Terra Terminal Update Brings Improved Stability, New Features

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://launchpad.net/terra">Terra</a>, a Python / GTK3 drop-down terminal emulator, has been updated today, bringing more stability as well as some new features.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Terra looks like a combination of <a href="http://guake.org/">Guake</a> and <a href="https://launchpad.net/terminator">Terminator</a> so you can get a nice Quake-like drop-down terminal with <b>terminal split views</b> (multiple terminals in one window / tab) and more. Compared to Guake, it features a lot of extra options, such as configurable terminal width, select which monitor the terminal should be displayed on and more.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDnEBhg9IdQ/UTUfwn_M5lI/AAAAAAAAOX8/B3h2-j_cmg4/s1600/terra-terminal-emulator.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Terra Terminal" border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDnEBhg9IdQ/UTUfwn_M5lI/AAAAAAAAOX8/B3h2-j_cmg4/s320/terra-terminal-emulator.png" title="Terra Terminal" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />With the latest version, the application now uses libkeybinder3.0 for the keybinder library which should <b>fix many of the issues you may have encountered with keyboard shortcuts</b> in the previous releases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The latest 0.1.7 version also fixes various crashes and slow opening issues and <b>re-implements the hide on lose focus feature</b>. Other changes include: <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/terra/+bug/1132362">select-by-word</a> characters and change font size using Ctrl + +/-.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since our <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/terra-drop-down-terminal-emulator-with.html">previous Terra Terminal</a> article, the application has also got a feature that allows <b>switching between terminal splits using keyboard shortcuts, create / close terminal splits using keyboard shortcuts</b>, clickable links and many other minor changes. Also, Terra Terminal now remembers open tabs, including tab names, and restores them on startup. Unfortunately, there's no way to restore terminal splits yet.</div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CSCU-qFnfOo/UTUhQacgU0I/AAAAAAAAOYE/3QimeDoFYuI/s1600/terra-terminal-keyboard-shortcuts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Terra Terminal keyboard shortcuts" border="0" height="232" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CSCU-qFnfOo/UTUhQacgU0I/AAAAAAAAOYE/3QimeDoFYuI/s320/terra-terminal-keyboard-shortcuts.png" title="Terra Terminal keyboard shortcuts" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terra Terminal keyboard shortcuts</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><h2>Install Terra Terminal</h2><br /><b>To install Terra Terminal in Ubuntu, use the following commands:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ozcanesen/terra-terminal<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install terra</code></pre>Note: the Ubuntu 12.04 32bit package has failed to build for the latest 0.1.7 version, but this should be fixed soon.<br /><br />For <b>Arch Linux</b>, you can get Terra Terminal via AUR: <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/terra-bzr/">BZR</a> or <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/terra/">stable</a>.<br /><br />There are also <a href="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/terra">Gentoo</a> packages available.<br /><br />For other Linux distributions, get the Terra Terminal source from <a href="https://code.launchpad.net/terra">Launchpad</a>.<br /><br /><b>If you encounter bugs, report them at <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/terra">Launchpad</a>.</b>

Terra Terminal Update Brings Improved Stability, New Features

Terra , a Python / GTK3 drop-down terminal emulator, has been updated today, bringing more stability as well as some new features. Terra loo...

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Terra: Drop-Down Terminal Emulator With Support For Multiple Terminals In One Window

