

There are many Ubuntu users who like Unity interface and its ability to optimize screen space. But the default main menu is a bit of pain as all the categories are hidden by default and it does not support wine menus. There is an application lens but it is way down at the bottom, not movable and most of the time it is folded as I pin lots of applications on Unity launcher. There are many Ubuntu users who like Unity interface and its ability to optimize screen space. But the default main menu is a bit of pain as all the categories are hidden by default and it does not support wine menus. There is an application lens but it is way down at the bottom, not movable and most of the time it is folded as I pin lots of applications on Unity launcher.

Cardapio. Cardapio has an excellent plug-in system which not only provide similar functionality to the default Unity menu but is actually more powerful than it. You can create your own plug-in as there is a dedicated API for it. Also Cardapio menu is themeable. Though there are not many themes available as of now, you can find some of them on the web. But, you can now permanently have another classic Gnome style menu in Unity itself, thanks to. Cardapio has an excellent plug-in system which not only provide similar functionality to the default Unity menu but is actually more powerful than it. You can create your own plug-in as there is a dedicated API for it. Also Cardapio menu is themeable. Though there are not many themes available as of now, you can find some of them on the web.





How will this work out? Here is a simple step by step guide for you and in the end a video.





The first step is to get the Cardapio main menu from Launchpad. Run the following commands:





sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cardapio-team/unstable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install cardapio





Try running the command cardapio from terminal, you will immediately see it in the center of your screen.









Its no good at the moment, lets tweak it to make it perfectly blend with our desktop.





First of all lets create a launcher for it. Create a new text file with the code below, name it Cardapio.desktop and copy it to ~/.local/share/applications





[Desktop Entry]

Version=1.0

Type=Application

Terminal=false

Exec=cardapio

Name=menu

Icon=gnome-main-menu





Now drag it to the Unity launcher, move it all the way to the top and pin it on the launcher. Click on it and you will have your new menu. But it is still at the center.





Fire up Compiz Config Settings Manager, and go the Place Windows plugin.









Go the Fixed Window Placement tab and under Windows With Fixed Positions, add a new entry. Click on the Plus icon, a new menu will pop up. Select Window Name from drop down and enter cardapio in Value input box.









Now just select appropriate screen coordinates so that Cardapio shows up on the top left side of the screen. You don't have to be precise as Cardapio menu window will never go below Unity launcher.





Here is our result:





Cardapio in full mode









Cardapio in mini mode









Some Tips

You can configure Cardapio settings by right clicking on the menu and selecting Properties

Default keyboard shortcut is Super+space but it won't work with Unity. Just change it to anything else.

There are lots of plugins to customize it as per your needs.