XFCE is very similar to Gnome 2.x. It comes with panels where you can customize and place your applications/applets on it.
To customize the panel(s), you just have to right click on the panel and select “Panel -> Panel Preferences”.
This is what you will see:
At the top dropdown bar, you can switch between the various panels. In Xubuntu, Panel 0 refers to the top panel while Panel 1 refers to the bottom panel (the one that look like a dock). To add a new panel, simply click the “+” button beside the dropdown bar. You should immediately see a new panel appear in the desktop. The same step apply for removing a panel, except that you will be clicking the “-” button instead of the “+”.
There are three main sections in the Panel Preferences: Display, Appearance and Items. At the Display tab, you can change the mode of the panel (whether it is horizontal, vertical or deskbar) and decide whether it should be locked or not. Locked panel is fixed in position and can’t be moved. You can also set it to automatically hide when it is not active.
The Appearance tab is where you set the style of the panel. The default option is using the System Theme, but you can change it to use a solid color or a background image. You can also change the transparency of the panel.
The Items tab is where you add application launchers and applets to the panel. Simply click the “+” button to add new application, the “-” button to remove existing launcher and the Up/Down arrow button to arrange the items.
Turning a regular panel to a dock
If you are wondering how to turn a normal panel into a dock (just like Xubuntu), here are the steps:
1. Add a new panel and move it to the bottom of the screen.
2. Check the three boxes: “Lock panel”, “Automatically show and hide the panel” and “Don’t reserve space on borders”. Under the Measurement section, drag the Length (%) slider to 100%.
3. Go to the Appearance tab. drag the “Alpha” slider to 15 (or lower value).
4. Next, go to the Items tab. Add all your favorite applications/launchers to the panel.
You will notice that all the items are aligned to the left. To make them align to the center, simply add two “separator” and make them the first and last item in the list.
Next, move your cursor to the first item of the panel (where the separator is located), right click on it and select “Properties”. Check the box “Expand”.
Repeat the same step for the last separator. Your items will now magically aligned to the center.