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.. image:: imgs/icon_prefs.png
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:alt: Because spanners mean settings?!?!?
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Terminator is *highly* configurable, and automate-able, so the Preferences
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dialog is naturally quite extensive. It currently consists of six tabs.
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Let's work through them one by one.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_global.png
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These settings are defaults, but some of them can be overridden by a
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options on the command-line, or within a layout. A number will also
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require a restart to take effect.
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**Window state** (default: Normal)
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This will determine what happens on startup normally.
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- *Normal* - Window opens as normal.
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- *Hidden* - Window does not open. Useful at login, so it is already
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available with a shortcut.
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- *Maximised* - Window opens maximised in the standard window manager
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- *Fullscreen* - Window opens fullscreen with no window manager frame.
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**Always on top** (default: off)
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Window attempts to remain on top.
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**Show on all workspaces** (default: off)
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The focused window will follow if you switch to a different virtual
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**Hide on lose focus** (default: off)
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This is a quake console like feature, where the user want the window to
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vanish when clicking elsewhere.
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This is rather buggy at the moment as it is very easy for the main
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window to lose focus and disappear.
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**Hide from taskbar** (default: off)
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The first window opened will not be displayed in the taskbar.
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Subsequent windows will show in the taskbar (bug?).
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**Window geometry hints** (default: on)
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If this is checked, then when resizing Terminator will attempt to
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step the sizing by the current font, and display a small box with the
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dimension of the window in characters.
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.. warning:: If you have problems with Terminator windows shrinking
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in an uncontrollable way, then turning this option
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**off** will usually fix the issue. It is not clear
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why, but it seems Terminator and the window manager
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get into an argument over what size the window should
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**Mouse focus** (default: Click to focus)
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By what method the mouse pointer sets the focus on a terminal.
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- *GNOME Default* - Act as per the system settings.
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- *Click to focus* - You must click with in a terminal to make it the
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- *Follow mouse pointer* - Moving the pointer over a terminal makes
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**Broadcast default** (default: Group)
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Which broadcast mode should be selected at startup:
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- *All* - All terminals receive keystrokes.
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- *Group* - Only terminals in the same group as the current terminal
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- *None* - Only the current terminal receives keystrokes.
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**Re-use profiles for new terminals** (default: off)
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When creating a new terminal with splitting or new tabs, if this is
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enabled, then the profile from the previously focussed terminal will
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also be used for the new one.
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**Use custom URL handler** (default: off)
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If this is enabled then Ctrl+left-mouse-click on a URL will try to use
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the command defined in *Custom URL handler* to open the link. If not
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enabled, Terminator will attempt to open the link with its internal
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**Custom URL handler** (default: inactive, empty)
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If active and set, then URL's will be passed as a command-line parameter
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to the given command.
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**DBus server** (default: on)
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If a Terminator :ref:`dbus` server is not already on the session
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bus, try to start one.
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**Terminator seperator size** (default: -1)
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This is the width in pixels, and can range from -1 to 5. The value
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of -1 will take the default size from the system theme.
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**Unfocused terminal font brightness** (default: 0.8)
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Terminals that do not currently have the focus will can be dimmed
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to aid focus. The value can range from 0 (invisible) to 1 (full
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**Window borders** (default: on)
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The window manager frame can be removed from your windows.
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**Tab position** (default: Top)
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Where the tabs will be located within the window
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- *Hidden* - Tabs still work, you just can't see them.
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**Tabs homogeneous** (default: on)
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Tabs will have equal widths
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**Tabs scroll buttons** (default: off)
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When there are more tabs than can fit within the window buttons will
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be drawn for moving left and right.
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There is a table of the colours for the titlebars on the left. These
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are modelled on those used in a utility I used to use called ClusTerm.
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The three sets (Focused, Inactive and Receiving) will make more sense
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after reading the section about :ref:`grouping-menu`.
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+-------------+---------+----------+-----------+
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| | Focused | Inactive | Receiving |
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+=============+=========+==========+===========+
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| Font colour | #FFFFFF | #000000 | #FFFFFF |
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+-------------+---------+----------+-----------+
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| Background | #C80003 | #C0BEBF | #0076C9 |
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+-------------+---------+----------+-----------+
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**Hide size from title** (default: off)
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At the end of the label in the titlebar the size of the terminal is
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given in characters, i.e. (80x24). Enabling this item will disable
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**Use the system font** (default: on)
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By default the system defined proportional font will be used for the
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text in the titlebar. Turning this off allows you to use a custom font.
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**Font** (default: inactive, system proportional font)
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If active and set, then the custom font to be used in the titlebar.
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.. warning:: With newer versions of some of the underlying libraries,
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using a bitmap font can cause the Preference window to
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crash. If you find this happening, you will need to
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either remove the configuration from the Terminator
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:ref:`configuration file <config-file>` or you will
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need to change your system settings. Please see
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`LP#1294699`_ for more information.
