i3
i3 is a tiling window manager. See my notes below on various settings, modules, etc
Status Bars
Polybar
Polybar is a simple community driven solution to configuring custom status bars. Generally, configurations are handled within the ~/.config/polybar/config file, but some specific cases may require editing other files.
Install
The general requirements of using Polybar is installation via your package manager, for me, this is pacman. After installing, we need to define our polybars, then configure i3 to handle these settings for us.
sudo pacman -Syu polybar
After installing, we need to configure our bars within ~/.config/polybar/config, then we can simply run polybar top to run a polybar titled top within said config file.
Polybar Using i3
To start, a default ~/.config/i3/config will contain a block defining the i3status and its settings
bar {
i3bar_command i3bar
status_command i3status
position bottom
# please set your primary output first. Example: 'xrandr --output eDP1 --primary'
tray_output primary
tray_output eDP1
bindsym button4 nop
bindsym button5 nop
font xft:URWGothic-Book 11
strip_workspace_numbers yes
colors {
background #222D31
statusline #F9FAF9
separator #454947
border backgr. text
focused_workspace #F9FAF9 #16a085 #292F34
active_workspace #595B5B #353836 #FDF6E3
inactive_workspace #595B5B #222D31 #EEE8D5
binding_mode #16a085 #2C2C2C #F9FAF9
urgent_workspace #16a085 #FDF6E3 #E5201D
}
}
We are going to remove this, or comment it all out, and replace it with the exec_always line below. Now copy the start-polybar.sh script to ~/.config/polybar/ for use with i3 startup configuration below. This is just telling i3 that we are starting Polybar from a script we've written and stored within the ~/.config/polybar/ directory on initial startup.
My bar { ... } define within ~/.config/i3/config -
# Custom startup apps
exec_always --no-startup-id $HOME/.config/polybar/start-polybar.sh
# Don't use i3 status bar, comment out this block or remove it entirely
#bar { }
Now just press the <Mod><Shift><R> (i3 default setting) to reload i3 and your Polybars should start up instead of the default i3status
Define Polybars / Modules
For example, my ~/.config/polybar/config -
[bar/top]
monitor = ${env:MONITOR}
width = 100%
height = 34
background = #00000000
foreground = #ccffffff
line-color = ${bar/bottom.background}
line-size = 16
spacing = 2
padding-right = 5
module-margin = 4
font-0 = NotoSans-Regular:size=8;-1
font-1 = MaterialIcons:size=10;0
font-2 = Termsynu:size=8:antialias=false;-2
font-3 = FontAwesome:size=10;0
font-4 = Unifont:size=8;0
modules-left = powermenu
modules-center = ki3
modules-right = volume wired-network clock
[bar/bottom]
monitor = ${env:MONITOR}
bottom = true
width = 100%
height = 27
background = ${bar/top.background}
foreground = ${bar/top.foreground}
line-color = ${bar/top.background}
line-size = 2
spacing = 3
padding-right = 4
module-margin-left = 0
module-margin-right = 6
font-0 = NotoSans-Regular:size=8;0
font-1 = unifont:size=6;-3
font-2 = FontAwesome:size=8;-2
font-3 = NotoSans-Regular:size=8;-1
font-4 = MaterialIcons:size=10;-1
font-5 = Termsynu:size=8:antialias=false;0
These first two blocks define our top and bottom status bars. Continuing on in the ~/.config/polybar/config file, we see the defines for the modules -
[module/powermenu]
type = custom/menu
format-padding = 5
label-open = ䷡
label-close = X
menu-0-0 = Terminate WM
menu-0-0-foreground = #fba922
menu-0-0-exec = bspc quit -1
menu-0-1 = Reboot
menu-0-1-foreground = #fba922
menu-0-1-exec = menu_open-1
menu-0-2 = Power off
menu-0-2-foreground = #fba922
menu-0-2-exec = menu_open-2
menu-1-0 = Cancel
menu-1-0-foreground = #fba922
menu-1-0-exec = menu_open-0
menu-1-1 = Reboot
menu-1-1-foreground = #fba922
