I have always relied extensively on keyboard shortcuts, because I find them faster and more convenient than plowing through menus or chasing things down on the internet.
I have searched quite a bit on how to do this in 13.2/KDE/Plasma and come up empty-handed.
My preference would be to do it without also cluttering my desktop with icons, but if they have to be there, it is OK.
And, as a more general question, where is the best place on this forum to ask questions about system/desktop/etc?
The best place isof course where you assume that fellow users with knowledge about your problem/question are frequently looking if they cn help.
For KDE that is probably in most cases Applications. But a multimedia KDE application could be better handled in Multimedia.
For system, there is the lot: Install/Boot/Login, Wireless, you name it. I assume that their titles (and the descriptions and sticky threads at their tops) give enough information to let you make an intelligent guess.
Have a look at “Configure Desktop”->Shortcuts and Gestures->Custom Shortcuts.
You can run arbitrary commands via keyboard shortcuts, and even “remote-control” running ones via DBUS.
Thank you.
I found the “Configure Desktop”->Shortcuts and Gestures->Custom Shortcuts" that you mentioned via Google, but I was not able to get it to accept a url.
However, re-trying it for applications, it does seem to work for them, which is something. It is nice that a corresponding desktop icon is not required.
Is there a way to make a shortcut to a url?
You can also assign shortcuts for applications that are listed in the K-menu via the menu editor (which actually created an entry in “Custom Shortcuts” then).
Is there a way to make a shortcut to a url?
Works fine here. If I enter an URL like http://kde.org into the “command/address” field, it is opened in Konqueror (my default web browser) when I press the shortcut.
What happens for you instead? Is the URL not accepted, does pressing the shortcut have no effect, or what?
At least you should be able to enter something like “firefox http://kde.org”, does this work?
I think that some of my trouble seems to be that things seem to be in unexpected places and have easily-confused names.
Using the names I see in front of me, I went to the “Kickoff Application Launcher” and right-clicked on “Applications” to get “Application Editor” where I found the “KDE Menu Editor”
There I was able to create a “new item” and entered the url into the “Command” box, which did not work. (“was not accepted” as you say)
But with “firefox + url” in the box it worked properly. And I was able to assign a keyboard shortcut, which was what I really wanted.
I appreciate your patience. This all seems for foreign to me, but it is because I have not figured out the mindset behind the structure of it, and I am only starting to learn the tricks.
Since I am making a fresh start here, should I consider Plasma 5 as a way to get to the front of the curve to skip the learning and then re-learning?
Plasma 5 is fine for testing but would not use it for a work a day machine. The basic ideas won’t change too much any how. Learn 4.X and 5 will be easy.
But the menu editor is for creating/modifying menu entries in the “Kickoff Application Launcher”.
Not for creating keyboard shortcuts to open URLs, that’s why the URL was not accepted as command (although you can of course create a new menu entry which runs a Webbrowser passing it an URL, as you did now).
But you should be able to create a keyboard shortcut for opening an URL in the “Custom Shortcuts” settings modules, as mentioned earlier.
Just create a new action and assign it a shortcut.
Since I am making a fresh start here, should I consider Plasma 5 as a way to get to the front of the curve to skip the learning and then re-learning?
Probably not. Plasma5 is still missing features (especially compared to KDE4).
This part is already available, but has not changed at all anyway.
PS: Have a look here:
http://askubuntu.com/a/498816
This failed (or I failed) to create a working shortcut.
Kickoff Application Launcher > Configure Desktop > Common Appearance and Behavior > Shortcuts and Gestures > Custom Shortcuts
Yielded “Configure Input Actions Settings” which looks like a method to add new items to the menu.
Am I supposed to create a new item in the menu, and then point the shortcut to it?
I was under the impression that there was a way to do it directly, but I do not see a place to enter the arguments.
No.
You are supposed to click on “Edit” below the list which will open a popup menu. Select “New”->“Global Shortcut”->“Command/URL”.
Configure the keyboard combination that should trigger it on the “Trigger” tab, enter the URL into the “Command/URL” field on the “Action” tab.
See also the screenshots in the link I posted.
Then click “Apply” and the shortcut should work.
Not exactly rocket science… 
Each time I feel silly. In my defense, I am not accustomed to looking for important selections at the bottom of the page.
I had already tried that “Edit” button at the bottom, but not from a top-level perspective.
On that screen, under “Name” were “KMenuEdit”, “Examples”, Konqueror Gestures", and “Preset Actions” and earlier, when I tried to “edit” I was already on one of them, and so I was not offered “New Global Shortcut” as an option.
Thank you again for your patience. I only hope that this thread will be as helpful to somebody else as it is to me.
No need to feel silly.
Glad to hear that it’s working now. 