Thunderbird icon in Unity launcher

Post by Jim Byrnes
I am running a fully updated Natty on my laptop. I downloaded and
extracted a thunderbird tar.bz file to the Apps directory in my home folder.
I followed the directions in the third answer at [1] to put it on the
Launcher and change the icon to a default Thunderbird icon.
[1]
http://askubuntu.com/questions/13758/how-can-i-edit-create-new-launcher-items-in-unity-by-hand
It starts Thunderbird but the Thunderbird icon does not show on the
Launcher. Its icon always ends up looking like the icon for the
Workplace Switcher. Changing the icon in preferences does not work either.
The proper icon shows in preferences and in the file manager but not on
the Launcher. When Thunderbird is running the icon in the upper left
corner also looks like the Workplace Switcher icon.
Does anyone know how to make the Thunderbird icon "stick" on the Launcher?

While this is not what you wanted I know a better way to get the latest
thunderbird if that is what you want, it makes package management
cleaner (unless you put Thunderbird in /opt/thunderbird):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Or you can just pull down their debs for Natty.

Jim Byrnes

2011-08-30 15:22:53 UTC

Post by Jordon Bedwell

While this is not what you wanted I know a better way to get the latest
thunderbird if that is what you want, it makes package management

Yes, I like to stay current on the Mozilla apps and right now
Thunderbird is in ~/Apps/thunderbird.

Post by Jordon Bedwell
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Or you can just pull down their debs for Natty.

Thanks for the info. I've always done it as outlined above because it
always worked and I didn't know about the ppa. If I use the ppa where
will updates come from? The ppa or mozilla?

I wonder if using the above method might solve my icon problem. Just
guessing but I noticed that the way I have it installed now, Unity does
not show it in the list of applications, maybe that's the problem.

Thanks< Jim

Jordon Bedwell

2011-08-30 15:43:56 UTC

Post by Jim Byrnes
Yes, I like to stay current on the Mozilla apps and right now
Thunderbird is in ~/Apps/thunderbird.

A little secret a lot of people don't know about is ~/bin even though
it's not there by default you can create it and it will automagically
work from cmd, by default it's referenced in ~/.profile

Post by Jim Byrnes
Thanks for the info. I've always done it as outlined above because it
always worked and I didn't know about the ppa. If I use the ppa where
will updates come from? The ppa or mozilla?
I wonder if using the above method might solve my icon problem. Just
guessing but I noticed that the way I have it installed now, Unity does
not show it in the list of applications, maybe that's the problem.

The PPA is managed by the Ubuntu Mozilla Team
(https://launchpad.net/~mozillateam) so it's legit and it will always
work on Ubuntu, well there might be a few minor issues but those would
generally be the same issues you would experience right upstream. Your
addons should be ported across too since they manage the entire lot for
that PPA. Installing from the PPA _should_ solve the icon problem, my
little netbook (which uses that PPA and 11.04) does have the proper
icon. My main computer is 10.04 though so I can't speak about Unity here :P

Jim Byrnes

2011-08-30 16:06:18 UTC

Post by Jordon Bedwell

Post by Jim Byrnes
Yes, I like to stay current on the Mozilla apps and right now
Thunderbird is in ~/Apps/thunderbird.

A little secret a lot of people don't know about is ~/bin even though
it's not there by default you can create it and it will automagically
work from cmd, by default it's referenced in ~/.profile

Thanks again. Soon as I get a chance I'll start using that ppa. My
main machine (desktop) is also 10.04 and likely to stay that way for
quite a while. Trying to use Unity is much more frustrating than when I
jumped straight to Ubuntu from OS/2 about a year and a half ago.

Regards, Jim

NoOp

2011-08-30 16:35:32 UTC

I run SeaMonkey from a home folder; I followed the instructions on
answer 33 in that thread, the one that starts with:
"This is a method without editing config files and without root privileges.

First create the Launcher on the Desktop (only temporary)"

Note: when creating the launcher, the proper icons for Thunderbird &
SeaMonkey are in:

/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default (default256.png is the best for me)
/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default (seamonkey.png)

respectively.

Jim Byrnes

2011-08-30 17:03:54 UTC

I run SeaMonkey from a home folder; I followed the instructions on
"This is a method without editing config files and without root privileges.
First create the Launcher on the Desktop (only temporary)"

That is the one I followed also.

Post by NoOp
Note: when creating the launcher, the proper icons for Thunderbird&
/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default (default256.png is the best for me)
/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default (seamonkey.png)
respectively.

Those are the ones I used and I tried them all thinking maybe the
resolution had something to do with it.

Just curious, but does Seamonkey show up as an app in Unity? If I do a
search from the Dash for thunderbird all I get is the .tar file I
downloaded. If I scroll through the list of apps it doesn't show there
either.

Regards, Jim

NoOp

2011-08-30 17:12:34 UTC

...

Post by NoOp
I run SeaMonkey from a home folder; I followed the instructions on
"This is a method without editing config files and without root privileges.
First create the Launcher on the Desktop (only temporary)"

That is the one I followed also.

Those are the ones I used and I tried them all thinking maybe the
resolution had something to do with it.

And it still doesn't stick for you? Review the instructions again & make
sure that you "Now drag and drop your launcher from
.local/share/applications to the Launcher Bar on the left on your Screen."

Post by Jim Byrnes
Just curious, but does Seamonkey show up as an app in Unity? If I do a
search from the Dash for thunderbird all I get is the .tar file I
downloaded. If I scroll through the list of apps it doesn't show there

...

