How to rename desktop shortcuts?

[Guest]

How can I rename shortcuts I create on the desktop? I dragged and dropped some directories here and all of them had the name "Icon", so I wanted to rename them, and I can't find how. F2 (I'm a Windows user) doesn't seem to work, and there are no such option as "Rename" in the right-click menu.

[GreyGeek]

When I dragged and dropped a directory as both an icon and as a folder onto my desktop they were given the name of the directory. I was able to rename the folder view by right mousing and selecting "Folder View Settings". On its "Title" option I selected "Custom" and entered a new name. Then I clicked "Apply" and "Ok". If you hold LEFT mouse on either the icon view or the folder view the convention settings dialog will pop up. On the Folder View the top option is "resize". The second is "Rotate". The third is "Folder View Settings". The fourth is "Open With Dolphin" and the fifth is "Remove".
The Icon setting has the same five settings, but it has no rename facility in the user controls. For that you will have to edit an underlying file, OR, rename the directory. I don't know where the underlying file is located. This article may help.

[Guest]

Thank you for the reply. I was referring to the Icon setting. Does that mean that changing file/directory name locally on the desktop is not possible? I have multiple files with the same name, but located in different directories, and I wanted to differentiate them only on the desktop. If it is no possible, is it a feature of this particular graphical environment or Ubuntu/Linux distributions in general?

[oshunluvr]

Seems like there's a couple things at play here.

First off, we really don't have "Shortcuts" in the way that windows does or at least we don't use that term. We have files, links, symlinks, folders (or directories), mounts, and others. The closet thing we have to a "shortcut" would be a symlink IMO.

Secondly, in this iteration of Plasma 5 (aka KDE) the "Desktop" is actually a folder. So by selecting "Folderview" as your desktop layout you are simply viewing your Desktop folder on your entire screen with a background.

It seems what you want to do is have multiple files with the same name all accessible from your desktop folder. This is possible by using symlinks to these files and giving the symlinks different names. The easiest way to do this IMO is to open your Desktop folder in dolphin or right click on your desktop and select "Create New" > "Basic Link to file or directory..." This will open up a simple window that asks for a "File name:" (put anything you want here) and "Enter path of file or directory:" (put the full path and file name you want to link to here). This will link to your files one at a time and each link can (must, actually) have a unique name.

For example say, your files are named "bob" and they reside in folders named /home/forezst/ted, /home/forezst/carol, and /home/forezst/alice. So follow the above steps, using the full path to each file and a unique name for each link. The final results might be:

bob-ted >> /home/forezst/ted/bob
bob-carol >> /home/forezst/carol/bob
bob-alice >> /home/forezst/alice/bob

I think this is what you're asking for.

BTW, Another way that might be easier for you or quicker is to open Dolphin. split the screen, put the Desktop folder on one side and the navigate to each individual folder on the other side. You can then drag-n-drop the target files to the Desktop folder and select "Link here" from the options (rather than Copy or Move). The first one will not prompt you for a name unless the name already exists in the desktop folder, but you'll be able to rename it after. Do this with each file.

Which method to use depends on what you're more comfortable with.