A new background image on your computer Desktop can really make the difference between a computer that gets used, and one that feels personalized to the individual user. Similarly, we don't always want the same wallpaper on our Desktops, day after day after day. While we might really like a particular image, we don't want it to be our only background.
Wally is a program available for Mac, Windows and Linux (the Windows version will be shown in this article), that can not only switch your wallpaper for you at regular intervals, but can grab new images from the Internet. Here's how it works.
First, head to the Wally homepage and download the correct installer for your operating system.
Once downloaded, install the program and then restart if necessary. KDE users will need to reboot for sure, in order for the Wally Plugin to become active). Once you've rebooted, you can open up Wally and begin to configure it. The first time you launch Wally, you'll receive a warning. Since Wally can download pictures from the Internet, some may be questionable and Wally wants you to know it's not reponsible for this.
Next, you'll see a little icon in the taskbar. Depending on your settings, of course, the taskbar icon may quickly disappear into the "inactive" menu.
Finally, right-click the icon to bring up the main Wally configuration window.
You'll see, first of all, all the different options you have, as far as when Wally runs, what order the images are displayed, and more.
Wally offers two completely different, but complementary functions. The first is the ability to take the wallpapers already on your computer and switch between them at an interval you specify. Wally lets you create lists of either individual files or entire folders and will display only those images you specify.
Above is the interface for selecting single images. You can create a list of images stored all over your computer, and Wally will rotate between them.
Wally also lets you choose folders (and even folders inside the folders). This is more of a scattershot approach, since it's likely you'll be shown a large number of wallpapers, meaning you'll see each wallpaper less frequently. Selecting individual images as above lets you select a handful of your absolute favorites.
Where Wally really shines, however, is in its ability to use websites or services as an Engine that will automatically download images – according to criteria you choose – and use them as new wallpapers for your computer.
As an example, Flickr is one of the available options. Below you can see that there are currently three "rules" we've set up.
We want to search Flickr for images with both "nature" and "wallpaper" tags, or for "architecture" and "wallpaper" tags, or simply tagged with "1366×768″ which is an ideal size for our screen. How did we create those rules? Click the green plus size icon, then edit the item to your preferences.
There are a dozen or so different web services that can be used. Flickr, Google, Panoramio, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Vladstudio, Yahoo, DeviantART, Ipernity and Buzznet are all included, along with the Files and Folders options. Setting up most services is pretty similar to
What's especially nice is that back in the general Settings tab is a tab called Engines. Here you can choose which of the engines should be used for swapping out your wallpapers.
What this means is that you can spend the time to configure each engine, but not have the module be active, if you want to focus instead on another engine. At a later date, however, you could simply activate the engine and not need to configure it again.
Finally, although you configure the interval between new wallpapers as a general setting, you can easily trigger a new download if you don't like the current one. To do this, simply right-click the taskbar icon and choose the Next Photo option from the contextual menu.
All in all, Wally is a really nice option for those who feel the need for an ever-changing desktop environment without having to manually select each and every image to be displayed. Simply input the settings you'd like each service to use, and sit back and wait for your new wallpapers to start rolling in. It's a nice time-saver that should keep your Desktop fresh and new for a long time.
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