I would like to be able to create a simple link to the desktop by right clicking on a menu item. I can create a link with dolphin in the desktop folder but it could be done from the menu in kde3. I don't want the little pop out widget stuff just an icon to click on and start an application. Right clicking should produce any menu choices desired. I would like to have the choices available from the menu to place things on the desktop as they were in kde3. Please don't tell me to switch back to kde3.

If you are referring to Dolphin/Konqueror, then you should be able to use the ServiceMenus framework to add this to their right click menus.

Well, here, running Kubuntu 10.10 and KDE 4.5.4, if I add the Kickoff Application Launcher to the Panel, what you describe works perfectly. Navigate to an appliction, right-click and select Add to Desktop.

Remember "add link to desktop"? An icon without the pop outs. No mouse over selection panel popping out. That is what I want, a simple link to application. Mepis does this but I like using debian squeeze.

I wonder if you are missing a key difference between KDE3 and KDE4; what was the desktop in KDE3 is now the Folder View in KDE4. If you expand this to the size of the screen, you effectively restore your system to KDE3 style.

Right-clicking 'Add to desktop' places an icon in the Desktop folder; the default setup for Folder View is a link to Desktop. So adding an icon to the Desktop folder puts it on the other end of the link to Folder View - which is the equivalent of creating a link to the desktop in KDE3.

In other words, right-click>Add to desktop has the same effect in KDE4 as right-click>Add link to desktop in KDE3.

Just returned to this issue with new laptop. I do get the idea but either way I get a rollover effect I don't want and don't see how to get rid of. In folder view it is completely useless as it just repeats the icon and application name. And if I rollover a link to a folder it blanks out a large portion of the screen with a preview of what is in the folder. In desktop view it pops out those annoying tools that I would normally right click for. I want a link without the rollover effect. Do you know how I can achieve this.

Also the menu should allow a link to desktop without the handles. Add item to desktop via the menu in old kde negated the need to do all the settings manually ie: it was much easier. What folder view gives you requires you to drill to the app., usually /usr/bin/xxx and find the icon etc. So folder view does not give kde3 function to kde4 instead it makes these things more difficult.

The only problem I have with kde4 is that these things are too convoluted.

It sure is pretty though.

You seem to be using an older version of KDE.

First, with the handles effect, just lock the widgets. That will get rid of them.

With folderview, those popups have been gone (or at least optional) since 4.5. You are probably using 4.4, which I think is the only version to have that issues.

The issue with the handles is that everything on the desktop is a widget. You are still thinking of the desktop as a folder. It isn't. Those aren't really icons, that are special widgets. It can't be added to the folder view because you can have dozens of them. Which one should it be added to?

That being said, having the proper right-click settings for the icon makes sense. I will find out if that is possible

Just looking at this issue again and don't remember seeing your post. Indeed locking widgets removes the handles but it also removes the ability to send to desktop from the application launcher menu and slows down it's interactivity. Just need "add link to desktop" as a right click option.