If you are not aware, Conky is a system monitor for Linux that can display information and statistics on your desktop. You can use it to show your CPU usage, memory usage, weather, and even your Google Calendar. The only thing that makes Conky difficult to use is the text-based configuration tool, which can drive you crazy if you are not technical savvy enough. Conky Manager is a graphical front-end interface that allows you to easily configure Conky. You can use it to install themes and edit the behavior of the widgets.
Installation
In Ubuntu, open a terminal and type:
Usage
The usage is very straightforward. Conky Manager depends on Conky. If you have not installed Conky, it will be installed together with Conky Manager. In the configuration window, there are three main tabs: Theme, Edit and Options.
Theme
The Theme tab comes with some of the popular Conky themes used by many other people. All you have to do is to select the theme and click the “Enable” button beside it. It will then automatically show up on your desktop.
Some of the theme might come with several widgets and you can enable/disable individual widget directly from Conky Manager.
Edit
Once you have activated the theme, you might want to configure it to your own liking. This is where you the “Edit” tab comes in. You can select the widget from the list and change its position, transparency, size, time and network.
Other than selecting the various edge of the screen as the position, you can also define how far top (vertical gap) and side (horizontal gap) it is away from the screen. One thing that is not supported by Conky Manager (or maybe Conky) is real-time changes. That means you can’t make the changes and see the changes live on the desktop. You will have to click the “Apply Changes” everytime to save the changes. On the other hand, once you clicked the “Apply Changes” button, the changes will show up immediately on the desktop, so there is no need for you to restart Conky or Conky Manager for it to take effect.
Options
The Options tab contains very simple options, like setting it to run at system startup or kill the Conky process. If you have your own collection of Conky themes that are not in the list, you can import them into the list here.
There are tons of themes available for download at Gnome-look and DeviantArt. Do a quick search at those sites find a great list of beautiful Conky themes.
Conclusion
If you always marvel at how people can embed a beautiful widget on their desktop and wish that you can do it as well, then Conky Manager is the tool for you. It doesn’t require you to understand any of the configuration detail of Conky. All you have to do is to select the theme you want, change its position and look and feel, you are good to go.
Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.
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