Clickable stand alone URL links for desktop and folders?

grumpyskeptic · 07-12-2016, 04:16 PM

I am using Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon 64bit.

How can I make a file that, when clicked on on the desktop or in a folder, starts up Firefox and goes to the webpage? Or if Firefox is already running, goes to the webpage (or preferably opens a new tab and goes to the webpage)?

I found this very useful or borderline essential when using WinXp, as I keep project folders that contain a variety of documents and web links, but the various firefox add-ons I've tried have never produced a clickable link in Linux. The best I can do is open them and manually copy the URL and paste it into the Firefox slot.

My favourite add-on (my favourite add-on of all time in fact, which I wish could be also ported to Opera) for this used to be SaveLink by Prudnik, but although it claims to produce Unix clickable links, none of its several options produces anything that works. I wonder if the ending on the file name is wrong for linux.

Other similar add-ons I have tried are deskCut and Save Link In Folder, but neither of these seem to work either.

I assume that this question belongs here rather than in the Networking section.

Thanks.

AwesomeMachine · 07-12-2016, 09:33 PM

Make a text file called:

Code:

MyURL.desktop

Format it like this:

Code:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Link to MyURL
Type=Link
URL=http://www.mysite.net/MyURL.html
Icon=text-html

Save it to

Code:

/home/username/Desktop/MyURL.desktop

When you click it the browser will open and take you to URL listed in the file. For more options:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a...t_to_a_webpage. I hope this helps.

grumpyskeptic · 07-13-2016, 12:57 AM

Thanks. I wonder if using either the Cinnamon or MATE version of Linux Mint would make any difference? I do not understand the difference, but I could make this choice when or if I upgrade to the new version 18 of Mint. I am currently using Cinnamon.

And, does the .desktop file ending only work on the desktop or should it also work when clicked in other folders?

AwesomeMachine · 07-14-2016, 03:15 AM

Desktop files work by clicking them, whether or not they are in the ~/Desktop folder.

robertdaleweir · 07-19-2016, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwesomeMachine

Desktop files work by clicking them, whether or not they are in the ~/Desktop folder.

There is an option within Firefox to simply drag and drop the little 'i' in front the address bar and holding down the left mouse key drag to your desktop and release. You can rename after but it works on FF 47 for me. Sometimes the link may be a 'php' script instead of an 'html' so you may have to adjust the 'open with' application to Firefox for these types.

grumpyskeptic · 10-07-2016, 08:21 AM

Thanks. The good news is that I did try dragging the "I" in Firefox to the desktop, and it did work as hoped. It also worked from another folder as well, not just the desktop.

The bad news is two things.

First, I have been completely unable to open this "I" file to see how it works. For a fraction of a second it displays as a file, maybe html or something else, in the text editor, but then the text disappears and I get a red error message saying that it does not know what its format is. I have tried the options offered, I have tried renaming it to a txt file, but nothing makes any difference. When I try to open it with Bless Hex Editor it just displays a few 00000s and says I have an empty file. When I tried opening it with LibreOffice5 then LO5 just froze and I had to restart the computer.

Secondly, I followed AwesomeMachine's instructions to make the myurl.desktop file, but when I clicked on it all the icons on my desktop disappeared, and clicking or right-clicking did not bring up any menus. So I had to restart.

Does anyone know please, why I have the problems above?

Thanks