21

Main menu (alacarte) cannot record changes as it should. Some time it does, but randomly and rarely.

Is this a bug?

This question is not a clone of this one. In that case the Main menu would not open, in this case it does but changes are rarely recorded.

4
  • 4
    Have you tried MenuLibre? You can get it via Synaptic or the Ubuntu Software Center but not via the Lubuntu Software Center (the last time I looked).
    – user25656
    Oct 5, 2012 at 7:09
  • Try to use the locate command or find command to search via terminal . Example: locate "rc.xml" . The file called lubuntu-rc.xml. I don't know if the file remains the same(name) at Lubuntu 12.10
    – NickTux
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:18
  • at the time of the question menulibre was not available for quantal: but meanwhile it is (as of 24.0ct.2012): ppa.launchpad.net/menulibre-dev/devel/ubuntu/dists
    – user47206
    Nov 26, 2012 at 7:46
  • Just use PCManFM->Go->Applications. MenuLibre and Alacarte are derped. Sep 9, 2017 at 13:34

8 Answers 8

13

If you want to edit menu entries, the program you want to use is alacarte. Do not waste your time in xml files. Alacarte is the best graphical menu editor for all gtk based menu systems.

sudo apt-get install alacarte

enter image description here

Note/update: alacarte (Main Menu editor) does not work in 12.04 or 12.10 Lubuntu

10

Execute the LXMenuEditor.jar file (Java needed), and then use the program to add the same file to the main menu... (with no spaces in the path...)

  • Java based
  • Cannot edit the main categories (as alacarte would if it worked)
  • Can open and edit .desktop files as text

enter image description here

On youtube

  • Menulibre (as vasa1 suggested in a comment) is a good solution, as it is available for Quantal 12.10 (it was not at the time of the question). See this and this answer. But, just like LXMenuEditor (and unlike Alacarte), it cannot create/edit main categories.

  • Considering Alacarte in Lubuntu: it deserves a try as far as it can edit/create main categories, but it's actions are indeed only randomly possible in 12.10 , and, as far as I can tell, it doesn't work at all in 12.04. It has to be regarded at this point (version 0.13.2-2ubuntu4) as unsuitable for LXDE/Lubuntu (as it is made for Gnome). Please comment here if this is not the case or if it changes in a new version. For a reason on why it does not work, see this answer.

8

The xml file menu.xml responsible for Lubuntu menu is located in/usr/share/lubuntu/openbox/menu.xml. You can edit the xml file there. But it is recommended to copy it in your home folder ~/.local/share/lubuntu/openbox/menu.xml and edit there.

The other two file involved in Lubuntu menu is :

  • /etc/xdg/lubuntu/menus/lxde-applications.menu
  • /etc/xdg/menus/lxde-applications.menu

Take a look at this page about LXDE menus. There is also a Java application which can be used for editing LXDE menus. It called LXMED and can be found on it's project page on sourceforge.net

6

Using PCManFM

  • Open PCManFM Select from Menu > Go > Applications

  • To Remove : Right click on the icons and select Hide

  • To Add : Ctrl + H to show hidden entries then right click on the icons and select Unhide

  • Run lxpanctl restart in the terminal

Done!

0
4

You can do it this way:

  • Go to /home/username/.local/share
  • Create a folder named applications
  • Create a file named whatever.desktop
  • Edit it (with leafpad) putting something like this:

    [Desktop Entry]
    Type=Application
    Categories=Utility
    Name=My dear folder
    Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/48x48/places/folder.png
    Exec=pcmanfm /my_dear_folder
    
  • Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T)

  • Run:

    lxpanelctl restart
    

Done!

NB: Inside the whatever.desktop file no blank lines should be placed.

1
  • The categories don't match the menu names, so check this list for the available categories.
    – Don Kirkby
    Feb 19, 2017 at 22:57
1

The default menu entries are located in the /usr/share/applications/ directory. For example, the Chrome browser can be edited at /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop If an entry is also defined in the local .local/share/applications/ directory then it overrides the default one.

0

In 16.04 go to -/.local/share/applications and delete the offending item. Then openbox --restart

0

Command line simplification of saimischief's answer:

pcmanfm menu://applications && lxpanelctl restart

This will start up pcmanfm in the correct directory, and one can rename, copy, move, or delete menu items as needed. After pcmanfm is closed, lxpanelctl restart will update the menu.


It's even possible to edit the .desktop configuration files that the menu items link to:

  1. Right click on an item, for example menu://applications/Internet/ pick Firefox Web Browser.
  2. A little menu pops up, pick Properties, which starts a little GUI, and allows the user to change several things, like the title, the command line options etc..

A text editor can be used for more fine-grained control of .desktop configuration files:

  1. Right click on an item, for example menu://applications/Internet/ pick Firefox Web Browser.
  2. A little menu pops up, pick Open With, and then select your preferred text editor from the list of programs.

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