So I have an activity called "multimedia." In this activity I have a typical panel at the top, and I have a blank panel at the bottom. On the bottom panel I have dragged & dropped a shortcut for the KODI app & for the STEAM app.

I have also dragged & dropped two other icon shortcuts onto the panel. These shortcuts are each for specific web pages (Hulu.com & Netflix.com).
I have each as an individual shortcut because I have kwin settings specified that these particular windows (when titlebar says "netflix", for example) shall each open "maximized" with no border. I just like the polished look...

So I have four icons on my panel, and they each function correctly. BUT......

1. The Application icons (Steam & KODI) display fine.
2. The web-page shortcuts only display the "unknown application" generic icon (looks like plasma background). Basically, it's a generic default shortcut place-holder icon. It works....
3. I want the two web-page icons to display the favicon for the website. Basically I want the Netflix shortcut to have a Netflix icon, and the Hulu shortcut to have a Hulu icon.
4. Also, I cannot rename either shortcut from the panel.

Is there a widget that can accomplish this? Is there something I am missing? I have put together a pretty nice media center for my daughters. But they need the shortcuts to be individually labeled with identifying icons. Thanks in advance for your help!

Also, I am using Debian 8, unstable with the latest unstable releases of KDE 5 / Plasma desktop.

I've never done this but If you use the quicklaunch to hold the icons they will in the quicklaunch become "launchers" which will allow you to customize the icons and also change the names and the descriptions, of course you will need to provide the appropriate icons

google01103 wrote:I've never done this but If you use the quicklaunch to hold the icons they will in the quicklaunch become "launchers" which will allow you to customize the icons and also change the names and the descriptions, of course you will need to provide the appropriate icons

I'm afraid I don't understand... what/where is the "quicklaunch?" and when using it, how do you "hold the icons?" I understand what a launcher is.... but I'm not sure on your terminology. Is quicklaunch a widget? Is it available for Plasma desktop? I seem to recall something like that in KDE4...

in kde4 it was called quicklauncher. It is a widget that holds/groups multiple app icons and allows for them to be arranged in 1 or more rows (which will allow more icons in less space). Within the quicklaunch an app icon is refereed to as a launcher and when right clicked can have it sproperties (name, icon command) changed) just like creating a link to an app in Dolphin.

it also has a popup feature like show hidden icons found in the system tray widget.

google01103 wrote:in kde4 it was called quicklauncher. It is a widget that holds/groups multiple app icons and allows for them to be arranged in 1 or more rows (which will allow more icons in less space). Within the quicklaunch an app icon is refereed to as a launcher and when right clicked can have it sproperties (name, icon command) changed) just like creating a link to an app in Dolphin.

it also has a popup feature like show hidden icons found in the system tray widget.

Yes. This is not a function (yet?) in KDE 5.
Now... you can create a link to a website URL and place it on your desktop as long as you are in FOLDER view. But in DESKTOP view this function does not work. While in folder view I created the shortcuts to the two websites I mentioned, then I gave each it's own custom icon. Next, I dragged the shortcut down to my panel. When it is placed there it replaces my designated icon with the aforementioned generic "desktop" icon AND when you mouse-over the icon it's tool-tip info gives a very generic description.

The launcher idea would work, it's just not available. Maybe someone else has an idea or solution?
To state the problem simply, It appears that in Plasma desktop you cannot:
1. Right-click on a panel icon.
2. change the icon to one of your choice.

try this -
add the quicklaunch widget to your panel then drag the web page from the browser to the quicklaunch widget

google01103 wrote:try this -
add the quicklaunch widget to your panel then drag the web page from the browser to the quicklaunch widget

Unfortunantly the Quicklaunch widget is not available for Plasma Desktop / KDE 5.
I was, however able to do a slight work-around.

First, create desktop shortcuts / Link to URL's for each URL I wanted as a shortcut on the blank panel.

Option 1: Add the pop-up widget to my panel. Put ("add") the links in the pop-up settings section.
Option 2: Add the Folder-View widget to my panel. It will show icons on the desktop by default. Since my shortcuts were there it works.
Option 3: Add a special section in the menu (add new folder) called "Media Panel" or something, then copy the desired applications to this newly created section. Also, after your system has time to cache those newly created desktop shortcuts, drag those desired icons from the "lost & found" section of the menu to your newly created "Media Panel" section. Next, drag all desired icons FROM the kMenu -- Media Panel section down to the blank panel at the bottom of the screen where they were desired.

As I said, I have (so far) made a useable workaround.

it should part of the plasma-addons repo https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/search/?q=Quicklaunch

Well, after (yet again) the latest update -- from my distro (Debian) my icons are gone.

I attempted the steps I outlined above... Option 3 didn't work, so scratch that one...
You know, it seems that it should not be so hard to put a simple desktop link -with icon on an empty panel. I sure would appreciate a reply from a kde developer. What is the logic behind this "drag & drop" restriction onto the panel? Perhaps a dev could look into my original post in this topic?

Maybe a little more insight...
I noted that the application icons will display correctly. That is, the default system icons. In my case, the KODI app and the STEAM app. There are icons created for these apps. The website shortcuts I created will not show the icon I created. I have tried PNG images and SVG images.

Is there a default folder that I might save my created icons in so that they will be available system-wide? Perhaps that might solve my delima. I'm not sure what folder in /usr/share/icons KDE reads from for panel icons? I suppose it would be one with a sizing of 32 or 64.

In all of my past kubuntu desktops, I've created a blank panel along the top edge of my display and added widgets for my commonly used applications and scripts (browsers, synaptic, xterm, etc). In the past, I've been able to set the icon and command-line switches. Kubuntu 16.04 with plasma 5 doesn't allow easy customization of the panel widgets and I've been beating my head against the wall for the past couple of days trying to find a solution, and I finally found it.

If you right-click on the application launcher, you can select "Edit Applications...". Find the application whose icon or command you wish to change and make and save the changes; then quit the KDE Menu Editor. You can then browse the Application Launcher for your newly-edited application and either launch it or drag it (with its new icon) to the empty panel.

While in the KDE Menu Editor, I was also able to Add a new Item for a script I commonly use and to select an icon of my choosing. Then I was able to drag the New Item up to my empty panel.

Hope this helps others who like using non-default application icons or command-line switches.