Created attachment 2945 Patch implementing the requested functionality In "Windows Manager Tweaks" it is possible to enable/disable workspace wrapping when first or last workspace is reached during switching. However there is no such a possibility for xfce4-panel pager plugin: workspaces are always wrapped and this cannot be configured. I wrote a small patch (attached) to add the option similar to "Windows Manager Tweaks". Tested with xfce4-panel 4.6.2 at Fedora 12 i686 and xfce4-panel 4.6.3 in Arch Linux x86_64.
Created attachment 2966 patch for master branch Similar patch for master branch.
This looks like an oft-reported issue. Any chance that this will end up in the upcoming 4.12?
Created attachment 5901 Patch for git head 718500b0a840ca5ca018bd4c2b0531f663803bc1
Ideally all four options from Workspaces tab in Window Manager Tweaks would be moved to another xfconf channel that is used by both xfwm4 and xfce4-panel. Currently xfce4-panel (pager plugin) duplicates these settings and it cannot simply use xfwm4 options (or can it?) because xfwm4 and xfce4-panel are independent and may be used separately.
I don't think there's a problem with re-using the existing xfconf key from Xfwm4. For example, xfce4-session and xfce4-power-manager already share a key for "lock on suspend", as that option is present in both settings dialogs.
I think it makes sense to use separate keys, because the interaction method differs between all involved components. With xfwm4, I can navigate between workspaces with keyboard keys. That's a very precise form of interaction, and I can easily press n times to move n workspaces on one side. I can do that consistently. With xfdesktop and xfce4-panel, the interaction relies on scrolling. With scrolling, things get a bit harder. It's easy to start but hard to stop. I often "over-scroll" and get lost and resort to keyboard "fixing". Providing boundaries with scrolling makes a lot more sense because 1) it bounds the risk of completely losing yourself and 2) it creates hot spots which you can reach more easily (and possibly quicker than with the keyboard) So in this case the stop provides a dual purpose: safety and shortcut. I really like to be able to wrap with the keyboard, but having just tried the "no-wrap" panel I love it too. I think both should be possible.
Good point. Is there anyone who actually wants the *mouse scroll* to wrap workspaces? Maybe the best solution is to disable it permanently, or least change the default to no wrapping with a hidden option to enable it. BTW, we have an analogous issue in window buttons.
"Is there anyone who actually wants the *mouse scroll* to wrap workspaces?" The (widespread) default in these instances---switching workspaces/windows/tabs with mouse scrollwheel---seems to be *no wrapping*. For instance, there is no wrapping when switching tabs via scrollwheel in Midori, LyX, Chromium or Geany. "change the default to no wrapping with a hidden option to enable it." Short of UI-solution, I would second that! And this same default should be used for switching workspaces, window buttons, but also in WM Tweaks (i.e. unchecked "Wrap workspaces when the first/last is reached" by default). Nice, consistent, and for power users allows a way to revert to previous default behavior..
Fixed in git master. Desktop (and window) wrapping on mouse scroll is now disabled by default with hidden options for enabling it. To enable workspace wrapping in the pager plugin set: /plugins/plugin-#/wrap-workspaces = true To enable window wrapping in the window buttons plugin set: /plugins/plugin-#/wrap-windows = true
Marking as Fixed. Andrzej, please try and remember to update bug statuses :-)