Having a transparent background by setting alpha to zero in Panel Preferences.Appearance/Background (slider) no longer possible in 4.14., presumably alpha now being set to 100. Also semi-transparent backgrounds no longer possible. The alpha slider is present in 4.14pre2.
Created attachment 8884 Previously transparent b/g on panel used as ½ screen marker
Unfortunately your screenshot doesn't tell me much about the problem you're seeing because it's too thin to understand the context clearly. Please check the documentation, semi-transparent panels are still possible: https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/preferences/transparent-panel Also, if you set a semi-transparent picture as background, that also still works. The image gets repeated horizontally (if the panel is horizontal) so you need to make sure it's repeatable.
The attachment 8884 is a screenshot of the 2560x16 pixel panel formerly with a transparent background and three expanded separators, left and right with style:separator, center with style:dots. These effectively divided the panel into ¼ sections allowing the panel to be used as a scale. The screenshot only shows the required parts of the entire panel, nothing else on the 2560x1600 screen is important. When the background is transparent, the panel does not obscure items on the screen.
The documentation [https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/preferences/transparent-panel#step_3change_the_alpha_slider_for_transparency] is ineffective in resolving problems created by the removal of the alpha slider from Panel Preferences/Appearance/Background setting because when it was available and used it would adjust the alpha of the background but not the items on the panel, while the documentation about transparency adjustment of the background Panel Preferences/Appearance/Background Style:Solid color ~ Pick a Panel Color:Custom Alpha Slider not only changes the transparency of the background but also changes the transparency of items (here separators) - rendering them invisible and useless when transparency slider is set full to the left. Consequently, the deprecation of the former alpha slider also reduces functionality and is undesirable as no other way (obvious) to retain non-transparency of items is available
Created attachment 8888 Shows hidden items when alpha set left on panel preference This screenshot shows the hiding of separator items on panel when background transparency per https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/preferences/transparent-panel is used vice the now deprecated alpha slider i 4.14pre2
Created attachment 8895 Screenshot of transparent panel with three separators Which Gtk theme are you using? I tried with both Greybird and Adwaita and can't reproduce the problem. In both cases the separator remained clearly visible (see screenshot with Adwaita).
I do not recall and the Xfce Theme Manager on the Settings page will not open. (??)(In reply to Simon Steinbeiss from comment #6) > Which Gtk theme are you using? I tried with both Greybird and Adwaita and > can't reproduce the problem.
Created attachment 8896 Xvce Setting Manager Fails to open
Created attachment 8897 This is from Windows Manager
[--ljohnson{07:19:40}~]$ xfce-theme-manager xfce-theme-manager: error while loading shared libraries: libxfconf-0.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or director --------- [root@KISE-005 ~]# pacman -Qss xfconf local/xfconf 4.14.1-1 (xfce4) Flexible, easy-to-use configuration management system [root@KISE-005 ~]# pacman -S xfconf warning: xfconf-4.14.1-1 is up to date -- reinstalling resolving dependencies... looking for conflicting packages... Package (1) Old Version New Version Net Change extra/xfconf 4.14.1-1 4.14.1-1 0.00 MiB Total Installed Size: 1.04 MiB Net Upgrade Size: 0.00 MiB :: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] (1/1) checking keys in keyring [###############################] 100% (1/1) checking package integrity [###############################] 100% (1/1) loading package files [###############################] 100% (1/1) checking for file conflicts [###############################] 100% (1/1) checking available disk space [###############################] 100% :: Processing package changes... (1/1) reinstalling xfconf [###############################] 100% :: Running post-transaction hooks... (1/1) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
Not sure what xfce-theme-manager is, but you could just try xfce4-appearance-settings instead? Also, if you have issues with xfconf that may also block other things (like the panel) from working properly. How did you upgrade to Xfce 4.14 and which distribution (in which version) are you using?
I presume xfce-theme-manager has been deprecated but not removed, this system has used xfce for many years. It is shown as a menu item. xfce4-appearance-settings is shown in attachment 8897 (Xfce-4.8) but now it shows Xfce-4-6 and 4-8 no longer an option. Current xfce4-appearance-settings (Appearance) is shown here (Attachment) The distribution in archlinux x86_64. It is updated daily along with four other Linux systems. On a secondary system, manjaro x86_64, not as ancient as primary, the same panel phenomenon occurs. xfce4-appearance-settings here shows Style as 'Xfce'.
Created attachment 8900 Current xfce4-appearance-settings (Appearance)
Regards xfce-theme-manager # cat pacman.log | grep xfce-theme-manager [2015-06-02 15:48] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -S xfce-theme-manager' [2015-06-02 16:27] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman --color auto -U /tmp/yaourt-tmp-ljohnson/PKGDEST.6OH/xfce-theme-manager-0.3.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz' [2015-06-02 16:27] [ALPM] installed xfce-theme-manager (0.3.6-1) [2015-06-07 11:07] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman --color auto -U /tmp/yaourt-tmp-ljohnson/PKGDEST.DU6/xfce-theme-manager-0.3.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz' [2015-06-07 11:07] [ALPM] reinstalled xfce-theme-manager (0.3.6-1) [2015-08-08 09:27] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman --color auto -U /tmp/yaourt-tmp-ljohnson/PKGDEST.xYX/xfce-theme-manager-0.3.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz' [2015-08-08 09:27] [ALPM] upgraded xfce-theme-manager (0.3.6-1 -> 0.3.6-2) [2015-12-02 09:44] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman --color auto -U /tmp/yaourt-tmp-ljohnson/PKGDEST.twN/xfce-theme-manager-0.3.7-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz' [2015-12-02 09:44] [ALPM] upgraded xfce-theme-manager (0.3.6-2 -> 0.3.7-1) [2016-08-07 06:10] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman --color auto -U /tmp/yaourt-tmp-ljohnson/PKGDEST.Uo7/xfce-theme-manager-0.3.7-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz' [2016-08-07 06:10] [ALPM] upgraded xfce-theme-manager (0.3.7-1 -> 0.3.7-2) ---- # pacman -Qii xfce-theme-manager Name : xfce-theme-manager Version : 0.3.7-2 Description : A theme manager allowing easy configuration of themes, window borders, controls, icons and cursors for Xfce. Architecture : x86_64 URL : http://khapplications.darktech.org/pages/apps.html#themeed Licenses : GPL3 Groups : None Provides : None Depends On : gdk-pixbuf2 cairo libxcursor libxfce4ui Optional Deps : xfce4-composite-editor: A simple GUI to tweak xfwm, can be launched from xfce-theme-manager [installed] Required By : None Optional For : None Conflicts With : None Replaces : None Installed Size : 294.00 KiB Packager : Unknown Packager Build Date : Sun 07 Aug 2016 06:09:40 AM PDT Install Date : Sun 07 Aug 2016 06:10:18 AM PDT Install Reason : Explicitly installed Install Script : No Validated By : None Backup Files :
To be honest I don't understand this report at all. In your first screenshot (which is a very confusing crop) the panel is not at all transparent, so the separators are clearly visible. In a fully transparent panel the separators are still dark, so with dark on your dark background I can't imagine how they would be visible... I'm closing this issue for now. If you think it still applies please formulate it very clearly with a less cropped screenshot and some steps to reproduce. Thanks!