Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Leolik provides, for quite a few Ubuntu releases now, a patched NotifyOSD package which adds some extra features to Ubuntu's notification bubbles: change the notifications position, size, colors, adds an option to close the notifications on click and more. 

The PPA was updated recently for the latest Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

NotifyOSD Configurable Ubuntu

The patched NotifyOSD adds the following features to Ubuntu's default notifications (all are optional of course):
  • close on click: the notifications can be configured to close when clicked on;
  • themes support: change color, width, height, font size, opacity, icon size and more;
  • working timeout option ("-t");
  • change the notification position: top-right, middle-right, bottom-right, bottom-left, middle-left and top-left corners;
  • prevent the notification bubbles from fading out when the mouse pointer hovers over them.

To configure the patched notifications, you can use NotifyOSDConfig, a tool developed by Amandeep Grewal that gives you access to all the configuration options supported by the patched NotifyOSD. Back in February, NotifyOSDConfig was finally updated, after years in which it missed this functionality, with options to change the notifications position.

Below you can watch a quick video I've recorded in Ubuntu 14.04, demoing the patched NotifyOSD as well as the configuration tool, NotifyOSDConfig:


(direct video link; for more videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel)



Get configurable NotifyOSD notifications in Ubuntu 14.04


Note that the instructions below should also work on older Ubuntu versions!

1. Firstly, add Leolik's PPA and upgrade to his patched NotifyOSD:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:leolik/leolik 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install libnotify-bin
pkill notify-osd

2. Install NotifyOSDConfig, the GUI used to configure the patched NotifyOSD

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:amandeepgrewal/notifyosdconfig
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install notifyosdconfig

And finally, launch NotifyOSD Configuration from Dash and tweak the notifications to suit your needs.