No it's doesn't.

Jim Byrnes

2011-08-30 17:37:15 UTC

...

That is the one I followed also.

Those are the ones I used and I tried them all thinking maybe the
resolution had something to do with it.

And it still doesn't stick for you? Review the instructions again& make
sure that you "Now drag and drop your launcher from
.local/share/applications to the Launcher Bar on the left on your Screen."

No. I just tried deleting everything and started over following the
instructions step by step. I also tried by following the instructions a
little farther down about changing icons.

...
No it's doesn't.

Same as mine, so that's not the problem.

Thanks for your help, Jim

NoOp

2011-08-30 17:51:34 UTC

...

That is the one I followed also.

Those are the ones I used and I tried them all thinking maybe the
resolution had something to do with it.

And it still doesn't stick for you? Review the instructions again& make
sure that you "Now drag and drop your launcher from
.local/share/applications to the Launcher Bar on the left on your Screen."

No. I just tried deleting everything and started over following the
instructions step by step. I also tried by following the instructions a
little farther down about changing icons.

...

Odd. Worked for me - twice. I even modified the launcher (via the
terminal) in ~.local/share/applications to add command line launch
instructions (-mail -browser).

Sorry, don't know what else to suggest. Switching back to Ubuntu Classic
now... Unity drives me crazy; I waste too much time trying to figure out
how to do the simple things I do daily with standard GNOME.

Jim Byrnes

2011-08-30 21:01:59 UTC

...

That is the one I followed also.

Those are the ones I used and I tried them all thinking maybe the
resolution had something to do with it.

And it still doesn't stick for you? Review the instructions again& make
sure that you "Now drag and drop your launcher from
.local/share/applications to the Launcher Bar on the left on your Screen."

No. I just tried deleting everything and started over following the
instructions step by step. I also tried by following the instructions a
little farther down about changing icons.

...
Odd. Worked for me - twice. I even modified the launcher (via the
terminal) in ~.local/share/applications to add command line launch
instructions (-mail -browser).
Sorry, don't know what else to suggest. Switching back to Ubuntu Classic
now... Unity drives me crazy; I waste too much time trying to figure out
how to do the simple things I do daily with standard GNOME.

+1 As I mentioned in another post it was far less frustrating learning
to use Ubuntu 9.10 having never even seen any flavor of linux actually
running on a computer than it is trying to become productive with Unity.

This is my second attempt. It's a little bit easier this time as there
are now more indicator apps that I can use to make the bar at the top
act like a Gnome panel. And I found something called Avant Window
Navigator that is reasonably functional as a Gnome panel at the bottom.

Regards, Jim

NoOp

2011-08-30 18:16:47 UTC

...

...
No it's doesn't.

Same as mine, so that's not the problem.
Thanks for your help, Jim

Just rebooted to be sure that the SeaMonkey launcher was still there: it
is. I then went to the 'Applications' launcher the one with the
magnifying glass w/+ sign in the middle, and SeaMonkey (the one I
created) is there under 'Most Frequently Used' (including icon) & works
when I click it. I note "the one I created" as I have 3 other versions
of SeaMonkey on the system, including some from ppa's & Ubuntu standard
for testing. The one I created is for SeaMonkey 2.3.1 (home folder).

I also notice that when I use the search, SeaMonkey (all versions) are
now showing up in 'Installed'.

Post by Jim Byrnes
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon[en_US]=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default/seamonkey.png
Name[en_US]=SeaMonkey
Exec=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/seamonkey -mail -browser
Comment[en_US]=SeaMonkey 2.3
Name=SeaMonkey
Comment=SeaMonkey 2.3
Icon=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default/seamonkey.png

I'll do one for Thunderbird & post that as well.

Jim Byrnes

2011-08-30 20:53:02 UTC

Post by NoOp
...

...
No it's doesn't.

Same as mine, so that's not the problem.
Thanks for your help, Jim

Just rebooted to be sure that the SeaMonkey launcher was still there: it
is. I then went to the 'Applications' launcher the one with the
magnifying glass w/+ sign in the middle, and SeaMonkey (the one I
created) is there under 'Most Frequently Used' (including icon)& works
when I click it. I note "the one I created" as I have 3 other versions
of SeaMonkey on the system, including some from ppa's& Ubuntu standard
for testing. The one I created is for SeaMonkey 2.3.1 (home folder).
I also notice that when I use the search, SeaMonkey (all versions) are
now showing up in 'Installed'.

Post by Jim Byrnes
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon[en_US]=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default/seamonkey.png

^^^^^^^
This line was the problem. On mine, for some reason, it was just =/ .
After I fixed that and rebooted, just to be sure, the icon was shown on
the Launcher. Thanks for the example file, that solved it for me. Also
Thunderbird now shows up in Applications when I search.

Post by Jim Byrnes
Name[en_US]=SeaMonkey
Exec=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/seamonkey -mail -browser
Comment[en_US]=SeaMonkey 2.3
Name=SeaMonkey
Comment=SeaMonkey 2.3
Icon=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default/seamonkey.png

I'll do one for Thunderbird& post that as well.

Regards, Jim

NoOp

2011-08-30 21:58:05 UTC

...

Post by Jim Byrnes
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon[en_US]=/home/natty/seamonkey2.3/seamonkey/chrome/icons/default/seamonkey.png