Xubuntu : XFCE Menu Items

If you're using Xubuntu and are trying to add menu items to categories such as Games or Network you've probably noticed the XFCE Menu editor is of no use.

Here is the fix :

Xubuntu system menu items are controlled via files in the following directory :

/usr/share/applications

This directory contains a lot of files that end in .desktop

These are the files that control what menu items appear in certain categories.

1. Open the .desktop file of the menu item you want to add to a catagory ( file A )
2. Open the .desktop file of a menu item already in that category ( file B )
3. Replace the "Categories=" line in file A with the one from file B.

You may have to restart XFCE for the changes to show up or perform some action that requires the menu file to be reloaded ( like check the check "hidden" for something in the menu editor then hit save ).

If there is no .desktop file for the program you want to add then create a new file (make sure it ends in .desktop) and copy the contents from a file in that catagory into your new file.

Then change all the important details and everything should work.

* Note

To open the .desktop file as root go to a root terminal and inside the
/usr/share/applications directory and execute :

"mousepad filename.desktop"

Or from the regular terminal inside the
/usr/share/applications directory execute

"sudo mousepad filename.desktop"

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