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Terra is a Python / GTK3 drop-down terminal emulator similar to Guake or Yakuake, which shows up from the top of the screen when you press a keyboard shortcut, like the console used in games such as Quake.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The application combines some of the features available in <a href="http://guake.org/">Guake</a> and <a href="https://launchpad.net/terminator">Terminator</a>, resulting in a nice drop-down terminal emulator in which you can use <b>multiple terminals in the same window (you can split the terminal horizontally or vertically):</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V1iD5zU9jnU/URj5i42PxfI/AAAAAAAANhM/bvxj2PgyEJQ/s1600/terra-terminal-emulator.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="terra terminal emulator" border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V1iD5zU9jnU/URj5i42PxfI/AAAAAAAANhM/bvxj2PgyEJQ/s320/terra-terminal-emulator.png" title="terra terminal emulator" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Compared to Guake</b>, Terra also comes with some extra configuration options like:</div><ul><li>configurable window height or width</li><li>configurable horizontal and vertical alignment</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Other features include initial multi-monitor support (available with the latest 0.1.5 release): you can select the monitor on which the terminal will show up, transparency support, configurable keyboard shortcuts to toggle the terminal visibility, split the terminal horizontally or vertically and more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The application is still pretty new so expect new features to be added soon. You might also find some small bugs - for instance, in my test under Ubuntu 13.04, the "hide on lose focus" option is greyed out so it can't be selected (I've already reported this <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/terra/+bug/1122052">bug</a>). Report any bugs you may find @ <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/terra">Launchpad</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To use it, launch Terra from the menu / Dash and then <b>use F12 to show / hide the terminal</b>. The shortcut to show / hide the terminal can be changed from its preferences - if you change it, remember to restart Terra.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>To get multiple terminals in the same window, right click Terra and select  "Split vertical" or "Split horizontal"</b>. For now there's no option to save / restore the terminals layout (like in Terminator), but such a feature will probably be added in a future release.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Terra Terminal Emulator</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu Precise, Quantal and Raring users can install Terra Terminal Emulator by using its official PPA:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ozcanesen/terra-terminal<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install terra</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Arch Linux users can install Terra via <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/terra-bzr/">AUR</a>.<br /><br />For other Linux distributions, you can grab the Terra Terminal Emulator source via <a href="https://code.launchpad.net/terra">Launchpad</a>.</div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Also see: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/01/how-to-use-xfce4-terminal-06x-as-drop.htmlhttp://www.webupd8.org/2013/01/how-to-use-xfce4-terminal-06x-as-drop.html">How To Use Xfce4 Terminal 0.6.x As A Drop-Down Console (Guake-style)</a></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Thanks to Yusuf Baran for the tip (I've received it a while back but I've waited for <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/terra/+bug/1086835">multi-monitor support</a> before publishing the post)!</i></div>

Terra: Drop-Down Terminal Emulator With Support For Multiple Terminals In One Window

Terra is a Python / GTK3 drop-down terminal emulator similar to Guake or Yakuake, which shows up from the top of the screen when you press a...

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How To Use Xfce4 Terminal 0.6.x As A Drop-Down Console (Guake-style)