menu-1-1-exec = sudo reboot
menu-2-0 = Power off
menu-2-0-foreground = #fba922
menu-2-0-exec = sudo poweroff
menu-2-1 = Cancel
menu-2-1-foreground = #fba922
menu-2-1-exec = menu_open-0
[module/cpu]
type = internal/cpu
interval = 0.5
format = <label> <ramp-coreload>
label = CPU
ramp-coreload-0 = ▁
ramp-coreload-0-font = 2
ramp-coreload-0-foreground = #aaff77
ramp-coreload-1 = ▂
ramp-coreload-1-font = 2
ramp-coreload-1-foreground = #aaff77
ramp-coreload-2 = ▃
ramp-coreload-2-font = 2
ramp-coreload-2-foreground = #aaff77
ramp-coreload-3 = ▄
ramp-coreload-3-font = 2
ramp-coreload-3-foreground = #aaff77
ramp-coreload-4 = ▅
ramp-coreload-4-font = 2
ramp-coreload-4-foreground = #fba922
ramp-coreload-5 = ▆
ramp-coreload-5-font = 2
ramp-coreload-5-foreground = #fba922
ramp-coreload-6 = ▇
ramp-coreload-6-font = 2
ramp-coreload-6-foreground = #ff5555
ramp-coreload-7 = █
ramp-coreload-7-font = 2
ramp-coreload-7-foreground = #ff5555
[module/clock]
type = internal/date
interval = 2
date = %%{F#999}%Y-%m-%d%%{F-} %%{F#fff}%H:%M%%{F-}
[module/date]
type = internal/date
date = %%{F#99}%Y-%m-%d%%{F-} %%{F#fff}%H:%M%%{F-}
date-alt = %%{F#fff}%A, %d %B %Y %%{F#fff}%H:%M%%{F#666}:%%{F#fba922}%S%%{F-}
[module/memory]
type = internal/memory
format = <label> <bar-used>
label = RAM
bar-used-width = 30
bar-used-foreground-0 = #aaff77
bar-used-foreground-1 = #aaff77
bar-used-foreground-2 = #fba922
bar-used-foreground-3 = #ff5555
bar-used-indicator = |
bar-used-indicator-font = 6
bar-used-indicator-foreground = #ff
bar-used-fill = ─
bar-used-fill-font = 6
bar-used-empty = -
bar-used-empty-font = 6
bar-used-empty-foreground = #444444
[module/ki3]
type = internal/i3
; Only show workspaces defined on the same output as the bar
;
; Useful if you want to show monitor specific workspaces
; on different bars
;
; Default: false
pin-workspaces = true
; This will split the workspace name on ':'
; Default: false
strip-wsnumbers = true
; Sort the workspaces by index instead of the default
; sorting that groups the workspaces by output
; Default: false
index-sort = true
; Create click handler used to focus workspace
; Default: true
enable-click = false
; Create scroll handlers used to cycle workspaces
; Default: true
enable-scroll = true
; Wrap around when reaching the first/last workspace
; Default: true
wrapping-scroll = true
; Set the scroll cycle direction
; Default: true
reverse-scroll = false
; Use fuzzy (partial) matching on labels when assigning
; icons to workspaces
; Example: code;♚ will apply the icon to all workspaces
; containing 'code' in the label
; Default: false
fuzzy-match = true
[module/volume]
type = internal/alsa
speaker-mixer = IEC958
headphone-mixer = Headphone
headphone-id = 9
format-volume = <ramp-volume> <label-volume>
label-muted = muted
label-muted-foreground = #66
ramp-volume-0 =
ramp-volume-1 =
ramp-volume-2 =
ramp-volume-3 =
[module/wired-network]
type = internal/network
interface = net0
interval = 3.0
label-connected = %{T3}%local_ip%%{T-}
label-disconnected-foreground = #66
[module/wireless-network]
type = internal/network
interface = net1
interval = 3.0
ping-interval = 10
format-connected = <ramp-signal> <label-connected>
label-connected = %essid%
label-disconnected = not connected
label-disconnected-foreground = #66
ramp-signal-0 =
ramp-signal-1 =
ramp-signal-2 =
ramp-signal-3 =
ramp-signal-4 =
animation-packetloss-0 =
animation-packetloss-0-foreground = #ffa64c
animation-packetloss-1 =
animation-packetloss-1-foreground = ${bar/top.foreground}
animation-packetloss-framerate = 500
Now that we have our status bars and Polybar Modules defined, we need to configure i3 to use Polybar instead of the default i3status that comes configured within the bar { ... } block of the i3 config file. See below for details.