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.. _LP#1294699: https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1294699
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You should already be familiar with the sub-tabs from GNOME Terminal,
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and Terminator's are modelled on those available in GNOME Terminal where
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it makes sense, and give much of the same functionality. Bear in mind that
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some of these differences are due to changes in the underlying VTE
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widget between GTK2 and GTK3.
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Below we will go through each pane, and highlight and explain differences
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between Terminator with GTK2 and GNOME Terminal with GTK3.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_profiles_general.png
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One key difference is that we have a sidebar to the left listing the
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available Profiles, as opposed to GNOME Terminator, where the list is
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a separate window launched from the menu bar.
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**Use the system fixed width font** (default: on)
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By default the system defined proportional font will be used for the
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text in the terminal. Turning this off allows you to use a custom font.
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**Font** (inactive, system fixed width font)
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If active and set, then the custom font to be used in the terminal.
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.. warning:: With newer versions of some of the underlying libraries,
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using a bitmap font can cause the Preference window to
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crash. If you find this happening, you will need to
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either remove the configuration from the Terminator
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:ref:`configuration file <config-file>` or you will
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need to change your system settings. Please see
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`LP#1294699`_ for more information.
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**Allow bold text** (default: on)
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Allows you to disable the use of bold fonts in the terminal.
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**Anti-alias text** (default: on) †*Not in GNOME Terminal*
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In Terminator you can turn the font smoothing off. This is no
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longer possible in GNOME Terminator.
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**Show titlebar** (default: on)
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The titlebar strip across the top of each terminal can be turned off.
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**Copy on selection** (default: off)
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This puts the selection into the copy/paste buffer, as well as being
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available on middle-click.
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**Select-by-word characters** (default: ``-A-Za-z0-9,./?%&#:_``)
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Using double-click to select text will use this pattern to define
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what characters are considered part of the word.
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**Shape** (default: Block)
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- *Block* - Solid rectangle.
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- *Underline* - Single pixel tall horizontal line.
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- *I-Beam* - Single pixel wide vertical line.
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**Colour** (default: #AAAAAA)
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The colour of the cursor.
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**Blink** (default: on)
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Whether the cursor blinks on and off.
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**Titlebar icon** (default: on)
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On the right side of the titlebar a small light-bulb icon will
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be displayed for a few seconds.
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**Visual flash** (default: off)
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The terminal area will briefly flash.
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**Audible beep** (default: off)
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The normal system beep noise as defined in system settings.
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**Window list flash** (default: off)
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This will set the urgent flag on the window in the taskbar. The
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actual effect will be taskbar dependant.
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Our profiles names are in the sidebar to the left.
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**Show menubar by default in new terminals**
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Terminator doesn't use a traditional menu bar.
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Terminator has more options, so has four separate options in their
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own grouping. This item in GNOME Terminal is the same as *Audible
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**Use custom default terminal size**
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Terminator handles window sizes within :ref:`Layouts <layouts>`,
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or with :ref:`command-line-options`.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_profiles_command.png
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**Run commands as a login shell** (default: off)
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Force the command to run as a login shell.
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**Update login records when command is launched** (default: on)
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Updates login records when a new shell is opened.
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**Run a custom command instead of my shell** (default: off)
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Enable the use of a custom command instead of the users default
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**Custom command** (default: inactive, empty)
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If enabled and set, the users default shell will be replaced with
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the command specified here.
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**When command exits** (default: Exit the terminal)
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When the running command exits (default or custom) what action
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- *Exit the terminal* - Terminal closes, causing layout to adjust.
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- *Restart the command* - Original command restarts immediately.
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- *Hold the terminal open* - The terminal and scrollback will remain
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visible and accessible until the user explicitly closes the
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terminal, or closes the window.
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.. warning:: If you are using *Restart the command* and your command
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is broken and exits immediately, then you can end up
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in a resource hungry loop.
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Terminator handles window title within :ref:`Layouts <layouts>`,
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or with :ref:`command-line-options`.
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**When terminal commands set their own titles**
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Terminator doesn't have this setting.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_profiles_colors.png
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There seems to be some mild quirks and differences (palettes available
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or selected from the system theme) between Terminator and GNOME
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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Foreground and Background
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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**Use colours from system theme** (default: off)
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Use colours as defined in the system theme. Not clear at this time
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where exactly these come from. Differences in the GTK2, GTK3 and
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**Built-in schemes** (default: Grey on black)
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Pick a primary colour combination for foreground and background.
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Again there are unexplained differences between Terminator and
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The list seems to be dynamic and vary depending on the system,
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with the addition of *Custom* which allows setting the colours
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**Text colour** (default: inactive, #AAAAAA)
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If the *Built-in schemes* is set to *Custom* the text colour can
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**Background colour** (default: inactive, #000000)
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If the *Built-in schemes* is set to *Custom* the background colour
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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**Built-in schemes** (default: Ambience)
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A predefined colour palette can be selected. Again there are
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unexplained differences between Terminator and GNOME Terminal.
