I am running OpenSuse Linux distribution 42.3. I sued to change wallpaper on each virtual desktop in KDE/Plasma 5 because such change also changes my state of mind.

Can someone tell me how to do that in KDE? I have tried all sorts of things without any success: once one changes wallpaper the change is global for all virtul desktops

thanks for the help, SH.

See: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=341143

yes, the feature has been removed and due to the huge problem and added complexity it gave, is not going back.
different workspaces with different containment/wallpaper can be done with activities, and that's what's supported.

Comment #212 on that bug mentions a 3rd party solution that I cannot vouch for.

acheronuk wrote:See: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=341143

yes, the feature has been removed and due to the huge problem and added complexity it gave, is not going back.
different workspaces with different containment/wallpaper can be done with activities, and that's what's supported.

Comment #212 on that bug mentions a 3rd party solution that I cannot vouch for.

looking at the long list of comments to this bug, I dare hope KDE will change in future....else...

acheronuk wrote:See: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=341143

yes, the feature has been removed and due to the huge problem and added complexity it gave, is not going back.
different workspaces with different containment/wallpaper can be done with activities, and that's what's supported.

Comment #212 on that bug mentions a 3rd party solution that I cannot vouch for.

Allow me to add the following regarding "activities" feature in KDE: "when one has a problem some come with solutions, but when some come with a solutions, then one has a problem"

sharphawk64 wrote:

acheronuk wrote:See: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=341143

yes, the feature has been removed and due to the huge problem and added complexity it gave, is not going back.
different workspaces with different containment/wallpaper can be done with activities, and that's what's supported.

Comment #212 on that bug mentions a 3rd party solution that I cannot vouch for.

Allow me to add the following regarding "activities" feature in KDE: "when I have a problem some come with solutions, but when some come with solutions, then I have a problem"

I can appreciate the general hesitancy to use Activities instead of Virtual Desktops. A lot of work has been put into Activities to improve the usability, but they still aren't quite as accessible as VDs, and the usage patterns are different. However they do cover most of what people do with VDs anyway.
On the one hand, perhaps more work needs to be put into how activities are used so that people can use them instead of VDs by default without realizing it. Then people would get the multi-desktop environment that they expect out of VDs, including being able to customize it how they want. I think the main things in the way here are the pager widget which is bound to VDs (though there are Activities widgets you can use instead) and the fact that Activities are referenced by name not by position like VDs (oh, and marketing or whatever to position Activities as your standard for multiple desktops instead of VDs).
On the other hand, I would like to see them fix the underlying technical problems which get in the way of fixing that bug if only because I know a lot of people keep coming 'round and asking for it.

airdrik wrote:I can appreciate the general hesitancy to use Activities instead of Virtual Desktops.

Does the KDE team have any data on how many people use them? My guess is "general hesitancy" is an understatement. Is it even one percent of users?

airdrik wrote: A lot of work has been put into Activities to improve the usability, but they still aren't quite as accessible as VDs, and the usage patterns are different.

Why do the KDE team put a lot of work into features that nobody uses or wants? This was why 4.0 was a dismal failure, and users—including Linus himself—left in droves. The team were too busy dreaming up things they thought would be Kool to Kode up, without thinking about features that would really be useful.

airdrik wrote: On the one hand, perhaps more work needs to be put into how activities are used so that people can use them instead of VDs by default without realizing it. Then people would get the multi-desktop environment that they expect out of VDs, including being able to customize it how they want.

If it looks and smells like a VD, and the magic corners show them in a grid, then it's fine with me.

airdrik wrote: I think the main things in the way here are the pager widget which is bound to VDs (though there are Activities widgets you can use instead) and the fact that Activities are referenced by name not by position like VDs (oh, and marketing or whatever to position Activities as your standard for multiple desktops instead of VDs).

So to be fair, I thought I'd give Activities a try. I created a new one, kalled it Koder's Masterbation. Put in the Activities pager, and setup a magic corner. The magic corner is the best feature KDE has and the one I miss the most when using other DEs. With the magic corner, the pager has no real use. The Activities manager is nowhere near as good as the desktop grid. Thus, not so useful in comparison.

airdrik wrote:On the other hand, I would like to see them fix the underlying technical problems which get in the way of fixing that bug if only because I know a lot of people keep coming 'round and asking for it.

Now your making a lot of sense.

Oh, so it was in KDE before... ok, I thought I was going crazy due to age, as this is like third time I'm looking for it, and it's not in settings, but I would swear I was using it some time ago, so I was not sure what's going on.

About activities as VD: but isn't the Alt-tab list of apps separated between activities? Also taskbar/etc.. i.e. activity is like different session, IIRC? (I have it removed and switched off, so I can't check myself, if I remember it correctly).

And if you would configure this part like VD works (that I have single list of apps, single taskbar, etc.. and the VD works simply just as enlarged desktop area for window positioning and quick moving around), then why bother with activities, if virtual desktops already exist and work very well for me.

