I can confirm this bug as well. Following @Marcel's instructions worked as a great work around. A co-worker of mine also has this issue. Hopefully there is an update to fix this soon.
-- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to alacarte in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1069207 Title: Unable to edit or add items to main menu Status in “alacarte” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: On a fresh install of XUbuntu 64bit I am unable to add items to the main menu. All the buttons seem to work but when you hit "New Item" or "New Menu", type in your settins and click "create" nothing happens. Also attempted to disable some menu items and while the menu editor shows the changes there are no changes to the actual menu, even after restarting X. Let me know if you need anything else, Westin Shafer ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10 Package: xubuntu-default-settings 12.10.7 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-17.28-generic 3.5.5 Uname: Linux 3.5.0-17-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.6.1-0ubuntu3 Architecture: amd64 Date: Sat Oct 20 15:42:51 2012 InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Release amd64 (20121017.1) PackageArchitecture: all SourcePackage: xubuntu-default-settings UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alacarte/+bug/1069207/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp