[Macworld.com]

Frustrated by the number of non-user-created files and folders in your Documents folder? Learn how to solve the problem by avoiding the problem. [more]

[SeanoVox]

First thing I do is create a Downloads folder in Home and tell safari to DL files there... makes it easy to try new game demos and have them all in on folder for easy deletion.

[goron]

I put a LIFE folder in the Documents folder, and replace the Documents side-bar item with the LIFE one.
Basically, I push my stuff one level down, rather than put it at the same level as Documents.
The real annoyance is the "Microsoft User Data" folder. This really should be in "~/Library/Application Data", and MS should know better.

[llahsram]

No, don't blame Apple, blame the software developers. Apple's developer documentation explicitly says to put application files in ~/Library/Application Support, and not to use Documents:
"In particular, you should never install files into a users Documents directory or into the /Users/Shared directory. These directories should only be modified by the user."
The companies using Documents for application files tend to be the ones that had existing software for the Classic Mac OS and haven't gotten with the times (despite having five years to do so). So blame the developers.

[griffman]

Thanks for the find -- I gave a brief glance at the dev site, but my initial search returned too many matches to scan /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
So it really should be ours. What makes this even worse is that some of the offenders are Apple's own apps. iChat, for instance, stores its logged chats there (and there's no way to change it).
-rob.

[bastion]

Now it very well may be that Apples developer documentation tells developers that this is a good thing to doso Im not blaming the applications for writing their data into the Documents folder.
You should blame the application authors, because Apple is quite adamant in their developer documentation that ~/Documents is under the user's control.
Dont Pollute User Space
It is important to remember that the user domain (/Users) is intended for files created by the user. With the exception of the ~/Library directory, your application should never install files into the users home directory. In particular, you should never install files into a users Documents directory or into the /Users/Shared directory. These directories should only be modified by the user.
Developers who feel they're above this aren't likely to change their behavior without users complaining, so by all means complain.

[n4hhe]

Migration Assistant has no problems moving a user's entire home directory. I keep very little in the Documents folder and have survived MA several times.
The most frustrating thing with MA is that one should NOT fire up a new Mac or MacOS X installation with an account name used on the "other" installation. MA can't overwrite an existing account and will rename your user(s) when copying. The files get moved without error, but the account name(s) (and therefore home directory) will be different.
MA will also change user ID numbers as needed when moving. This can be a pain if sharing files via NFS.

[RiversideGuy]

Many application default to ~/Documents/ when Save is invoked. If you create category folders in /Documents/ then it's just one drill down. Your way means drilling up, the drill into "Rob's Stuff" then one more drill to a "category" folder. Just switched to a Mac, eh?

[llahsram]

Quote:

---

What makes this even worse is that some of the offenders are Apple's own apps. iChat, for instance, stores its logged chats there (and there's no way to change it).

---

True, although I don't know of any Apple app other than iChat that does this. And even iChat is kind of an iffy case, since the logs are, in a sense, user-created files, and the iChat UI provides no way of viewing them. So whether they're "support" files is debatable. But I agree that it should at the very least provide an option for changing the save location, and preferably store them in Library/iChats and provide a log viewer.

[iSunfish]

I put a LIFE folder in the Documents folder, and replace the Documents side-bar item with the LIFE one.
I like that solution. It neatly solves the problem that might be caused if the Migration Assistant failed to copy your other user folders.
However, I'd add make one change... Make the title of your folder [space]Life, and it will always appear at the top of the alphabetical name list of your folders inside the Documents folder.
2

[griffman]

Most apps remember your settings, so it's not really an issue (add in Default Folder X, and it's a complete non-issue). And the entire point of my tip is to dump the Documents folder -- I don't want any of my stuff inside of it, hence my files live outside of it. After all, if you have to navigate into it, you have to wade through all the cruft to find your folder(s) in the Save dialog. What's worse -- one mouse click up, or scrolling through a list of 30 non-applicable folders?
-rob.

[fds]

I refuse to let the developers of dumb applications chase me away from my Documents folder.
Instead, I simply make their pollution hidden by hiding all those rogue folders.
I use the developer tool utility SetFile to do this, but there are probably dozens of GUI utilities available for those needing them.

[Dan Frakes]

One of my biggest pet peeves is when software creates folders and saves files in places it shouldn't. This includes the Documents folder and the root level of the Library folder. Apple's developer guidelines make it very clear that apps shouldn't be doing this -- they explicitly point out that all non-user-created data (a.k.a., anything but documents) belong in ~/Library/Application Support -- but many developers ignore those guidelines. I'm actually writing an editorial about this... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
(Sadly, Apple ignores their own guidelines -- see /Library/Mail and /Library/Safari.)

[RealityCheck]

OMG, I can't believe I'm the first one to jump all over your for this. When you create a new folder in your home directory, it gives read-only permission to everyone by default. So it's just like the "Public" folder in your home folder.
To fix it, all you need to do is do a Get Info and change the "Group" and "Others" to "No Access" just like your original documents folder.
Greg
PS - If this was a trick to get me to register and post my first message, it worked. Otherwise it was a major oversight in the orginial article ;-)