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Simple Persistent Thunderbird icon for Plank
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Bernie
Jul 9, 2020, 1:45:26 AM7/9/20
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Seen on sodosado.com minus pics
This is a "How-To" for placing a persistent Thunderbird icon on your
Plank Dock. I use XFCE, but the process should be the same no matter your
DE. I have broken the process down into small steps so everyone should be
able to have a Thunderbird icon on the Plank Dock.
If you are comfortable with Thunar or are using the command line, you
will end up here:
/home/user/.config/plank/dock1/launchers/
This is assuming you are running one instance of Plank which most people
are.
For those not so comfortable charging forward here are the steps in
sequence you need to take.
1. Open Thunar. You will be in your home directory. Thunar will show the
path: /home/user/
2. Under the option 'View' click in the box: "Show Hidden Files". A check
mark will appear in the box. You will now see new folders with a "." in
front of the name. These are hidden folders in your home directory.
3. Click and open the Folder named: .config. This is a Hidden Folder
containing more Folders for your user account in your Home directory.
4. Click on and open the Folder named: 'plank'. This is where Plank
stores the folders and information it needs for the way you have it set
up for your user.
5. Click and open the Folder named: dock1. This is your Plank Dock folder.
6. Click and open the Folder named: launchers. This is where instructions
for the icons Plank has placed on your Dock reside. Without these files,
your Dock would be empty.
Thunar should have this as its path:
/home/user/.config/plank/dock1/launchers/
7. Right Click on the file: mousepad.dockitem or if you are using
Featherpad, Right Click on featherpad.dockitem.
8. Click on, "Open with Mousepad" or "Open with Featherpad". You must use
mousepad or featherpad, and not Libre Office or other editor.
9. In your editor you will see the actual launcher instructions that
Plank uses. The instructions will look like this:
[PlankDockItemPreferences]
Launcher=file:///usr/share/applications/mousepad.desktop
10. Delete the word, mousepad in mousepad.desktop
11. Type in the word, thunderbird. When you are done it will look like
this:
[PlankDockItemPreferences]
Launcher=file:///usr/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop
12. Click on File -> Save As
13. After "Name:" on the top line, change the file name.
"mousepad.dockitem" to thunderbird.dockitem
14. Look at the directory path. It still should be:
"/home/user/.config/plank/dock1/launchers/"
If it is not change to this directory before saving.
15. Click "Save" on the bottom right of the screen. Close mousepad or
featherpad.
You are all done. You should logout, and log back in to see the changes
you have created.
An icon for Thunderbird will be on your Plank Dock. The only annoyance is
when you launch Thunderbird, a second Thunderbird icon will appear on the
Plank Dock. It will disappear when you close Thunderbird.
Go back and un-check, "Show Hidden Files". You want to see them every
time you open Thunar.
This is a "How-To" for placing a persistent Thunderbird icon on your
Plank Dock. I use XFCE, but the process should be the same no matter your
DE. I have broken the process down into small steps so everyone should be
able to have a Thunderbird icon on the Plank Dock.
If you are comfortable with Thunar or are using the command line, you
will end up here:
/home/user/.config/plank/dock1/launchers/
This is assuming you are running one instance of Plank which most people
are.
For those not so comfortable charging forward here are the steps in
sequence you need to take.
1. Open Thunar. You will be in your home directory. Thunar will show the
path: /home/user/
2. Under the option 'View' click in the box: "Show Hidden Files". A check
mark will appear in the box. You will now see new folders with a "." in
front of the name. These are hidden folders in your home directory.
3. Click and open the Folder named: .config. This is a Hidden Folder
containing more Folders for your user account in your Home directory.
4. Click on and open the Folder named: 'plank'. This is where Plank
stores the folders and information it needs for the way you have it set
up for your user.
5. Click and open the Folder named: dock1. This is your Plank Dock folder.
6. Click and open the Folder named: launchers. This is where instructions
for the icons Plank has placed on your Dock reside. Without these files,
your Dock would be empty.
Thunar should have this as its path:
/home/user/.config/plank/dock1/launchers/
7. Right Click on the file: mousepad.dockitem or if you are using
Featherpad, Right Click on featherpad.dockitem.
8. Click on, "Open with Mousepad" or "Open with Featherpad". You must use
mousepad or featherpad, and not Libre Office or other editor.
9. In your editor you will see the actual launcher instructions that
Plank uses. The instructions will look like this:
[PlankDockItemPreferences]
Launcher=file:///usr/share/applications/mousepad.desktop
10. Delete the word, mousepad in mousepad.desktop
11. Type in the word, thunderbird. When you are done it will look like
this:
[PlankDockItemPreferences]
Launcher=file:///usr/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop
12. Click on File -> Save As
13. After "Name:" on the top line, change the file name.
"mousepad.dockitem" to thunderbird.dockitem
14. Look at the directory path. It still should be:
"/home/user/.config/plank/dock1/launchers/"
If it is not change to this directory before saving.
15. Click "Save" on the bottom right of the screen. Close mousepad or
featherpad.
You are all done. You should logout, and log back in to see the changes
you have created.
An icon for Thunderbird will be on your Plank Dock. The only annoyance is
when you launch Thunderbird, a second Thunderbird icon will appear on the
Plank Dock. It will disappear when you close Thunderbird.
Go back and un-check, "Show Hidden Files". You want to see them every
time you open Thunar.
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