Configuring the Dashboard

There are a couple of things you can do to configure the Dashboard itself. You can change its hot key and active screen corner and you can remove any widgets you never use.

Setting the Dashboard's Hot Key and Active Screen Corner

You can change the default hot key for the Dashboard by opening the Dashboard & Exposé pane of the System Preferences application. Choose the new hot key on the Dashboard pop-up menu.

You can also configure the Dashboard to open when you move the pointer to a corner of the screen by choosing Dashboard on the pop-up menu located at the corner you want to use. When you move the pointer to this corner, the Dashboard will activate just like it does when you press the hot key.

Removing Widgets from the Dashboard

Some of the widgets that come with Mac OS X probably won't be useful to you (my least favorite is the Tile Game widget). You can remove any widgets you won't use by performing the following steps:

NOTE

You have to authenticate yourself as an administrator to be able to remove widgets. And if you remove them, no one who uses your Mac will be able to use the widgets you remove.

1.	Open the Widgets folder that is located in Library folder of your startup drive (see Figure 6.14). Figure 6.14. The Widgets in this folder will be on the Widget Bar when you activate the Dashboard.
2.	Drag the widget you don't want to use out of the Widgets folder. If you might want to install it again sometime, save the widget file. If not, you can delete it.
3.	Restart your Mac. The undesirable widget will no longer be part of the Dashboard.

To learn how to install widgets in the Dashboard, p. 171.

TIP

Unlike other applications, the Dashboard's icon on the Dock doesn't serve much of a purpose. The Dashboard is always running, whether its icon appears on the Dock or not. To get rid of the Dashboard's Dock icon, open its menu and choose Remove from Dock. If you want it to be displayed there again, drag it from the Applications folder onto the Dock.