How can I add an icon to start an application to the panel?

[johann_p]

I figured out how to add an icon to the panel from the application start menu, but I need to create my own icon for my own application/command that is residing somewhere in my home directory.

EDIT: figured it out .. one has to add the app to the start menu and first figure out how to do that then add it to the panel from there. Not very intuitive.

[mrboojive]

It sounds like you went about it in a roundabout way. If you use Nautilus to open up the folder where your app is located, you can just drag the app to the panel and it will bring up the option of creating a launcher for it.