Workspace Switcher: cannot add workspaces

[Chris Stankevitz]

FreeBSD 8.1-RC1, GNOME 2.30.0

Right-click Workspace Switcher Applet | Preferences | Number of workspaces

In this box I specify a number that is greater than 1.  For example, "9".  Then I click "Close" (there is no OK or APPLY button).  The number of workspaces does not change.  Furthermore, when I go back into the preferences window, the "Number of workspaces" is back to 1.

Q1: How do I fix this?
Q2: How can I troubleshoot where in the process the problem is?

Thank you,

Chris