KDE4 desktop or panel shortcuts

[phanisvara das]

On Monday, September 06, 2010 08:12:27 pm Gere Kiss Zsolt wrote:
> How can you create application shortcuts on the desktop, or on the panel?

to be able to create desktop shortcuts, you'll have to right-click on the desktop, 
choose "desktop settings." next go to "activities" (on the left) and select 
"folder view." this will allow you to drag & drop all type of links (applications, 
documents, whatever) onto your desktop, similar to how it worked in KDE 3.

(a disadvantage of this setting is that, at least in my case, carefully arranged 
desktop shortcuts tend to rearrange themselves alphabetically as soon as you add 
another one; that's why i usually work with "plain desktop.")

>     This is also a question in the KDE FAQ (for the panel), but I can't
> find my way with the answer. It says:
>     "There are several ways to add an application to the panel, of which
> the easiest is to right-click on the panel, and from the context menu
> which appears, select Panel Menu->Add to Panel->Application Button and
> then the application for which you want to add a link."
>    Good. I right-clicked on the panel, and in the context menu there is no
> "Add to Panel".

no, these days there's only an "add widget" link, which allows you to add one of 
the couple dozen of widgets that are available. i find it easiest to drag & drop 
app. icons to the panel. this only works if, after right-clicking on the desktop, 
you "unlock widgets." even then it doesn't always work on my first try; but 
usually a couple or two of attempts brings the desired link into the panel.

when widgets are unlocked, you'll see a "diamond" on the right side of it. after 
you click on that one, you can move the widgets around within the panel. again, 
takes a little getting used to, but in the end it works ok.
 
>    "For more ways of adding buttons to the panel, refer to the Kicker
> Handbook."
>    With pleasure! But where to find the Kicker Handbook? In the "KDE Help
> Center", when I search for the "Kicker Handbook" the results panel displays
> "Top-Level Documentation" and
> "Application Manuals", but without links. If I try the Application Manuals,
> there is no Kicker listed. Is it possible they had no time to write it? It
> seems there are many such flows.

yes, documentation is sadly lacking in these matters. i think the developers 
(rightly) think that's something the community (=we) can contribute, and 
concentrate on fixing bugs, making new things work, etc.

hope that helps. i'm not very experienced explaining these things. i also didn't 
find much documentation when i started with KDE 4, but trial & error will get you 
there in the end. in case you really mess up your desktop beyond repair, you can 
always delete all files starting with "plasma" in your ~/kde4/share/config 
directory and start over again.

--
phani.
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