Three Openbox (Window Manager) Config Tips

The Openbox window manager is a lightweight, configurable window manager for X Windows that can be used with a variety of Linux distributions and other Unix-like operating systems. This post presents a few tips and resources for Openbox.

Tip #0 - Be Careful

Before editing your Openbox config file, be certain that you are able to exit from an Openbox session without an Openbox keybind or the Application menu. When there is an error with Openbox's config file, none of the menus or keybinds will function. Restarting the computer is the worst thing you can do at this point; I once wrecked an Arch Linux install because I restarted the computer while Openbox was running.

Tip #1 - Quick Menu Access

Under the default Openbox configuration, a user has to right-click on the desktop to access a menu for launching programs. There is a quick way to access this menu from anywhere (even if other windows are open).
Place this in the <keyboard> section of your Openbox config file (by default, this is ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml):

<keybind key="C-space">
    <action name="ShowMenu">
        <menu>root-menu</menu>
    </action>
</keybind>

With this, the user only has to press Ctrl-Space on the keyboard to access the Applications menu.

Tip #2 - Keypad Window Management

WinLayout and WinSplit Revolution are two programs for Windows that enable users to move/resize windows using the numpad. We can get similar (but admittedly less flexible) binds for Openbox.
Again, place the following within the <keyboard> section of your Openbox config file:

<keybind key="C-A-KP_5">
    <action name="ToggleMaximizeFull">
    </action>
</keybind>

<keybind key="C-A-KP_4">
    <action name="MaximizeVert" />
    <action name="UnmaximizeHorz" />

    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>0</x>
        <width>720</width>
    </action>
</keybind>

<keybind key="C-A-KP_6">
    <action name="MaximizeVert" />
    <action name="UnmaximizeHorz" />
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>720</x>
        <width>720</width>
        </action>
</keybind>

<keybind key="C-A-KP_8">
    <action name="MaximizeHorz" />
    <action name="UnmaximizeVert" />
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <y>0</y>
        <height>425</height>
    </action>
</keybind>

<keybind key="C-A-KP_2">
    <action name="MaximizeHorz" />
    <action name="UnmaximizeVert" />
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <y>450</y>
        <height>425</height>
    </action>
</keybind>

The width and height values given must be hard-coded in. Be sure to change the width (720) to 1/2 of your screen's width, and change the height (425) to less than 1/2 of your screen's height to account for window size. The exact height to use depends on your personal preference. Try different heights to see what works for you.

Additional Resources:

• Official Site
• Helpful information on making your own keybinds:
• Key Bindings Help Page
• Actions Help Page
• Ubuntu Documentation entry (usage tips under Ubuntu)
• ArchWiki entry (usage tips under Arch Linux)