OpenSUSE :: Unable To Change Icons In 11.4

I just completed a clean install of 11.4 -- using KDE 4.6. It's absolutely a love-hate relationship so far after upgrading from 11.1 and KDE 3.5.With 11.1 it was incredibly easy to change my icons whether they were on the desktop, or in a Konqueror folder, or on the bar at the bottom of the screen. I simply right clicked on the icon, up would pop a configuration screen, I browsed to where the icons were stored, selected one, clicked "apply" and it was done.

But not in 11.4... For the icons I've dragged onto the bottom bar (e.g., YaST, Personal Settings, Dolphin, GIMP) if I right click on any of them and then click "icon settings" I get a screen where I should be able to see and change the icon, but instead I see a grayed-out gear, and all of them seem to be controlled by root. Under 11.1 and KDE 3.5 I could change these icons, but not with 11.4.

Another example... Under System Settings>File Association>inode>directory. Here you see a plain blue folder icon.Upon left clicking that icon I can then browse to my icons, choose one, click it, and then "apply," and the icon **does** change here in the "inode/directory" screen. But the change does **not** carry over to anywhere else. Under KDE 3.5 and 11.1 it would change every folder everywhere in my home directory. I would do the same thing in "file associations" with some applications (e.g. Word, Powerpoint, and Excel which I run with Crossover Office), and by changing the icon under "file associations" it would change every similar document in my home directory. But not in 11.4. In the first case with icons on my desktop I am unable to change them (seemingly locked to root).In the second case with icons I see in "file associations" I can change them in that screen, but the changes do not then apply globally.