awesome-freedesktop VS lain

Default awesome config doesn't parse .desktop files at all. Some deb based distributions modified it to use awesome-freedesktop but it's surely not an only way to get the application menu (there are stand alone apps like rofi). So first of all you should mention which way to create the menu are you using.

Freedesktop.org compliant menu and desktop icons - older style, but dynamic. Not bad, but not for me. https://github.com/lcpz/awesome-freedesktop

Behold the desktop icons! I present you the awesome-freedesktop module by lcpz: https://github.com/lcpz/awesome-freedesktop

Welcome to AW! A few points that may come in handy. * Read awesome-git API documentation first. There are a lot of points about it. * Do not use io.popen https://awesomewm.org/apidoc/libraries/awful.spawn.html * Encapsulate business logic to user custom library and re-use code for your widgets. Remove it from rc.lua. * You can use producer-consumer pattern to create signals and add graphical widget listeners to it. https://github.com/raven2cz/awesomewm-config/blob/master/fishlive/status/archupdates.lua https://github.com/raven2cz/awesomewm-config/blob/master/themes/multicolor/theme.lua * nvidia: nvidia-smi --query-gpu=temperature.gpu --format=csv,noheader,nounits * Other basics mem, net, etc. looks here, sometimes is better to use library: https://github.com/lcpz/lain/tree/master/widget * optional: try to divide GUI graphical components (theme parts, and your custom libs) and business logic layer (rc.lua). After a few months, you won't know why and where you implemented it, and you need to keep it in order. Especially the initialization order of the components. Lua requires a strictly sequential order.

I'm quite confused how to implement the password function for lain imap widget (https://github.com/lcpz/lain/wiki/imap) - using pass (author recommends spm or pass) gpg (and not plain text).

Probably you're using some widgets made by someone else. I see you have a require "lain" in your rc so it's safe to assume you're using lain's widgets, found here: https://github.com/lcpz/lain I'm not familiar with them and currently I am not at the PC but in this file in the repo: https://github.com/lcpz/lain/blob/master/widget/bat.lua You can find this piece of code: bat_notification_critical_preset = { title = "Battery exhausted", text = "Shutdown imminent", timeout = 15, fg = "#000000", bg = "#FFFFFF" } Check out how it works and maybe add your own presets. Good luck.

You can read more in their wiki : https://github.com/lcpz/lain/wiki/bat

Lain: https://github.com/lcpz/lain