I just miss that option to set different background for each.. (and yes, I never understood/gave-enough-time the whole activity thing, but that's probably sort of due to how they were introduced to me.. there was suddenly something in one of desktop corners I didn't want there, clashing with parts of UI I was using there, and when I tried to create two activities and use them for short while, it was like two separate sessions -which is feature I am not interested into, so I didn't bother to explore further, if there's more about them).

Ped7g wrote:Oh, so it was in KDE before... ok, I thought I was going crazy due to age, as this is like third time I'm looking for it, and it's not in settings, but I would swear I was using it some time ago, so I was not sure what's going on.

Yes, back in Plasma 4.x (and I think early versions of 5.x, but I could be wrong)

Ped7g wrote:About activities as VD: but isn't the Alt-tab list of apps separated between activities? Also taskbar/etc.. i.e. activity is like different session, IIRC? (I have it removed and switched off, so I can't check myself, if I remember it correctly).

It's configurable. To get Alt-tab to list apps on all activities, go to System Settings -> Window Management -> Task Switcher and uncheck Activities under Filter windows by.
To get the taskbar to list apps on all activities, right-click on the taskbar and select the Configure option, then uncheck Show only tasks from the current activity (option may be different depending on which task manager widget you're using)
There's a separate pager widget for showing windows open on each Activity vs. Virtual Desktop.

Ped7g wrote:And if you would configure this part like VD works (that I have single list of apps, single taskbar, etc.. and the VD works simply just as enlarged desktop area for window positioning and quick moving around), then why bother with activities, if virtual desktops already exist and work very well for me.

Virtual Desktops work well for things like that, and so do Activities. They just removed the feature allowing you to have different wallpaper or widgets per-VD. If you want different wallpaper and/or widgets on each then you need to use Activities. There are also additional features which have per-Activity settings such as power management, file associations, favorite applications, etc.

Ped7g wrote:
I just miss that option to set different background for each.. (and yes, I never understood/gave-enough-time the whole activity thing, but that's probably sort of due to how they were introduced to me.. there was suddenly something in one of desktop corners I didn't want there, clashing with parts of UI I was using there, and when I tried to create two activities and use them for short while, it was like two separate sessions -which is feature I am not interested into, so I didn't bother to explore further, if there's more about them).

I certainly understand that. Activities have evolved a lot since they were first introduced and it's taken a long time for them to get to the point where they seem (to me at least) to be a suitable replacement for Virtual Desktops in most use cases. Virtual Desktops are still simpler to set up and use, but a lot of effort has been made to make Activities (nearly as) simple and easy to use as well.

I switched to activities from VD when I could no longer have different backgrounds for each virtual desktop. It mostly works, but not well.

But... but...

a) activities are slower - much slower than virtual desktops.
b) when I move a window I have to tick the new activity and UNTICK the old activity - I would prefer to just have to tick the new activity and have it untick the current activity automatically. The current fancy multi-activity selection process could use a modifier key - which I would never have to use or remember.
c) some windows insist on plastering themselves over all activities (skype from time to time, plus pidgin and others). This is useful very occasionally when I choose to do it, but is a pain when some app decides to default it that way.
d) the pager isn't able to display the activities in multiple rows (two would be much better than one). I have twelve activities and they take up a lot of panel real-estate I want back.
e) the naming is not friendly. I want the names to stay in a specific order, preferably alphabetic. Numbers would be fine.

a) yes, unfortunately there is more overhead as Activities keep track of a lot more than VDs. I don't know if much can be done about this.

b) You might try filing a case to bugs.kde.org to change this. I do use the select-multiple behavior every so often so I do want some way to achieve it, but by far moving to another Activity is more common and should be the simple way.

c) I've only seen this a couple of times myself, mostly with transient kdesvn windows; but I usually have to use kwin rules to force things to be all-activities which normally aren't. Perhaps file a bug report?

d) Please file a case to bugs.kde.org to add the multi-row functionality.

e) You could try different widgets as I believe some of the other widgets always use alphabetical order. (granted they don't show which windows you have on each like the pager widget does)
... unless you're referring to the switching order using Super+Tab, where they are sorted by recently-used. I ended up setting up specific shortcut keys on my keyboard for specific Activities to avoid having to use Super+Tab to hop between them.

Hello Airdrik

Thanks for a nice positive reply.

I don't use the visibility of windows stuff on pager widgets as there are many and it's all too small. So, I don't care to much about that. I use the pager space as a window organiser - I typically have many windows open and use the same pages for specific types of window. So the spatial organisation is everything when it comes to quick efficient access. And the two row thing (maybe three - never tried) means the spatial aspect is better defined.

I will try to raise some cases as you suggest. Other things I have reported seem to languish unregarded for long periods of time - which is fair enough, because people have their own priorities.

Well wallpapers for virtual desktop.