I am a fan of several applications that there simply is no .desktop file for. You can just create .desktop files with a text editor, but it's a pain.
Arronax makes this task a simpler, faster one.
One of the programs I enjoy using is a program called Ascii Sector. While it runs rather well on Ubuntu, if I didn't make my own .desktop file, I would have to run the program via terminal all the time to get it to work.
So I made my own.
You start off with this empty form:
Once I fill in the command, start in folder, and click on start in terminal switch, then i click on the blank square on the top left. (I switched this to run in terminal because the app in question needs to run from the terminal as a command, most programs don't need this option.)
This is where you add the icon of your choosing. Last but not least, the title of the application in the title section.
When I finished filling in the form, this is the finished product:
Now all I have to do is put the .desktop file Arronax created in the /home/(your username)/.local/share/applications/ directory. in this case I named it asciisector.desktop.
The menu system will quickly add the new entry, and then you have a handy, quick way to run applications that would not normally be in the apps menu.
Here is a screenshot of my created .desktop file, in the menu:
I personally suggest using the base package. It seems to have been the most solid version. Very reliable. I have had issues in the past with the versions with plugins for nautilus.
You can get whatever version you choose from http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/arronax/.
Here is the link for the base version, if you just want to choose that: http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/arronax/dist/arronax-base_0.06_all.deb
Proof in the pudding.. Ascii Sector running with a click of the menu icon:
