Desktop shortcuts, parks.cloud

Desktop shortcuts for Windows

Put parks.cloud, or each of its projects, on a Windows desktop as a shortcut with its own icon. Pick one below, copy the PowerShell script it shows, paste it into PowerShell, and press Enter.

Open PowerShell with Run as administrator to add the shortcuts for every user of the PC: they go on the Public desktop, with their icons in Public Pictures.
Open it normally to add them for yourself alone: on your desktop, with the icons in your Pictures folder.

The script downloads each site’s icon and makes a shortcut that opens the site in your default browser. It changes nothing else, and running it again skips any shortcut already there. To remove one, delete the shortcut; its icon stays in Pictures until you delete that too.

parks.cloud

One shortcut, to this notebook.

Show the script

& {
# parks.cloud desktop shortcuts: parks.cloud. From https://parks.cloud/shortcuts/
# In PowerShell opened with Run as administrator, it adds the shortcuts for every user of
# this PC; in a normal PowerShell window, for you alone. It downloads each site's icon and
# makes a shortcut that opens the site in your default browser. Nothing else changes.
$shortcuts = @(
  @{ Name = 'parks.cloud'; Url = 'https://parks.cloud/'; Icon = 'https://parks.cloud/parkscloud.ico'; File = 'parkscloud.ico' }
)
$isAdmin = ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator)
$publicDesktop = 'C:\Users\Public\Desktop'
if ($isAdmin) {
  $desktopDir = $publicDesktop
  $iconDir = 'C:\Users\Public\Pictures'
  Write-Host 'Administrator: adding shortcuts for every user of this PC.'
} else {
  $desktopDir = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('DesktopDirectory')
  $iconDir = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('MyPictures')
  if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($desktopDir)) { $desktopDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE 'Desktop' }
  if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($iconDir)) { $iconDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE 'Pictures' }
  Write-Host "Not an administrator: adding shortcuts for $env:USERNAME only."
}
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
if (-not (Test-Path -Path $iconDir)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $iconDir -Force | Out-Null }
$shell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
foreach ($s in $shortcuts) {
  $lnk = Join-Path $desktopDir ($s.Name + '.lnk')
  if (Test-Path -Path $lnk) {
    Write-Host "$($s.Name): already on the desktop, left as it is."
    continue
  }
  if ((-not $isAdmin) -and (Test-Path -Path (Join-Path $publicDesktop ($s.Name + '.lnk')))) {
    Write-Host "$($s.Name): already on every user's desktop, nothing to do."
    continue
  }
  $ico = Join-Path $iconDir $s.File
  try {
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $s.Icon -OutFile $ico -UseBasicParsing
  } catch {
    Write-Host "$($s.Name): could not download $($s.Icon), so no shortcut was made."
    continue
  }
  $link = $shell.CreateShortcut($lnk)
  $link.TargetPath = $s.Url
  $link.IconLocation = $ico
  $link.Save()
  Write-Host "$($s.Name): shortcut added to $desktopDir"
}
Write-Host 'Done.'
}

Every project

One shortcut each: Case Converter, NATO Phonetic Trainer, Password Generator.

Show the script

& {
# parks.cloud desktop shortcuts: every project. From https://parks.cloud/shortcuts/
# In PowerShell opened with Run as administrator, it adds the shortcuts for every user of
# this PC; in a normal PowerShell window, for you alone. It downloads each site's icon and
# makes a shortcut that opens the site in your default browser. Nothing else changes.
$shortcuts = @(
  @{ Name = 'Case Converter'; Url = 'https://caseconverter.parks.cloud/'; Icon = 'https://caseconverter.parks.cloud/caseconverter.ico'; File = 'caseconverter.ico' }
  @{ Name = 'NATO Phonetic Trainer'; Url = 'https://phonetic.parks.cloud/'; Icon = 'https://phonetic.parks.cloud/phonetic.ico'; File = 'phonetic.ico' }
  @{ Name = 'Password Generator'; Url = 'https://password.parks.cloud/'; Icon = 'https://password.parks.cloud/password.ico'; File = 'password.ico' }
)
$isAdmin = ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator)
$publicDesktop = 'C:\Users\Public\Desktop'
if ($isAdmin) {
  $desktopDir = $publicDesktop
  $iconDir = 'C:\Users\Public\Pictures'
  Write-Host 'Administrator: adding shortcuts for every user of this PC.'
} else {
  $desktopDir = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('DesktopDirectory')
  $iconDir = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('MyPictures')
  if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($desktopDir)) { $desktopDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE 'Desktop' }
  if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($iconDir)) { $iconDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE 'Pictures' }
  Write-Host "Not an administrator: adding shortcuts for $env:USERNAME only."
}
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
if (-not (Test-Path -Path $iconDir)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $iconDir -Force | Out-Null }
$shell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
foreach ($s in $shortcuts) {
  $lnk = Join-Path $desktopDir ($s.Name + '.lnk')
  if (Test-Path -Path $lnk) {
    Write-Host "$($s.Name): already on the desktop, left as it is."
    continue
  }
  if ((-not $isAdmin) -and (Test-Path -Path (Join-Path $publicDesktop ($s.Name + '.lnk')))) {
    Write-Host "$($s.Name): already on every user's desktop, nothing to do."
    continue
  }
  $ico = Join-Path $iconDir $s.File
  try {
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $s.Icon -OutFile $ico -UseBasicParsing
  } catch {
    Write-Host "$($s.Name): could not download $($s.Icon), so no shortcut was made."
    continue
  }
  $link = $shell.CreateShortcut($lnk)
  $link.TargetPath = $s.Url
  $link.IconLocation = $ico
  $link.Save()
  Write-Host "$($s.Name): shortcut added to $desktopDir"
}
Write-Host 'Done.'
}

Back to parks.cloud