how to add shortcut to ubuntu taskbar

Question

I am using UBUNTU 14.04 with cinnamon desktop. After trying to create a shortcut for a PDF file to Cinnamon's Taskbar, I found maybe I should have searched for a folder containing the Taskbar's configuration information and create a launcher there. And by the way I don't know if I've guessed right or if yes, where would it be! Would you please help me find a solution to add the shortcut to the pdf file and then place it in the Taskbar? any help and recommendation would be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

I'm not using Cinnamon, so I can't check but, here's the general idea.

• Follow these instructions for adding an application launcher to the taskbar. Ie.

  • If you don't already have a launcher, choose any app in your menu, right click and choose "Add to panel" (you can remove it after the second step).
  • Then right click the launcher area and choose "Add" to pick another application.

• This procedure may work for a file as well as an application.

• If not, one thing you can do is create a custom launcher for that file.

  • In ~/.local/share/applications/, create a new file called, for example launch-myPDF.desktop (where myPDF is the name of the file).

  • Save the following text in the file.

    [Desktop Entry]
    Exec=/usr/bin/nemo myPDF.pdf
    Icon=/usr/share/icons/myicon.png
    Name=Launch myPDF
    Path=/path/to/myPDF
    

    where each entry is edited appropriately. Exec= should contain a command that launches the file you want to pin in whatever application you want it to open in.

  • If you choose Add from the launcher and choose that desktop file, you'll add a custom launcher for your file.

There may be a way to pin files directly, but if not, the above procedure is a workaround.