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The default here may be system dependant, with Ambience being
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an Ubuntu colour scheme.
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**Colour palette** (default: inactive)
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If the Palette's *Built-in schemes* is set to custom, a set of
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colour swatches are used to configure the 16 primary colours
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of the shell palette.
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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In theory nothing is stopping us implementing this, it just doesn't
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appear to have ever been added.
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**Same as text colour**
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In truth, I'm not exactly sure what this does, but at a guess, the
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user can force bold to be drawn in the same colour as the
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_profiles_background.png
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**Solid colour** (default: active)
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Background of terminal is set to the solid colour set in previous
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**Background image** (default: inactive)
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Background will be an image. There is no scaling done.
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**Image file** (default: inactive, None)
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If *Background image* is set, then the image to use can be selected
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**Background image scrolls** (default: inactive, on)
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If the *Background image* is set, then setting this to on will cause
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the background image to change as the window moves. This is a for of
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**Transparent background** (default: inactive)
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This will attempt true transparency where the windows below are
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partially visible through the terminal.
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.. note:: This option requires a compositing desktop.
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**Shade transparent or image background** (default: 0.5)
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For *Background image* and *Transparent background* this is how
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much the solid colour should be blended in, giving a tinting effect.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_profiles_scrolling.png
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**Scrollbar is** (default: On the right side)
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If and where the scrollbar should appear.
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- *On the right side*
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**Scrollback** (default: 500 lines)
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How many lines to keep before discarding.
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**Infinite Scrollback** (default: off)
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Lines are never discarded, and all lines since the session began
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.. note:: Data is placed onto the disk by the underlying VTE
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component, so even after a long time, the memory footprint
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and performance of Terminator should be OK.
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**Scroll on output** (default: on)
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Moves terminal to end of scrollback buffer when any output occurs.
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**Scroll on keystroke** (default: on)
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Moves terminal to end of scrollback buffer when any keypress occurs.
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**Use keystrokes to scroll on alternate screen** (default: on)
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Ummmm... I don't know. Alternate screens are a bit of a mystery to me.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_profiles_compatability.png
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**Backspace key generates** (default: ASCII DEL)
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Change behaviour of the Backspace key.
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**Delete key generates** (default: Escape sequence)
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Change behaviour of the Delete key.
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**Reset Compatibility Options to Defaults**
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Sets the two previous items back to their defaults.
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"""""""""""""""""""""""
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"""""""""""""""""""""""
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**Default** (default: Unicode UTF-8)
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Choose the default encoding method used from a long list of
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_layouts.png
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Layouts are the primary means for saving collections of windows,
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tabs, and terminals. The use and flexibility of layouts is covered in
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:ref:`layouts`. Here we will cover the bare minimum to understand the
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configuration options.
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In the left list is the saved layouts, with three buttons below:
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- *Add* - Creates a new layout from the current windows, tabs and
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terminals, and saves them with a new name.
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- *Remove* - Delete the selected layout
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- *Save* - Update the selected layout with the current windows, tabs,
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Once a layout is highlighted, it's name can be changed by clicking it
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In the central list is a tree showing the structure of the selected
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layout. When highlighting an entry of type Terminal, the controls on
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the right become enabled, and can be changed.
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.. warning:: You do not need to use the save button when changing the
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options in the controls on the right.
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If you do, you *will* lose the *Custom command* and
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*Working directory* settings for all terminals in this
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The profile used by the select terminal as listed in the
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:ref:`prefs-profiles` tab.
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Override the command run in the terminal, same as in a profile,
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but this one has a higher priority. If empty, it will run the command
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in the profile, or the default user shell.
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**Working directory**
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Whatever command is run (from layout, profile, or user default) it
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will be executed with this entry as the working path. If empty the
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default working directory is used, which is either where Terminator
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was launched from, or the users home directory.
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_keybindings.png
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This is a list of all available keyboard shortcuts in the application.
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To change a keybinding, first highlight the entry you wish to change.
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Next click on the *Keybinding* column again. The entry should change
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to **New accelerator...**. Simply perform the shortcut you wish to
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set. If you change your mind use ``Esc`` (Escape) key to revert back
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to the existing shortcut. If you wish to delete a shortcut, use the
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``BkSp`` key (Backspace, ←, or ⌫ depending on your keyboard).
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_plugins.png
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Here you will find a list of available plugins, and whether they are
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enabled or not. Plugins are covered in more detail in :ref:`plugins`.
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.. warning:: For some reason clicking on the text label of a plugin
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does not just select the item, but actually toggles the
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active/inactive status. This does not happen in the
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experimental GTK3 version of Terminator, and is a bit of
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.. image:: imgs/prefs_about.png
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A simple panel describing a bit about the application, and a set of
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links that will guide users to some helpful Terminator project
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resources. There's also a mysterious button... I wonder what happens
added
removed
doc/manual/_build/html/_sources/preferences.txt
