GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 95007
Applets are too easy to remove accidentally
Last modified: 2004-12-22 21:47:04 UTC
This bug is somewhat related to 74997, in that it could be solved if 74997 is solved in the proper way. Applets are way too easy to remove with the right-click menu. I have accidentally removed the mail-check applet half a dozen times, and each time I have to add it back in and set up all the details again. There are two ways I can think of that this could be addressed: 1) As discussed in 74997, make a 'lock panel' mode ala Windows XP (and maybe others). The 'Remove from panel' and 'move' options will not be available in this mode. 2) Make 'Remove from panel' execute a confirmation dialog that asks "Are you sure you want to remove this from the panel?" As much as I hate these confirmation-on-exit dialogs (I think same-gnome has one which is ridiculous), this would make sense here. And possibly, both should be done.
I think your problem is the same as bug #94217. I'd prefer to see the problem of "accidently hitting the remove button" fixed rather than working around it with a confirmation dialog. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 94217 ***
Bug 94217 refers to the problem where the 'remove from panel' option usually appears by default directly below the mouse. This bug is different (although it would be good to fix that as well). Because 'Remove from panel' is in the same menu as other important functions of an applet (e.g., the 'check for mail' option on the mail applet), it is easy to hit by accident (even if it isn't directly beneath the mouse). Regarding solution #2 above, quoting from Chapter 1, Verse 8 of the HIG ("Forgive the user") If an action is very dangerous, and there is no way to undo the result, warn the user and ask for confirmation. Only do this in extreme cases, though; if frequently faced with such confirmation messages, users begin to ignore them, making them worse than useless. Removing things from the panel is a rare event and so shouldn't happen frequently enough to cause users to dislike a confirmation dialog. Anyway, I'm reopening the bug because it is different from 94217.
same problem for drawers: bug #84462.
You can lock the applets in GNOME 2.3/2.4.