Starting Polybar
If you have one monitor, you can simply run polybar top to start the top status bar created above, and creating a start script should be straight-forward. If you are using multiple monitors and want to replicate the status bars across all displays, create the below script within ~/.config/polybar/, name it what you wish, but be sure it corresponds with how you choose to exec_always in your i3 config later on.
#!/bin/bash
## Author: Shaun Reed | Contact: shaunrd0@gmail.com | URL: www.shaunreed.com ##
## A script placed in ~/.config/polybar/ - Uses ${env:MONITOR} ##
## Starts polybars top and bottom on multiple displays ##
###############################################################################
# start-polybar.sh
# Kill any previous polybars
pkill -f polybar
# For each monitor in list up to ':'
for m in $(polybar --list-monitors | cut -d":" -f1); do
# Reload polybars with monitor device name
MONITOR=$m polybar --reload top &
MONITOR=$m polybar --reload bottom &
done
Now, in your ~/.config/polybar/config file, ensure the ${env:MONITOR} environment variable is used to define the monitors -
[bar/top]
monitor = ${env:MONITOR}
width = 100%
height = 34
background = #00000000
foreground = #ccffffff
# Reduced..
Make the script executable and run it, polybar will start with your custom configs -
sudo chmod a+x start-polybar.sh
./start-polybar.sh
You may see errors for symbols used in fonts you do not have installed, see below for troubleshooting information.
To kill all Polybars, run pkill -f polybar
Verify / Install Fonts
You may run into issues with Unicode characters used in these configurations, see the links / commands below for help troubleshooting. The goal is usually to track down the font you are missing and install it, preferably via your system package manager. If you see an error like the below when starting your Polybars, this is likely the issue
warn: Dropping unmatched character ▁ (U+2581)
It is important to note that not defining the relevant font in the Polybar definition within ~/.config/polybar/config will result in the same error.
Cross-check that you have the supported fonts installed by searching up your character in a Unicode Character Search and checking that a relevant font is installed with the below command
fc-match -s monospace:charset=04de1
This matches the Great Power Hexagram, which I use for my system power options / context menu.
The fc-match command above will output all fonts compatible with that symbol, if there is no output, see the Supporting Fonts link from the character's search result, and install it via your package manager.
If it is not installed, search fonts available to install via pacman package manager
sudo pacman -Ss ttf- |grep unicode
sudo pacman -Ss otf- |grep unicode
If it is installed an the error is still present, see that the corresponding font for the character is included in the define for the status bar it is used in. For example, to use the Hexagram above, I added the Unifont:size=8;0 line to my top Polybar definition in ~/.config/polybar/config -
[bar/top]
monitor = ${env:MONITOR}
font-0 = NotoSans-Regular:size=8;-1
font-1 = MaterialIcons:size=10;0
font-2 = Termsynu:size=8:antialias=false;-2
font-3 = FontAwesome:size=10;0
font-4 = Unifont:size=8;0
If still having issues, check the following commands for more info / useful output
# Search for installed fonts
fc-list | grep fontname
Links
Because this is such a broad topic, I'll pot links here for the sources I used to configure my own Manjaro Linux system running the i3wm and polybar.
Alsa / Volume Mixers - Cannot find simple element