dwm - My Custom Build

This is my personal, modified build of dwm, a dynamic window manager for X. This version introduces significant enhancements over the original, including a scrolling tile layout and window previews.

Key Features

• Scrolling Tile Layout: Unlike the standard tiling layouts, this build implements a scrolling tile layout similar to the niri window manager. Windows are placed in a single, continuous vertical column that you can scroll through, preventing windows from becoming too small to be useful.
• Window Previews: A major addition is the ability to see a preview of a window's content, which is not available in the vanilla dwm. This allows for easier identification and navigation between windows.
• Lightweight & Fast: Retains the core philosophies of dwm, remaining extremely fast, small, and efficient.
• Configuration in C: All configuration is done by editing the config.h header file and recompiling, ensuring the window manager remains bloat-free.

Requirements

• A C compiler (gcc, clang, etc.) and make.
• Xlib header files.
• dmenu is highly recommended for application launching.

Installation

1. Configure the build: Edit config.mk to match your local setup if necessary (e.g., X11INC and X11LIB paths).
2. Customize configuration: Create your personal config.h from the template:

   cp config.def.h config.h

   Then, modify config.h to personalize your build (fonts, colors, keybindings, etc.).
3. Build and install:

   sudo make clean install

Running dwm

Add the following line to your ~/.xinitrc file to start dwm with the startx command:

exec dwm

To connect dwm to a specific display, set the DISPLAY environment variable:

DISPLAY=:1 exec dwm

To display status info in the bar, you can pipe information to xsetroot. For example, in your .xinitrc:

while xsetroot -name "`date` `uptime | sed 's/.*,//'`"
do
	sleep 1
done &
exec dwm

Keybindings

The MODKEY is set to Mod4Mask (the Super/Windows key).

Applications & System Control

Keybinding	Action	Command/Details
MODKEY + Shift + Enter	Launch Terminal	wezterm
MODKEY + p	Launch Application Launcher	rofi -show
MODKEY + Shift + p	Launch Web Browser	google-chrome-stable
MODKEY + e	Launch File Manager	thunar
MODKEY + F10	Take Screenshot (GUI)	flameshot gui
MODKEY + F8 / F9	Decrease / Increase Screen Brightness	light -U 5 / light -A 5
MODKEY + F5 / F6	Decrease / Increase Volume	pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -5%/+5%
MODKEY + F3	Mute / Unmute Volume	pactl set-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ toggle
MODKEY + u / n	Simulate Mouse Scroll Up / Down	xdotool click 4 / xdotool click 5
MODKEY + Shift + q	Quit dwm

Window Management

Keybinding	Action
MODKEY + j / k	Focus next / previous window in the stack
MODKEY + Shift + j / k	Move focused window to the edge of the stack
MODKEY + i / d	Increase / decrease number of master windows
MODKEY + h / l	Decrease / increase master area size
MODKEY + Shift + c	Close focused window
MODKEY + b	Toggle status bar visibility
MODKEY + Tab	View the previously focused tag
MODKEY + Alt	Switch focus to the previously focused window
MODKEY + s	Show the most recently hidden window
MODKEY + Shift + s	Show all hidden windows on the current tag
MODKEY + o	Show only the focused window (hides others)
MODKEY + Shift + h	Hide the focused window
MODKEY + Shift + f	Toggle fullscreen for the focused window
MODKEY + Shift + Space	Toggle floating mode for the focused window

Layout Management

Keybinding	Action
MODKEY + t	Set Tiling layout
MODKEY + f	Set Floating layout
MODKEY + m	Set Monocle layout
MODKEY + Return	Toggle lean edge (left/right master area)
MODKEY + Space	Toggle horizontal gaps

Window Previews

Keybinding	Action
MODKEY + Shift + r	Preview all windows on the current tag
MODKEY + r	Preview the currently focused window

Tag (Workspace) Management

Keybinding	Action
MODKEY + [1-9]	View tag [1-9]
MODKEY + Shift + [1-9]	Move focused window to tag [1-9]
MODKEY + Ctrl + [1-9]	Add/remove tag [1-9] from current view
MODKEY + Ctrl + Shift + [1-9]	Add/remove focused window from tag [1-9]
MODKEY + 0	View all tags
MODKEY + Shift + 0	Move focused window to all tags (make sticky)
MODKEY + , / .	Focus previous / next monitor
MODKEY + Shift + , / .	Move focused window to previous / next monitor