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-xfce.png" rel="image_group" title="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down running in Xfce"><img alt="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down running in Xfce" src="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-xfce_thumb.png" /></a></div><b><br /></b> <br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="http://docs.xfce.org/apps/terminal/start">Xfce4 Terminal</a></b> has been updated recently, two new versions being released: 0.6.0 and 0.6.1, and many <b>new features were added, including an option to use the terminal as a drop-down console, like Guake or Yakuake</b>. But this new feature isn't available as an option in the Xfce4 Terminal preferences, so here's how to use it.</div><br /><b>Among the new features added in the latest Xfce4 Terminal 0.6.x, are:</b><br /><ul><li>Added search dialog;</li><li>Terminal tab color changes when activity occurs in a tab since last viewed;</li><li>Support for color presets and some presets were added by default, including "Solarized Dark", my favourite terminal / text editor color scheme that I've been using everywhere for a long time (see: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/solarized-must-have-color-paletter-for.html">Solarized: A Must Have Color Scheme For Gnome Terminal, Vim, Gedit And Lots More</a>)</li><li>Drop-down window support when using "--drop-down" parameter</li></ul><br /><a name='more'></a>Changelogs: <a href="http://mail.xfce.org/pipermail/xfce-announce/2012-December/000240.html">0.6.0</a>, <a href="http://mail.xfce.org/pipermail/xfce-announce/2013-January/000242.html">0.6.1</a><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Xfce Terminal 0.6.x in Ubuntu / Xubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Before installing Xfce4 Terminal, please note that installing it in desktop environments other than Xfce will also install some Xfce packages.</div><br /><b>To install Xfce 4 Terminal 0.6.x in Ubuntu / Xubuntu 12.04, firstly add the Xfce 4.10 PPA and do an upgrade:</b> <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/install-xfce-410-in-xubuntu-1204.html">Install Xfce 4.10 In Xubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin Via PPA</a>. This isn't required for Ubuntu 12.10.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Now, to install Xfce4 Terminal 0.6.x in Ubuntu / Xubuntu 12.04 or 12.10, use the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.12<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install xfce4-terminal</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">(you may also want to run an upgrade to get the other Xfce 4.12 development packages from the Xfce 4.12 PPA if you haven't already)</div><br />For other Linux distributions, you can download the latest Xfce4 Terminal 0.6.x source from <a href="http://archive.xfce.org/src/apps/xfce4-terminal">HERE</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><h2>How to use the Xfce4 Terminal drop-down feature</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">To use Xfce4 Terminal as a drop-down window, make sure you're running version 0.6.1 or newer. The terminal doesn't have a GUI option to run as a drop-down (it can only be used as a drop-down terminal by using the "--drop-down" command line parameter), so you must set a keyboard shortcut in your desktop environment to call "xfce4-terminal --drop-down":</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-shortcut-xfce.png" rel="image_group" title="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down keyboard shortcut settings in Xfce"><img alt="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down keyboard shortcut Xfce" src="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-shortcut-xfce_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">- <b>in Xfce</b>: open <i>Settings Manager > Keyboard > Application shortcuts</i>, click "Add" and add the "<i>xfce4-terminal --drop-down</i>" command, then a dialog will pop-up - now press the keyboard shortcut you want to use to open the drop-down terminal (I've used F12).</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-shortcut-gnome.png" rel="image_group" title="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down keyboard shortcut settings in GNOME / Unity"><img alt="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down keyboard shortcut in GNOME / Unity" src="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-shortcut-gnome_thumb.png" /></a></div><b><br /></b> <br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>- in GNOME (including Unity)</b>: open <i>System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts</i>, under "Custom Shortcuts" click "+" to add a new shortcut, under "Name" enter "Xfce4 Terminal" and under command, use: "<i>xfce4-terminal --drop-down</i>". Then click the shortcut on the right to add a keyboard shortcut and press the key you want to use for triggering the drop-down terminal (I've used F12).<br /><br />This also means you don't have to add the terminal to your startup applications and instead, the application will start the first time you use the keyboard shortcut you've assigned using the instructions above. </div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Then, press the keyboard shortcut you've used to open the terminal. Even though initially Xfce4 Terminal doesn't have any custom drop-down settings, now that you're using it as a drop-down terminal,<b> a new tab called "Drop-down" should show up in its preferences</b>, which allows you to tweak the way the drop-down works. </div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-dropdown-unity.png" rel="image_group" title="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down running in Unity"><img alt="Xfce4 Terminal drop-down running in Unity" src="http://img.netupd8.com/xfce4-terminal-dropdown-unity_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Here, if you use Unity (maybe on other DEs too) make sure you uncheck "Use shortcut to focus visible window" so the terminal closes when you press the keyboard shortcut you've set above. Without this, the terminal will only close/retract when it loses focus (unless you select "Keep window open when it loses focus" in which case it won't close when focus is lost) in Unity, although this doesn't occur in Xfce (so you don't have to check this option in Xfce for this purpose).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the Xfce4 Terminal preferences you can <b>customize</b> a lot of the drop-down terminal settings, including the <b>window width, height, opacity, the duration, horizontal position and so on</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There's also a button on the bottom right of the terminal that you can use to quickly toggle "Keep window open when it loses focus" on / off.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Xfce4 Terminal supports multiple screens</b> so if you select to display the terminal in the center (top center) of the screen, it won't show up on both screens in a dual screen setup, but <b>on the center of the active monitor</b>, something that you can't do with Guake for instance. <b>If you only want it to show up on the main monitor,</b> uncheck the "Move to monitor with pointer" option in the Xfce4 Terminal preferences (Drop-down tab).</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Xfce4 Terminal drop-down feature seen on <a href="http://blog.desdelinux.net/un-vistazo-a-lo-que-vendra-en-xfce-4-12/">desdelinux.net</a> & <a href="http://www.lffl.org/2013/01/le-novita-del-nuovo-xfce-412.html">lffl.org</a></i></div>

How To Use Xfce4 Terminal 0.6.x As A Drop-Down Console (Guake-style)

Xfce4 Terminal has been updated recently, two new versions being released: 0.6.0 and 0.6.1, and many new features were added, including an...

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