Good Morning, I need some assistance with moving or creating icons to run my programs from the dock. What I am having issues with is the following. When I install a program, say iwork 08 it installs a folder in my applications folder called iwork 08 that contains the apps. When I pull them to the dock, it leaves the iwork08 folder in the app folder without apps in it, when I do a softwareupdate it says it missing the apps. Or another instance is. I pulled the app folder to the right side of the dock. When I pull an app into that folder on the dock, it works but appears with a grayed out circle with cross in it. I have played a bit with aliases but am not sure if I have to do that. I wanted to have just a folder with icons of apps only, and some of the apps are installed folders in the app folder which I didn't want. Any suggestions?
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Program Icon Help
- Thread starter winty03
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sickmacdoc
macrumors 68020
To be honest I don't think I really understand what is happening when you are creating dock aliases of applications whether they are in a folder within the apps folder or not.
When the apps folder (and then in your case the iWork folder) is opened and you drag a particular app to the dock, the OS drops what is is essence a kind of specialized alias of that file as the dock representation instead of actually moving the app itself to the dock. That is why I don't follow that somehow your system is moving the whole app to the dock if I am reading your post correctly.
That is why when you click and hold on a dock icon the list that appear shows "Show in Finder" as one of the choices- if chosen it would then open the window where the actual application exists.
Perhaps instead of dragging the apps to the dock directly (which again is a standard procedure for the OS), you might try the following alternative method of creating a dock icon:
1. Start up the application in question
2. Click and hold on its dock icon until a list of choices appears
3. From that list choose "Keep in Dock".
That way that particular app will leaved a docked icon that you can re-order in the dock as you please after you quit the application.
As far as the grey circle with a cross, folder contents recently drug to the right side (the folder side) of the dock will show that until either:
1. You log out and log back in
2. You restart your Mac
or
3. You start up the Terminal in your Utilities folder and enter killall Dock (being careful about the capatilization) to instantly restart the dock.
Any of these things will refresh/reload the info the dock uses to make it's display.
Tell us more about how you tried to move apps to the dock in the first place though- did you hold any modifier keys while you dragged and dropped them? That is only way I can think of that the OS would actually move the app rather than simply making a standard docked icon of the app.
When the apps folder (and then in your case the iWork folder) is opened and you drag a particular app to the dock, the OS drops what is is essence a kind of specialized alias of that file as the dock representation instead of actually moving the app itself to the dock. That is why I don't follow that somehow your system is moving the whole app to the dock if I am reading your post correctly.
That is why when you click and hold on a dock icon the list that appear shows "Show in Finder" as one of the choices- if chosen it would then open the window where the actual application exists.
Perhaps instead of dragging the apps to the dock directly (which again is a standard procedure for the OS), you might try the following alternative method of creating a dock icon:
1. Start up the application in question
2. Click and hold on its dock icon until a list of choices appears
3. From that list choose "Keep in Dock".
That way that particular app will leaved a docked icon that you can re-order in the dock as you please after you quit the application.
As far as the grey circle with a cross, folder contents recently drug to the right side (the folder side) of the dock will show that until either:
1. You log out and log back in
2. You restart your Mac
or
3. You start up the Terminal in your Utilities folder and enter killall Dock (being careful about the capatilization) to instantly restart the dock.
Any of these things will refresh/reload the info the dock uses to make it's display.
Tell us more about how you tried to move apps to the dock in the first place though- did you hold any modifier keys while you dragged and dropped them? That is only way I can think of that the OS would actually move the app rather than simply making a standard docked icon of the app.