Ubuntu – How to add the messaging menu to the xfce-panel

PPA method

• Add the following ppa ppa:the-warl0ck-1989/xfce-appmenu-plugin

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:the-warl0ck-1989/xfce-appmenu-plugin

• Install

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install xfce4-appmenu-plugin indicator-appmenu appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt

• Right-click on an empty part of the top XFCE panel and choose Panel > Add New Items > App Menu plugin

Manual method

1. Install the missing dependencies. In a terminal : sudo apt-get install indicator-appmenu appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt

2. Install the app menu : download this deb and open it with the software center

3. Enable app menu for firefox and thunderbird. In a terminal : sudo apt-get install appmenu-gtk3 firefox-globalmenu thunderbird-globalmenu

4. Right-click on an empty part of the top XFCE panel and choose Panel > Add New Items > App Menu plugin

Source

After fiddling with a whole lot of things and several reboots, the missing icons have reappeared. I think I've figured out what happened. I had forgotten that I did the following (not sure if it's all relevant):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jconti/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-applet-complete
sudo reboot

I guess that solves my problem, except it would still be nice to be able to access the "Add to Panel" menu. As I said above, the special right-clicks still don't work.