how to place link to URL / Webpage on the launcher? [duplicate]

I have just created a link type .desktop file in my ~/.local/share/applications, to launch a website on my browser. It is compliant with the freedesktop.org specifications and, as such, was successfully validated by desktop-file-validate. Here are its contents:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Link
Version=1.0
Name=Tutanota Webmail
GenericName=Webmail Client
NoDisplay=false
Comment=Tutanota webmail client
Icon=/home/daniel/Pictures/tuta-icon.png
Hidden=false
URL=https://app.tutanota.com

It shows on my Nautilus with the icon I pointed to, and if I double click on the file, it opens the intended page without a problem. So I installed it with...

sudo desktop-file-install tutanota-link.desktop

... which places it in /usr/share/applications/ as well.

But for some reason it doesn't show on my Dash when I search for Tutanota. I also tried:

source ~/.profile

...before logging out and in again, but no success. I want to pin this on my Launcher (side bar) for easy access, but since I can't even get it to show on the Dash, I'm not able to lock it to the launcher.

Any ideas?

Unity simply does not show launchers of type Link

The simple truth is that the Unity Launcher refuses to show launchers of the type Link.

Adding a link to the launcher

There is however also no reason at all to make the launcher specifically a link, since you can make the launcher of typ Application do anything you like. To add a link, create a simple launcher like:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Tutanota Webmail
Exec=xdg-open https://app.tutanota.com
Icon=/home/daniel/Pictures/tuta-icon.png

and add it to ~/.local/share/applicatons, log out and back in, to open the link from Dash in your default browser, or

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Tutanota Webmail
Exec=firefox https://app.tutanota.com
Icon=/home/daniel/Pictures/tuta-icon.png

to open it in e.g. firefox.

However, issue!

Note that the disadvantage of using a single, dedicated launcher to launch a link is that the window that will appear, will be grouped under the icon of your default browser, not under the icon of your link. Or worse, your other browser windows might be grouped under your Link icon in the launcher.

Better option

It is therefore better to add your link to the existing firefox (or other browser's-) icon.

1. copy the firefox launcher from /usr/share/applications to ~/.local/share/applications:

   cp /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
   

2. Open the file with (e.g.) gedit, Look for the line starting with:

   Actions=
   

   Add "Tutanota Webmail" to the line:

   Actions=NewWindow;Tutanota Webmail;
   

   Add to the very bottom of the file a section:

   [Desktop Action Tutanota Webmail]
   Name=Tutanota Webmail
   Exec=firefox https://app.tutanota.com
   

3. Now save the file, log out and back in. A new entry appears: