Unity Dash – Manually Installed Files to Display in Dash

11.10installationunity-dash

I download an application from a website in its .tar.bz2 form as opposed to through apt-get or through the software center as I usually do (I don't think it matters but just in case, the application in question is Sublime Text 2).

To install it I just extracted the folder to /usr/share with sudo privileges however I can't seem to be able to add it to the dash, I know I can pin it to the launcher but I would like to know how to properly install files myself as this is clearly the incorrect way of doing it.

Thanks in advance.

Best Answer

for adding manually installed program to the dash and launcher you have to write a desktop files for it (which end with .desktop ) .

the desktop file have this form in usual :

[Desktop Entry]
Name=application name
Exec=the command which you have to launch your application 
Comment= a small description for this application 
Icon= the directory for the icon which you want

this file is a very simple one , there is a lot of options that you can add to it .

then you have to put it into this directory :

/usr/share/applications/

if you want to add an icon for this program add your icon to this directory :

/usr/share/pixmaps

and then configure the .desktop file to user this icon .(in the Icon field )

it will appear in the dash now , or you may have to logout and login again.

Related Question