolbar, or by editing the init file (see the \fBRESOURCES\fR section for more information about that)\&.
.SS"Toolbar Menu"
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This menu can be opened by right\-clicking on the toolbar (though not on a window\'s name in the iconbar), or from the \fBConfiguration Menu\fR\&.
.sp
All changes take effect immediately\&. Here are the settings:
Sets the toolbar either to visible or invisible\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBAuto hide\fR:
.RS4
If this is enabled the toolbar will disappear after a defined time when the mouse pointer leaves the toolbar\&. It will slide in when the cursor hits the remaining edge of the toolbar\&. See the
\fBsession\&.autoRaiseDelay\fR
resource for the delay time\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBToolbar width percentage\fR:
.RS4
Sets the width of the toolbar in a percentage of your total screen size\&. Use the left mouse button to decrease and the right mouse\-button to increase the value\&. The value can be from 1\-100\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMaximize Over\fR:
.RS4
Enabling this option will allow windows to maximize over the toolbar\&. With this switched on they will only expand to the edge of the bar\&. This option may be overridden by the \(lqFull Maximization\(rq from the
\fBConfiguration Menu\fR\&. If that option is enabled, this option will have no effect\&.\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBLayer\&...\fR:
.RS4
This sets the layer on which the toolbar is set\&. With this you can set the toolbar to "Always on top"\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBPlacement\fR:
.RS4
Sets the toolbar to any edge of the screen, either centered or aligned with a corner\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBAlpha\fR:
.RS4
This sets the alpha value for the toolbar\&. Use the left mouse button to decrease and the right mouse button to increase the value\&. 0 is invisible, 255 is not transparent at all\&.
The Focus Model defines how windows gain focus (i\&.e\&. become the active window, which receives keyboard and mouse events)\&. The focus model can be changed in the configuration menu (usually located under \fIfluxbox menu\fR in the Root Menu\&.
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There are two main aspects of the focus model: how windows gain focus and how tabs gain focus\&. Each of these has two options: focus follows mouse and click to focus\&. Focus follows mouse means that windows will gain focus when the mouse hovers over them\&. Click to focus means that windows will gain focus when the mouse clicks on them\&.
If enabled, a new window will grab X focus as soon as it is opened\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBAuto Raise\fR
.RS4
If enabled, focusing on a new window will automatically raise that window above all others within its layer\&. When disabled, you must explicitly raise a focused window using the window menu, keybinding, or
\fBClick Raises\fR\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBClick Raises\fR
.RS4
If enabled, clicking anywhere on a window will raise it above all others within its layer\&.
You can choose where the external tabs will be positioned relative to the window\&. For these options to work,
\fITabs in Titlebar\fR
must be off\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBTabs in Titlebar\fR:
.RS4
When this option is on, tabs are fixed in window titlebar and the width varies according to the amount of windows grouped\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMaximize Over\fR:
.RS4
When this option is on, maximizing a window will disregard the size and location of external tabs, which means they may be pushed out of the screen entirely\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBExternal Tab Width\fR:
.RS4
This specifies in pixels the width of external tabs\&.
.RE
.SH"STYLES"
.sp
fluxbox enables you to use specialized files that contain \fBX(1)\fR resources to specify colors, textures, pixmaps and fonts, and thus the overall look of your window borders, menus and the toolbar\&.
.sp
The default installation of fluxbox provides some of these style files\&. See \fBfluxbox\-style(5)\fR to accommodate the growing number of style components\&.
.SS"Style Overlay"
.sp
In addition to the style file, the overlay file, whose location is specified by \fBsession\&.screen0\&.styleOverlay\fR (default: \fB~/\&.fluxbox/overlay\fR) can be used to set style resources that override all styles\&. For more information about which parts of fluxbox can be controlled by the overlay file, see \fBfluxbox\-style(5)\fR\&.
.SH"THE SLIT"
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The slit is a special fluxbox window frame that can contain dockable applications, such as \(lqbbtools\(rq or \(lqwindow maker dockapps\(rq\&.
.sp
When applications are run in the slit they have no window borders of their own; instead they are framed in the slit, and they are always visible in the current workspace\&.
