Howto: custom shortcuts in the default file manager

There have been a couple of requests on this forum about being able to edit the shortcuts on the left side of the file manager. There have been a few more asking about the missing trash icon. We'll address both here.

First of all, to get proper drag and drop adding of shortcuts to work - you will need to use the advanced desktop customization hacks and install an un-acer-ified XFCE. I may recompile the file manager at some point for this if I have time, but till then - sorry.

Part 1 - Trash icon
In your file browser go to "My Disk" and press "Ctrl+h". You will see a lot of files starting with a "." These are hidden files. Look for .gtk-bookmarks - this is the file we are going to be editing. Double click it and you can edit it using the text editor as normal.

To include a trash icon in the menu, copy and paste the following into a new line in the file:

Code:

trash:/// Trash

That's it. Close the file browser window and open it again, and you should see a clickable trash icon.

Part 2 - Other shortcuts

Update: Turns out these are even easier than I thought - right click on a folder, click "send to" and pick "Send to Sidepane"

If that doesn't work, use the tips below:

All shortcuts in that file have a very easy format.

Code:

file://[full location to directory] [space] [Short name that will appear]

So if I want to add a shortcut to the "Files" directory, I just need to add

Code:

file:///mnt/home/ Files

Note there are three "/"s after "file:" to make "file:///". That's not a typo - the first two belong to the file protocol, the third indicates an absolute path from the root of the hard drive.

Here is another example:

Code:

file:///mnt/home/Desktop Desktop

Part 3 - making the changes stick

One more thing needs to be done. You only need to do this once, to make sure from now on your changes will be saved. Fire up a terminal, and type

Code:

sudo mousepad /etc/rc.d/slim/nowait.sh

look for the line,

Code:

rm -f /home/user/.gtk-bookmarks

and change it to

Code:

#rm -f /home/user/.gtk-bookmarks

Save. Done No need to reboot

 

Thank you - this worked perfectly, and fixed something that has annoyed me from day one.

Scott

(no if you could just figure out how to get usb-ndis-lite installed I would be SET! :ugeek: )

 

I would if I had a WM device, but as it is sorry

 

You don't *need* a WM device to get it working... I just can't get it installed and running...

Perhaps if you got it working you would get a WM device... (I may be able to help)

<grin>

Scott

 

Scott: pm me with what you've done so far, I'll see if I can be of some help. Or post it up as a new thread if you haven't already?