Unlike
KDE and [GNOME], Xfce does not have a native session manager, so decided to try the native one for X server - XDM. It is no problem one uses KDM or GDM, bur they will be slower and uselessly RAM 'eating' (especially KDM which loads several QT libs on it`s start up). XDM is much more simple but still customizable that the two mentioned above. It appears as two inputs - one for user name and one for password and nothing more. Themeing is simple and here is what I did to my login screen:
Enable XDM
To enable the XDM (or other *DM in general) edit the following line in
/etc/inittab. Set the runlevel to 4 (display manager)
# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:
This will invoke a Display Manager. Unfortunately the XDM does not start Xfce as default, so you need to tell the X which session to load. Do the following:
echo "/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.xfce">~/.xsession
Now one final touch to the
/etc/X11/xdm/Xsession file - uncomment the following lines to execute
~/.xsession before first. Note that there is a CASE "$1" which expects a xdm choice for the session to be given; it must not be executed.
if [ -x $HOME/.xsession ]; then
exec $HOME/.xsession $@
fi
Now we have a XDM switched on and user with Xfce session loading. It is time for customization to begin.
XDM holds all its startup and session files under
/etc/X11/xdm, so it is easyto find

.
Adding background image to the XDM + Shutdown button
Here is how my scripts look-like.
/etc/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0
#!/bin/sh
# Correct the path and/or use another command to display the
# image as a stretched background if you want to.
# /usr/X11R6/bin/xsetroot -background '#445E72'
# For solid color
/usr/local/sbin/xdmshutdown -geometry +1+1 &
echo $! > /var/run/xdmshutdown.pid
display -window root /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/pixmaps/xdm-bg.png
Where
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/pixmaps/xdm-bg.png is a picture taken from
Xfce-Look.org for example.
/etc/X11/xdm/Xstartup
#Remove the shutdown button - BUGGY!
pid=`cat /var/run/xdmshutdown.pid 2>/dev/null`
test "$pid" && kill -9 $pid 2>/dev/null
# Register session
/usr/X11R6/bin/sessreg -a -w "/var/log/wtmp" -u "/var/run/utmp"
-x "/etc/X11/xdm/Xservers" -l $DISPLAY -h "" $USER
Shutdown button scripts
/usr/local/sbin/xdmshutdown
#!/usr/bin/wish
# NT 20 October 2002 - adapted/copied from various similar
# scripts dragged kicking and screaming from the bowels of the web
#
proc shutdownf {} {
exec /usr/local/sbin/xdmshutdown-dialog.sh
}
button .shutdown -text "Shutdown" -background gray -activebackground lightgray -command shutdownf
pack .shutdown -side right
/usr/local/sbin/xdmshutdown-dialog.sh
#!/bin/sh
/usr/X11R6/bin/xmessage "Shutdown me?" -buttons "Close:0,Shutdown:1"
CONTROL=$?
[ $CONTROL = 0 ] && exit # Close
[ $CONTROL = 1 ] && exec /sbin/shutdown -h now -h now 2>/dev/console >/dev/console # Shutdown confirmed
exit
Links
I assume that said above is not enough, so here is a list of recommended links I used:
Final obligation I must mention is:
Enjoy your Login Screen 