Plasma/Clocks

Clock widgets

There are several widgets to be used in KDE Plasma that will let you display the time on your desktop screen. These can be added directly onto the desktop or into the panel as well. This applies to all widgets, of course.

The Analog Clock Widget on the Desktop and the Digital Clock Widget in the Panel

See this explanation of how to add a widget to the Desktop or to a Panel, and how to move it about or change its size or orientation.

All of the clock widgets will display the system time unless you tell them to use another time zone by setting so at System Settings → Regional Settings → Date & Time. If you click on any clock-widget a calendar will pop up. Click anywhere outside the calendar to make it disappear again.

By default, there is one clock widget on the right of the control panel. In this document, we will concentrate on this clock. However, everything said is also valid for clock widgets that are added onto the desktop directly.

A click with the right mouse button gives you a context menu. Choosing Show Alternatives lets you pick another clock widget and choosing Configure lets you configure the actual clock widget.

The five alternative clock widgets

You may choose between an analog clock, a binary clock, a digital clock, a calendar and a fuzzy clock.

The analogue clock is a classic clock with clock hands. With Configure you can add a second hand and show time zone.

The binary clock shows time in a binary format. This is made by “flashing up” LEDs. With Configure you may choose whether a gird is to be displayed, the inactive LED should flash up too (in a different colour) or if seconds should be shown. Additionally, the color of the LED can be changed.

The digital clock shows time as on a digital watch. There are more options with Configure here as for the other clock widgets. There are several tabs on Configure menu.

Appearance: here you can set whether date, seconds and time zone to be shown. The clock can be changed between 12-hour mode and 24-hour mode and the font style can be changed.

Calendar: If you wish you may add week numbers to the calendar.

Time Zones: Here you may change the time zone of the time shown.

The fuzzy clock shows the time as a spoken expression like “Twenty to six”. With Configure you may change font to “bold” or “italic”. Additionally, the fuzziness of the clock can be adjusted. At maximum accurateness, it will change all five minutes, with increasing fuzziness the time of changes will increase. At maximum fuzziness, it may only say “Weekend”.

The calendar widget will not display a clock, but a calendar view instead. With Configure you may add week number to be shown.