Instructions on how to get Gtk3 indicators in a Gtk2 Xfce-Panel
Note: These instructions are a work-in-progress and will (hopefully) change in the next feek weeks/months as things consolidate.
Installation
Download and install Trusty daily - you can install to a VM such as VirtualBox if you wish.
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/daily-live/current/
1. Install PPA's
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.12
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noskcaj/indicator-gtk3
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shimmerproject/daily
2. Update and upgrade
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
3. Install Gtk3 indicators
sudo apt-get install indicator-bluetooth indicator-datetime indicator-keyboard indicator-messages indicator-network indicator-power indicator-printers indicator-session indicator-sound indicator-sync
sudo apt-get purge indicator-sound-gtk2 indicator-application-gtk2
Usage
Logout and then login.
Known Issues
NOTE: If you are affected by bugs that are NOT listed below, please report them as normal. Otherwise, we are aware and don't need them reporting again
indicator-datetime config panel
You can't access it unless you are running Unity. This affects gnome-classic too. Now that Ubuntu-Desktop will have it's own control center this bug can hopefully get fixed. #1074314
Indicators may fail to load
Indicators are currently in the middle of a change from DBus activation to Upstart, and may fail to load until this change is completed. As a workaround, put "INDICATOR_ALLOW_NO_WATCHERS=yes" in /etc/environment and reboot. #1185565
Play button animation incomplete when launching a media player from the sound menu
Minor visual glitch. #1231796
Gtk3 indicator background turns transparent/black occasionally
This bug can occur if the panel style is set to 'none (use system style)' and alpha to 100. Xfce Bug #10658 (Fix available)
Fixed Issues
Various indicators have no menu
This isn't specific to any DE. Test case affects Unity too. #1203888 (fixed in saucy and trusty)
Datetime/Session indicators sometimes don't load at startup
Affects other sessions. #1239710 (fixed is saucy and trusty)