Besides is it really gona kill them to do something like that in an update? (choices are good you know ... 
)
)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Giving folders priority in Finder (column view)?
- Thread starter NewSc2
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
motulist
macrumors 601
Just sort by kind or put a blank space at the beginning of your folder names if you want the finder to work that way. You could even set up a folder action script so all folders automatically get a blank space character added at the front of their name.
Believe me, I'm no Apple apologist, I definitely call them out when one of their products has a flaw or could be done a better way, but this is a complete non issue. For 99% of people they don't much care one way or the other if folders are sorted to the top or alphabetically in the list of contents, and for the remaining 1% there are very good solutions to very easily make it work the way you want. So there's nothing here that needs to be fixed.
Believe me, I'm no Apple apologist, I definitely call them out when one of their products has a flaw or could be done a better way, but this is a complete non issue. For 99% of people they don't much care one way or the other if folders are sorted to the top or alphabetically in the list of contents, and for the remaining 1% there are very good solutions to very easily make it work the way you want. So there's nothing here that needs to be fixed.
Karl, does your head hurt yet? You have to understand how loyalists think. Any good idea that was inadvertently implemented by Microsoft has no chance of being implemented in OS X. It's the same with standard dialogs having at least OK/Cancel buttons-- oh wait, that would be Cancel/OK. Or being able to size windows on any edge. Etc, etc, etc.Besides is it really gona kill them to do something like that in an update? (choices are good you know ...
So motulist calls this a non-issue. Google: finder sort folders first
Results 1 - 20 of about 78,400
motulist
macrumors 601
Sorry, no, google only has 40 results for that search. You have to search for - finder "sort folders first" - or something similar, because if you don't put those quotes or some other specification in then the result includes any page that has those 4 extremely common words on it, and are not even close to all being results that have anything to do with sorting folders first in the finder.
Course lets not forget that not every says or ask the same questions in exactly the same way every time. Hell some people even use punctuations.
You shoulda said this : "OS X" "how do I sort folders first"
That only gets 1 results 😀
Or "OS X" "sort folders first" that gives 63
So on so on and so on.
Either way its not always a good idea to follow the path of "the little minority people don't matter, so we don't need to bother catering to them".
xgman
macrumors 603
I doubt you browsed all the results and counted. Regardless, you have a LOT OF GALL telling others that a feature should be insignificant to them because it means nothing to you. I seriously doubt you could speak for 99% of any group larger than just yourself.
Especially since I'm noticing that a lot of developers are migrating over to Apple/OSX especially since theres very little risk in the migration (can still use their copy of windows on either virtualization or boot camp if need be), and are bringing those 'preferences' with them.
There IS a way to put folders at the top in KIND view!
This is one of the most annoying things I have come across in my switch to Mac, but I will never be able to leave Mac behind; I love almost everything else about it. Tonight, though, I happened to find out that you CAN make the Finder put folders at the top of the screen in KIND view, new NAME view. This works for me! Even if the rest of my files are alphabetized by kind THEN name, as long as my folders are at the top, I'm happy. 🙂
(NOTE: The easiest way to do this is to download TextWrangler from http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler, as it allows you to edit system files. Don't worry, though: If you do this rightdon't do anything extra once you start editing the filethere is nothing dangerous about these steps, and it's pretty easy, honestly.)
To start, make sure Finder is the active application, and hit command+shift+G to bring up a "Go to the folder" dialogue box, then type (or, rather, cut and paste) the following (minus the period at the end):
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj.
Next, drag InfoPlist.strings to your desktop, but only to make a copy! Don't let it MOVE the file, or you will/may damage your Finder completely. Make sure there is a plus sign before you let off the mouse button; there should be, but I just wanted to make sure. LOL. Anyway, once you've made a backup copy, you're ready to edit (and I'd rename the backup to "InfoPlist.strings.bak" just to remind yourself that it is a backup file, and save this somewhere safe). Go back to the Finder window, and open up the original InfoPlist.strings with TextWrangler. Hit command+F to search for the line that begins with this (minus the end period): "Folder" = "Folder." All you have to do is add a space in front of the second "Folder," so the final (whole) line should read like so:
"Folder" = " Folder";
You'll have to unlock the file, but that is okay; it's to be expected. Enter your password when it says to do so, and it will allow you to change the file. Make sure to save, then you can close TextWrangler. Control+option+click on the Finder icon in your Dock, and then click on Relaunch. When the Finder relaunches, you can open up a new window, sort it by Kind, and watch the folders fly to the top. 🙂 The only thing you'll notice is a tiny space in front of the word " Folder" (and even then, only in List view). If you're in Icon or Column view, you shouldn't notice a thing. 🙂
If you have any questions, or if I mistyped something and it's not quite working for you, just reply. I'll get an e-mail and come to check out the post.
