adding menu items to taskbar in xfce

[alex at crackpot.org]

I installed Xubuntu over the weekend (Ubuntu using xfce rather than  
gnome).  I really like it so far.  The system feels more responsive,  
and windows open noticeably faster than under gnome.

The first I'm missing, though, is an easy way to add new programs to  
the taskbar (or whatever it's called) at the top of the screen.  In  
gnome, I could right-click on the taskbar, click 'add to panel' and  
then 'Application Launcher', and any application that was already in  
the 'Applications' menu could be added to the taskbar with just 1 click.

Under xfce, I can add custom application shortcuts, but for every one  
I have to manually specify both the path to the executable and the  
path to the icon.  It's not really a big deal, but it does take longer  
and takes more hunting around to locate the correct icon.  All the  
programs I want to add are already in the main 'Applications' menu, so  
xfce already knows about them one way or another.  I was wondering if  
there might be some plugin that would allow more gnome-like behavior  
in this regard.

Anyone heard of anything like this?  Is anyone else using xfce?

thanks,
alex