[Macworld]

Post your comments for Manage files in OS X your way here

[Rhywun]

ForkLift FTW--two-pane file browsing done right.

[DMBDenver]

In response to Halvdan Wettre's use of Pathfinder: "My only complaint is that Pathfinder doesn’t really integrate with OS X; you have to use it in parallel with the Finder, which can get confusing."
Pathfinder does offer a way to replace the Finder with Pathfinder. See http://www.cocoatech.com/faqs#3 on how to do this.
Also, under General Preferences you can click the checkbox 'Quit the Finder automatically at launch'.
Cheers, Dirk

[jonesy17]

Mike Glish writes above: "So I created two new folders: - Docs and - Files. I then dragged those two folders to the Finder sidebar for easy access; the leading dashes keep them both at the top of my Documents folder list."
Mike, what's wrong with the ALPHABET? Docs under D. Files under F. Mac users have long had this obsession with making folders appear at the TOP of a Finder window list instead of just pressing D to go to the folders starting with D, or F to go to the folders starting with F. Instead of putting dashes or (my own personal pet peeve) spaces – multiple spaces! – at the beginning of a Finder item's name, why not try this instead:
Apply a label to those items you want to have appear at the top of a Finder window list, then sort the window using the Label column (you may have to add this column to your Finder window layout by pressing CMD+J or choosing View > Show View Options from the Finder's menu bar.
With this method, your labeled items appear at the top of the window — in alphabetical order, no less — and all the non-labeled items appear after them — also in alphabetical order.
As a Mac system administrator, I can't tell you how frustrating it is to try and access a folder through Terminal when the folder name starts with a character other than a letter of the alphabet or a number. Bullets (Option+8) and spaces really get my blood pressure rising!

[VancouverYogi]

I'm a big fan of Path Finder as well. Have been using it for years and it's definitely among the top ten utilities on my Mac. I especially appreciate it's support for tabs and the clever Drop Stack feature.
As a side note, the product is called "Path Finder" (two words). You incorrectly refer to it as "Pathfinder" (one word) several times in the article.

[johncpro]

I've tried to set up an Advanced Smart Folder as described by Kirk McElhearn in his article, but keep running into a problem -- I start in Finder with my Documents folder selected and followed the steps as outlined in Kirk's article, but the search returns items from everything under my username (Music, Pictures, etc.), not just in my Documents folder. I would like a Recent Files Smart Folder that only searches my Documents folder, and I would also like to be able to specify the file types to be included in the search, or specify the file types to be excluded from the search. I've tried a number of search queries using the option (sometimes numerous options), and cannot seem to get the results I'm looking for?!?!?!

[Dseinfeld]

Re: Quicksilver (Gina)
When I launch Quicksilver, press Command-; (semicolon) to open the Catalog, then select Modules, I can't select Shelf And Clipboard. All I have to select from are Finder or Safari.
Do I have to set up something else before I can do this?

[albertw]

Dseinfeld said:

Re: Quicksilver (Gina)

When I launch Quicksilver, press Command-; (semicolon) to open the Catalog, then select Modules, I can't select Shelf And Clipboard. All I have to select from are Finder or Safari.
Do I have to set up something else before I can do this?

It's been awhile - but I think you need to go to plugins and install the shelf module first. Then you need to restart QS.

[kirkmc]

For the smart folder query: try creating in from within the Documents folder. Sorry about that; it's been ages since I set it up, and I forgot that it depends on which folder you're in when you do it.

[johncpro]

As I mentioned in my original posting, I am "within" my Documents folder when I try this. Even performing a simple spotlight search from Finder from within my Documents folder yields results from everything under my username. Is this a bug?

[jazzace]

Hi, Anthony Reimer here. I do want to clarify that I got much of that particular AppleScript from an online source (which I can't locate anymore), so while I do know some AppleScript, I wasn't the primary coder. Nevertheless, I hope the implementation is useful to some.
Thanks to the Macworld staff for putting out the call to Macworld.com readers for their contributions. I'm pleased that this is the second "tip" I've had make the editorial grade, although that's not saying much, since the previous tip was published in 1993! I also appreciate the great editing that the Macworld writers do. I think I'm a pretty decent technical writer, but these guys (and gals) always make it better and more foolproof when it shows up in print (at least in my limited experience). It really is harder than it looks. A toast to the MW staff!

[Success]

Another nifty app launcher is Sapiens
http://sapiens.en.softonic.com/mac
Each to his/her own, but this one has a bit of AI built in that just works for me.

[bigbadvoo]

Good tips so far. My most used trick is to make an applescript that selects similar items (all .mp4 files, but not .flac files, for instance) and put that in the toolbar of my finder window.
http://www.macosxhin...060412014652826
Perfect when converting files.

[Dan Miller]

Thanks for pointing that out. It's been fixed.

Dan Miller