My ~/Desktop directory is full of *.desktop files, but they are not displayed. I want these visible on all 12 of my desktops. I remember the good old days when I could have different wall papers on every desk top and icons that appeared everywhere. I've set "activity per desktop" so that I can tell where I am with wall paper, but now I've lost all my launcher icons. ("If you wanted that, you should not have set one activity per desktop"??)

OK, with "activity per desktop" set, how do I make "add to desktop" from the menu work?

Thank you.

Try to right click on desktop -> Desktop Settings -> (Unlock Widgets ->) Layout: Folder View. You might also have to change the Folder View settings after hitting Apply.

Another way is to add a Folder View widget to your desktop.

Since you have "Different widgets for each desktop" (that's what you mean by "activity per desktop" right?), you probably have to do this for every virtual desktop.

Yeah, that's it. "Different widgets for each desktop".

So, I'll ask a silly question as an RFE:
How do I tell KDE to apply something to all desktops at once?

Meanwhile, thank you. That brought the icons back.

Oh, I guess another silly question:
Given the historical situation of having the Desktop folder visible
on the desktop, why is it a good idea to make them invisible by default?

How do I tell KDE to apply something to all desktops at once?

I don't think you can (in the GUI at least). Personally I think the "Different widgets for each desktop" is a horrible hack that tries to merge Activities and Virtual Desktops, but that's just my opinion.

Given the historical situation of having the Desktop folder visible
on the desktop, why is it a good idea to make them invisible by default?

(This is my own answer and shouldn't be interpreted as the "official" one.) Just because it used to be one way doesn't mean that it's a good idea to keep it like that. Plasma Desktop allows you the flexibility to show what you, the user, care about on the desktop. Not everyone wants to show their files on the desktop; but if you do, the concept of Folder View allows for showing the content of multiple folders if you want (by adding multiple Folder View widgets).

Distros are of course free to alter the defaults to suit their needs, and I believe that there are some that use the Folder View layout by default (e.g. Netrunner).

Hans wrote:Personally I think the "Different widgets for each desktop" is a horrible hack

I won't argue the other side. It is just that I've been using X windows since twm days and I find it wearying to find that developers have
added new and better ways to do the same thing, without leaving bread crumbs about for finding your way to the improved methods. Anyway, WRT "activities", I've read some tutorials and still find it confusing. My focus in my computer life is distributed file systems, not reworking my work habits to adapt to a new and better KDE. But thank you for your pointers. I've got my launcher icons back on my desk top.