How to manually add an application to favorites in 17.10?

Question

I am trying to pin an application to the 'launcher'. In Ubuntu 17.10 it is called 'add to favorites'.

With most applications it works by:

1. Launch the application
2. Right-click its icon on the launcher
3. Add to favorites

However, for some applications, the "Add to favorites" choice is not there:

I tried following the solution from this question but failed, probably because 17.10 uses a new desktop (whatever that means).

Is there some way to add an application to the 'launcher' manually?