Theming XFCE to look like Linux Mint

After installing Proxmox on Linux Mint Debian Edition 5, I installed the XFCE desktop in place of the Cinnamon desktop. But when switching to XFCE, there was a "small" problem. It looked like the generic XFCE desktop, not the one you see when using Linux Mint XFCE edition.

But this could be fixed. After all, it is all about themes and icons, right?

The first thing to do was to move the panel from the top to the bottom of the screen. First, under Settings Manager, I opened Panel and from the dropdown menu, chose "Panel 2" and then the minus button to remove it. Then, select "Panel 1" from the dropdown menu, uncheck the "Lock panel" checkbox. The pane will then show a small handle at the side of the panel, allowing you to drag the panel to the bottom of the screen. Once it is there, check "Lock panel" again to keep it there.

Still in the Panel settings, under "Items", add a new item called "Whisker Menu". This is the Whisker menu used by Linux Mint. Then, right click on the original menu button on the panel and remove it. Right click on the Whisker menu button on the panel, select "Properties", then the "Panel Button" pane, which allows you to change the icon. The Linux Mint icons usually start with "linuxmint-logo" and there is a variety to choose from.

Then, go back to Settings Manager, and choose Appearance. Choose the Linux Mint style under "Style" and icons under "Icons". I use "Mint-Y-Legacy-Dark" for both.

Again, return to the Settings Manager, and choose Window Manager, and choose the Linux Mint style you want under "Style". Once again, I am using "Mint-Y-Legacy-Dark".

Finally, from Settings Manager, choose Desktop, which will allow you to set the background. The Linux Mint backgrounds can be found in the folder /usr/share/backgrounds/linuxmint, after which you can choose the one that you like.

All that remains is to add in the launcher buttons of favorite programs to the panel. This can be easily done from the Whisker menu. When you right click on an application, etc. in the Whisker menu, there is a "Add to Panel" option. Use this option to add that menu item to the panel as a launcher. You can move the launcher to its preferred location on the panel by right clicking on the icon, selecting "Move", and then moving it around the panel.

 

This is the result.

 

(After a lot of stuff like launchers and applets have been added to my taste.)

Note: As mentioned in my other post, use

sudo apt install mint-y-icons-legacy mint-themes-legacy

in order to get the legacy icons and themes, which I prefer.