Today’s post is about getting organized on your Macintosh’s filing system, aka the Finder. A lot of folks have a filing system that is somewhat equivalent to dumping all their files on the desktop, moving them hither and thither, and hoping they never get lost.
When helping people as a consultant, it isn’t unusual to see the desktop be a blizzard of files and folders. The only thing guiding the user is their built-in kinetic sense of direction. I dropped the folder right ‘here’, so if I click in that general direction, the file should show up again.
Hopefully, there are better ways to accomplish this.
For years, I tried organizing my files in the Finder. Alphabetically, I would arrange and rearrange, hoping to find some state of nirvana where stuff would be available when I wanted it. Apple helped with tools like Spotlight, so that not only could I search for file titles, but also search their contents as well.
Programs like iTunes and iPhoto keep files organized out of sight in a directory system the user never directly interacts with (hopefully). After importing music or photos into the programs, iTunes and iPhoto copies them into special directories. The user is presented with a comprehensive interface for working with this data and never touches the raw files again, at least in the default operation.
This isn’t the norm though. For the most part, the tools Apple gives the user for controlling the folder/file hierarchy isn’t changed much from OS 9 days. Spotlight is a nice tool yet it has its own set of quirks and failures.
I found myself wishing there were ways to access my files and folders in a more elegant methdology than the Finder presents. For example, the common alias, or ‘shortcut’ in Windows-speak, is a file that acts as a pointer to the original. The icon looks like the original file except there is a small arrow in one corner denoting its status as a throwaway pointer, not the original file. You can place the alias anywhere in the directory, like on the desktop, as a shortcut way to launch the original file.
While shortcuts can be invaluable in standard Finder operations, as a tool for organization I found them wanting. Enter DevonThink.
Devonthink is a filing system that lives within the Finder. It’s basically a holding tank for files and documents. Once launched, DevonThink lets you create file and folder hierarchies just like in the Finder. You can drag and drop files and folders into the DevonThink hierarchy and the data copies into the program and appears there just like they would in the Finder. Click on a file and it opens, either within DevonThink or in the appropriate application in the Finder.
Why bother you might ask. Devonthink creates a new set of rules for organizing data that go way beyond what the Finder is capable of. Plus it gets my files and folders in a data space where it is out of my way, much like iTunes and iPhoto. If I need that piece of information, I can search for it and Devonthink’s sophsticated search utilities can cough up the file in seconds.
I can replicate a file or folder anywhere in the hierarchy, meaning the item can appear in two places in the directory tree at once and it’s the original item, not a shortcut. Yet if I delete one of the replicants, the other remains intact.
DevonThink contains a full-fledged web browser, text editor, and PDF reader.
To me, DevonThink is a Super Finder, giving me the ease of use, the flexibility and the organizational tools I need to control an expanding mass of data. My files and documents have migrated almost totally into DevonThink, leaving out only the files I need for a few working project, or that another program needs to be out in the Finder hierarchy and not inside of a Devonthink folder.
There are some other utilities and programs that do similar things, but DevonThink pretty much does what I need. Check it out: http://www.devon-technologies.com.