.sp
Most dockable applications use the \-w option to run in the slit\&. For example, you could put in your \fB~/\&.fluxbox/startup\fR:
If this is enabled the slit will disappear after a defined time when the mouse pointer leaves the slit\&. It will slide in when the cursor hits the remaining edge of the slit\&. See the
\fBsession\&.autoRaiseDelay\fR
resource for the delay time\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMaximize Over\fR:
.RS4
Enabling this option will allow windows to maximizing over the slit\&. With this switched off they will only expand to the edge of the slit\&. This option may be overridden by the \(lqFull Maximization\(rq from the
\fBConfiguration Menu\fR\&. If that option is enabled, this option will have no effect\&.\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBAlpha\fR:
.RS4
This sets the alpha value for the slit\&. Use the left mouse button to decrease and the right mouse button to increase the value\&. 0 is invisible, 255 is not transparent at all\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBClients\fR:
.RS4
This submenu lets you reorder the the applications running in the slit\&. You are able to hide apps from the slit by unselecting them in the list showing\&. This will not kill the app\&. You can make them re\-appear by selecting them in the list\&. The "Save SlitList" option saves the new order to you slitlist located in
\fB~/\&.fluxbox/slitlist\fR\&. See the next section for details\&.
fluxbox\'s slitlist file is available for those that use dockapps in the slit\&. This file helps fluxbox keep track of the \fBorder\fR of the dockapps when in the slit\&. The file is generally located at \fB~/\&.fluxbox/slitlist\fR\&.
.sp
A simple procedure for getting the slit sequences the way you like it is: 1\&. Run fluxbox with no pre\-loaded dockapps 2\&. Run dockapps individually in the order you want them 3\&. Add dockapps to your startfluxbox(8) script
.sp
This sequence will be saved by default to \fB~/\&.fluxbox/slitlist\fR and will be remembered for future instances of fluxbox\&.
.sp
Users are free to manually edit the slitlist file\&. It is a simple list of window names, as given by \fBxprop(1)\fR, one per dockapp\&. Similar to the init file it should not be edited while fluxbox is running\&. Otherwise changes may get overwritten\&.
.sp
The user also has the option of choosing a different path for the slitlist file, by setting the \fBsession\&.session0\&.slitlistFile\fR resource\&.
.SH"LAYERS"
.sp
Layers affect the way that windows will overlap each other on the screen\&. Windows on a higher layer will always appear above those on a lower one, whether they are focused or not\&. By default, fluxbox uses 13 layers, starting from 1 (highest)\&. The total number of layers can be changed by using the \fBsession\&.numLayers\fR resource\&.
.sp
There are two ways to assign a window to a different layer\&. When the window is open, you may select the layer in the `Layer \&...\' submenu of the window menu\&. The menu gives six choices for the layer, which fluxbox manages by name\&. The names are (from highest to lowest layer):
Usually the \fB~/\&.fluxbox/init\fR resource file is created and maintained by fluxbox itself\&. You can use the \fBConfigure Menu\fR, mentioned above, to set most of these options\&. However, we\'ll cover all of the resource options that are available to the user\&. If you edit this file while fluxbox is running, you must \(lqreconfigure\(rq to reload the resource options\&.
When running fluxbox in a multiple\-screen environment the screen0 key can also be screen1, screen2, to customize the behavior of fluxbox on each desktop accordingly\&. Here are the resources that are currently available:
fluxbox can also take advantage of other environment variables if they are set before fluxbox is started\&. For example, if $TERM is set, then it will be available whenever fluxbox uses the shell, such as the `keys\' file \fBExecCommand\fR or the root menu\'s \fB[exec]\fR tag\&. See \fBfluxbox\-keys(5)\fR and \fBfluxbox\-menu(5)\fR for details\&.
The `keys\' file also provides two commands that can alter the current environment of fluxbox: \fBSetEnv\fR and \fBExport\fR\&. Any changes made by these commands will also affect the environment as seen by fluxbox and all child processes started after that point\&. See \fBfluxbox\-keys(5)\fR for details\&.
fluxbox is written and maintained by Henrik Kinnunen <fluxgen at fluxbox org>, Simon Bowden <rathnor at fluxbox org>, Mathias Gumz <akira at fluxbox org>, and Mark Tiefenbruck <mark at fluxbox org>, with contributions and patches merged from many individuals around the world\&.
If you find any bugs, please visit the #fluxbox irc channel on irc\&.freenode\&.net or submit them to the bug tracker at \m[blue]\fBhttp://sf\&.net/projects/fluxbox\fR\m[]\&. Or you may subscribe to one of the mailinglists\&. More information can be found on the official website\&.