This is one of the most annoying things I have come across in my switch to Mac, but I will never be able to leave Mac behind; I love almost everything else about it. Tonight, though, I happened to find out that you CAN make the Finder put folders at the top of the screen in KIND view, new NAME view. This works for me! Even if the rest of my files are alphabetized by kind THEN name, as long as my folders are at the top, I'm happy. 🙂
(NOTE: The easiest way to do this is to download TextWrangler from http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler, as it allows you to edit system files. Don't worry, though: If you do this rightdon't do anything extra once you start editing the filethere is nothing dangerous about these steps, and it's pretty easy, honestly.)
To start, make sure Finder is the active application, and hit command+shift+G to bring up a "Go to the folder" dialogue box, then type (or, rather, cut and paste) the following (minus the period at the end):
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj.
Next, drag InfoPlist.strings to your desktop, but only to make a copy! Don't let it MOVE the file, or you will/may damage your Finder completely. Make sure there is a plus sign before you let off the mouse button; there should be, but I just wanted to make sure. LOL. Anyway, once you've made a backup copy, you're ready to edit (and I'd rename the backup to "InfoPlist.strings.bak" just to remind yourself that it is a backup file, and save this somewhere safe). Go back to the Finder window, and open up the original InfoPlist.strings with TextWrangler. Hit command+F to search for the line that begins with this (minus the end period): "Folder" = "Folder." All you have to do is add a space in front of the second "Folder," so the final (whole) line should read like so:
"Folder" = " Folder";
You'll have to unlock the file, but that is okay; it's to be expected. Enter your password when it says to do so, and it will allow you to change the file. Make sure to save, then you can close TextWrangler. Control+option+click on the Finder icon in your Dock, and then click on Relaunch. When the Finder relaunches, you can open up a new window, sort it by Kind, and watch the folders fly to the top. 🙂 The only thing you'll notice is a tiny space in front of the word " Folder" (and even then, only in List view). If you're in Icon or Column view, you shouldn't notice a thing. 🙂
If you have any questions, or if I mistyped something and it's not quite working for you, just reply. I'll get an e-mail and come to check out the post.
Thanks for the reply, but when I saw a similar solution for Tiger that was hosed by Leopard, I decided that editing system files to use an unsupported solution is not the best way to go. Besides, making it dependent on the "Kind" order is yet another kludge. The answer lies with Apple coming to their senses.
Seriously - I would like to double this concern.
This is a seriously major issue, and it makes me far less productive.
As much as I love my mac, my files are far less organized than in windows.
Apple - get your arse in gear and offer the option to have this, or simply sort that way.
This is a seriously major issue, and it makes me far less productive.
As much as I love my mac, my files are far less organized than in windows.
Apple - get your arse in gear and offer the option to have this, or simply sort that way.
QUESTION (or to CONFIRM); Mac Finder alone CANNOT do HIERARCHICAL sorts?
Have been reading a BUNCH of these posts (here in MacRumours) as well as a bunch of other forums.
Can someone (preferably someone from Apple?) CONFIRM that Mac FINDER alone (i.e. out of the box, or as normally supplied) CANNOT sort with MULTIPLE parameters. That is, sorting can ONLY be done with ONE parameter at a time (e.g. by "Kind" OR by "Filename" OR by "Date", but not by more than ONE parameter).
Am trying to sort by "Kind", THEN by "Filename", THEN by "Date" ... WITHOUT having to do some "workaround", "code modification", or resorting to some "third-party software" like Pathfinder.
Personally (so I know there are other opinions here), love Macs, but DO feel the SORT/VIEW capabilities of their Finder is inferior to what Windows does. Seems a few others have the same opinion.
Anyway, any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Have been reading a BUNCH of these posts (here in MacRumours) as well as a bunch of other forums.
Can someone (preferably someone from Apple?) CONFIRM that Mac FINDER alone (i.e. out of the box, or as normally supplied) CANNOT sort with MULTIPLE parameters. That is, sorting can ONLY be done with ONE parameter at a time (e.g. by "Kind" OR by "Filename" OR by "Date", but not by more than ONE parameter).
Am trying to sort by "Kind", THEN by "Filename", THEN by "Date" ... WITHOUT having to do some "workaround", "code modification", or resorting to some "third-party software" like Pathfinder.
Personally (so I know there are other opinions here), love Macs, but DO feel the SORT/VIEW capabilities of their Finder is inferior to what Windows does. Seems a few others have the same opinion.
Anyway, any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
