Create icon to url on taskbar

I've been trying to create shortcuts on my taskbar to a couple of specific urls. This was extremely easy in XP. I won't tell you what I think of Windows 7 for this simple task.

What I've been able to do: I can create a new shortcut to a specific url on the desktop. I can pin that to the start menu. When I remove the shortcut on the desktop, the shortcut on the start menu no longer works. Obviously the shortcut on the start menu is to the shortcut on the desktop, not the url.
If I try to pin the shortcut to the taskbar, it will only allow me to pin it to an existing shortcut like Internet Explorer or Firefox.

What I want to do: Have a simple shortcut on the taskbar that opens my default browser to a specific url. This would be a stand-alone shortcut, not a link on the "links" menu or pinned to the IE or Firefox shortcuts. I also don't want to clutter my desktop with shortcuts that will never be used.

Any help on this is much appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the link, Brink. I already figured that much out, though. Step 5 is deceiving:

"5. Move the shortcut to where you like for easy use."

As best I can determine, you can move it anywhere on the desktop. The problem comes when you want to pin it to the taskbar. There's where I ran into difficulties.

It may not be possible to do this in W7. Not only does W7 look different, it doesn't act the same way XP does. I think Microsoft has eliminated some useful functions in W7. This is all part of the learning process. I appreciate the reply.

Thanks, Bongo. That hadn't occurred to me. At your suggestion, I tried it but with the shortcut in my Documents, there doesn't seem to be an option to pin it to the Taskbar. It was a very good suggestion, though. I'll see if there is somewhere else I can put it to get the job done. If I'm successful, I'll post it here. Your reply is appreciated.

Hi Brink,

I see your shortcut is an .exe file. That's handled differently than a url. The OS must read the target and treat it accordingly. This must be why the url shortcut can only be pinned to IE or Firefox. I think they got too smart with W7 in some respects. My nephew also took a look and did a google search on this. He found that the code for the taskbar has been written differently and a url shortcut can't be pinned to the taskbar itself.

Now that I know it isn't currently possible, I'll just make do with the "Links" toolbar for my purpose until someone writes a plug-in or MS does a patch that changes this. Hey, you're not one of those application wizards, are you? LOL.

Thanks for all the help. It really is great to have this forum to ask around on.

OK, Brink! That's the answer. Not only can you make a shortcut, but you can choose the browser to open in. Your tutorial is very clear (as they all are). This opens up other possibilities with making shortcuts, as well. I really appreciate your time on this. Take the rest of the day off.